Friday, May 8, 2009
Procrastinate
Pro-cras-ti-nate – verb – To put off something until a future time. To postpone or delay needlessly.
This is probably the number one source or reason why so many puppy owners fail their dogs. They come in from work or school and sit down in front of the TV with their favorite beverage looking to unwind. Their new pup sits there in front of them ready, willing, and able to learn but they choose to put off working with the pup until tomorrow. Unfortunately for the pup, tomorrow never comes.
We all live hectic lives. With work, school, social engagements, children’s extracurricular activities, and time with family and church, we never seem to find time for the puppy. If one chooses to purchase a new puppy, Boykin Spaniel, Lab, Golden, or any other breed, then they have to accept the responsibility that goes along with that purchase whether your pup is to be a family companion or your next hunting dog. We have to maximize our time so that we do not fail pup.
Instead of just sitting in the chair in front of the TV, get the family along with the pup and go for a walk, pup needs his daily exercise and the family can use it as well, I know I can. While watching TV, get the pup out of his crate on a leash and work on “Sit”. When you take the pup out to the bathroom, take a few extra seconds to work on sit, here, and heel going and coming from his bathroom spot. Each time you put your pup into his crate, start making him sit, then have him go into the crate on command, “Kennel Up”. Whenever you feed the pup, make the pup sit and wait a moment, then release him for his food. You can do the same for when you offer him water. If you have to run into town to pick up something from the hardware store, take pup along. Riding in a car is a good thing for a young pup to experience and the socialization aspect of meeting new people is priceless.
So here are a few suggestions: Sit down and analyze what it is that you do everyday when you get home from work or school. Now how can you work pup into that routine. Five minutes here and five minutes there really add up because with a young pup, their attention span is so short, that is about all you can get out of them. Also, look at what all can you give up, so that you can give pup more quality time. The reruns of “Friends” or “Jerry Seinfeld”, you have seen them all before, so could you give them up. Just letting pup run loose playing chase with the kids everyday does not qualify for socialization activities or training exercises. While the pup might get physical exercise doing this, think about all the bad habits he is picking up if you allow this to go on throughout puppyhood and beyond. While playing with children is good, it should not be the only activity the pup gets. He will come away thinking that he is supposed to run and play with everyone he sees and will never be able to focus well enough to accept training.
Sitting up when pup is six months of age and thinking; “Well, I might want to think about starting his training now that he is old enough”. You just missed out on the most productive training period of the pups’ life. The pup is old enough to begin training the very moment you arrive home with him, and should not be delayed one single day.
Once you miss this window time during puppyhood, you cannot and will not be able to make it up, not even sending pup off to a professional trainer. Remember, everything that a pup learns within the first 6 to 8 months of his life, with the first 4 months being the most important, is engrained in the pup for life. You cannot get rid of it. You can suppress it through training, but it will always find a way to rear its’ ugly head and usually, at the most inopportune times.
In a previous article we discussed the topic of “Pressure Oriented Training”. The less you do with your new dog as a puppy, the greater the amount of pressure or force that will be required in order to get this dog to perform, even the simplest of tasks such as sit, here, and heel. With all dogs being individuals, some dogs can be salvaged where there are some dogs that cannot. One can never predict which dogs can or cannot be salvaged. This will only be determined with time, training, and expense.
So here is my final bit of advice on this topic: If you are planning on getting a new Boykin Spaniel puppy, then this should be planned out well in advance so that you are properly prepared. Do not rush the decision or the selection process. Interview your prospective list of breeders and once you find the breeder and breeding pair that you want to obtain a new Boykin Spaniel Puppy from, it is now that you must be prepared to wait. Getting a pup from a specific breeding might take you 6 months to a year, but will pay off for you in the long run. During this time which you are waiting, you need to be doing your homework. Take my guidelines from this blog on “Raising Pup” and read them several times from beginning to end. The more you commit to memory, the better prepared you will be when your new Boykin Spaniel Puppy arrives. Reading the articles one time will not suffice unless you have a photographic memory, which most of us don’t. Also during this waiting period, you will want to start getting together all the puppy supplies and training aids that you are going to be using throughout puppyhood. If you can also start purchasing any training aids or equipment for when you pup starts into the formal phase of retriever training, this will ease the burden of having to run out and spend the money all at once. It is always easier to spend a few dollars here and a few dollars there than it is to spend $100 all at once.
When you are nearing the time for your new Boykin Spaniel Puppy to come home, make sure all of your closest friends know. They will all want to see the pup and this is great socialization, but it is also so they can be made aware that you are committed to the training of this pup. They must be aware that you may be giving up some of the social functions that you might otherwise take part in. Your friends should understand.
As I mentioned in a previous article, start your training journal. This will help you to stay focused. Along with the journal, make yourself a list of short term and long term “Puppy Goals”. Blind retrieves and hand signals do not fall under the category of “Puppy Goals”. The journal along with the list of goals will be vital in keeping you focused and on track with pups’ training.
“You become responsible forever, for what you have tamed”. Antoine de Saint-Expury
This is probably the number one source or reason why so many puppy owners fail their dogs. They come in from work or school and sit down in front of the TV with their favorite beverage looking to unwind. Their new pup sits there in front of them ready, willing, and able to learn but they choose to put off working with the pup until tomorrow. Unfortunately for the pup, tomorrow never comes.
