Training my Tri-Pawed Puppy!

Share your favorite training tips, ideas and methods with other Positively members!

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emmabeth
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Re: Training my Tri-Pawed Puppy!

Post by emmabeth »

Ah yes, the post-seminar de-brief, frankly at times, more useful than the seminar itself!

Laura - yes K9 Connectables are AMAZING, the company sent me a full set a while back to review and for dogs that don't chew with the intent to destroy they are absolutely brilliant (And I think they are working on a bigger, tougher set for dogs who do like to bite harder!)

I am a big fan of having LOTS of toys, but the good toys, the modern toys designed with what dogs actually want to do in mind, not ten thousand tennis balls and a rubber ring that tastes nasty... but toys designed to appeal to a dogs need or desire to pull things apart, to pull one item out of another, to rip open velcro and find the food or to rummage about with their noses and find the food. Check out the Training Lines pet shop https://www.traininglines.co.uk/ as they stock an excellent range of puzzle toys and interactive toys!

Some adult dogs do grow out of playing, and particularly dogs that have full time jobs, but many dogs will continue to play with toys all their lives (my Deerhound does and shes technically an old lady now) so they can be a good investment.
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JudyN
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Re: Training my Tri-Pawed Puppy!

Post by JudyN »

LovelyLaura wrote: Wed May 10, 2017 7:02 amA girl I know can get her lurcher to bark when she says "talk" - how do you do that? :lol:
When Jasper started to sit by the back door when he needed to go out (even if we were in the front of the house :roll: ) I would go to the door, put my hand on the handle, and look at him. He'd look a bit confused, and then whine a little, at which point I praised him and let him out. Gradually he got the idea that he needed to make a sound, and gradually I asked for more and more noise until it turned into a bark - and then he would bark to go out.

I then linked it to the cue 'What do you say?' and a hand signal (holding my hand up and opening and closing my fingers like a duck's beak opening and shutting), and soon he would make a noise when I did that in any context. Sometimes he can't come out with a bark and just manages a lurcher-type 'Errooaaar' (or words to that effect), other times it's such a loud bark it even surprises him :lol:

It's a great fun command because if someone gives him a treat I can ask him 'What do you say?' so he barks thank you. I can also impress small children by asking him a sum and secretly using the hand signal till he's done the correct number of barks. Though sometimes he overthinks it and when asked 'What's 1 + 2?' comes out with 'Erroooharuuuuraaa'....

Sometimes, when he's very whingy, it comes out very clearly as 'OhMumMumMum'. I'd love to be able to put that on cue and then make a fortune out of my speaking dog :lol:
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
LovelyLaura
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Re: Training my Tri-Pawed Puppy!

Post by LovelyLaura »

Omg, you have got to be kidding me! I just spend the last like 45 minutes writing a reply, including a few [minor] dramas we had in this last few days and I clicked submit, went to the loo, and came back and it has disappeared! :cry: I could cry right now :cry: I think I will just make a cuppa and head to bed and re-write it tomorrow! :cry:
Mamma to Charlie - a Lurcher x Collie puppy born in late Jan 2017 :D

Gotcha Day - 22nd March 2017
Tri-pawd Day - 20th April 2017
LovelyLaura
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Re: Training my Tri-Pawed Puppy!

Post by LovelyLaura »

On a whim, I tried literally going back in my browser and the text was all still in a previous page! :lol: :lol: :lol:

On the idea of the de-briefing, whatever it is in regards to, I always maintain that you should get the information - either reading some different sources or a seminar, or video, or whatever, and then critically evaluate it, and the more information you have, then you can make an informed decision. :D

Thankfully Charlie hasn't started properly/destructively chewing yet - it is simply teething frustrations. Earlier today, we were visiting my Granda and my Great Auntie is visiting from Scotland, and Charlie had grabbed one of Granda's special support socks off the floor - about £30 a pair - everyone started getting very loud and "oh god get it off him" and my 14 year old brother went to chase after him into the kitchen, and I had to firmly re-seat him! Waving for everyone to calm the h*ll down, I just went in to the kitchen after him and told him to "give" and he immediately released the sock - it was a bit slobbery, but it was for washing anyway (Charlie wouldn't have stolen it if it was clean! :lol: ). No fuss, no drama and certainly no shouting! He also later went to sleep on my knee, and after like 20 minutes of sitting opposite the two of us, my mum goes, sh*t, where is the dog?!?! Him lying flopped across my knee - hadn't moved or made a sound - he was totally out for the count! :lol: :lol:

