If you watched Rundle's 14 week old video that I posted yesterday, you will have noticed that at the end of the video I left in a clip of Rundle being "naughty". I had left treats on the table and he jumped up to eat them. Bad me! In situations like this, it is not fair to blame the puppy for doing something that is simply nothing more than puppy behaviour. That is why I put the clip in the video - to show that "oops" happen sometimes and how we deal with them is more important than what actually happened. Rundle grabbed the treats and I gently moved him away so I could pick up the treats that were remaining. I did not punish, scold, hit or otherwise threaten a puppy that has not yet learned self control or that stealing food off the table is not allowed. It is my job to manage his environment so things like that do not happen and I failed. It happened and I now need to be much more aware of where I leave treats and be more proactive in situations like this, such as asking Rundle for a sit when I notice him looking for treats on the table - a puppy can not sit and jump at the same time.
I am sure there are those who will be thinking "how will your puppy ever learn if you don't (insert punishment here) him"? He will learn the same way that he has been learning the other self-control skills we have been working on - with time and practice and maturity. He already knows that he doesn't get his supper if he is jumping and twirling - supper only happens if your butt is sitting. He will also learn that stealing food is not allowed if I am diligent about rewarding what I want. It will take time and patience but I will not use fear, punishment or intimidation to teach an innocent puppy basic manners (or anything for that matter). We now have one more thing to add to Rundle's training list :)
No comments:
Post a Comment