Throwback Thursday: Itty Bitty Darcy

What do I do with it?

(It's a tug toy for mice, silly pup.) 

D'artagnan aka Darcy at 9 weeks old.

Wordless Wednesday: Chomp

Training Tuesday: Crate Work with Coco

15 week old Coco is learning to go to her crate when asked. 🐕 (Please excuse my super clumsy treat delivery!) #dogtraining #puppy #puppytraining #frenchbulldog

A post shared by Melon (@melondious) on Sep 26, 2017 at 5:52am PDT

Sunday Funday: Rope Toy Romps

Do you guys remember the rope toy for mice? Okay, it's not really for mice. But it's so small I didn't know what it was for... until Coco showed me!

First, you pounce!

Then, you shake...

Wheee!

A Visitor: Of the Baby Puppy Variety

It's puppy time!

Hello.

This is Coco. She's a 15 week old French bulldog staying with me this week.

She's teeny tiny -- or at least she seems that way to me, despite spending most of my days with Cavaliers. I guess it's easy to forget how little and babyish puppies are! 

Human, what is this?

It's early days, but I'm pretty sure we're going to get along. She's confident, which I love, and curious without being a pest. And we've had a couple of good games of tug-of-war. Stay tuned for video!

She wasn't a fan of being put in the laundry for a nap (puppy alone training: starting above threshold -- oops) but has settled into having her pen in our main living area. From there she is now happy for us to leave and return. She had a good sleep in her crate last night, too. 

Coco likes to explore the yard, and frequently engages in what I'm fairly sure is scent marking. Has anyone else seen scent marking from such a young dog?

Otherwise, we are having fun. It can be tiring to keep up with puppy routines, but I'm looking forward to showing Coco the big wide world, which is always my favourite thing to do with puppies.

And, like all puppies, she sleeps like an angel.

Zzz.

A Happy Update: In Which Melon and Darcy Work Together

So you guys know that 8-month-old Darcy has a problem with walking on the lead*. Meaning, all he wants to do is rush over to anything and everything, be it animal (human, canine or avian), plant, rock or... plain air, as far as I can tell!

Your point?

And all I, Melon, want to do, is walk down the street without the pup running onto the road, leaping after birds or scrambling into the bush... is that too much to ask?

Hey, what's over there?

I was really beginning to think it was. So much that I suggested his humans buy some equipment to reduce his pulling (like a head halter -- not that I've ever seen a cavalier in one!).

But I also didn't want to let this defeat me. Call myself a dog trainer, and can't even teach a ~5kg puppy to walk on a lead? (Size doesn't directly affect trainability, but it does affect ability to hold onto a pulling dog!) So for the past fortnight or so I've tried to take Darcy for at least a ten to fifteen minute walk every time I visited. Why such a short walk? Because my patience for stopping and starting wears off after about ten minutes!

Seriously. Why are we stopping again?

But it turns out that patience in the form of a little each day has made a difference -- I think. I don't want to speak too soon, but I feel Darcy is finally showing some improvement in the skill of what we trainers call 'loose lead walking'. As in, he can sometimes walk down the road like a 'normal' dog...

Here's a tiny snippet of our walk today.

In the middle you see a glimpse of what our 'walks' have looked like for the past 6 months, but you can see that he can also walk much, much better too!

Walking near people, dogs or his sister are still out of the question, but hey, I'm just thrilled to see progress!

I'm proud of myself as well as this kid and can't wait to see where else we can go -- figuratively and literally!

---
* lead = Australian for leash, guys. Or "the string", as Darcy called it.

Guest Post: The Trouble With Walking Humans

Hi guys. Darcy here!

It's nice to be back on the blog.

But the thing is -- I have this problem.

See, my sister said that training humans can be hard. But then, she said that I could do a good job if I was con...sistent? Basically, I have to be responsible and keep doing the same thing over and over until they work out what they're meant to do. That doesn't sound too hard.

But no one told me how hard it is to walk a human!

