Best puppy adventures?
August 11, 2023 4:20 AM Subscribe
Lennon, puppy tax, is a St. Bernard/Bernese mountain dog rescue pup and nearly fully vaccinated. He (we, really) has a trainer and is signed up for puppy classes. He is going to be a big dog, and he by nature is shy and gentle. I live in a large city. Our mission for the end of the summer and into the fall is to gently and briefly introduce him to things. His house training is still quite wobbly. Which things do you wish you had shown your dog as a puppy? How did you balance the desire to socialize your puppy with a) potential accidents and b) not overwhelming them?
Best answer: I'm not a dog owner but I have walked many dogs and things that I wish they had seen as a puppy are walkers, wheelchairs, bikes, scooters, strollers, skateboards etc. I had one dog that would just lose it if anything with wheels came near us and I think some exposure to those things as a puppy would have made him more comfortable around them.
posted by Lay Off The Books at 4:57 AM on August 11, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by Lay Off The Books at 4:57 AM on August 11, 2023 [4 favorites]
Best answer: Get the dog used to children. When I was a kid (born 1970) my uncle got a St. Bernard around the time my brother and I were maybe 2 years old. He made sure to do obedience school and socialize the puppy with us and other children, because he was concerned about his sister's kids (me and my brother) potentially getting harmed by the dog. Caesar turned out to be really well behaved and gentle (though my brother and I were pretty good about not teasing animals or acting stupid around them) and we grew up with that dog happily in our lives. We would play with him and all was fine. If a human would play wrestle with another human, the dog would bark like crazy as he was trained to be protective. I have dim memories of being really tiny and even riding on Caesar (with adult supervision)! Any animal that will be so large needs to know how to behave around unpredictable human kids... a giant dog like that is going to attract children's attention.
posted by SoberHighland at 5:50 AM on August 11, 2023
posted by SoberHighland at 5:50 AM on August 11, 2023
Best answer: If you can get outside the city, exposure to livestock and wildlife might come in handy. Some city-raised dogs of my acquaintance became totally uncontrollable the first time they saw a hare, while horses and cows can be Very Scary.
Also bicycles and bicyclists - not for chasing, not for barking at out a car window, not for lunging at out a car window (!) - that last one was a schnautzer, thankfully the road had a nice soft ditch and the cyclist was all right...
posted by I claim sanctuary at 5:56 AM on August 11, 2023
Also bicycles and bicyclists - not for chasing, not for barking at out a car window, not for lunging at out a car window (!) - that last one was a schnautzer, thankfully the road had a nice soft ditch and the cyclist was all right...
posted by I claim sanctuary at 5:56 AM on August 11, 2023
Best answer: Look up positive reinforcement strategies for getting puppies used to loud bangs (like fireworks). Our pup was totally unbothered by those things for the first few years, so we didn’t do any training around it, but she developed intense fear about it when she was about 4, and it’s been difficult to manage ever since (she’s 12).
posted by outfielder at 6:58 AM on August 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by outfielder at 6:58 AM on August 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
I don't have a dog, so I don't have any advice, but I just needed to chime in to say that Lemon is the cutest, most adorable pile of floof I've seen posted to MeFi in a long, long time. What a cute puppy! I'm sure he will be a VERY good boy!
posted by sardonyx at 7:09 AM on August 11, 2023 [8 favorites]
posted by sardonyx at 7:09 AM on August 11, 2023 [8 favorites]
Best answer: I wish we’d socialized our pup more to people at the door. Tough to do, because ideally you'd enlist people you know but who haven’t yet met your dog, and have them be onboard with not greeting your adorable puppy in the entrance, but only after he’s settled a little. And ideally you’d do that with lots of people over months to generalize it. Not easy in practice, but hey.
How did you balance the desire to socialize your puppy with a) potential accidents and b) not overwhelming them?
Treats, gentle encouragement, and sometimes picking the pup up so that she could observe the new situation from a higher/safer vantage point. But really, we went all in as soon as her shots were done, and just took her with us to a dog friendly brewery in our neighborhood as much as possible. We brought a lot of treats at first and worked on attention games so that she felt like she had a job to do, and so we could ask other people to pet her and reward her for staying seated. She still flipped out in pure puppy enthusiasm over other dogs a lot, but the upside of getting overstimulated is that sometimes she’d then be exhausted and actually need to sleep in the busy environment, which I suspect was great practice for her. Do your best to avoid big scary experiences, but 3-6 month old puppies get overstimulated all the time. As long as it isn’t traumatic for them, it’s still probably a net positive for socialization.