I signed up for the ScoobyBox (Ireland's version of the Bark Box) so every month we get 2 new toys and a few bags of treats - May's will be here in about a week, and he has still only had one toy from the April's box! I don't wana give him too many that he gets distracted and won't actually play with any of them, but he has got 4 soft toys with squeakers inside them (a cat, a rabbit, a horse and a weird tube shaped hedgehog!) and he loves to lie and squeak them - I can now tell which one he has from the noise :roll: He also has a Nybone chew bone for puppies and it is a life saver when he starts mouthing - you can nearly feel the relief he gets once he starts chomping on it! Once he has gotten his lunch in the K9 Connectables, I left them out the first day and he continued to have a bit of a chew on them for the rest of the afternoon - its so refreshing to hear his teeth properly rubbing on the toy - you just know he is getting relief from it.

I'd love Charlie to be able to have some sort of job when he is grown, but I imagine him having 3 legs will pretty much rule that out! But I'd also settle for a job for me where I could take him with me! :lol:
JudyN wrote: Wed May 10, 2017 8:40 am Sometimes he can't come out with a bark and just manages a lurcher-type 'Errooaaar' (or words to that effect), other times it's such a loud bark it even surprises him :lol:

It's a great fun command because if someone gives him a treat I can ask him 'What do you say?' so he barks thank you. I can also impress small children by asking him a sum and secretly using the hand signal till he's done the correct number of barks. Though sometimes he overthinks it and when asked 'What's 1 + 2?' comes out with 'Erroooharuuuuraaa'....

Sometimes, when he's very whingy, it comes out very clearly as 'OhMumMumMum'. I'd love to be able to put that on cue and then make a fortune out of my speaking dog :lol:
I am getting to know all about those "lurcher noises" - they are so strange, but also amazing! And I know exactly the noise you mean when he whingy! :lol: :lol:

It has been a pretty busy few days, he has now [sometimes] mastered lying down, and staying, while I leave the room, but now, instead of being stuck to the inside of the door when I come back in, he will be still lying on the blanket! :D :D And today we went to an open day/coffee morning at the shelter where we got him from, and learned that as soon as mum and the pups had been rescued from the "Pound", mum had to be put to sleep :cry: I got the feeling I wasn't even meant to have know that much, because one of the "kennel girls" was showing him to the others and saying how he was from the "Lurcher litter A, the rescued from you know where". I just felt it was a little unfair, as they didn't seem majorly surprised when I told them the vet has said he was malnourished and mum must have been a stray and as such he didn't get a good start in life. I know going into major details could put a lot of people off, them not wanting a "damaged" pet, but we could have maybe been more careful with him or got him supplements or something to help get him back on track faster, or generally just been aware - and maybe we could have saved 2/3 operations and once the first attempt to set his leg failed, we could have made an educated decision then to stop trying to save it. Am I wrong to thing like that? Or should I have just assumed that pups from a shelter wouldn't be 100% healthy and have had wonderful pre-natal care?

Also what is the best/safest way for a pup to travel in the car? Charlie is in a soft-sided crate as my car is pretty tiny - it takes up almost all of the back seat! Leaving the socialisation class last week I noticed a lot of people just putting the dog into the back of the car and closing the door. Is it just because I have a crazy puppy, or is that generally a horrible idea?!

