When your puppy tests your limits...

I like to think of myself as someone who knows quite a bit about raising and training a puppy. I've completed training courses, read heaps of books and helped others with their puppy problems. Well let me tell you – Cooper is seriously testing me at the moment.  It’s like he is going through his terrible twos, or naughty teenage stage. He is constantly pushing the boundaries and seems to be overexcited most of the time!!

Thankfully there is an explanation behind this naughty and cheeky faze – it is called Puberty or Puppy Adolescence!!                            

You will know when your pup is going through it because he or she seems to forget everything they has previously learned. Like a teenager going through puberty, your puppy also changes physiologically. Your awareness of these changes in behaviour will help get you through this commonly difficult period. So this is the time that you must be tough and keep up the training – I promise you it will be worth it down the track. Take your pup to obedience classes, be tough and stick to it!  If your pup has somehow forgotten the "come command" it might be a good time to keep your pup on leash when walking. Jase and I only let Coop off the leash now when we go to the small park near home. This park never has any other dogs and is quiet without distractions. So we actually use it as a good place to do training with Coop. It's a perfect spot for us to re- practice the command “Come” with Coop off lead. Lately if we let him off the lead in the bigger park near our home which is always filled with dogs – he just gets too excited, charges at the dogs and more often than not and doesn’t come back when called. We've always wanted Coop to be an off the lead dog but in order for him to get there, he needs to gain our trust back and this reinforced training is the best way to go about it!   

A good example of Cooper’s naughty behaviour was last Saturday when I took Coop out for a walk. I was ready to go for a good long one but unfortunately the walk only lasted ten minutes - it was disastrous!! The second we walked out the front door Cooper saw another dog, and got uncontrollably excited.  At now nearly 30kg in weight he's getting too strong for me to handle and I couldn't hold him back. His behaviour was actually embarrassing- especially for me! This troublesome behaviour continued on after the dog had left and I got super frustrated! I decided to go home and have some time out and try again in a short time. Dogs can really sense your energy and they tend to feed of it, so I needed to calm down and get my energy right before taking Coop out again. After I got home I realised that Cooper had been missing for a few minutes. I went looking for him and caught him red handed digging like crazy in the garden, absolutely covered in dirt!!! I got so mad at him – I told him off and put him in his naughty room for time out. After a short while I let him out and the both of us chilled out. A few hours later I ended up taking him out again for a light jog and this time he did great – we passed two other dogs with a quick sniff and then kept going, it was a great feeling. The experience taught me a lot about how my energy passes through to him and that now at nearly 8 months old Cooper's energy levels have definitely increased and we need to find new ways for him to release it!

Between Jase and I, we walk Coop twice a day everyday- we give him toys and games that should stimulate him mentally but he is still just so full of energy! Unfortunately I think his mum was also full of energy until she hit two – but hopefully he will calm down as he matures. In response to this new burst of energy, Jase and I are trying to change some of the activities we do with Coop to help drain some of this energy. So instead of two walks a day we have started running with him a little bit – which he is loving (it is not good for your pups growth to properly run with them until they are 12 months old – so just a light jog at your dogs pace is recommended. Don't push it). We have also found a game that brings out the retriever in him. We make him ‘Sit’ and ‘Stay’ we hide his favourite rope and then ask “Where’s ropey?” and he goes and finds his rope and brings it back to us in such a proud way. He loves it. It is great to let your dog be a dog and bring out the traits in them that they were bread to do! Not only is this great exercise its also very mentally stimulating for him.

The last few weeks have certainly tested my resolve but we are going to stay strong and keep at it!

What do you do with your dog to keep him/her happy and balanced??

Cooper's masterpiece in our garden!!

Taking training to the next level!!

After missing the first few weeks of D.O.G.S of Victoria’s 12 Week Basic Obedience Course – we have finally begun!! I was on such a high after yesterday’s lesson that I just couldn’t resist sharing it with you all!

Cooper is now 7 months old and is doing amazingly (most of the time). 

Although there are still a couple of things that we need to work on – hence the training;

• Pulling on the lead – especially when seeing other dogs. I can’t wait to be able to take him for a good walk with my girlfriends and not worry about the constant tugging and pulling.
• Over excitement when seeing other dogs. When we let him off lead in the park, he will charge at some of the dogs – although it is in a very playful manner some dogs can find this to be very threatening.
• Not always coming when called. This to me is one of the most important commands – your dog should come when called every single time.

I can’t even tell you how much fun the training was and the feeling I got from it.

We had a one hour catch up lesson before the class as we had missed the first three weeks due to Coopers desexing and other commitments. Henry the pug also joined us for the catch up lesson as he had been off with Kennel Cough. We learnt how to heal, come, stay, drop, give, and all these fun fancy turns. It’s like doing a routine.

