Aaaaah the sweet time with a new puppy, but how was it with all that training? “Contact exercises, it's all about the contact with your puppy” – well, that's a shame, easier said than done, because how did you do it with the previous ones? What worked and what definitely didn't? Yes, there are plenty of frustrations, and what else but to dig deep into the chair at the local library and start from scratch.
So there I was one afternoon at the local library, leafing through various dog-related books. Stop it, you goat market! Yes, there are plenty of books to choose from, but very few describe the actual training in contact exercises. There is a lot of new theory to nerd through before you even get to the subject of the actual exercises and as an experienced dog owner I have to leave that alone. Because what is it with positive punishment and negative reinforcement that I use in my daily training? Dominance is still available in the Danish dog books and certainly not that I have to behave like an alpha dog in the home.
I got off when I obviously had to eat some of my puppy's food before giving it the rest. Those dry pellets are clearly not to my taste buds.
I could also just delve into the art of teaching the puppy tricks, at least there was no long theory to deal with first before you got to the fun. However, it was difficult to take the exercises with you to puppy training, unless I had a wheelbarrow full of props. And yet it brought a smile to my face to stand in front of a bunch of seasoned dog handlers and show that the 4-month-old puppy could already find treats under the cone, play dead and walk around on a bucket. I kept thinking about it, but I was still a little tempted. “It is essential to have a sure call” is almost the only repetition I came across, but how do you train that? Hiding in the woods behind a tree or just calling the dog on a walk is not exactly an option for everyone. I live in the countryside, so when the dog is with me, it is on a short leash on the country road or in the field, which for good reason has no trees. And on the training field, the other puppies can be disruptive and so we came back to the positive punishment or negative reinforcement. And what if the dog can't do it, is all lost? Where are the exercises where things go wrong and new ways of thinking have to be thought about? Where are my contact exercises in all these books?!
I left the library more frustrated than enlightened. In the end, I have to trust that my experience will be refreshed along the way, because the books in the library did not give me the obvious answers to all my questions. However, I can feel sorry for all the new dog handlers, because without a good trainer who has all the contact exercises in their repertoire, you are probably just left with a dog that can play dead on the street. I wonder if this could become the new trend… One thing I have learned, though, is that the best dog treats win on the training field 😉
Contact exercises, that's the whole point
Aaaaah the sweet time with a new puppy, but how was it with all that training? “Contact exercises, it's all about the contact with your puppy” – well, that's a shame, easier said than done, because how did you do it with the previous ones? What worked and what definitely didn't? Yes, there are plenty of frustrations, and what else but to dig deep into the chair at the local library and start from scratch.
So there I was one afternoon at the local library, leafing through various dog-related books. Stop it, you goat market! Yes, there are plenty of books to choose from, but very few describe the actual training in contact exercises. There is a lot of new theory to nerd through before you even get to the subject of the actual exercises and as an experienced dog owner I have to leave that alone. Because what is it with positive punishment and negative reinforcement that I use in my daily training? Dominance is still available in the Danish dog books and certainly not that I have to behave like an alpha dog in the home.
I got off when I obviously had to eat some of my puppy's food before giving it the rest. Those dry pellets are clearly not to my taste buds.
I could also just delve into the art of teaching the puppy tricks, at least there was no long theory to deal with first before you got to the fun. However, it was difficult to take the exercises with you to puppy training, unless I had a wheelbarrow full of props. And yet it brought a smile to my face to stand in front of a bunch of seasoned dog handlers and show that the 4-month-old puppy could already find treats under the cone, play dead and walk around on a bucket. I kept thinking about it, but I was still a little tempted. “It is essential to have a sure call” is almost the only repetition I came across, but how do you train that? Hiding in the woods behind a tree or just calling the dog on a walk is not exactly an option for everyone. I live in the countryside, so when the dog is with me, it is on a short leash on the country road or in the field, which for good reason has no trees. And on the training field, the other puppies can be disruptive and so we came back to the positive punishment or negative reinforcement. And what if the dog can't do it, is all lost? Where are the exercises where things go wrong and new ways of thinking have to be thought about? Where are my contact exercises in all these books?!
I left the library more frustrated than enlightened. In the end, I have to trust that my experience will be refreshed along the way, because the books in the library did not give me the obvious answers to all my questions. However, I can feel sorry for all the new dog handlers, because without a good trainer who has all the contact exercises in their repertoire, you are probably just left with a dog that can play dead on the street. I wonder if this could become the new trend… One thing I have learned, though, is that the best dog treats win on the training field 😉