The Trials and Tribulations of Owning and Training a Puppy! Part 12

One of the concepts I regularly explain to people is that it’s often not what your dog does but how we react to it that is the problem. Read that again!

I was reminded of this while walking Brin on his own this morning. When Brin first arrived, he would bark at dogs and people on walks especially if they startled him. The tone of this bark was key as it was saying I’m a puppy, you scared me, and this is my alarm bark to warn my family and ask for support. It is therefore important to support him and think about how to make him braver in this situation. Using treats, I rewarded his attention on me and just didn’t reward the barking. I also talked to him and supported him with gentle words and a calm energy as we approached anyone, and always placed myself between him and wherever he was worried about. This morning, we met a dog that had been one of the ones Brin was not happy about as it can be a little bit reactive. Today he just glanced at the dog and then gave all of his attention to me as we walked past. What a little star - I was so proud of him. At only 9 months old barking at other dogs is quite normal, as long it’s not excessive, so I’m sure we have more work to do yet but this is a huge step on Brin’s journey to beaming a well-adjusted adult dog. 

Earlier on this week Brin got a Christmas toy from Amy (she bought all of the dogs one) at his obedience class. It’s a squeaky carrot and he loves it. His favourite thing is to just sit and squeak it and whenever he is at home the carrot is never far from him. I realised that, although we have a toy box of toys that he loves and plays with regularly, this is the first toy that was bought and given to him. Makes me feel like a bad mummy as it was someone else who did that! Guess who’s going to be spoiled at Christmas!!!