We let every small child who asked pet her and rewarded every time in the early days, and at almost 2, I now trust her even when random toddlers are running around shrieking and running into things.
posted by deludingmyself at 7:27 AM on August 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
How did you balance the desire to socialize your puppy with a) potential accidents and b) not overwhelming them?
Treats, gentle encouragement, and sometimes picking the pup up so that she could observe the new situation from a higher/safer vantage point. But really, we went all in as soon as her shots were done, and just took her with us to a dog friendly brewery in our neighborhood as much as possible. We brought a lot of treats at first and worked on attention games so that she felt like she had a job to do, and so we could ask other people to pet her and reward her for staying seated. She still flipped out in pure puppy enthusiasm over other dogs a lot, but the upside of getting overstimulated is that sometimes she’d then be exhausted and actually need to sleep in the busy environment, which I suspect was great practice for her. Do your best to avoid big scary experiences, but 3-6 month old puppies get overstimulated all the time. As long as it isn’t traumatic for them, it’s still probably a net positive for socialization.
We let every small child who asked pet her and rewarded every time in the early days, and at almost 2, I now trust her even when random toddlers are running around shrieking and running into things.
posted by deludingmyself at 7:27 AM on August 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Things I wish were easier with my 2.5 year old golden doodle in the city, who we got from a rural rescue when she was 1:
- different shapes, colors, sizes, etc. of people. People who move differently - my dog has a hard time with shuffling feet
-strong second to things with wheels. Especially less common ones like skateboards, mobility scooters and wheelchairs.
- if at ALL possible train calmness around door knocking and greetings. We are working on this and it is an uphill battle
-ditto calmness in busy environments.
- city noises - buses, construction, hammering, fireworks. There are soundtracks online you can play instead of needing to find these noises in the wild
-calmness greeting other dogs. Hard with a puppy but a dog that will drag you across the street to say hi to another dog is a safety risk, and is also not a good footing for interactions with the other dog, who may not be OK with saying hi
Nosework and POSITIVE exposure and exploration of unfamiliar settings, textures, sounds etc (as in the playground above) will go a long way to boosting their confidence that the world is full of awesome things even if there is the occasional thing that startles or scares them
Have fun!
posted by foodmapper at 7:40 AM on August 11, 2023
- different shapes, colors, sizes, etc. of people. People who move differently - my dog has a hard time with shuffling feet
-strong second to things with wheels. Especially less common ones like skateboards, mobility scooters and wheelchairs.
- if at ALL possible train calmness around door knocking and greetings. We are working on this and it is an uphill battle
-ditto calmness in busy environments.
- city noises - buses, construction, hammering, fireworks. There are soundtracks online you can play instead of needing to find these noises in the wild
-calmness greeting other dogs. Hard with a puppy but a dog that will drag you across the street to say hi to another dog is a safety risk, and is also not a good footing for interactions with the other dog, who may not be OK with saying hi
Nosework and POSITIVE exposure and exploration of unfamiliar settings, textures, sounds etc (as in the playground above) will go a long way to boosting their confidence that the world is full of awesome things even if there is the occasional thing that startles or scares them
Have fun!
posted by foodmapper at 7:40 AM on August 11, 2023
Best answer: My recommendation is to get your pup used to you touching his mouth, eyes, ears, and feet. I didn't do this, and I wish I had! My old girl is 15 and she STILL acts like she's mortally wounded when I touch her ears or eyes (to get off burrs or wipe off goobers, etc). Whenever I touch her feet - for perfectly innocuous reasons - she'll still stomp off in a pouty huff and watch me warily from the safety of the next room.
nthing to getting them used to fireworks. Instead of cuddling and soothing the fearful beast, I wish I had either acted like nothing was wrong at all. Or, acted like fireworks were fun! Oh boy, big booms! Now is when we dance around the kitchen, or now is when we play with the special fireworks squeaky toy!!
posted by Gray Duck at 8:47 AM on August 11, 2023 [3 favorites]
nthing to getting them used to fireworks. Instead of cuddling and soothing the fearful beast, I wish I had either acted like nothing was wrong at all. Or, acted like fireworks were fun! Oh boy, big booms! Now is when we dance around the kitchen, or now is when we play with the special fireworks squeaky toy!!
posted by Gray Duck at 8:47 AM on August 11, 2023 [3 favorites]
Best answer: Literally take your dog to the vet often. I don't mean make a million appointments; I mean, walk them in the door and give them a treat (or have a cooperative front desk person give them a treat), hang out a minute, and then leave. Anything to build positive associations so that they don't think that the vet is Place Where Horrible Things Always Happen. Most modern vets will understand exactly what you're doing and have no problem with it.
