ohhh… aint she cute?
arun on Feb 28 2008 at 5:56 am | Filed under: family diary | Click here to go HOME | or find out about SUBSCRIBING TO THE PIT |
It was a three pronged coordinated attack. Despite me thinking that a dog would be too much, I faced M talking about how much she would love one; Z dropping everything and yelling in excitement whenever a dog went past; and Anne finding the “perfect” dog in the paper… So I caved and we have done the puppy thing. Let me introduce Lulu (i was pushing for “Killer” but was outvoted).
I would love to hear any tips on puppy’s and kids or just on puppy training in general… if you have ideas or links please feel free to leave them in the comments below. (as mentioned in the last post i would make a terrible rat trainer… so i think that ive got a steep learning curve with dog training too)
Superpuppy by Daniel Manus Pinkwater and Jill Pinkwater is a terrific book for learning to train and live happily with a dog.
On amazon.com: http://tinyurl.com/2y82tt
Oh my but she is a cutie patootie.
I even use his techniques on people hahaha. 
Good luck with your new addition - she looks like a sweetheart.
My advice is LOTS of love but to also remember dogs, like people, will behave exactly how you tell them it is ok to behave. We always made sure to we would only feed them once they were sitting nicely, we’d pet them while they ate, we’d take the food away (even out of their mouths) and then return it so they would know early on how to behave when fed. We never wanted a growling issue at mealtime and we wanted them to know without a doubt who was truly in charge (loving but in charge :-). And for the BEST advice I recommend reading up on the breed (duh I know) and watching The Dog Whisperer … he ROCKS!
Congrats!
We have a a Lulu as well. Actually she is Cthulhu (as in Lovecraft’s Call of Cthulhu which is much closer in spirit to “killer”) but it shortens wonderfully to just Lulu.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rtsanjabi/267958517/
Sorry, I wish I had some puppy advice for you but since having a baby everything from my previous life has somehow leaked out of my brain. I do seem to recall that they are easier to potty train than a child, but maybe they are just quicker.
Hate to break the bad news Aaron, but consistency is definitely the key here with puppies.
Looks like it will get plenty of love - so no problem there.
Puppies will chew, they go through teething, but stop any nipping or biting of people as soon as it happens. Puppies and dogs for that matter will not remember why you are saying *no!* if you leave it a few minutes. So tell M and Z they will need to say *no* as soon as the puppy does something you guys have decided is a no-no.
It is MUCH harder to train an older dog, so start gently and start early and it won’t be too difficult. Just be repetitive and consistent and gentle.
Don’t forget to explain to M and Z that the dog has boundaries too, like no tail pulling, ear pulling, poking eyes out. What we did with all our dogs, even before I had kids was to regularly put my hand in their food while they were eating and as they got older removing their food while they were eating so that they do not become protective of their food and bite when a kid goes near their bowl. We also patted and touched all areas of the dog while they were eating. Even stroking over the eyes, under the belly, gently pulling the tail (babies will do that no matter how much you try to avoid it), play with their paws and between their toes so they get used to being handled for when you cut their nails. Toilet training I’ll leave that for you to look up only because it would take up too much room to explain here.
Check out any puppy schools if you are thinking along those lines, some are good, some are not so good.
all the best! Dogs are great and so good for kids and kids are so good for dogs.
Oh, she’s adorable! And definitely looks like a Lulu.
Agree with Joyce. I have shown dogs for almost 30 years and Cezar Milan is the best for training and understanding dogs. What a cute puppy!
Good luck!
Ah jealous much! Yep dogs respond best to consistency, try to remember they are not kids (and thus will not being growing into adults) and therefore it is more about behaviour manipulation than anything else LOL. Dogs respond well to praise, and they never develop past a point where praise is damaging ;).
I personally think it is possible to overthink training dogs. People go on about not letting a dog in your bed, but they say the same thing about kids ;). (Pre-kids) our dogs would sometimes share a bed, the older one was never comfortable with it but the younger was a co-sleeping puppy and we eventually moved her out as she took up too much room. We never had issues with them thinking they were the boss. You can show in plenty of other ways that you are pack leader. I recommend researching wolf pack behaviour just for fun ;).