The second hour was the actual group class with about 11 dogs – all different breeds; weimeraner, pointer, spoodle, cavoodle, kelpie, the list goes on! Cooper was surprisingly more submissive with the other dogs then I had anticipated, which we were happy about. As a group we practiced the routine and spoke about lots of behavioural issues people were having with their dogs.  As expected, Cooper did get a little distracted doing the routine with all the dogs around him, but at least we were able to learnt to correct this with the help of the trainer. Sandra (the trainer) has given us some seriously good take home tips to help with this.

The bonding experience you share with your pooch during training is really incredible. It is a time when you really assert yourself as the pack leader. Jase and I felt like proud parents at the end of it! Our boy did so well and played so nicely with all the other dogs.

And when we got home Cooper did not move from this position for hours!!!

Has your dog hit puberty? Have you considered desexing your dog?

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What do you think about dog parks?

Happy 2013 everyone!! I hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year and got to spend lots of time with your pooches!

Now that I have my own dog, I am no longer 100% sure how I feel about dog parks anymore. I am not going to sit here today and tell you that they are dangerous and you should not take your dogs to them. Rather, I thought I should tell you guys a bit about our experiences of taking Cooper to dog parks and then try to get a response from you guys to see you what you think about them.

Before Cooper came along, my family had a Spoodle, called Ruffi. I loved him to death. Ruffi was not the most social dog so I never got to take him to dog parks. As an absolute dog lover, I always got quite upset about this as I always loved the idea of so many dogs and dog lovers getting together in the one place having so much fun. When I was at university, I had my own little dog walking business. For me this was a great opportunity to start seeing the behaviours of many different breeds of dogs – plus it meant I could start going to dog parks – which I loved!! As they were not my dogs, I was always extra careful and more often then not, kept the dogs on lead during our walks.

When we first took Cooper to the vet – Jase and I had heaps of puppy questions for him. Our vet also has a Golden Retriever so we bonded very quickly. We started chatting about dog parks with the vet. He told us that he never ever takes his dog to dog parks because as a vet, he sees way too many of the negative outcomes. He told us that most of the injured dogs that come in to see him have been injured from a dog fight in a dog park.

Since that conversation, I have been way more cautious and less as excited about dog parks. I love the idea of a dog park for the socialisation and also I think it’s a great way to let your dogs release a lot of their energy. However, not all dogs are as well behaved, trained or friendly as yours. And not all owners care like you do. We learnt this the hard way...

Cooper is only 5 months old now and he has been attacked in a dog park three times (twice by the same dog)!!

When Cooper got attacked the first time, he was very submissive. He didn’t deserve it - he didn't charge at this dog or get over excited like he sometimes does. He actually lay down straight away for the dog to sniff him.  The dogs body got stiff and he very quickly started to maul my puppy!!  The community of people in the park yelled and we got the dog off Cooper before he could get hurt. I took Cooper away from the pack of dogs to get some water and for some time out. I put him on the lead and started to walk out of the park. As I was walking – this dog approached us again and went straight for Cooper. The owner of this dog was deep in conversation with another gentlemen at the other end of the park, not even watching his dog. Why didn’t the owner of this dog put him straight back on the lead after the first attack!? I found out later on that this dog is known in our park as a bit of a bully and has actually done this in the past to other puppies. The thing that angered me the most was that the owner didn’t give a shit. How on earth can you allow a dog off lead in a park if it has attacked a dog in the past?? That is called irresponsible dog ownership if you ask me!! And it ruins the fun for everyone else.

The second dog that attacked Cooper was friendly at first – Coop was actually on the lead with this one too and he went to sniff the dogs bottom and the dog bit him! This time Cooper was actually bleeding. The owners apologised and told us that their dog does not like getting it’s bottom sniffed. It is a dog!!! How can you let a dog off lead that doesn’t like getting it’s back side sniffed?? That’s what dogs do to each other!!

I am now very cautious with Cooper. We go to dog parks far less often than I originally would have liked too. And we never let him off the lead right away. I like to sus out the environment and the dogs and people around. I also have started using the extendable lead in the park as this gives Cooper space to run but still gives us the control over him.

In our few months of owning Cooper, we have come across many passionate and responsible dog owners, however, it is those few irresponsible dog owners that spoil it for the rest of us. I am so passionate about this... All dog owners who let their dogs off lead in dog parks should take responsibility of their dogs so that all of us can actually feel safe taking our dogs off lead.

Do you guys take your dogs to dog parks? 

How do you feel about them?