New Toffee Thread
- Thread starter SteffiS
- Start date
Toffee is quite tired today and sleeping a lot after yesterday's excitement.
I'm very pleased that, after an initial hover around OH, he will put himself in his basket and go to sleep during mealtimes. Sometimes I get him to move into his crate so I can safely get on with other things and, when he's sleepy enough, he will just go in there when asked and settle down. He is such a contrast to Ripple as a pup it's unbelievable, although OH thinks all the coping mechanisms we learnt with Ripple have helped us put rules in place with a minimum of fuss.
OH is also doing gentle training with Toffee and using all the tips and hints (instructions
) that i gave him with the other dogs that he totally dismissed as rubbish and unnecessary. I am amazed and 
.
I'm very pleased that, after an initial hover around OH, he will put himself in his basket and go to sleep during mealtimes. Sometimes I get him to move into his crate so I can safely get on with other things and, when he's sleepy enough, he will just go in there when asked and settle down. He is such a contrast to Ripple as a pup it's unbelievable, although OH thinks all the coping mechanisms we learnt with Ripple have helped us put rules in place with a minimum of fuss.
OH is also doing gentle training with Toffee and using all the tips and hints (instructions
) that i gave him with the other dogs that he totally dismissed as rubbish and unnecessary. I am amazed and .
- Location
- Andorra and Spain
Personally, I'd stay well away from puppy socialisation classes that are designed with interaction (either dog-to-dog or human-to-dog) at the heart. The last thing a puppy on either side of the divide needs is to interact with other puppies. Puppies don't necessarily have great social skills, and so it's far more valuable to expose your puppy to older dogs who do, so they can learn how to behave nicely. A puppy with a tendency to bully will only become more of a bully without learning what the limits are, and a timid puppy will likely end up being the target of that bully; neither is a good socialisation experience. As Joy says, interacting with unfamiliar humans can also be overwhelming to a young puppy - I don't expect new puppy owners to be able to read the signs of discomfort in their dogs, and that's really the valuable skill to learn at this stage. That's more suited to a class which is designed with that in mind, without forcing into encounters they may not be comfortable with, including being asked to interact at all with another human or animal.
Here's a nice blog post by Denise Fenzi: Socialization and Early Training | Denise Fenzi's Blog
Here's a nice blog post by Denise Fenzi: Socialization and Early Training | Denise Fenzi's Blog
Thank you for that @snowbunny and also (I assume) removing my double post. I've never been to puppy socialisation that involved 'pass the puppy' although I know @Joy mentioned it as well, but I'm certainly reassessing how we are going to socialise Toffee. I also think I probably made loads of mistakes with Ripple .
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- Location
- Andorra and Spain
Meh, we all make lots of mistakes with every puppy, child, ferret, kitten or leopard gecko. All we can do is keep on learning and tweaking what we do.
One thing that I keep hearing at the moment and resonates with me is that our dogs’ personalities are a combination of their genetics and their environment. We can never say for sure what “caused” different personality traits in them, so there’s not much point worrying about if we did things wrong when they were puppies. We can choose to change things with the next puppy where we think they could have done better, but you’ll never know if the same puppy would have turned out differently with different environmental exposure.
That’s where I think the skill of reading the dog in front of you comes into play and that only comes with experience.
One thing that I keep hearing at the moment and resonates with me is that our dogs’ personalities are a combination of their genetics and their environment. We can never say for sure what “caused” different personality traits in them, so there’s not much point worrying about if we did things wrong when they were puppies. We can choose to change things with the next puppy where we think they could have done better, but you’ll never know if the same puppy would have turned out differently with different environmental exposure.
That’s where I think the skill of reading the dog in front of you comes into play and that only comes with experience.
- Location
- Sydney, Australia
I wish like crazy we could turn the clock back and restart with Maxx as an 8 week old but this time with the power of the knowledge and experience we have now. It sounds like you have learnt so much from raising Ripple @SteffiS, possibly even without knowing it all the time!