Be the Leader of the Pack, by Cesar Millan… The Dog Whisperer. I’ve had dogs my entire life and I learned so much from this book. Best advice for dog owners I have ever read.
hi arun,
what kind of pooch is Lulu… I’m researching for a pup of my own when we finish travelling around this great continent, which won’t be for a couple of years, even though I want my pup now
she’s adorable…
cheers
Beverley
I definately second Cesar Milan as a place to start reading. Helps you understand the need for you dog to be part of a healthy pack (your family) and to know and be secure in her place therein. Great book to read.
Anno
Hi Arun,
Congratulations on the new family member she is very cute.
I agree with what others have posted.
Puppies need consistancy and clear guidelines that everyone in your family know. They need lots of socialisation, take her for lots of walks in interesting places so she gets used to all situations and encourage her to be calm . Take her into crowds, across bridges, in water and waves, in the car, beside the kids bikes, she needs to learn to listen to her pack wherever she is and whatever is happening. Basic dog obedience is so worthwhile and dog obedience clubs can teach you and your pup as much or as little as you want to know.
I also recomend Dr Ian Billingtons book “Give Your Dog a Bone” for info on feeding your dog.
Blessings
Louise
Gorgeously cute!
One thing that struck me after reading lots of puppy training manuals is that they consistently said that your puppy will be best socialised if you try to make sure that all their early encounters with other dogs and humans are happy ones.
Interestingly conventional wisdom seems to require that we do the opposite for our children. They need to be toughened up in schools.
We followed the puppy way for our children too and they seem well socialised now.
Enjoy your adorable puppy and children!
Kath
I agree with what the above poster - Stacey - says. Attachment parenting and attachment puppying go hand in hand around here and our dogs are WONDERFUL and well-behaved.
I think the best thing you can do for your puppy is …..get another puppy!!! HA! I’m serious. Two puppies will always entertain each other and you’ll have seriously sleepy puppies every night instead of a wide awake pitiful puppy every night.
Good luck and have fun!
I have to agree with Michelle and disagree with those who mention the Dog Whisperer. There is a lot of controvesy surrounding him…specifically about abuse to dogs in his care.
We used only positive methods with our lab puppy when we got her about 1.5 yrs ago. She is a lab…and retrievers are very mouthy…but we did not scold her as that is very natural for that breed. Instead we did what her puppy mates would do. When she hurt us with her mouth we would YELP!!! (I was much better at this than my hubby) and she would get a little worried but now she seldom puts her mouth on us (I don’t call it biting because I don’t feel that is what she is doing) and when she does it is in a very gentle way. EVERY dog will bite in some situation (and you may never have a dog that is put in that type of situation but it is out there) and I would rather have my dog put her mouth on someone very gentle to give a warning because we taught her to use her mouth gentle when she does use it…instead of having her hurt someone.
The other piece of advice is to feed your puppy from your hand for a LONG time. It is so much easier to throw a bowl on the floor but if you feed them from your hand (and I would recommend bringing each piece up to eye level so your dog looks you in the eye before giving it to you) you are spending quality one on one time. You can also use their food as training treats. It is a misnomer that a dog needs to be fed out of a dish. Put their daily kibble amount in a baggy in your pocket and whenever then are doing something good throw them a piece or two.
Some excellent books to check out:
Train Your Dog the Lazy Way ~ Andrea Arden
Dog Friendly Dog Training ~Andrea Arden
Positive Puppy Training Works ~ Joel Walton
Living With Kids & Dogs…Without Losing Your Mind ~ Colleen Pelar
Anything by Ian Dunbar…but a good one is After you Get Your Puppy.
Good Luck!!
Thanks everyone,
ive ordered the Milan books via the library and amazon and will check out the others ones you mentioned above. Thanks too for the suggestions, feel free to keep them coming…
at the moment we have on excited and snappy puppy, so im open to any advice.
we were going to do puppy school, but M has insisted that we homeschool her! Thus the quest for books.
thanks again!
arun
No advise, sort of raised the pup as I did the kids… learned as I went along LOL