This is Olli - descendant of one of North America's oldest lines of Icelandic Sheepdogs on both sides of his family as a pup (top photo) and as a now three year old full grown adult (second photo). He got his terrific bone structure and body from his sire Edgar. His dam's side goes back to his great-great-grandmother Reykja. (See both below.) Although we have the genealogy, unfortunately, we don't have photos that go back further. It's always so interesting to see where our puppies come from. (Clicking on photos enlarges them. Click on the square in the upper right corner to return to the blog.)
Wodin, a puppy from this year's litter, decided recently that he would like to play "Chase" and "Keep Away" two favorite canine games with his "Mom". In order to be successful with Icelandic Sheepdogs you have to be smarter, more clever, than they are - - - and that's not easy. They are crafty little foxes.
Although Wodin and Olli look somewhat similar as puppies, they have different genes for color and have common ancestors only when you get back as far as the great-great-grandparents.
Wodin has become quite an expert at "Keep Away" and also at "Chase".
Keep Away is the game dogs use when they have a desirable, to them, object in their mouths. That desirable object (D.O.) may be a rock or stone, a clump of dirt, a dead rodent, cat poop (sorry), a stinky sock, etc.
There is only one way to win this game. You have to have an even more desirable object that you would be willing to exchange for the pup's less desirable one. In order to play this game when they actually have a D.O., you have to have established the rules earlier.
As your puppy plays with any object like a ball (above) or a toy, entice your puppy with a really nice smallish tasty treat, like a piece of smelly cheese, or liverwurst, or beef gristle, etc. When your puppy drops its less desirable object, pick it up and immediately give it the more desirable object from your hand as you say, "Release!" After your pup has consumed the more desirable object, you may decide to return the less D.O. to him/her. If you decide to keep the pup's original object, keep it out of sight, perhaps behind your back. For children and pups, out of sight usually means out of mind.
Play this game of "Keep Away" often with your puppy until the rules are well established. The rule? I will always give you a more desirable treat in exchange for your current less desirable one. Always. If you practice this, you will be able to take away sharp pieces of glass, rusty nails, crooked pieces of metal, rotten fish heads, etc. from your puppy's mouth. The "Keep Away" game is similar to the "Leave It" game in an earlier blog entry.
Puppies love, LOVE, to play "Chase". They love to chase - squirrels, cats, birds, other puppies and dogs, little kids, etc. The kicker is that they also love to be chased. (Would that be the chaser and the chasee?)
We have probably all played "tickle" with a little toddler. They love it as long as you don't over do it. Play that tickle game with your puppy. You know, "I'm gonna get you! I'm gonna get you!" And then tickle them a bit. Then turn around and run away from the puppy. When it catches you, do the, "I'm gonna get you! I'm gonna get you!"again. Then turn and run. Try to run away from them more than you chase them. The whole idea is to get your puppy to come to you whenever you want it to. It has to be FUN! I would insert the command, "Come" into the game. I would also make ample use of my bait bag and reward the puppy every time it came to me when I called it with loads of desirable treats. Remember to repeat, "Good Come!" so the puppy learns that that is what it has been doing. We've talked about treats. Each puppy/dog has a few favorites. Some dogs may hate string cheese while others love it. Pieces of hot dogs work for some but not others.
Training will not work unless you have treats (plural) in your bait bag that your canine companion actually LOVES. I currently am using Captain Crunch Peanut Butter cereal. (Horrors!) It's sugar and peanut butter. It's a 'treat' for heaven's sake! Cheerios will also work good and they are 'healthy'. The point is that you get to choose what you want to use but make it something your puppy/dog really likes or it's not a reward.
Your bait bag should be one that is easy to open and close. Velcro linings are perfect. Drawstring openings are awkward. I have suggested to some people that they get one of those $1.00 short cloth tool aprons from Home Depot to use. They are washable and convenient.
Play these games, "Leave It", "Chase", "Come", "Keep Away" over and over until they and you know the rules. They are fun and possibly life saving "games".
No comments:
Post a Comment