That reminds me of the fairly horrible experience we had at his socialisation class - it is specific for shier or nervous dog, its an off lead field, with a trainer and all the owners, and the dog can just play and mix, and Charlie loved the first one we were at, but we had to limit his playing as he still had staples in! This time I didn't have my OH as he was working, and a few minutes after we got into the yard, waiting for everyone to arrive before going to the field, and Charlie went over to greet a Chocolate Lab (like 3 times his size) and the lab was clearly terrified, and growled and snapped at Charlie, who went flying off in the opposite direction! And this set the tone for the rest of the evening - he was so defensive, and uncomfortable (to my eyes), he calmed down in little bits, but he was trying to lie in the play tunnel, and obviously there were other dogs coming into it, and a few times, I had to drag him out of the tunnel, with him snapping and barking and growling at the dogs that had came near him. I had never seen him like this (asides from when he broke his leg, but that was caused by trauma and then the severe pain). One of the other lady's, who is totally lovely as are her dogs, very kindly told me that I needed to basically leave him alone and let him learn how to behave in those situations (I was trying to follow him around and basically prevent him having to be that scared to defend himself) - that is why we come to the class, the trainer and another lady bring around 4 very good dogs, basically as examples/reliable playmates. I know that me constantly hovering will only teach him that fear is the correct response, but I just seemed to observe him lying in submission to the other dogs, including ones half his size! Could his lack of leg be putting him at a disadvantage for allow a suitable dog response - ie, run away, as the field was quite uneven and he wasn't always steady/stable when changing direction, etc. I obviously don't want to "mother" him to excess, but at the same time, I don't want to just leave him a sitting duck, where is will just think his only option is to surrender to this other more dominate dog. I could see the white around most of his eyes any time a dog approached him, and when not trying to hide in the tunnel, he tried lying in the quietest corner of the field and basically freaked out any time any dog came near him. At the charity day which was today (Sat), he was fine around other dogs, as long as they didn't bark and if they barked (or one in the immediate area did), his ears would flatten down and his tail drop. I'm worried he will end up afraid of dogs, as he will probably have to go in to some form of day care as I will eventually have to go back to work, and for boarding/kennels in the future - not so much holidays, but weddings and things like that!

Sorry again for the long post - there is always something to keep you thinking and worrying with a puppy! :roll:
Mamma to Charlie - a Lurcher x Collie puppy born in late Jan 2017 :D

Gotcha Day - 22nd March 2017
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JudyN
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Re: Training my Tri-Pawed Puppy!

Post by JudyN »

Jasper travels in the back seat unrestrained for shorter journeys, and is in a harness that clips to the seat belt attachment for longer journeys on faster roads. But he's big enough that there's no way he could try to join us in the front seat, and when he was younger he was always strapped in because he was more likely to bounce around the car then.

I don't think you should let him 'get on with it' at the socialisation group. He doesn't learn that other dogs are OK while he's frightened of them. It would be like chucking me in a pit of spiders with no way out and expecting me to learn to be comfortable with them.... Being in a situation where he's fearful now could affect him for life. He needs to be within his comfort zone - so watch other dogs at a distance he's happy at, treat him as he watches the dogs, and gradually work closer, but not so close he's afraid. If a dog runs up to him, block it - you want him to know you will protect him and he can trust you to keep him safe. When he's ready, let him meet dogs one at a time - Jasper is noticeably more anxious if a couple of largeish dogs greet him at the same time.

I'm not an expert - I'm sure others will have more advice :D
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
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Re: Training my Tri-Pawed Puppy!

Post by Nettle »

JudyN is spot-on right - you cannot 'socialise' in an atmosphere of fear, and I cannot stress strongly enough that daycare where dogs are allowed to mix unrestrained is a horribly bad idea and traumatises some dogs. As a 3 legged dog yours will be perceived as weak by others, and he already knows this too. Lurchers in general are not party-lovers: they have individual friends but they mostly don't care for other dogs unless it's another sighthound. So now is the time to research other options. In my working days, mine were fine with a long walk before work, breakfast, lunchtime loo break and as long walk on my return. Being shut in a vehicle with a pro dog walker's other customers is a no-no too. If you have one you can trust, make sure he is walked on his own, but frankly it is better for us to lose dome sleep and walk our dogs ourselves.
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Re: Training my Tri-Pawed Puppy!

Post by LovelyLaura »

I can't believe it has been a month since I have had time to post here! To say it has been a crazy month would be an understatement! Granda was in hospital and was then diagnosed with lung cancer, while my mum (his main hospital-appointment and organiser of everything for him) is in Australia, and in the middle of all that, I was casually applying for jobs and within 3 days of my first application, I had an interview and was asked to start the day after!! (I had expected it to take weeks if not months for me to even get one interview, never mind an actual job!) So I had to try Charlie in a daycare - on such short notice, I couldn't arrange anyone to watch him in our house, etc. My first day was only a few hours and when I went to pick him up from day care, it took 10 minutes to get him into the car - he just wanted to go back in and play!!! :lol: :lol: :lol: and this is now the same routine every time I go to pick him up! We tested it out as to why he was reluctant to get into the car (in case he needed to pee or something), and when we put him down, he would just run back in the gate and over to the gate into the arena! We have since found one close to home and all the staff love him and are genuinely amazed by him - he apparently is the fastest and most energetic dog they have! I was really worried about sending him into that group situation, but he clearly loves it. He gets all interested when he spots when I am turning in, and we don't even need to put the lead on him or carry him to the gate. Lift him out of the car and set him down, and turn back to close the door and by the time I turn around again he is sitting by the gate (few meters away) waiting for them to open it, and he just runs straight in and starts doing laps of the inner yard! It is so good to see how keen he is to go and play, but a little part of me break inside when he just runs away so freely! :cry: The various staff are also helping to work on his separation issues while he is there as well, opening the gate allowing him into the office once he stops barking, etc, which is great to know that they are willing to work with us, and not just toss him in with the other dogs and expect him to cope. (One of the guys told me he takes Charlie into the toilet with him so he doesn't get upset! :lol: :lol: )

