Gracie's Mama

So I've been reading a lot. And there are sites that have conflicting info. So it gets a little confusing. But anyway I found this site through info that Mikey posted. So I considered it to be reliable. It says

and
Ok so I keep Gracie with me pretty much 24/7. Even when she naps I'm not far away. She's been napping on the couch and sleeping in bed with us. I've only left her to do grocery shopping and to take my daughter to school and pick her up. To take my daughter to school only takes about 10-15 minutes max. Grocery shopping could take up to 2 hours. I told my husband we needed to get her a puppy bed and start making her nap on it instead on the couch with us. And start making her sleep on her own in the crate too. Because we dont plan on letting her on the furniture when she's full grown. So I thought thats probably something we never should have started. I also thought I should start leaving her more.

I could take her with me to pick up my daughter from school but I thought if I stayed with her 24/7, then she would have separation anxiety when I did have to leave her. I wanted her to be ok when she needed to be alone.
But, reading that article makes me think maybe it's ok to let her stay with us all the time. Maybe I should take her with me to take my daughter to school? When I leave her she does cry the whole time.

I'm sorry that I bother you guys with such silly questions. But I just want to make sure I "get it right". And I trust your judgment. Plus if I screw this up you guys are gonna be the ones to hear about it!

p.s. I guess I should mention that she will be 8 weeks old on wednesday. seriously guys. Am I just worrying too much?

Mikey T

see seperation anxiety

what you want to try to do as best you can fit it in is gradual increase the times she is alone for. But it really doesn/t matter the cause at this time whether normal buppy clingyness or a bit of seperation anxiety the way to handle it is the same small abscence gradual growing in length that are no big deal. Life often gets in the way so you can't always be perfect in this, don't beat yourself up when this happen. Try and work the schedual so when you leave for longer periods of time it her normal nap time. Give her something like a stuff kong to keep her occupied as well. Don't worry to much about doing everything perfectly because that is simply impossible Most find doing your best and rellying to some extent on intuition and feeling of what is best for your particular dog works quite well in the vast majority of time, every individual dog is differet so white we can say what works for most the vast majority ect but it does not mean it is right for every dog in every situation my favorite line on training comes from Insights Into Puppy Mouthing
[quote]
90% of the time if I clearly define something for owners and ask what their dog will likely do, they have a wonderfully detailed knowledge of what their dog will probably do. But most people don't look at the perimeters objectively or with clarity and worse they fall into a pattern of waiting until the dog has done the thing they don't want that they knew was probably going to happen. They then respond to what the dog did even though they could have predicted the Undesired response a week ahead of time. [/quote}
You know your puppy better than anyone else use that knowledge productively. and proactively.



Take the dog with you and your duaghter is not a bad idea especial if you plan on travel with the dog on other occassion. A dog thats experiece in the car is not made up of exclusively going to the vet is going to be a much better rider than one that does not have good experience about the outcome of ccar rides.

that is correct about the furniture and any rules you want the rules to be as strick or stricker as a puppy then when an adult it is much easier to loosen the rules when the dog has demonstrated they can haddle that then try and tighten them up after the fact. Lots of little 30-1 minutes seperation gradualing increase in length of time. With no big fan fair when returning and leaving. This is just as important you want to make leaving and arrival no big deals Making arrvials and departures notable events will increase the dogs anxiety.

Gracie's Mama

Thanks so much mikey. She HATES her crate. So this afternoon for our "play time" I started putting treats in the crate for her to go in and get. Also as we were playing with her toys I was throwing them in to have her go after them. Hopefully this gets her more used to it. She seems almost afraid of it. Thanks for all the detailed info. I need all the help I can get.

Mikey T

have you done any clicker training with dogs before? shaping the behavior is a good way to go. If not a will give a simple overview of the process. you need not use a clicker or a verbal marker to make it work but they can speed the process if you are famialiar with them.

Set a side a large amount of kibble for training. With the dog not around practice tossing the kibble accurate toward a traget. one you are resonable consisten you can begin train the dog.

Shaping is the incrimental approximations to get the behavior you want. sof for crate training it works like this.

dog looks a crate toss treat dog looks at crate toss treate repeat until dog is lokking at crate much more frequently. Hold out wait til dog stps toward crate toss treat This becomes new criteria when dog steps toward crate treat. When this happen more often change criteria to two step etc. You are slow over time moving the behavior toward the overall desired behavior in slow easily to follow stem You are not lure the dog food is only being used as a reward when the dog happens on the behavior that earns it.

Crate Training


You do not need a clicker to make this work as long as food rewards are delivered in a timely fashion

How to Crate Train[/B]
An alternative nonshaping methodology


Crate Games for Self-Control & Motivation DVD
[quote]The much talked about DVD has finally arrived! Step-by-step training that is as easy as it is effective. Crate Games for Self-Control and Motivation features not only mature dogs but puppies as young as 9 weeks old learning

•Focus and motivation for work
•How to relax in a crate even while another dog is working
•Self-control for a phenomenal sit-stay
•A speedy and dependable recall
•Distance skills for obedience or agility
•Confidence while being proofed during any tough distraction
•To keenly offer responses when being shaped
•And much more!
As you develop an amazing working relationship with your dog, you'll see why crate games are the cornerstone of Susan Garrett's unbelievably successful dog training program and why they are now being implemented in dog training schools all over the world.
[quote]


when the crate becomes a harbinger of good things to come the dogs relationship with the crate will change but do not try and force that change to quickly let the dog in an out on its one at first not locking it in etc. the need to be comfortable in the crate before using as a confinement tool.

Gracie's Mama

no I've never clicker trained a dog. But I will try that. I'll start trying that tomorrow. When I throw the treat, where do I throw it? In the crate? Just near the dog?

Mikey T

to the dog but when changing critera you can use the thrown food as a bit of a lure. Dog takes a step toward the crate food thrown between crate and dog. dog take nother step toward crate reward again for second step. For the most part you want the food as a reward not a lure to get the dog into the crate

on a side note it much easier to be accurate with tossed food on a surface like carpet on slipperier surfaces it is much harder to control and takes practice.

Also when throwing into a crate the plastic airline crates work better because you don't avoe to worry about it flying out through the holes in the back side like a wire crate.

Wworm

We would throw the treat to the back of the crate, and Worm would get it.
Every time we had to leave him in the crate for a short time, that's what we did, and then would close the door. Nowadays, he just walks in when we say "crate" and then we hand him the treat & close the door.

Would recommend this over picking her up and putting her in the crate, as we did this initially and got a backache from it

Mikey T

How You Get Behavior Really Does Matter

Rewards, Lures & Bribes

and if your interested

Click start programTraining for Real Dogs in the Real World

or
Clicker Projected
Clicker Training for Serious Students and Trainers

Shapining 101

Beginning Shaping: Planning Your Sessions

A Beginner's Guide to Operant Conditioning