got the great pyr pup, now what?

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Countryside : One Thread

We finally got our great pyr pup. She's about ten weeks old and we're calling her Liza (as in "There's a hole in the bucket..." since we already have a dog named Henry)

Our chicks are now about three weeks old. Liza has tried stalking them a couple of times and we told her "no". We have tried to demonstrate that we like the chickens.

What else do we need to do to make sure that Liza knows to protect the chicks and not eat them?

-- Paul Wheaton (paul@javaranch.com), July 03, 2001

Answers

Hi Paul; Quick recommendation. Instead of 'no', use a specific command ('leave it', etc. ) to refer to 'don't even think about continuing to be interested in that'. That way you can then reinforce the desired behavior when Liza does 'leave it'. So, you issue the command-"Leave it", then praise specifically "Goood leave it. Good girl, Liza". Get a whole gob of a favorite puppy treat. Sit with her on leash with a chicken nearby. When she goes after a chicken tell her 'leave it'. If she does, great-praise and treat. If not, yank down and back away from the chicken repeating 'leave it' then treat her (because whether she meant to or not, she 'performed' the desired behavior--you're rewarding the behavior. Repeat..often.. but no marathon sessions, and end your training on a positive. Make sure she did something right, treat/praise and stop! Maybe play at that time) You must also imprint tht you and your family are 'top dogs' and are to be obeyed--period. The smaller she is the easier this is going to be for you--If you say 'leave it' and she *meaningfully* doesn't perform--ie, looks at you and goes ahead anyway, walks away, (or 'come', 'sit', etc.) take her and roll her on her back and cover her with your body be firm but not hurtful.(there's no need for violence/force-that would only warp her little mind and ruin her). She will struggle to flip back over-don't let her. Keep this position for a minimum of 30 seconds, but as long as it takes for her to submit--you'll feel her 'go limp' and relax. Then you can let her up and love her up. NOTE: Never call her to you for punishment! If you have to go get her, make sure you don't use 'come here' while you do. And also, the window to punish/reprimand is a few seconds, tops. Sheesh..that was long! Hope it helps. We've got many hours of patience and training into our boys and it makes ALL the difference in the world! Good luck! Cat

-- Cat Milanoski (je_tiens_firme@yahoo.com), August 27, 2001.

Moderation questions? read the FAQ