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| Puppy Diaries - Instalment
3 |
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Hello
everyone, my name is Caroline (aka ‘Chapstaff’
on the D for Dog
Forum). I have been an Administrator on the D for Dog
Forum for over 2 years now. I am married to Ken and we have
two grown up sons and two baby grandchildren.
We owned a Staffordshire Bull Terrier called Cleo, who we
rescued from Wood Green Animal Shelter when she was one
year old. Cleo recently passed away peacefully at the grand
old age of 16. The house was so empty that we felt the need
for someone else to love, so we decided to get a Stafford
puppy. |
In this instalment of our puppy diary Tala is 9-10 weeks old.
I
had no idea that raising a new puppy could be so tiring. I
took ten days off work to settle Tala in, and thank goodness
I did - it's exhausting! I made a point of going out and leaving
her for a while every day in preparation for me going back
to work. I only work part time and Ken is at home some of
the time so Tala will have to get used to being left alone
for a few hours a day. We've been popping out occasionally
in the evening too just for an hour or two so Tala gets used
to that.
I've been putting Tala's soft puppy collar on her for a few
minutes each day, building up to her keeping it on all day,
apart from when she's unsupervised in her crate as I don't
want her possibly catching it on the bars and choking. She
scratches at it a lot but is getting used to it. |
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She has her identity disc on there with our address and phone number
(which is a legal requirement) and her microchip tag. It only cost
us a few pounds to get Tala chipped and it was well worth it. If
she did happen to go missing through getting out of the garden she
could be reunited with us very quickly, and if she was lost or involved
in a road accident for example the police or dog warden or indeed
vet could trace us. It is also indisputable proof of ownership if
she should be stolen.
I
want Tala to grow up to be friendly and sociable with other dogs
so I invited the little Cocker Spaniel, Millie, from round the corner
to come and play. They got on very well, although Millie wouldn't
keep still long enough to make friends properly, she just raced
around the garden with Tala in hot pursuit.
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Then next door's Springer, Brychan, came round a few times.
He was another one who just raced madly around my large garden.
Once he had got rid of some surplus energy he and Tala got
on really well together, although he was a bit too gentle
with her. He let her scramble all over him and nip at his
ears and mouth. I was hoping he would "tell her off".
I made sure both dogs were up to date with their vaccinations
before letting them in as Tala hasn't had her final jab yet. |
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Tala has been to her first puppy socialisation class at the vet's.
The room used is thoroughly cleaned and disinfected as some of the
puppies have only had their first vaccination (like Tala) and aren't
fully covered for infectious diseases.
There
were 6 puppies in the group, aged between 8 weeks and 14 weeks,
and most of them enjoyed a good old sniff at each other's rear ends
- as they do, then got a little bolder, or in Tala's case - a lot
bolder, and started jumping all over one another. It was interesting
to see how they interacted. Tala was pinning most of them down on
the floor and biting at their ears (the little monster) but then
one or two of the others did that to her, which is just what was
needed to put her in her place, she's just a little too bold and
I don't want her to grow into a bully.
One
of the puppies, a Dogue de Bordeaux X Mastiff was very shy and stayed
mainly under the chair, but by the end of the hour's class she was
joining in more. There was also a large St. Bernard puppy, a Basset
Griffon Vendeen and a Border Collie. Tala and a Boxer pup were the
‘Phil and Grant’ of the puppy world, going round beating
up the other pups, I hope that will change during the next two classes.
The
vet and vet nurse in charge of the class gave us a lot of useful
information about inoculations and worming, complete with test tubes
of different types of worm being passed around… tapeworms,
roundworms, threadworms… yuk! Also they advised us on flea
treatments and generally how to keep our puppies healthy. Anyone
who wanted to could have their puppies weighed too. I was pleased
to see Tala had put a fair amount of weight on.
As
I mentioned in the previous instalment, Tala has been a real
nuisance with biting. I don't just mean the hanging off our
trousers kind of biting which all puppies do, or all terriers
anyway. I mean real biting. I know all puppies bite and have
needle sharp teeth, but Tala has been barking at us, then
snapping in a defiant way. It's like her way of saying "no
I don't want to".
I had heard of "scruffing and pinning" puppies on
their backs on the ground to show them who is boss and tried
that with Tala. |
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I
wouldn't have done it if she had been a timid sort of dog, but I
felt she needed putting in her place.Disaster - she quickly became
very wary of my hands. Whereas previously she would run willingly
to me when called she now became very hand shy and started avoiding
me. I asked on the D for Dog forum for help with this problem before
it became serious, and lots of members gave me some very helpful
advice. I stopped the confrontational tactics immediately and started
using a time-out box.
When
Tala started being defiant and biting at me I instantly picked her
up and put her in the "naughty box" and ignored her. She
would whine for a short time and try to scrabble over the top but
then would give in and wait. I only removed her from the box when
she was quiet, which took just a few minutes. I then lifted her
out without a word. And it's working. She has only been put in there
a half dozen times so far and already there is a marked improvement.
When
she chews at something she shouldn't I tell her "No" and
offer her an alternative chew toy and play with her with it, but
sometimes she won't take no for an answer, just like a naughty child.
Then I've found the water sprayer usually works. I've got it set
on squirt rather than spray and when necessary I'll give her a quick
squirt, then hide it and look away so she doesn't know it came from
me. She's very quick though and seems to know where it is (behind
my back) but at least it interrupts the behaviour and gives me a
chance to occupy her with something else. Hopefully I'll learn other
tips too when she starts proper puppy training classes.
I
went to check out a local dog training school tonight and stayed
to watch the puppy class and the next class. I like what I've seen.
They train with kindness (and clickers and lots of treats). It seems
well run with plenty of trainers to the 8 to 10 puppies in the class.
Tala will be able to start one week after her 2nd vaccination, when
she will be fully protected from infectious diseases, so I've signed
up for the course of 12 weekly lessons, not sure if it will be me
or Tala getting the training, but hopefully we'll both learn plenty.
I'll
let you know how we get on in the next instalment, as well as how
the lead training goes.
Caroline and Tala
Instalment 4 |
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