First, you have to have them on a string, because otherwise they don't follow you.

If it weren't for the string, who knows where the human would end up!

But then once you're outside, they don't seem to know what to do. You know how it is, right? There are people to get pats from, birdies to chase, all kinds of tasty things to grab and sooo many smells to sniff!

Must. Catch. Birdies.

Hmm.

Mmmm.

But the human just can't keep up. Like, whenever I leap for a birdie, she always stops before I can catch it! (I guess humans tire easily.) Sometimes she even turns around to go in the other direction... even though I'm all ready to meet the people coming towards us! Sigh.

And that's not all. Whenever there's the good smells, the ones that need a whole minute to appreciate (you know the ones), she can't seem to wait, and tries to hurry me along! Can you believe it? I guess patience is hard for humans.

My sister did tell me humans can be kind of slow, but I dunno how she managed to train them because we pups never go walking together anymore. I dunno why. Maybe because the humans are too clumsy to keep the strings from tangling up when I jump on Ava? They seem to get all flustered every time I tackle her!

Don't get me wrong, humans are fun and I know I have a big responsibility to teach them right. But man, it's hard work!

Help a pup out -- do you have any tips on walking humans?

Woof,
Darcy xx

A Year Later: In Which Melon Is Getting Crazier and Crazier

A year ago I posted about sitting by the side of the road in the name of puppy socialisation. Who cares what people think? 🐶 Today, Darcy and I took a break on the footpath as he was a little overexcited. So I sat on the ground with the puppy. And since I was there, I might as well take a photo for Instagram, right? See the black? That's my pant leg. Leaning back, looking at my screen and making kissy noises, I forgot I was lying by the side of the road... until a lady pulled over to ask if I was all right. 😳 🐾 What's the most embarrassing thing you've done in the name of dog training? #trainersgonnatrain #butsometimeswescarepeople #oops #dogtraining #6monthsold

A post shared by Melon (@melondious) on May 16, 2017 at 6:01am PDT

Wednesday Walks

Hello Darcy.

Ready for a walk?

What are you looking at, Ava?

Nothing.

Mini-Holiday: In Which Ava and Darcy Are As Sweet As Ever

A holiday is always nice, isn't it? Ava and Darcy spent the weekend with me while their humans did human things.

They were dropped off in the morning, and as I was putting things away I turned around to find this...

How sweet are these two?

Who, us?

Whatcha doin'?

Seeing how close these two are seems extra sweet to me after my most recent boarders, two dogs who were from the same household but didn't like each other very much.

We pooped, can we come in now?

And yes, I let them in -- they were both very good dogs all weekend. Gotta love 'em.

Puppy Play: In Which We See Just How Much Fun Ava and Darcy Have

During Ava's year with me, I've introduced her to a few dogs. They all interacted with her differently, but I wished I knew a stable, playful dog of similar size and strength for her to really play with.

Enter Darcy.

Yes, 9 week old Darcy.



Like the old saying... it's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the amount of spunk and willingness to sit on another dog's head that counts!

Wordless Wednesday

Training Video: In Which Darcy Learns Important Skills, and Melon Manages Two Pups At Once

Yesterday Ava and Darcy's parents were amazed to see the puppies totally pooped (exhausted!) after I'd been in for only a short time. We joked that I must come in and hit the pups with a brick to make my job easy...

Too hot to walk your dog? ☀️ Not to worry - training time! It's the perfect excuse for you ALL to stay indoors. 🍹Tired brains make tired dogs too! #trainingdone #naptime #summer #dogtrainingtips #trainyourdog #dogtrainerslife

A photo posted by Melon (@melondious) on Jan 17, 2017 at 4:10pm PST

So, Chris and Tim, this is for you. Watch carefully to see if there are any bricks!

Guest Post: New Pup on the Block

Hai!

Hi! I'm Puppy. I mean, Darcy. Darcypup? Something like that. I'm not sure exactly. You can call me Darcy.

I'm a boy and I'm also a Ca- Cav- Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. Yup. I'm 13 weeks old and I've been living here for 4 weeks now.