On a related note though not quite directly responsive to your question, I strongly recommend you read up on cooperative care and start laying the foundations for it. The more you can reduce stress and coercion around regular husbandry tasks, the better, but it takes a long time to build up the framework for it, and the less built-up associated anxiety, the easier it is.
posted by praemunire at 9:07 AM on August 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
On a related note though not quite directly responsive to your question, I strongly recommend you read up on cooperative care and start laying the foundations for it. The more you can reduce stress and coercion around regular husbandry tasks, the better, but it takes a long time to build up the framework for it, and the less built-up associated anxiety, the easier it is.
posted by praemunire at 9:07 AM on August 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I got my dog at 10 mos old, she was mostly untrained, unsocialized, food-insecure, had a lot of trouble being in a new home. I took her to an event at a local brewpub that's in the boonies, away from the road. They welcome dogs and request that you not leash them. So after some acclimatization, I took off the leash. She introduced herself to people and dogs, romped in the open area, and gained so much confidence in that one afternoon. Maybe there's a farmer's market or other place you could go to meet people and dogs, probably leashed.
Dog parks are controversial. They are definitely full of germs. Some dog owners are jerks. There's a large dog park near me where she can run, explore and meet other dogs; it's been safer than another small, crowded dog park, but there's some risk. Once her leash manners improved, walks in town got fun.
Dogs like to get wrapped around street signs and telephone poles. So I teach Go around early, saves a lot of aggro.
You are training your dog all the time. Dogs have evolved with us and can read mood, health, etc. I talk to my dog a lot. My previous dog had a big list of words and phrases he understood from usage, not specific training. And he knew if I picked up socks/ shoes, there was a good chance of an outing. Current dog is learning my words, phrases, habits. Be consistent, reward good behavior, respect your dogs needs, and have fun.
posted by theora55 at 10:45 AM on August 11, 2023 [2 favorites]
Dog parks are controversial. They are definitely full of germs. Some dog owners are jerks. There's a large dog park near me where she can run, explore and meet other dogs; it's been safer than another small, crowded dog park, but there's some risk. Once her leash manners improved, walks in town got fun.
Dogs like to get wrapped around street signs and telephone poles. So I teach Go around early, saves a lot of aggro.
You are training your dog all the time. Dogs have evolved with us and can read mood, health, etc. I talk to my dog a lot. My previous dog had a big list of words and phrases he understood from usage, not specific training. And he knew if I picked up socks/ shoes, there was a good chance of an outing. Current dog is learning my words, phrases, habits. Be consistent, reward good behavior, respect your dogs needs, and have fun.
posted by theora55 at 10:45 AM on August 11, 2023 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Bathtub. Not for an actual bath at this stage, just to hang out for a few minutes and explore while getting praise and treats. Once they are big enough, start having them jump into the tub on command.
posted by veery at 3:15 PM on August 11, 2023
posted by veery at 3:15 PM on August 11, 2023
Best answer: I wish I had gotten my guy used to nail clipping and teeth-brushing as a puppy. It would have saved a lot of drama and cash over the years.
Lennon is super-adorable.
posted by rpfields at 3:28 PM on August 11, 2023
Lennon is super-adorable.
posted by rpfields at 3:28 PM on August 11, 2023
Best answer: 1. "Don't eat things you find on walks/around house" (train in trades, exchanges for way better toys/food, and a default leave-it to get them not to snatch up and swallow a dead rat, chicken bones, vomit, etc on walks.
2. "People are babies" - play tug with them, get them quality playtime with older bitches, stick your hands in their mouth all the time. This is so important that if you have to, you should pay for time and access to a patient older bitch - humans can't teach this, but can reinforce it once they learn it.
3. "Scary things mean you get lots of treats" (people walking funny, dropping large boxes, tripping, yelling, waving around umbrellas, getting hit with bags, umbrellas, opening doors, etc, as you get home from a wet grocery trip with heavy stuff, kids screaming and running, etc)
4. Recalls trained with classical conditioning and repeated enough times that you're sick to death of them - in every kind of environment, starting easy for the first thousand times or so.
posted by esoteric things at 7:09 PM on August 11, 2023
2. "People are babies" - play tug with them, get them quality playtime with older bitches, stick your hands in their mouth all the time. This is so important that if you have to, you should pay for time and access to a patient older bitch - humans can't teach this, but can reinforce it once they learn it.