I'm experiencing a bit of this finally and thankfully. But it has taken months and we wasted those early puppy months when it would have been SO much easierOH is also doing gentle training with Toffee and using all the tips and hints (instructions
Ah don’t we all have a maladjusted leopard gecko at home that we wished we had socialised right
I didn't realise how easy my previous two boys were until I got Ripple, he's certainly been (and still is) a real learning curve for me.
Beanwood
Administrator
I remember the early days with Benson as if it were yesterday. Puppy classes were a disaster. Interesting though, as I am now seeing those classes through the photos I took at the time, and they tell a very interesting story!
With Bramble the puppy classes were so different, everything was about calm behaviours, the science, and how to move forward. Each puppy was uniquely tailored for.
With Bramble the puppy classes were so different, everything was about calm behaviours, the science, and how to move forward. Each puppy was uniquely tailored for.
- Location
- Herefordshire, UK
we do, of course we do.Today we took Toffee to the farmers market, but the man who sells the chicken wasn't there, then we went to the garden centre for a coffee but they wouldn't let us in as they have a strict no dogs policy, lastly we went to the garage to get a newspaper but they were shut as it appears someone had smashed into their glass front. After the fiasco over the puppy classes we're beginning to wonder if Toffee is a jinx 
.
And next time we will go the nice garden centre that even let Ripple in.
.And next time we will go the nice garden centre that even let Ripple in.
Do you think Ripples been phoning ahead ?
- Location
- Herefordshire, UK
Swampy's on fire
Boogie
Moderator
- Location
- Manchester UK
@Lab_adore said -
I have a new pup every year and, yes, I get more organised every time - so that makes it easier.
Training? Nope - each pup has such different character and challenges that you never ‘do it right’. Youand the dog just learn from each other and get there in the end.
This pup is a terrible lead biter. I thought I didn’t have lead biters due to my training. Nope again, it’s just that they are all different. I’m dealing with the lead biting, but it’s going to take a while!
‘
I don’t know ...
I have a new pup every year and, yes, I get more organised every time - so that makes it easier.
Training? Nope - each pup has such different character and challenges that you never ‘do it right’. Youand the dog just learn from each other and get there in the end.
This pup is a terrible lead biter. I thought I didn’t have lead biters due to my training. Nope again, it’s just that they are all different. I’m dealing with the lead biting, but it’s going to take a while!
‘
OH is away all day today so I have the delightful task of looking after Toffee (and Ripple). This morning I took him for a wander round our local rec which he found enjoyable and scary - enjoyable running and sniffing, scary noise from the road, mowers and dogs barking in back gardens.
This lunch time I needed to give Ripple a run in the garden so popped Toffee in his crate with only his second ever frozen kong. I think maybe I should have taken the newspaper out of his crate as he shredded it all whilst trying to eat his kong and is now asleep in a newspaper nest.
This lunch time I needed to give Ripple a run in the garden so popped Toffee in his crate with only his second ever frozen kong. I think maybe I should have taken the newspaper out of his crate as he shredded it all whilst trying to eat his kong and is now asleep in a newspaper nest
.I've also realised over the last two days how badly daytime toilet training is going. When Toffee is outside he spends his whole time digging in the dirt, eating twigs and pulling at the hedge, then he comes in and promptly wees / poos on the floor. OH says to me that he's had a little wee so he's brought him in, I'm beginning to wonder if he's actually weeing at all and whether OH is just bored of standing outside - I can certainly understand if he is. Anyway I've just ordered a movable pen to put outside on the grass to see if that works, well if in doubt throw money at it .
I've justified it by thinking I can use it indoors once Toffee does go outside reliably.
I'm not quite sure how we've gone wrong with the toilet training as all the others were easier than this, but Toffee is so good in lots of other ways I can't really complain.
.I've justified it by thinking I can use it indoors once Toffee does go outside reliably.
I'm not quite sure how we've gone wrong with the toilet training as all the others were easier than this, but Toffee is so good in lots of other ways I can't really complain.
- Location
- Andorra and Spain
Hopefully the outdoors pen will be as good for you as it was for me. Made life so much easier!
