Reminder: Saturday, March 29, 2014 is our annual puppy raiser workshop. Remember to RSVP by March 21, 2014
Puppy Raising Challenge: When playing with the CCI puppy, teach the puppy to bring the toy to your hand. If they drop the toy, encourage them by says "where's your toy" "where's your toy." Please don't say "get". "Get" is an advanced command that has a specific meaning. No commands are needed when playing. If the puppy continues to drop the toy, the game ends.
Puppy Raising Tip: I'm So Excited To See You!!!!!!
Excitable greetings is an issue many puppy raisers have with the Canine Companion puppy. When someone comes to the house, the puppy gets excited and jumps around excitedly. Puppy Raisers must teach the puppy self control.
Tips for working on excitable greetings when someone comes to the house:
- Ask guests to please ignore the puppy. Don't look at, touch, or interact with the puppy until the puppy is calm.
- Make sure to practice sit and down with distractions to build proficiency and self control.
- Before you open the door, put the puppy on leash and in a sit.
- With puppies that are having a significant issue with excitability, put the puppy in the crate or behind a baby gate until everyone is in the house and settled. Guests may still need to ignore the puppy when let out. Greetings only happen when the puppy is calm.
- Ask a friend or family member to help. Set a time for them to come to the house. Be prepared with treats, leash and Gentle Leader.
- Puppy raisers can also teach the puppy to "bed" anytime someone comes to the door. See the puppy manual for tips on teaching "bed".
- For unannounced visitors adding a sign to your front door can help people understand why it is taking you a bit to get to the door.
(Internet picture, not CCI)
Controlling people is a lot harder, than controlling the puppy. High squeaky voices will excite a puppy. Greetings should be calm. It's your house you can use a squirt bottle on your guests that over stimulate the puppy.
Here is a video of a puppy in the process of learning how to appropriately behave when someone comes to the house. The end result should be not needing to be on leash.
If you follow these suggestions, and excitability continues to be an issue, please contact Canine Companions. With everything, raising a puppy takes time and patience. Results may be slow, but persistence and consistency will get you far in the long run. Practice, Practice, Practice.
Happy Training,
Suzanne Sliclen
Puppy Program Manager
