Pozy Clarkia at Ten Weeks

Mary-Ann Sontag August 7, 2020

On top of having Puppy Brain, which means I cannot seem to even finish a thought because a certain someone needs something, I am back to an awareness of what it means to live with Pandemic Brain. It is like a double-dose of saturation and so keeping balls in the air is difficult — heck, even finding the balls is a feat!

Having just one puppy means I am able to focus all my best intentions on just her. I want to do more — and better — with every puppy, and I embrace and enjoy that challenge.

Pozy Clarkia is all the dogs I have loved rolled into one. She is related to every one of them. I see all of them in her. She is like a small and fluffy echo, reminding me that although distant, those I love are not really gone.

And at the same time, she is herself.

She is actually rather magical.

She gets along well with everyone and everything — this is Pozy and Sparkle.

My primary goal in training right now is to build and support engagement. I do this by creating opportunity for Pozy to offer connection — and then I reinforce it. Constantly.

I do not ask for attention because I want the behavior to be her idea — that will make the behavior stronger. Instead, I walk and reinforce as she follows. I stop and I reinforce when she looks at me.

It works so well that I have to be careful not to trip over her.

I have been working on the Kaibab website, including creating a page for Pozy Clarkia; you can check it out HERE. Let me know what you think of it.

Please have a wonderful and safe Friday.

Secret Sauce

Mary-Ann Sontag August 1, 2020

Having just one puppy is actually pretty darn easy — at least compared to nine! But yes, it is an adjustment.

Having a new puppy is a lot like having a tiny human because life revolves around Pozy’s sleep/wake schedule.

I continue to be committed to Novel as I raise this puppy. Today I took Daisy and Pozy down the road to where I walk as this was a new location for her. We drove the one-half mile because Pozy is too small for real walks. Once there, we just meandered a bit — and took photos…

She is — so far — unfazed by new places. My goal is to do this kind of thing a lot so novel is just normal.

This was a quick series of photos…

Daisy remains a wonderful mom but has decided the Milk Bar is officially closed. Pozy seems fine with that, and they have a lot of fun playing together.

Pozy is my 13th Berner puppy! I have learned so much from raising the first 12, and Pozy will benefit from that experience.

I know, for example, not to be a rush about much of anything and to just relax about most everything puppy. This is not to suggest I do not train Pozy — in fact, I train her a lot. But what I train is all about establishing a relationship, teaching her how to learn, and reinforcing engagement. Those things are the Secret Sauce to success in Life with Dogs — and especially Life with a Performance Dog.

Day 51 A.M.

Mary-Ann Sontag July 16, 2020

Observations and reflections from Puppy Central this morning…

The slide is a way to put some distance between siblings and the bully sticks — it rarely works as intended.

Bully sticks (or similar high value chew things but let’s just say bully sticks) are like screen time and kids: they get obsessed and zone out on that thing to the exclusion of other things.

Good info.

Use bully sticks to your advantage.

Need a break — bully stick. Need your coffee — bully stick. Wild and crazy puppy — bully stick.

Like screen time for kids, bully stick time is a good thing when used in moderation. But we also want puppies to engage with us and their environment, and so just be mindful of all that.

And speaking of paying attention — please pay attention to your puppy.

Ignoring a puppy’s attempts to engage and connect is a perfect way to teach them to just ignore you.

Paintbrush made it clear this morning that he needed some attention — he did this by standing on the x-pen and whining at me as other puppies were engaged with bully sticks.

One might say we should ignore the puppy who does this because acting on it would reinforce undesired behavior. Who wants a puppy that is climbing the x-pen or jumping up, One might say.

Sigh.

I see that behavior as a desire to connect and I WANT that in a puppy. I reinforce engagement all the time because we need a dog who is engaged with their humans.

You can see at the end of THIS video that I stop recording when I see what Paintbrush needs. I put the phone down, reached in and shaped/lured his little body into four feet on the floor and picked him up.

OF COURSE.

The behavior I reinforced was his bid for connection or engagement; I also let the puppy know that a human will meet his need.

This is REALLY important.

When we ignore behavior, it will go away/be suppressed — but consider carefully the behavior we are extinguishing by ignoring it. People spend months ignoring their puppy’s bids for connection — and then are puzzled as to why their dog ignores them.

Ahem — you taught that lack of engagement by ignoring the puppy’s attempts to connect.

I do not want to teach a puppy to jump up BUT I won’t ignore that bid for connection.

Instead, I will quickly lure the puppy into a sit (or at first — just four feet on the floor) and then pick her up or otherwise engage with her. In addition, I will look for opportunities to reinforce that sit (or four feet on the floor) BEFORE the puppy has a chance to jump.

In this way, I will be reinforcing the bid for connection and teaching the puppy how to make it — just sit/stand and look adorable. Works every time when you are a puppy; not so much in an adult human, FYI.

What if the puppy is crying in the crate in her new home? If she might need to potty — take her out.

If she was just out and it is minor whining — ignore for a bit to see if she settles down.

Hysterical and upset? Take her out, soothe her for a few minutes, and put her back with a stuffed Kong or something like that — and/or just have yourself close and try to keep her calm by petting/talking.

Remember — these are not little dogs. They are BABIES and as Lori says, they are babies longer than they are small.

One last thing — because I am with puppies all day, I decided to collect some data. They always potty when they wake up so remember that — but how often do small puppies pee when playing? So far, it looks like just under 30 minutes but I will continue data collection for a couple of days.