Week 16:
Behavior and Training
Housebreaking. Your kiddo should be housebroken by now.
If you’re still having troubles, just keep at it. Also, a reminder that if you did not catch your puppy in the middle of the act, simply clean it up and let it go. Do NOT reprimand your puppy after the fact; puppies (and dogs of any age) do not connect delayed responses. They will have NO IDEA why you’re reprimanding them if it’s even three seconds after the incident.
Crate Training. How is this going?! Here’s a confession: My husband Barry is spoiling Mango (2017 Boulder x Lenka) rotten, so she’s been in bed with us every night. However, that doesn’t mean we’re still crating her during the day, throughout the day. She didn’t like it at first but she eventually got with the program. If your puppy is whining about it, stay strong. 🙂
Alone Training. Reminder to practice leaving your puppy home alone from time to time!! It’s a good skill to be good at. As much as you love your dog, remember to NOT take your puppy with you, everywhere, ALL THE TIME. It needs to understand that sometimes, you have to leave them at home. Alone. AND THAT’S OKAY. Encouraging a puppy to think you’ll be there for it all the time is setting yourself up for separation anxiety disasters. Don’t be that enabler. 🙂
Clicker Training. Clicker training is a method for training animals that uses positive reinforcement in conjunction with a clicker, or small mechanical noisemaker, to mark the behavior being reinforced. It’s great for Weimaraners, since our breed is sensitive and doesn’t take well with negative reinforcement. The clicker is used during the acquisition phase of training a new behavior to allow the dog to rapidly identify the precise behavior of interest. Is anyone doing this?!
To learn more about clicker training, visit Karen Pryor’s Clicker Training website.
Health and Nutrition
Fleas. Now is the time to treat your puppy (unless you live in the mountains and don’t have fleas!).
When you take your puppy to the vet as part of his/her wellness checkup, get your vet to put your puppy put in a flea/tick regimen. We have our dogs on Frontline and Advantix and so far, that works for us topical Revolution. NOTE: Four out of the seven puppies from the 2013 Max x Friday Pioneer Seven litter developed allergy symptoms from both Frontline and Advantix. You may elect to have your puppy put on an oral treatment.
The next time you’re at the local pet shop, you can also purchase and use a puppy-safe shampoo that helps minimize the occurrence of fleas.
Puppy/Juvenile Vaginitis. Puppy vaginitis is also called juvenile vaginitis, and refers to inflammation of the vagina in a puppy that has not reached puberty (i.e., has not gone through a heat cycle). (Likewise, male puppies may have a greenish yellow crusty discharge from the penis sheath.) This condition is caused by the normal sloughing off of cells and is part of the hormonal and developmental changes in a puppy. (Many puppies out of every Barrett litter had this at some point in their puppyhood.) These opportunistic conditions are due to your puppy having a weak or underdeveloped immune system. It’s generally a mild condition and not something to be terribly concerned about.
Signs and Symptoms:
- Vaginal discharge (mucous-like, white to yellow to green, and usually not very heavy)
- Licking at vulva
- Mild irritation of skin around vulva
What you can do: Daily cleaning of the vulva or penis with an unscented baby wipe or alcohol-free ear cleaning solution is typically all that is needed to help keep the area clean and alleviate any irritation from the discharge until the condition resolves on its own.
Feeding Amount and Proper Puppy Weight. (The below are photos from the 2013 Max x Friday Pioneer Seven litter. Boulder, my Black Boy (at left below) is too skinny. If you can see a hard “indent” in your puppy when you look at him/her from directly above, now is a good time to up the food. We are feeding 1.75 cups Castor and Pollux Chicken and Rice two times a day. At right below is what your puppy should look like on an EMPTY stomach (before dinner). Alternatively, if you do NOT see your puppy’s ribs when viewed from the side… you’re overfeeding.
Grooming – Nails. Check the length of your puppy’s nails, and clip them back if they’re long. You’ll need to do this about once a week to keep them trimmed. Also, your first few attempts may involve some teamwork. Someone to clip the nails one by one, with lots of praise in between, and another person to feed the puppy treats to keep it distracted and happy (as much as can be, anyway) during the whole experience.
Grooming – Ears. Weimaraners have long, floppy ears, so they should be cleaned out about once a week. Ear cleaning solution can be found at the local PetSmart or Petco.
Here’s a great video that talks about how you can clean your pup’s ears: http://www.petmd.com/dog/puppycenter/grooming/evr_dg_cleaning_the_ears_and_eyes
How’s everyone doing with their commands?
When you work on training, it helps to use high-value treats. Some examples: liver, chicken, small bit of meat, or soft chew treats. Freeze dried meat is good, too.
Further reading:
http://www.justweimaraners.com/the-fundamentals-of-early-puppy-training/
http://www.justweimaraners.com/trainers-tool-belt/
http://www.justweimaraners.com/my-no-game/
http://www.justweimaraners.com/take-notice/
http://www.justweimaraners.com/marking-good-behavior
Behavior and Training – Puppy Mouthing. You may have noticed that your puppy has razor-sharp teeth. When it gets caught on you: OW! Here’s an article about what to do about puppy mouthing. Time to reinforce the “NO BITE!!!” command. Holler if you need any tips about how to minimize the biting behavior. Holler also if you need some help with other areas.
Behavior and Training – Socializing. If you need some additional tips on socializing your puppy, check out this article, this article, this article, or this article.
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