Starkehre

Umbrella challenge - startle/recovery and socialization this morning. hmmmm..... 5 week Umbrella Challenge - me thinks should have been with one pup at a time. They broke it bahaha. At one point gold girl was running around the inside jumping the frame arms LOL. I didn't leave the umbrella down at all. I opened it loudly and popped it down quickly. The photographs were taken as quickly as it took me to pick up the camera and point Poor umbrella had the worst startle of all and is now in recovery...broken

Manding is taught using the sit. However, there is no "sit" cue ever given. It is simply about waiting for the pup to not be climbing on you and then offering the sitting position. this is because it is the most desirable behaviour for pet owners. It is the mere teaching to be operant that allows the concept to be taken to teaching anything. It is not mandatory to use a sit when teaching manding, but it is preferred. Many show people still feel that teaching the sit makes for an unreliable or poor stacking show dog, which is simply not true. We can teach any position and proof it. The stand is not about stopping the dog from sitting. it is a completely separate position and is very easy to teach. Yes, it does involve impulse control because the pup has to learn that the fastest way to get the treat is not via jumping at it and the owner. it is taking that moment to think about offering a behaviour. It is incredible how quickly they pick it up :)

Not at all Simply Grand :) Manding is teaching puppies to ask for something they need in a way that is preferable to humans than the software they come with, which is jumping up, whinging, scratching, biting, barking etc. We teach the puppy to become operant and how to Mand. From there, learning anything and everything is easy. It is a way of giving our puppies a voice that we are happy to respond to. so now when they want something, they sit nicely and look into my eyes and wait. sure it is only for a few seconds now, but hey they are still just babies :) this will set them up for calm greetings with strangers and pretty much every situation where they want some attention. Jumping up is one of the most challenging of undesired behaviours to overcome for the average pet person. Our puppies already know not to jump up, they default to sitting calmly for attention. I did some free stacking with one baby today. First time. She was full and sleepy. Just through doing the manding training for a week or so, she took to free stacking straight away. she knows how to receive a reward, she is operant as are all the puppies. they are amazing. they give full eye focus, with duration and calmness. One of the most common questions people ask is will manding destroy show stacks. absolutely not. If a 5 weeks old puppy can master a free stack in 2 minutes from manding for just over a week, then any dog can :) This is all part of Puppy Culture :)

still more ... plus Brown boy Manding

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5 week puppy head shots

Thanks Oonga. They sure are getting huge. You and Mr Oonga will have to pop over again soon :)

Reckon you'd be right Tapua

OK fun video time :D Starting with my favourite, so cute

That's sad Bianca. I've been there, I understand

Sorry Bianca, not likely to swap back to GSD again... however there are a few GSD Puppy Culture breeders in USA. None in Australia currently that I am aware of. When you are next looking for a puppy, have a word with your chosen breeder well in advance and see if you can get them on board. They will likely thank you later on :)

Naww, so glad Pers and you are very welcome :)

Puppies using their wobble board. they love this one. It is quite steep and bangs around on the concrete. They were a bit tired when we took this video, but they normally run over it by themselves... and back and forth :)

Oh ah... I do have a soft spot for GBGVs. All the best with her :) autumn is a beautiful name

Is that beautiful girl your daughter? No, I don't have any children. That is Ebony. she is gorgeous isn't she and also an incredible girl. she is one of my puppy people. Not long in the dog world, but trains her current whippet daily and is now instructing at her club. We've become quite close friends over the past almost 12 months, she's even been away showing with me. I have enjoyed including her in much of the whole breeding/puppy process and she appreciates it very much. Having someone around like Ebony is such a bonus. To be able to share just increases the enjoyment. The pix of the puppies in the little red trolley is exquisite. You are so right DDD. Ebony is wonderful. She is going to make an excellent Rottweiler owner and she is so helpful and treats everything as an opportunity to learn. Yesterday she spent 6 hours here and we did everything puppy... cleaning bedding, setting up more equipment in their outside area, training, nails, weighing and so on. I am very grateful for and to her. I gave her a fabulous present yesterday :)

This video was taken yesterday. As part of the Communication Trinity, Puppy culture have devised a way to teach your dogs from a young age how to communicate to people when they wants something. We start by powering up the clicker which we spent last week doing. Yesterday was the first time we tried Green on the box, rewarding for any contact or association with it. Very hit and miss and a bit of a mess, but at this age they pick things up so quickly and when I try her again later today, she will already be "getting it" The 2nd and 3rd videos are Green and Gold girls and Brown and Red boys. They are doing Manding sessions, the final piece of the Communication Trinity. Puppies come pre programmed with software to jump up towards our faces to be closer and seek eye contact and attention. Teaching the puppies to "Mand" at this age sets the puppies up to know that they can ask for attention a different way. Jumping up on people is one of the most difficult challenges that owners have with their young puppies. Again other than powering up the clicker, neither of these puppies had done either exercises before. By the end of next week, they will all be group "manding" instead of screaming and jumping up to be let out or fed... that is the plan anyway :) Just finishing up today's manding sessions (two puppies to go) and so far every puppy is at least twice as good as yesterday. It is incredible training puppies this young. Nothing quite like it :)

Orange girl

Green girl in the red wagon We took some videos today doing manding work with the puppies. Will post some links soon :)

Totally agree Simply Grand some piccies from today, Purple girl & Aqua boy in the red wagon

Naww, thank you SC and everyone else. I'm just doing my bit, the way I believe raising puppies should be done. I'm one of those people whom doesn't believe in doing anything by halves and want the very best for my breed, my puppies and of course for their new owners. Thistle, Jane Killion from Puppy Culture generally runs her puppies on until 12 weeks of age (time permitting) as this is the critical socialization period. It is rare to find a Rottweiler breeder in Australia that will do this unless they are stuck with puppies or are still trying to choose. I made the decision to keep mine here until 9 weeks of age. They are well and truly ready to go to their new homes by 8 weeks, but in that last week, I am taking them on a couple of floating trips, I have professional training sessions organised around the state with wonderful trainers, some with and without their owners. They will be going in excursions to different environments and doing a lot of very stimulating things. The reason P/C keeps theirs longer is because of all the work they do with their puppies in that last 4 weeks. I have spent a lot of time chatting to my puppy people about Puppy Culture, they have all brought the DVD set and are studying it. They understand what is involved in continuing on with the training I have been doing with the puppies, how important those first 3 weeks are for their new puppies and they are all thoroughly committed. One of the reasons we had to let go one of our prospective puppy family was because they were not as committed as they had first let on. They have had a Rotti previously and felt they didn't need to do the training sessions we have purchased for them. That's fine with me, they can go elsewhere, there are plenty of Rottweilers for sale. I'm entitled to be picky about whom owns my puppies. Several of my puppies are going to very experienced owners and they are thrilled about attending the organised classes, including myself.

Thank you Tint. Yes, our puppy people are very appreciative and realise the additional work we are putting in and how good the engagement, stimulation, training and enrichment affect is for these puppies. They will be set for life :)

Puppies are 4.5 weeks old and are on 2 solid feeds per day plus the food from their clicker training sessions. They are pretty reliable using their toilet when indoors at night and hang on for their first poo outside in the morning. They are doing so well, loving all their personalities. Owing to different unfortunate circumstances two families are no longer with us, so we have 2 available puppies... back to rescreening again, frustrating but all part and parcel of it. Another week and I will reveal my litter them name :)

Puppy intro to lower wobble board Puppy intro to enrichment box

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