FrederykBlot

Thanks for the link. That helped, and I was glad to see it concurred with things we already do like putting some random high value treats in the crate when he doesn't see, or never use crate as punishment... For us, the place is not the default "parking place" as it's written in your article. It's really just the sleeping place, that's why we got an X-pen. He doesn't any toy or chew in it. It's open during the day if he want to go there by himself to nap (which he never does, unless he sees me with treats, as he knows I offer treats when he's inside). And we enforce naps and bedtime there each time after walking, which is always the end of the "awake session". We feel it tires him out, without overstimulation and crankiness he can have after big session of physical play (like fetch and tug...), and he usually settle fast after that (little FOMO whining I guess, but rarely more than a few minutes) Do you think we should put stuff in it, like chew toys ? We're afraid he wouldn't sleep in it then and just chew. And also is it ok to have this rigid organization : training / games then walk then nap / sleep in crate ? Or should we vary ? I was wondering also if I should open at specific times. For now, we wait until he whines after at least 1h-1h30 of nap. As he's usually awake 2 hours by session, we want to ensure he has a sufficient time of nap. But sometimes, he can go almost 3 hours without whining, and I'm afraid in that case he is not sleeping, but just lying down there doing nothing, and that can be a not so positive experience for him. We have a monitoring camera, we see if he moves but during the day we can't be sure if he sleeps, as it's too bright (even with the curtains closed) to get the infrared mode that shows the open eyes (we have this at night though). We usually play the safe card in terms of behavior and distance. I mean we avoid going more than 2 blocks, that would be around 0.5 and 0.7 miles, and we let him set the pace. If he sits, we wait, if there is an interesting area, we do not move and he can explore around as he is on long leash. Usually after the walk he's quite tired and lie down quick when we arrive home. He may have some zoomies sometimes, but I figured out it usually happens when we see other dogs and many people. He get really excited but we can't let him fully play with them as he's very energetic, and owners are not always ok with that, as there are mainly older dogs in our area, and they are waaaaayyyyy less energetic than our little Loki :D :D Thank you so much for that. Those kind of words are so nice to hear, and gives me strength and hope. I'm the kind that focus way more of what I did wrong, and what I should do better, but never on what I give and what I do well when that arrives, like the positive part is normal and granted, and only the negative should be looked at. I guess I'll have to work on that too :D :D

Thank you so much for much for your reply. It really detailed, constructive, and shows how much you care about the people of your method and the well-being of their dogs He is. He's giving me the hardest part of my life, with the sleep deprivation, and the anxiety of doing correct education, but looking at his face, I cannot not love him :) That's good to know. We can read so much information here and there, that do not go with all the details that it can be difficult for new owners to understand what is normal and what is not. We do have the crate, and crate training is going not that bad I would say. After walks, it's nap in the crate, or good night, and the whining is usually quite short (usually less than 5 min, worst case scenario is around 10 min if he has been crated while over tired and thus over excited). We did order a playpen. Have now to figure out how to make the best out of it, and how to train it well. I'll be glad to hear your advice about that, or if you have an article. I don't feel like setting up the playpen and toss him inside is the way to go :) No problem on this side. Vet said the area is pretty safe, and dogs around are well taken care of. My concern was more about time of the walk as we read so much that bones are fragile, and pups shouldn't walk much... but the breeder said he's quite robust, and she chose one atheletic for us, as we presented doing quite some sport. Our current time feels like there is so much to do : socialization, obedience, behavioral correction, physical stimulation, mental stimulation, walks, handling... As a new owner and non professional, it seems to me there is a very thin line between "keeping the training fun and interesting" as you mention, and doing a little too much. Specially with taking account different parameters : for example, after a 3h nap, he could go treasure hunting for quite some time, but after just 1h nap cut for potty, after 2 kibble he would sit and look at me like "what do you want from me, human ??". I guess a lot of it comes from experience, and learning to know your pup That's words of wisdom :) we started to do that, by keeping treats around always from now, to be sure everything can become a lesson and be able to redirect / correct Thank you again for your reply and your concern. As an anxious parent, having such guidance really gives me hope and help me to cope with harder moments