Myself and a friend took him to an fun day for Dog's Trust and he was totally in his element! So many dogs to say hello to and so many people to love him!! He had me mortified though, he would literally beg food off every person who stopped with him and once they gave him a treat once (after asking me), if we walked past them again, Charlie would just stop walking and sit at their feet waiting for another treat! :roll: I also entered him in the Cutest Puppy and he won the Judge's Special Prize cuz the lady just totally loved him!!

He has made such good progress in general in the month, he has *almost* toilet trained himself - rings to go out and gets treats if he does, and if he wees in the house, we just clean it up and say nothing, and he has had one or 2 pees in the house in the last week maybe? We have totally done away with his puppy pen and moved his crate under the stairs (still got clear line of sight into our bedroom), for a week or so we put two panels of the puppy pen over our bedroom door to restrict him to the tiled hall (he still peed occasionally over night), but I moved them last week to clean a puddle that ran underneath one, and I put them outside to air off and realised they were still outside at 11pm and I wasn't bothered going out to get them. Bar 5 mins walking around our room (my other half was away that night and I think Charlie realised he wasn't here) he just stayed in his bed in the hall. :D He will also lie in his bed for naps, and won't get up when we move (unless he hears a food wrapper! :roll: ), same if he is lying on his blanket in the kitchen, he will follow if he thinks we are gona do something interesting - like open the washing machine (so he can lick the water off the door) or get food for ourselves (which might mean something for Charlie!), but most of the time he just looks at ya and then puts his head down again :D

His recall is improving, but we have not yet properly tested it in public as he can be a little hit and miss when in the front garden, which is open cuz of the drive - he was so good at the start, would sniff around the grass and our shrubs while I put bags in the car and locked the door and then put him in the car, but recently he has started to get over-confident and venture up the street, resulting in me chasing him in a skirt and (little) heels, while trying not to "actively" chase him! :roll: His lead walking is still a disaster, but we haven't been actively working on that - he is so exhausted when he gets home from being at day care that walking him isn't even an option - he just sleeps all evening! :roll: But he did have an upset tummy that lasted for about 2 weeks (we thought it was a combination of us gradually changing his food, and him lying in my mum's veg patch eating her old spring onion plants!), but the vet confirmed today that he has some little bug and while his poop is back to normal (after I put him back on the new dog food after the last of the chicken and rice we had cooked was off, and I'd no car). But he's been on medication and pro-biotics for 10 days, as well as chicken and rice and he had been getting so skinny - he just looked horrible. 3 days back on dog food and he is already visibly filling out!

He is now about 4 and a half months old, 9kg give or take (will be confirmed tomorrow as he needs weighted for his worming tablets) and can just about touch his nose to the underside of our kitchen table!!! He is going to be huge!!

Things are fairly drama-free here for now, but I would say that will all change in 6/8 weeks time, once he starts to hit puberty! :O Thanks for everyone's advice so far and I look forward to getting more once he becomes a "crazy teenage lurcher" :roll:
Mamma to Charlie - a Lurcher x Collie puppy born in late Jan 2017 :D

Gotcha Day - 22nd March 2017
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JudyN
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Re: Training my Tri-Pawed Puppy!

Post by JudyN »

Oh, he sounds wonderful! :D Be careful that as he matures he doesn't start to get overwhelmed or more anxious round other dogs at daycare. Dogs lose their 'puppy licence' at around 6 months and other dogs may become less tolerant of his bounciness. Alternatively, when adolescence strikes me might start to get a kick out of bullying and goading other dogs. Not something to worry about of course, just something to be aware of. I love that the staff at daycare will take him to the loo with them :lol:

Also, I think spring onions can be poisonous to dogs (as will all members of the onion family. The odd nibble now and then might not be a problem, but it's probably best to avoid him having any.