3. "Scary things mean you get lots of treats" (people walking funny, dropping large boxes, tripping, yelling, waving around umbrellas, getting hit with bags, umbrellas, opening doors, etc, as you get home from a wet grocery trip with heavy stuff, kids screaming and running, etc)
4. Recalls trained with classical conditioning and repeated enough times that you're sick to death of them - in every kind of environment, starting easy for the first thousand times or so.
posted by esoteric things at 7:09 PM on August 11, 2023
Best answer: Oh! Let puppies decide how confident they feel by choosing their own approach, ideally with lots of barriers to hide behind/under/etc. If you can find somewhere safe and remote regularly enough thst it can become familiar, do training off leash and don't use the leash and collar as a crutch.
It's a bad habit (I struggle with it), and one it's hard to break because you have to relearn it in every environment, when the dog is doing something scary (running off, running up to strange dogs and children, racing after a rabbit) or rude (jumping on humans) or less than ideal (humping another dog for example).
Make sure they get to play with all sizes of puppies (especially variety of ages from teeny can't-walk to little sharks with the attention span of a gnat to ones loosing their 'puppy license, adults, old/geriatric dogs, and teenage dogs. Big dogs who are aware of the size/strength of their bodies are safer and more enjoyable for everyone to be around, but they can only learn it before they get big.
Have fun
posted by esoteric things at 7:20 PM on August 11, 2023
It's a bad habit (I struggle with it), and one it's hard to break because you have to relearn it in every environment, when the dog is doing something scary (running off, running up to strange dogs and children, racing after a rabbit) or rude (jumping on humans) or less than ideal (humping another dog for example).
Make sure they get to play with all sizes of puppies (especially variety of ages from teeny can't-walk to little sharks with the attention span of a gnat to ones loosing their 'puppy license, adults, old/geriatric dogs, and teenage dogs. Big dogs who are aware of the size/strength of their bodies are safer and more enjoyable for everyone to be around, but they can only learn it before they get big.
Have fun
posted by esoteric things at 7:20 PM on August 11, 2023
Best answer: Seconding all answers to get the dog (adorable, btw!) socialized with kids. My two sons were terrified of dogs until they made friends with a family who had a Bernese. Lucky was the biggest, floofiest cookie monster of a dog imaginable, and cured them of their fears in one afternoon. We were never able to own a dog ourselves, and I'll forever be grateful to Lucky for making our kids more comfortable.
posted by lhauser at 8:23 AM on August 12, 2023
posted by lhauser at 8:23 AM on August 12, 2023
Best answer: You've already got a lot of good advice above but as an owner of a large 115lb dog I'll add that socialising to a variety of people is really important. I never knew how many people were frightened of dogs and especially big dogs until I had one. Being mostly compliant and at least the appearance of control of your dog will help your slobbery beast navigate the people who think all big dogs need to be muzzled or in a cage.
posted by Ashwagandha at 11:23 AM on August 12, 2023
posted by Ashwagandha at 11:23 AM on August 12, 2023
Response by poster: Thank you all so much! I love all these thoughts. For posterity I’ll add on public transit as a goal too.
I just also wanted to reassure people on the socialization angle - Lennon’s foster home had toddlers and I have preteen/teen boys and we have young kids (4 and 6) next door and a person who uses a wheelchair at the other next next door, and he’s around all those people a lot — we have a neighborhood where people are outside together a lot — plus a lobby full of kids at martial arts for a few minutes 4-5 times a week.
posted by warriorqueen at 6:17 PM on August 12, 2023
I just also wanted to reassure people on the socialization angle - Lennon’s foster home had toddlers and I have preteen/teen boys and we have young kids (4 and 6) next door and a person who uses a wheelchair at the other next next door, and he’s around all those people a lot — we have a neighborhood where people are outside together a lot — plus a lobby full of kids at martial arts for a few minutes 4-5 times a week.
posted by warriorqueen at 6:17 PM on August 12, 2023
dog booties (in case the pavement is hot or icy)
groomers
posted by oceano at 12:57 AM on August 14, 2023
groomers
posted by oceano at 12:57 AM on August 14, 2023
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Once he grew up he could climb up a ladder which ended up being really helpful with docks and boats.
I feel like he got a boost of confidence.
posted by beccaj at 4:26 AM on August 11, 2023 [2 favorites]