Re: [PyrNet-L] New with questions

Hi Merrilee! I must apologise firstly for getting your name wrong in my first post. I too have a Dalmatian in addition to the Pyrs. Great dogs but sooo different to 'the soft ones'.:-D (My favourite saying is that the Pyrs give 'Huggles' while my Dally gives 'Wiggles'!)

Regarding your question on obedience training. The earlier you start the better. The optimum period for learning for a pup is from about 4 to 12 weeks of age. If you can imprint some good habits during this period you will be well ahead - they just soak in the learning at this age! Of course you have to continue to reinforce what the pup learns, but you can teach a pup to walk on a lead, sit, drop, stand and even stay for short periods at this age. Of course, because they are pups and have a very short attention span, any teaching should be done in very short sessions (5 minutes max - train in the ad breaks on TV to gauge the time :-D), should be made lots of fun for the pup, should be done with lots of positive reinforcement eg praise, pats, cuddles, belly rubs, play and treats - good smelly treats like small bits of hard cheese, sausage, hot dogs, salami, leftover roast etc rather than dry, crunchy or crumbly ones. Make them small too - they should be 'gobbled and gone'. The book I mentioned in my earlier post will show you how to do it. Another good book is 'Dog Training: The Gentle Modern Method" by David Weston which has lots great pictures to illustrate how to go about teaching your pup - much easier than just reading about it.

If you can you might want to try and find a vet that runs puppy socialisation classes. They can be a big help in the eary stages before the pup is fully immunised and able to go to a kindy class run by a club/trainer etc. You should be able to take your pup along to club/trainer classes from about three months of age (thats the way it works here anyway). Try to find one that believes in motivational training (an easy way to check this is to ask if they train using food - if they don't believe in using food to train a dog it is usually a pretty good gauge that they don't use motivational methods).

A good thing to use instead of 'NO' if you wish is to growl at your puppy (sharp AAGGH!!). Puppies seem to recognise this sound as being similar to one another dog would make if they were doing something 'naughty' and can often desist a lot quicker that with 'NO' (But if 'No' is working, keep using it). Oh, If your Dally decides to 'discipline' the pup, it is often a good idea not to tell him off for it, but to 'discipline' the pup at the same time the older dog does. This will help teach the pup manners around other dogs (refer to the Suzanne Clothier article in my previous post for more info). If you have an older dog that will help 'teach the pup manners', count yourself lucky. I am ever grateful for my Dally 'Cookie' who is a great disciplinarian and will not take rubbish or bad manners from any puppy. 'Halley' my older Pyr however, just lets them walk all over her with a resigned look on her face - great fun for the pups, but not a good way to learn that they can't do this to EVERY dog they meet!!!