I'm so sorry to hear your grandad has cancer :(
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
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Nettle
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Re: Training my Tri-Pawed Puppy!

Post by Nettle »

Sorry for your family news.

Delighted to hear your dog is making such good progress, and echo what JudyN says.

And thanks for the feedback - we LOVE feedback. We love photos too.... :wink: Your FB page does not allow me access.
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Re: Training my Tri-Pawed Puppy!

Post by LovelyLaura »

Sorry for the even bigger delay again! But, ya know, life! (and my laptop died a slow painful death too, so that didn't help! :roll: )

Charlie is now 6 months old and now 13.6kg as of 2 days ago when he went in to be neutered! As he is a Tri-pawd, he needs an inflatable collar and a normal one from the vet to stop him getting at the stitches! (He is the only dog I have ever seen who will stand up, bend around and lick his weiner!! :shock: ) Still a bit hit and miss with his poops, but we have him on a grain-free food exclusive to Pets At Home (can't remember the name as we keep it in a plastic container and the big bag in the cupboard!), but this now seems to be going the other way and making it harder for him to poop, watching him doing it he really seems to be struggling. This bag of food is finished with his breakfast, so I will go into the store again in the morning, Charlie can get a good fussing over and and I chat to the lady that works there as she really knows her dog foods and what works, etc :)

Finally started doing "loose walking" with him and literally on day 3 of doing it, I had been in the full back garden with him hanging out washing or emptying a bin or something, and I realised he was walking/hopping along at my right hand side (with his nose right beside my palm - I'd use "touch" as a way of helping getting him into the right position originally), and he was panting away and looking up at me very expectantly! So I went in and grabbed a handful of treats and he followed me around the garden in a perfect position for about 15 mins :D The today, I dropped my friend off at the train station and me and Charlie praticed "walk nice" in the big empty car park, and up towards the main building, and then we sat and had lots of treats as the train pulled in (behind an almost soild metal fence) and left again, all while we sat less than 10m away :D (his first encounter with a train) We done the same thing during the week while there was thunder - he rang the bells to get out to see what the torrental rain was doing, so we were standing in the open doorway when the thunder rumbled across and inside I nearly sh*t myself, but on the outside I got all excited like when he pees/poops outside, and he then got excited, tail going and then I got him to lie down in the open door way and we had yummy treats. Few days later, more thunder, and he immediately looked at me and then ran over to me and I got excited again and then he lay down before being told :D

I am really starting to see the (teenage) lurcher coming out in him more and more - he knows he gets into our bed around 7am and he will stand beside me and if I don't make a move to lift him in, he will "bark" once - but its more the weird noise they all do! :lol: But the thing I am loving the most about him recently is that he just adores his cuddles! On the sofa, in bed in the mornings, he lay on my knee outside the other half's work this afternoon for 45 minutes, just watching the traffic and people - not a peep out of him, no barking, no pulling to get down and play, just chilled (I had just walked him around town for like 45 mins which probably helped! :lol: :lol: )

As for photos, I realised I hadn't uploaded any at all in around 6 weeks, so I am uploading a ton more now :D How can I add them into the forums, as they are all too large?

Also, just want to let you all know that any time anyone mentions to me about them having an doggie issues, I tell them to come on here to the forums, and even just have a read, and then if the problem is serious/large, then they can still get a trainer, but at least they should have some knowledge in advance - because you girls are all invaluable! :D :D :D :D :D :D
Mamma to Charlie - a Lurcher x Collie puppy born in late Jan 2017 :D

Gotcha Day - 22nd March 2017
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JudyN
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Re: Training my Tri-Pawed Puppy!

Post by JudyN »

Oh wow, he sounds like he's got a perfect balance of collie & lurcher - really smart, but also really chilled :D

What photo hosting site do you use? You'll need to create smaller versions, but some sites (such as Flickr, which I use) will have an easy way of generating a url for a smaller version.
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
LovelyLaura
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Re: Training my Tri-Pawed Puppy!

Post by LovelyLaura »

Judy, I had just been uploading them to my Facebook profile and into a public album :D I'll take a look at Flickr now :)
Mamma to Charlie - a Lurcher x Collie puppy born in late Jan 2017 :D

Gotcha Day - 22nd March 2017
Tri-pawd Day - 20th April 2017
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