I adopted a very special Puppy. Pics...and do you have Tips?

Sirona

Ok

Don't say "I told you so".

Guide Dogs for the Blind need people to look after puppies until they are ready to be trained as Guide Dogs (until approx 12 months old). The puppy walkers (adopters) need to provide a home and preliminary training for the pup.

The puppy we adopted is Poppy. She is sponsored by the Royal British Legion. She is the cutest thing in the whole wide world!!!! See pics here: http://sirona.fotopic.net/c1391289.html

Well she is 8 weeks old on Wednesday. She turned into a demon last week. All of a sudden she got all sassy and naughty. She developed into "Legion" this week. (for an explanation of Legion, see this link http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%205:2-10;&version=31; )

ROFL.

Today I took her to the local shopping centre, and everyone crowded around and stroked and hugged her. It was quite cool actually. As an estimate I think about 50 people stroked her and some talked to me.

We came home and she slept for a long time.

I have found these last two weeks such hard work, but overall, when I gave her a cardboard shoe-box to play with earlier.....and I saw her tail wagging in joy as she played....my heart melted again.

I would warmly welcome any dog training tips. Particularly how to make / provide home made toys. She has lots of toys which were bought, but they always want something new.

Thanks from Poppy's tired mummy,

Dawn (Sirona)

Sad emo

Hi Sirona

Just one thing with the home made toys - when she gets older she'll only be allowed specific toys with a bell in, so it might be helpful to her to get her used to only playing with toys which have a bell inside

Main thing, she'll need to learn who's the boss!!

Try to get enrolled in a puppy training class too once she's safe to join - that'll get her used to other dogs.

If there are any sites (possibly Guide Dogs for the Blind even!) which describe the actual training when they get older, you may get a few other ideas for getting her off to a good start too - remember, not all puppies make it through to full training, you'll greatly improve her chances if she's had a semi-taster of what's ahead. But she's a puppy yet, so make the learning into a game for her

If I think of anything else later, I'll post. Good luck!

marmot

When my dog was teething I would soak a knotted sock in water and toss it in the freezer.

House training varies depending on the temperament of the dog and can be easy or hell. My dog took a full year to finally get the idea that pooping inside was bad.

I don't know about seeing eye dogs, but I also found crate training very useful. A rule of thumb is that a pup can spend an hour in a crate for every month of age they have up to a maximum of 8. This enforces the toilet training because a dog will prefer not to soil its personal sleeping space, and it is also good for preventing damage while you are out.

DJK

Long walks to release energy.

No old shoes for chew toys.

Sirona

Sad emo,

Just one thing with the home made toys - when she gets older she'll only be allowed specific toys with a bell in, so it might be helpful to her to get her used to only playing with toys which have a bell inside

I didn't know this!

Guide Dogs are great, they have provided me with training info, but you know, nothing is as good as hearing from those who have "been there, done that!"

Let me tell you the training I have to do with her.

She has to learn to wee and poo on command. So when she wees or poos I have to say "busy busy" so that she associated that command with the action. She only does this at home, on concrete, preferably nowhere else.

She eats four times a day. When I feed her I get her to sit (she already knows sit...she got that really quickly) and I have to blow a whistle three times before giving her the food. This is so that they can use the whistle later as a training aid.

She comes when she is called, but I'm reinforcing that all the time.....as she comes to me I say her name and I try not to use her name too much otherwise. When she comes she gets tons of praise and / or a treat.

If she bites or mouths we have to give her something else to chew and ignore the action. Occasionally if she bites and it hurts we are allowed to say OW! in a loud voice. to let her know it is wrong....they learn that in the pack apparently.

She jumps up and bites our toes / ankles / trousers etc. LOL and we are supposed to ignore it.....how easy is that?

She tries to eat the coals in the fire. She tries to chew my sofa. She eats the hinges on the doors, the brass door dividers, the fireplace (which is already showing her chew marks). We never leave her unsupervised.....

She has an "indoor kennel" - cage to you and me. She goes in it at night and when we are out - at the moment I never leave the house for more than 1.5 hours at the very most. She is fine in the kennel, but overall I think the issues surround her having lots of energy because I can't walk her yet.....and wanting to eat everything.

OK everyone who wants this to be purely JW talk on the forum sorry, but I have friends here who could help!

Be charitable. LOL

Sirona

Marmot,

The sock in the freezer idea is excellent. Thank you!

We have a crate. She is doing well with that.

Sirona

oppgirl63

She beautiful! I don't know a lot about homemade toys but I do know labs need a lot of exercise. Frequent walks will do you both good! Good luck.

changeling

She is beautiful!

You may want to pick up:" House Broken in 7 Days", or something like that, I lent it to someone years ago and never saw it again. I'ts an idiot friendly guide to crate trainig and my dog is living proof that it really works.

changeling

Sirona

Alana

OMG....if that those aren't the cutest pics I've seen in a while. Poppy is absolutely ADORABLE! I think that is a wonderful thing you are doing.

I adopted a very special Puppy. Pics...and do you have Tips?

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