Hello I'm opening this thread because I have so many questions related to treats, and the dog response. Thank in advance for the help you will provide My understanding in positive reinforcement is the use of lots of treats, and also having them available at all time I discussed in another post that sometimes I do not have them on me, and that made me have some poor reactions. Being sure we can redirect in case of bad behavior, or capturing good behavior, means we should walk around with a bag full a treats right ? My pup is 3 months old now, so I guess I should only use high value for every new training / behavior ? And let lesser value treats (like his kibble) more for jackpot, or cues he's already good at right ? (I switch to cooked chicken from hotdogs because hotdogs gave him liquid stools) How I know I should stop ? when we do targeting, he seems to be able to go all day on that... I cut very little pieces, but still in the end, it can make a lot. Is it ok to go on with an exercise if he hasn't show any signs of wanting to end (I will have to re-supply treats then :)) Also I figured out a bit that after starting using high value treats for training and redirect, he just follow me around and offer sit, in the hope of a treat :) I guess that's better than biting my ankle, but is this expected ? Will this pass ? Should I reward the sit ? His behavior now looks to me more interested than natural :) This is a lot of questions about treats, but I'm struggle a bit to find out what is good, what is too much, what is not... Thank you for your help

Hello, this thread is very interesting, and I find very useful even if my situation is not the exact same The part I quoted speaks specially to me, because my pup happens to start ankle-nipping, socks-nipping, sweatshirt-nipping when he becomes tired of fetch. At some point during fetch, he has enough running to get the toy, just stays here, and prefer to attack my shoe / ankle / sweatshirt. This is very frustrating. I go get the toy trying to switch to a tug, but it is worse as now he has a moving target... I quite lose patience over this particular point because I'm caught off-guard, and I'm a little lost what to do at that point... I even pushed away, even pushed him on his back, and I regret it now the more I read the site and your replies. Would the lamppost be an adequate response in this case ? Also, at some point, when ignoring him, he tried to jump and hump... is the lamppost also the way to go in that case if I have no treat around ? From what you say, the lamppost says "I don't care about what you do, you won't get anything from me with that attitude mister", but I'm worried it can interpreted like "ok, you can go like that as much as you want" Thanks for the help

Hello, I've presented my little Loki in the "Canine picture thread", and I'm wondering a bit how to get the most of the site Loki is 3 months old, so I'm not sure if I need to go more into the "Puppy training" part of the site, or if I should get into "Dog training" directly He's mostly potty trained : only accidents happened because of us owners being to casual about the signs We have basic Sit, Leave It, Wait inside the house, a little more difficult in the yard, very very hard during walks He can play good "Touch" and "Seek" Our biggest concern is his inability to settle alone on his own. He is a tendency to go from post wake up high energy to restless over excitment without having the "correct under threshold" state of mind And I'm starting feeling guilty and wondering if it doesn't come from us and our schedule. We started to go with a specific schedule because when left alone in the house after play and training, he would go on everything even if obviously tired: furniture, electric wires, couch... So when he's awake we do : game (fetch + tug) to decrease the energy levels, then training and mental game, then cooling down with chews, then walk, potty, then nap in crate. This make usually something around 2 hours awake for 2+ hours nap The walk is the calming part if he became too aroused with plays / training. Usually after the walk he settle quite fast in the crate Is it ok ? Too much ? I tend to read that high activity while awake induce dopamine release, which is addictive, which make it even worse to have pups that can be calm on their own and so on, so I'm starting to really doubt myself here... So given the situation, I was wondering, what would be my best approach based on what is on the site ? Should I try already the things in the "Dog training" part ? Or should I stick only to the puppy training part for a while because "Dog training" is for older ones ? Or just take what makes sense in both part ? or address our concern in a very specific that is not really on the articles ? In advance, thanks for your help

Hello I'm a newcomer here. Just got the Brain Training 4 Dogs as I love the approach and read good reviews. Besides, for the price and the moneyback guarantee, I guess it was worth a try, so here I am, looking forward to make my little pup the brilliant angel he is inside (while for now he's mostly crazy playish :)) Pup is a Finnish Lapphound, name Loki, born the 15/02/2021 We both hope to grow better together here.