Puppy Training

So now I have 8 week old Jasper, I know he can't go to puppy classes until he has had his vaccinations in 3 weeks but I need to teach him a) his name and

to leave (he keeps trying to eat my 8 month old's feet

). Any suggestions on how to do this?

Laura

Do a search on here for tuna bread. Make sure that you have some wherever you go, and whenever pup is looking at you call his name and encourage him to come to you, rewarding when he gets to you. He'll soon pick it up. ALternatively, if there is more than one of you, sit on the floor with a stash of treats each and call him back and forth between you. Just don't overdo it this age, two or three repeats a few times a day is plenty.

I'm not the best to ask about leave it, as we are still working on that!

Hope this helps!

Thanks Sara... I will try the tuna bread. He is coming when called most of the time but he can be a stubborn little monster.

He is slowly getting the leave command but my daughter is just too alluring!!! With our greyhound we used a water spray to help it sink in. I may give this a go with him... does anyone have any thoughts on doing this? I'd hate to mentally scar him for life!!!

I would avoid using the water spray. I personally will be avoiding all aversives with the exceptive of a low growly voice and gentle 'scruffing' - basically techniques that would be used by parents/siblings.

He's not stubborn - just a baby!

You need to find something that is more interesting than the baby - try a toy that you striclty limit the access to. Also, one thing I've found that keeps Vinnie occupied for a while is to get a cardboard tube from a loo roll, flatten it, put a few bits of tuna bread in it and fold the ends over. He can smell the treats and it takes him a while to get them out!

I'm sure I don't need to say that you should NEVER leave him unattended with your baby (same with the adult dog). Do you have a crate? Once the baby gets used to Jasper you may find that he'll appreciate somewhere to hide!

And finally, check out www.clickertraining.com - if you can get to grips with clicker training you should find that you won't need your water spray!

Hi Sara

I know he's only a puppy but there are some things he needs to learn early - like no chewing on the baby

He is slowly learning the leave command and baby is learning to fight back and is pushing him away. What is 'scruffing'? I say leave in a deep, loud growly voice which is slowly getting through to him and I try and distract with a toy, not always with success. I only thought about the water spray because we used it with our greyhound which worked wonders.

We do have a crate which is his safe place, and we don't leave him alone with either the baby or the other dog.

if you rub some olbas oil on your baby's socks... you should find that Jasper suddenly finds those cute little toes quite repulsive!

By scruffing I mean where you take them by the scruff of the neck and give a short shake, usually with a brief grow - again, it imitates the treatment they would get from a parent where they had crossed the line.

I know that he needs to learn things quickly, I just meant that he wasn't being stubborn. Polly's tip is a good one - make the baby less attractive!