Edna’s training begins

These are the activities I have worked on in my first 24 hours with Edna:

• housebreaking. I have either my eyes on her, or she is locked in her crate. She gets a treat and hears the command “potty” when she goes outside. This is time consuming – when awake and playing, a pup has to relieve itself every 10 – 15 minutes!
• clicker training. I am “charging” the clicker with her. All this means is that a primary reinforcer (food) is given at the same time a secondary reinforcer (could be anything — sea mammal trainers use a whistle, dog trainers like a little device that makes a distinct “click-clack” sound. This helps when training very precise behaviors later. I hope to not only teach her some fun tricks, but also to train her to alert on cadaver material, items people may have discarded while hiking, (and maybe my GPS when I lose it in the woods one day!) and also it helps when training a bark on command, which I plan to teach her so she can tell me when she has found a lost person.
• socialization. Edna is very social and sweet, but meeting all kinds of people in all kinds of environments will boost that great temperament and preserve it. She went with me to the Ketchikan Daily News, where I used to work as a reporter (and am filling in now, part time,) and she was held by men, women and  she trotted around and had her photo taken by reporter Nick Bowman.

  

  She also visited the North Tongass Volunteer Fire Department where I was attending a drill. She ran around near the ambulance and fire trucks, learned about the strange noises of air brakes and loud engines and got cuddled by firefighters and EMTs and even the fire chief (who happens to also head up our Ketchikan Volunteer Rescue Squad, which Edna and I are members of as a SAR team.)

• small, important lessons. She has taken two gentle, small hikes with me and our four other dogs. She has experienced woods, trails, wet, thick brush and lots of puddles already. She is very brave about the rain, puddles and cool temperatures. Teaching her to accept a collar and to give into leash pressure is another project. When it’s sunny, I tie the dogs up on our broad deck – they love to lie in the sun while I weed the garden and pick raspberries. Today was Edna’s first time, and it took her awhile to accept the limits of her tie out. She had a nice chew bone she finally gave into, and she accepted the fact that she would just have to wait patiently. She also is learning to follow me, to respond to her name (I just give her a bit of kibble while saying her name.) She also is learning that she must not use her teeth on people in play. We use a gentle correction of some sort – either a finger tap on the ribs or lifting her away via scruff, then we redirect her by wiggling a toy so she can bite that instead, and praising her.
• “Come.” The most important lesson, possibly. Many times during the day I give her a treat while saying “Edna, come!” This works to train older dogs too – even ones who have learned bad habits. I turn a bit to the side, crouch down, don’t stare at her face, and hold the treat against my leg to encourage her to push in close.
• Sit for a meal. This is pretty simple – using a leash to control her movement. All four older dogs know to sit for their food, so I use a leash to keep her from lunging into their bowls, and to guide her into a sit. Being a Border Collie, she very easily and naturally folds into both sit and down positions. This is where I am teaching her the release command “OK!” When she is in a stable sit, I say OK, all the dogs start eating, and I encourage her to stand up and dig in. The “OK” will be used a lot when releasing her from sit or down stay, or from a crate.
• Kennel. Go into a crate on command and quietly stay there until released. She whines a bit about the kennel in the car, but it is mild and I am confident she will stop when she realizes it accomplishes nothing. She slept quietly from 11 p.m. until 6 p.m. this morning, so I was happy about that!
• “Off.” When she tries to jump up on the couch, we gently guide her back down and say “off!” the minute her feet hit the floor, then give her praise and the attention she was seeking. This one is tough with soft-hearted visitors/kids and an adorable puppy!
• “Leave it.” Good for biting houseplants, toes, poking cats and other puppy misadventures. We use the same routine as for putting her teeth on people.
• “Wait.” Great for warning to not go through a door, or to run off when I’ve dropped a leash, or to keep a dog from jumping out of the car when you realize another car is coming, or you are having a hard time untangling five leashes.  🙂 I just block the dog with my hand or the leash when they first are learning, saying “wait” as I do it.

So many things to teach a young puppy! It is very fun, and rewarding, and if the foundation is set up correctly, the pup will be a delight as it grows, rather than a large, hyper, gangly menace.