Comments on: Puppy In Training TV – Ep21 – Working Guide Dog

By: Charmaine

Charmaine — Fri, 23 Aug 2013 14:01:39 +0000

Hi Colby, how fabulous to see all your hard work come to fruition.
Please can you point me in the right direction for stopping my 14 week old lab from biting the leash?
He seems to like eating stones grass dirt and metal on the leash as well as the leash itself at times.
Thanks,
Charmaine

By: Colby

Colby — Mon, 19 Aug 2013 22:53:23 +0000

In reply to Cara.

Hi Cara,

Early congratulations on getting a new puppy and thank you for rescuing from a shelter.

We always close the door to our crates on the first night even though it’s a little sudden for the puppy. However, we do as much as possible before and after to make it a comfortable place for our puppy like giving her meals in her crate, putting play toys in their that she will enjoy (stuffing a KONG with treats works well), rubbing plush toys on litter mates (if that’s possible) and putting them in the crate. There are lots of different things you can do to make the crate an enjoyable place for your puppy.

Dogs/puppies are very smart. If/when you respond to their barks they will learn what you do when they bark. In general I do my best to ignore most barking. I have a puppy in the house right now and she will sometimes bark for attention. I just ignore her barks and when she stops and starts doing something else I give her praise for choosing a different activity other than barking.

It shouldn’t cause problems, but you will have to re-train her to start going to the back door rather than the front. It’s not too difficult. All of my puppies learn to potty out on the patio through the side door, but when they get older they learn to wait by the front door.

Good luck with your training!
Colby

By: Colby

Colby — Mon, 19 Aug 2013 21:32:21 +0000

In reply to Jenny Cole.

Hi Jenny,

That’s great! That’s cool you got to see Ranger and his partner.

I’m so happy that we get to see Dublin and his family now and then. I love seeing him work and getting the opportunity to play with him is icing on the cake. Liz and her family are so awesome they sent us letters after our visit thanking us for stopping by.

Hopefully we get to see our pups again soon!
Colby

By: Colby

Colby — Mon, 19 Aug 2013 21:20:48 +0000

In reply to Jessica Sala. Thanks Jessica!

By: Colby

Colby — Mon, 19 Aug 2013 21:20:34 +0000

In reply to Allison. Thanks! I'm glad you like it.

By: Colby

Colby — Mon, 19 Aug 2013 21:20:20 +0000

In reply to houndstooth. I'm very proud of Dublin and Adelle is doing great. I wish I heard more back from my other dogs, but I'm sure Apache and Derby are having great lives with their new families.

By: Colby

Colby — Mon, 19 Aug 2013 21:18:04 +0000

In reply to jan. Thanks Jan! It has been quite the journey since I began puppy raising 7 years ago.

By: Cara

Cara — Mon, 19 Aug 2013 03:59:35 +0000

Hi Colby! I’ve been reading through almost all of your posts for a few days now as we are getting ready to bring a puppy home from a shelter when she is old enough. So many of my questions were answered but I am still wondering a couple things: I feel confident about crate training, we’ve found a good crate and picked a spot by our bed for it. But we are nervous about “making” her sleep in it the first night. A lot of articles say to crate train slowly so that the puppy is happy to go into the crate, and not to shut it until the pup is happy and willing to be in the crate. But obviously we can’t get through all that training in the first night so do we still close it the first couple nights she’s here? Also, where is the line between comforting your pup and meeting their needs and accidentally training them to bark everytime she wants something for the rest of her life? My in-laws dogs do this all day and I’m incredibly nervous she’ll pick up on their behavior.

My other question regards the house breaking you talked about. We know the spot we want to designate, but it’s in our fenced in front yard as it’s safer and easier to watch her, but eventually we’d like her to be able to use the back yard as it has a dog door and is much bigger for playing. Will potty training her in the front yard cause any problems with using the backyard later?

Thank you!!!!

By: Jenny Cole

Jenny Cole — Thu, 08 Aug 2013 20:34:23 +0000

This April we spent a long afternoon with guide dog Ranger and his partner in Orlando, FL. It is a fantastic experience seeing your puppy do what he was raised to do. It makes all the hard work and long hours worth it. Thanks for sharing your video of Dublin.

By: Jessica Sala

Jessica Sala — Sat, 03 Aug 2013 01:00:15 +0000

Wonderful 🙂 Kudos!