We all live hectic lives. With work, school, social engagements, children’s extracurricular activities, and time with family and church, we never seem to find time for the puppy. If one chooses to purchase a new puppy, Boykin Spaniel, Lab, Golden, or any other breed, then they have to accept the responsibility that goes along with that purchase whether your pup is to be a family companion or your next hunting dog. We have to maximize our time so that we do not fail pup.
Instead of just sitting in the chair in front of the TV, get the family along with the pup and go for a walk, pup needs his daily exercise and the family can use it as well, I know I can. While watching TV, get the pup out of his crate on a leash and work on “Sit”. When you take the pup out to the bathroom, take a few extra seconds to work on sit, here, and heel going and coming from his bathroom spot. Each time you put your pup into his crate, start making him sit, then have him go into the crate on command, “Kennel Up”. Whenever you feed the pup, make the pup sit and wait a moment, then release him for his food. You can do the same for when you offer him water. If you have to run into town to pick up something from the hardware store, take pup along. Riding in a car is a good thing for a young pup to experience and the socialization aspect of meeting new people is priceless.
So here are a few suggestions: Sit down and analyze what it is that you do everyday when you get home from work or school. Now how can you work pup into that routine. Five minutes here and five minutes there really add up because with a young pup, their attention span is so short, that is about all you can get out of them. Also, look at what all can you give up, so that you can give pup more quality time. The reruns of “Friends” or “Jerry Seinfeld”, you have seen them all before, so could you give them up. Just letting pup run loose playing chase with the kids everyday does not qualify for socialization activities or training exercises. While the pup might get physical exercise doing this, think about all the bad habits he is picking up if you allow this to go on throughout puppyhood and beyond. While playing with children is good, it should not be the only activity the pup gets. He will come away thinking that he is supposed to run and play with everyone he sees and will never be able to focus well enough to accept training.
Sitting up when pup is six months of age and thinking; “Well, I might want to think about starting his training now that he is old enough”. You just missed out on the most productive training period of the pups’ life. The pup is old enough to begin training the very moment you arrive home with him, and should not be delayed one single day.
Once you miss this window time during puppyhood, you cannot and will not be able to make it up, not even sending pup off to a professional trainer. Remember, everything that a pup learns within the first 6 to 8 months of his life, with the first 4 months being the most important, is engrained in the pup for life. You cannot get rid of it. You can suppress it through training, but it will always find a way to rear its’ ugly head and usually, at the most inopportune times.
In a previous article we discussed the topic of “Pressure Oriented Training”. The less you do with your new dog as a puppy, the greater the amount of pressure or force that will be required in order to get this dog to perform, even the simplest of tasks such as sit, here, and heel. With all dogs being individuals, some dogs can be salvaged where there are some dogs that cannot. One can never predict which dogs can or cannot be salvaged. This will only be determined with time, training, and expense.
So here is my final bit of advice on this topic: If you are planning on getting a new Boykin Spaniel puppy, then this should be planned out well in advance so that you are properly prepared. Do not rush the decision or the selection process. Interview your prospective list of breeders and once you find the breeder and breeding pair that you want to obtain a new Boykin Spaniel Puppy from, it is now that you must be prepared to wait. Getting a pup from a specific breeding might take you 6 months to a year, but will pay off for you in the long run. During this time which you are waiting, you need to be doing your homework. Take my guidelines from this blog on “Raising Pup” and read them several times from beginning to end. The more you commit to memory, the better prepared you will be when your new Boykin Spaniel Puppy arrives. Reading the articles one time will not suffice unless you have a photographic memory, which most of us don’t. Also during this waiting period, you will want to start getting together all the puppy supplies and training aids that you are going to be using throughout puppyhood. If you can also start purchasing any training aids or equipment for when you pup starts into the formal phase of retriever training, this will ease the burden of having to run out and spend the money all at once. It is always easier to spend a few dollars here and a few dollars there than it is to spend $100 all at once.
When you are nearing the time for your new Boykin Spaniel Puppy to come home, make sure all of your closest friends know. They will all want to see the pup and this is great socialization, but it is also so they can be made aware that you are committed to the training of this pup. They must be aware that you may be giving up some of the social functions that you might otherwise take part in. Your friends should understand.
As I mentioned in a previous article, start your training journal. This will help you to stay focused. Along with the journal, make yourself a list of short term and long term “Puppy Goals”. Blind retrieves and hand signals do not fall under the category of “Puppy Goals”. The journal along with the list of goals will be vital in keeping you focused and on track with pups’ training.
“You become responsible forever, for what you have tamed”. Antoine de Saint-Expury
# posted by Clay Black @ 12:23 PM 
Comments:
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Thanks for your reply to my previous comment. Wolter's techniques focusing on basic obedience and encouraging a dog's desire to enjoy the training process in the first six months of life was evident this past January on a chukar hunt in Nevada. I was hunting with a friend of my father who owns a vizla. Tobey had never hunted with another dog or yet been taught to honor. It was cold with 6 inches of fresh snow and a stiff wind. Since he was first brought home, I had made, unbeknownst to him, sit, here,and stay a game that he now takes as part of our daily relationship. The 2 yr old vizla,because of her new found friend, was rambunctious and relatively uncontrollable. To his credit, Tobey showed me the virtues of a twice a day 10-20 minute training regimen by basically ignoring her goofiness, quartering within gun range, sitting on whistle command, marking the bird and returning it to hand.
# posted by 
: May 8, 2009 2:40 PM
: May 8, 2009 2:40 PM
Sounds like you have a great dog with a great foundation. You have seen the value and reward of early training. In actuality, the training at the puppy stage is the easiest of all the stages of training.
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