This is my big sister Ava.

Damn it kid, you gotta relax.  Just play it cool, okay?

She told me to come say hi to Blogville. She knows how to get all the treats and smuggle rocks into the house. She's the coolest.

I love my big sis!

It's pretty nice here so far. I have a sisfur to chase AND humans to cuddle. Did you know that human laps are really comfy?

So far, so good.

The humans have been telling me I've been picking things up real quick. It's true! I can pick up toys and sticks and run real fast.

Wait for me!

Ooh, all that running made me sleepy. Time for a nap in my crate. 

Bye humans! 

Darcy out! xo

Wordless Wednesday: Mini-Me Edition

Flashback Friday: To That Time Ava Met A Cat

No, really. Even Ava’s humans don’t know about this, because it happened when Ava stayed with me when she was 16-20 weeks old.

Nobody told me this was gonna happen either.

See, last night in class we were talking about my instructor’s favourite subject, puppy socialisation and environmental conditioning. We talked about all the things we should safely introduce puppies to in their critical phases of development (~3-16 weeks), when they are particularly sensitive to new experiences. Having calm, happy experiences hearing different sounds, touching different surfaces, and meeting different people and animals during this period helps a puppy to be happy and comfortable in the big wide world.

Introducing puppies to new things really is one of my favourite things to do. It’s fun, and particularly rewarding is the knowledge that your little friend will face the world with a sense of adventure rather than fear. And you get to spend time with puppy without doing repetitive obedience exercises!

So last April, when a friend heard what I was doing and mentioned that she has a cat...

What is that?

It's Oliver, the ragdoll cat.

Whoa whoa whoa.

Huh.

It went decently. The great thing about Ava being so small was that Oliver could simply stay on the couch, out of the puppy's reach, if he wished. Ava and her 'puppy manners' (or lack thereof) got too close at one point, which caused Oliver to hiss and run. That could have been a disaster (for both), but I got lucky.

Next time I do this, I’ll just let the puppy watch from a distance, unless the cat shows signs of wanting to cuddle.

I'm thinking NOPE.

Never mind, Ava found ways to entertain herself.

Wordless Wednesday: How Ava's Been Spending Her Time

Wordless Wednesday

Mischief Monday: In Which Melon Is Tricked By A Dog, Again

The great thing about having an instructor who works many jobs and has working dogs in and out of his property all the time is that sometimes, they come to class.

"Your job," he said as we arrived for our second practical lesson, "is to spoil this puppy. Pat her, feed her treats -- nothing you do with this dog is wrong, today."

'This puppy' was a beautiful little English springer spaniel, 11 weeks old. She had a brown head, white speckled body, and seemed to be all legs. When I first arrived, she was obviously timid, so I let her be. I knew we'd all be swarming into the grounds soon, and that seemed quite enough for her to get used to.

By the end of the day, however, she'd been fed, cuddled and rubbed, as instructed, as well as worn collars a dozen times (both correctly and incorrectly -- we were learning to fit collars!), and was clearly feeling much happier about people.

Now, I didn't set out to teach her anything, honest. (Those who know my teacherly tendencies, stop laughing. I mean it.) But at some point in the day I was handed a tennis ball, and Ava's taught me what puppies like. I'm starting to think, though, that spaniels just can't resist moving things.

When I rolled the ball around and around in front of her, and then gently towards her, she followed it with her eyes, and then suddenly pounced in the direction it rolled. She was adorably clumsy, but soon learned to pick it up in her mouth and return it to me. Whenever she did, I gave her a treat, showered her with praise, and threw the ball for her again.

My instructor had spotted me playing with the puppy throughout the day. As class wrapped up, he said, "Okay, class dismissed... oh, before we go, let's see what Melon's taught my dog."

The class watched as he gently tossed the tennis ball to the 11 week old puppy, who was lying on the floor in the middle of our class. She clumsily followed it, picked it up in her mouth... and ran out the door with it.