Raising a Working Puppy- Takes a Village
Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2018 7:06 pm
Hi Everyone,
It's been one week today since we picked up Callie, Our eight week old DS from the airport, and its been a journey just within the first week. I know I have posted quite a bit, but I am a social and active trainer! I have been watching Dave Kroyer's videos, at the recommendation of a DS forum member and I'm now a gold subscriber. His channel and video content is pretty great and offers some great training advice. I also work for a government contracting company that has a K9 unit, Broadie, ironically enough a DS and the handler is a Master GSA Trainer for police departments. She has been a tremendous help in assisting me with early imprinting and puppy development. However, I like to lean on the "village" (DS forum) for advice and tips because a trainer is nothing more than a constant student, like our dogs.
So here are some questions I would like opinions on:
1.) Food:
I know this is a Chevy vs. Ford, Apple vs. Samsung, DS vs. Mal, sort of discussion... however I found myself roaming the halls of PetSmart comparing pricing and looking at the variety of ingredients of all the popular foods. I'm currently using Taste of the Wild puppy kibble, and the only reason is that that's what she came from the breeder, Moss K9, on. I've considered swapping to Merrick, Nutro, Blue Buffalo or Bil Jac (Dave Kroyer's choice food). It seems that marketing is king in the K9 food world and I would like someone with some nutritional expertise to help me out. Reason being my DS pup doesn't seem much interested in TOTW, so should I switch to a different brand? Or try a different flavor? Or is there a trick I'm missing here? I don't want to mix wet food which is what the breeder had her on (1/4 can of TOTW wet and 1 cup of TOTW puppy kibble). She is a working DS and "earns" her food every day, meaning she is not fed from a bowl, but from me. She seems to enjoy the Bil-Jac soft treats that I use during our training sessions, but won't touch her puppy kibble; I'm assuming because she's been spoiled. Nevertheless, I want to find a food source (dry puppy kibble) that she is excited to eat and can help increase her drive.
2.) Training:
Her training is going well, this being my first DS, I previously had a German Shepherd, non-working, that was smart and picked up on things pretty quick. BUT this DS, being a working dog and of notable bloodlines, unlike my GSD, is IMPRESSIVE how quickly she picks up on things. She is targeting, beginning to heel, sits like a champ, is starting to understand down, gets on and off the table with ease, goes up and down stairs, no accidents in house or crate with potty training goes in the same spot outside making clean up super easy. Just plain AMAZING how smart she is. Her bite development and drive is off the charts, maybe just typical for experienced DS owners, but I can tell this pup has a future in bite work. That being said, I plan to dual purpose her in handler protection, and I'm exploring a dual purpose in something pretty interesting, accelerants. I heard about accelerant detection K9s that assist with arson cases on a podcast and never thought of that as a detection option.
3.) First Vet visit:
We also had our first vet appointment, and she did well for her first time. However, she started trembling during the exam table portion (I would be too if I knew I was going to get a thermometer in the butt, lol). Has anyone got any exercises besides feeling over all parts of the dog and treating to condition to vet visits? She also hid under me when she got off the table; I immediately moved her back out so as not to promote that behavior. A VERY INTERESTING thing that happened during the visit was that the vet tested eyes by making a fist and moving it rapidly toward both eyes in a punching motion, the correct response is for the dog to flinch, not to flinch a sign of vision issues apparently. Callie stood there both eyes wide open, NO flinching, just observing. I didn't know whether to be proud or worried as the vet said she either has vision issues or is fearless. Anyone had a similar experience? I have to come back next week for her second round of shots; we just went in early to get her established there and make sure she didn't develop any issues over her time with us.
Thats it for today.
It's been one week today since we picked up Callie, Our eight week old DS from the airport, and its been a journey just within the first week. I know I have posted quite a bit, but I am a social and active trainer! I have been watching Dave Kroyer's videos, at the recommendation of a DS forum member and I'm now a gold subscriber. His channel and video content is pretty great and offers some great training advice. I also work for a government contracting company that has a K9 unit, Broadie, ironically enough a DS and the handler is a Master GSA Trainer for police departments. She has been a tremendous help in assisting me with early imprinting and puppy development. However, I like to lean on the "village" (DS forum) for advice and tips because a trainer is nothing more than a constant student, like our dogs.
So here are some questions I would like opinions on:
1.) Food:
I know this is a Chevy vs. Ford, Apple vs. Samsung, DS vs. Mal, sort of discussion... however I found myself roaming the halls of PetSmart comparing pricing and looking at the variety of ingredients of all the popular foods. I'm currently using Taste of the Wild puppy kibble, and the only reason is that that's what she came from the breeder, Moss K9, on. I've considered swapping to Merrick, Nutro, Blue Buffalo or Bil Jac (Dave Kroyer's choice food). It seems that marketing is king in the K9 food world and I would like someone with some nutritional expertise to help me out. Reason being my DS pup doesn't seem much interested in TOTW, so should I switch to a different brand? Or try a different flavor? Or is there a trick I'm missing here? I don't want to mix wet food which is what the breeder had her on (1/4 can of TOTW wet and 1 cup of TOTW puppy kibble). She is a working DS and "earns" her food every day, meaning she is not fed from a bowl, but from me. She seems to enjoy the Bil-Jac soft treats that I use during our training sessions, but won't touch her puppy kibble; I'm assuming because she's been spoiled. Nevertheless, I want to find a food source (dry puppy kibble) that she is excited to eat and can help increase her drive.
2.) Training:
Her training is going well, this being my first DS, I previously had a German Shepherd, non-working, that was smart and picked up on things pretty quick. BUT this DS, being a working dog and of notable bloodlines, unlike my GSD, is IMPRESSIVE how quickly she picks up on things. She is targeting, beginning to heel, sits like a champ, is starting to understand down, gets on and off the table with ease, goes up and down stairs, no accidents in house or crate with potty training goes in the same spot outside making clean up super easy. Just plain AMAZING how smart she is. Her bite development and drive is off the charts, maybe just typical for experienced DS owners, but I can tell this pup has a future in bite work. That being said, I plan to dual purpose her in handler protection, and I'm exploring a dual purpose in something pretty interesting, accelerants. I heard about accelerant detection K9s that assist with arson cases on a podcast and never thought of that as a detection option.
3.) First Vet visit:
We also had our first vet appointment, and she did well for her first time. However, she started trembling during the exam table portion (I would be too if I knew I was going to get a thermometer in the butt, lol). Has anyone got any exercises besides feeling over all parts of the dog and treating to condition to vet visits? She also hid under me when she got off the table; I immediately moved her back out so as not to promote that behavior. A VERY INTERESTING thing that happened during the visit was that the vet tested eyes by making a fist and moving it rapidly toward both eyes in a punching motion, the correct response is for the dog to flinch, not to flinch a sign of vision issues apparently. Callie stood there both eyes wide open, NO flinching, just observing. I didn't know whether to be proud or worried as the vet said she either has vision issues or is fearless. Anyone had a similar experience? I have to come back next week for her second round of shots; we just went in early to get her established there and make sure she didn't develop any issues over her time with us.
Thats it for today.