New trainer questions

[Roe90]

I am training my first pup, a yellow lab female, and she's doing excellent with obedience at 5 months old. She's very energetic and doing as well as I could imagine for that age but I do need some help! She really does not like to "kennel" and I think it's because she is kenneled while my wife and I are at work so she's afraid she's going to get locked up for a while, how do I fix this? Also, how to I get her to really love bumpers? She goes nuts for feathers and the bumper I taped a feather to but plain bumpers she doesn't really get too excited about, I'm not doing much more than 2/3 retrieves a day but I just want to prepare for the future? Finally, and I'm sure this is the most common "new guy" question...but how do I know if I'm on the right track or not?! I'm following Tom Dokken's series and I'm in line with the book but there's so many different methods and I see so many different dogs at different stages here, my plan is to just continue with obedience until I'm comfortable with her in that but is there a point where I'm "too late" to get efficient results when I move on?

Thanks a lot for your help!!

[mnaj_springer]

For your kennel issue... Little treats and lots of praise can really sweeten up a pup.

Bumpers... Just get rid of the feathers taped to the bumpers. I don't think they provide any benefits, and can teach some bad habits. If she's a well bred retriever, she'll get excited about retrieving, even if they are "plain old bumpers" and especially if it's the only game in town.

And the pace you move at is the pace your dog is ready for. I suggest joining a club with experienced trainers. Retriever clubs are a dime a dozen, so it shouldn't be an issue. They'll help you read your dog.

[Higgins]

Hello Roe90,

There is no way to make a dog like being locked in a kennel box for 8+ hours a day. She has associated you and the kennel box with abandonment and long hours of being uncomfortable. Any way you could create a dog yard outside and get her a buddy?

[Brazosvalleyvizslas]

Hello Roe90,

There is no way to make a dog like being locked in a kennel box for 8+ hours a day. She has associated you and the kennel box with abandonment and long hours of being uncomfortable. Any way you could create a dog yard outside and get her a buddy?

Not true!!!! My dogs love their crates, It is a safe place and they get treated when they enter. They would rather be there for 8hrs VS 8hrs in triple degree heat.

[Roe90]

Thanks for the responses! I think she has associated it negatively but my plan to counter this is to get a dog blind early and start working in a "blind" command instead of "kennel" when I want her to get in her blind and be still. This way it is a completely new command and she wont associate it with anything and make it fun so she loves to "blind" even when she doesn't love to "kennel"....thoughts on this? (I would do this if I cant get her to kennel any time soon)

[GWPtyler]

Hello Roe90,

There is no way to make a dog like being locked in a kennel box for 8+ hours a day. She has associated you and the kennel box with abandonment and long hours of being uncomfortable. Any way you could create a dog yard outside and get her a buddy?

What?? This is sarcasm, right?

[Griffonpoint]

Hello Roe90,

There is no way to make a dog like being locked in a kennel box for 8+ hours a day. She has associated you and the kennel box with abandonment and long hours of being uncomfortable. Any way you could create a dog yard outside and get her a buddy?

I agree. I can't think of a way to make a dog like being locked in a crate for 8+ hours a day. Some dogs learn to tolerate or accept being left for that long on a regular basis, but it doesn't mean that all dogs can or should learn to be left tightly confined for extended periods on a regular basis. Higgins' reply and suggestions are reasonable. On a side note, my rescue group has had to rehabilitate a number of dogs who developed negative behaviors from being left crated regularly while their owners were away at work.

[ezzy333]

Hello Roe90,

There is no way to make a dog like being locked in a kennel box for 8+ hours a day. She has associated you and the kennel box with abandonment and long hours of being uncomfortable. Any way you could create a dog yard outside and get her a buddy?

I agree. I can't think of a way to make a dog like being locked in a crate for 8+ hours a day. Some dogs learn to tolerate or accept being left for that long on a regular basis, but it doesn't mean that all dogs can or should learn to be left tightly confined for extended periods on a regular basis. Higgins' reply and suggestions are reasonable. On a side note, my rescue group has had to rehabilitate a number of dogs who developed negative behaviors from being left crated regularly while their owners were away at work.

Interesting that you are the first rescue I have ever heard mention negative effects of crating. I too agree it would be much better to have a more spacious place than a crate for keeping a dog for a period of time and I am sure everyone is aware of that but still there are circumstances occasionally where it may be necessary. Always good to have someone post that knows what the dog is thinking though, helps a lot of the old timers.

[mnaj_springer]

Hello Roe90,

There is no way to make a dog like being locked in a kennel box for 8+ hours a day. She has associated you and the kennel box with abandonment and long hours of being uncomfortable. Any way you could create a dog yard outside and get her a buddy?

I agree.

Of course you do! If you didn't, who would?

For the OP, I'm with Bravo on this... My dogs regularly kennel themselves throughout the day/evening. They are especially fond of their crates when nervous or anxious. They have come to associate the crates with comfort and safety.

You can teach the "blind" command, but you can stick with "kennel" to make it simple.

Finally, does your pup sleep in the crate?

[Roe90]

She does not sleep in the crate which was likely a mistake from the beginning but she's just over 5 months now, I'm not sure if there's any going back.

[ezzy333]

The only time you can't go back is the day she dies.

[mnaj_springer]

She does not sleep in the crate which was likely a mistake from the beginning but she's just over 5 months now, I'm not sure if there's any going back.

I think if she slept in the crate, she may come to enjoy it more during the day. It'll be a few sleepless nights at first but she'll adjust.

[shags]

So 16 hours a day in a crate for a 5 month old puppy?

What are y'all thinking???

[crackerd]

Thinking correctly is what they're thinking. Dogs are sedentary creatures by nature ('cept when they're not), and for at least that length of time (16 hours) during a normal day they would be lying in place. Does it make any difference if it's on a kennel floor or inside a crate? Not at all, none whatsoever, as long as a routine is adhered to for crate-training them for eliminating outdoors instead of in the crate. My dogs have to earn their freedom from the crate by demonstrating that they can be "mischief-free" when left to their own devices indoors. Usually that's at about 8-9 months. Then the crate's replaced by a dog bed and they plop down on it just as they willingly enter their crate for repose. Not for "incarceration" if you choose to anthropomorphize it.

Good job spelling it out, mnaj.

MG

[polmaise]

I am training my first pup, a yellow lab female, and she's doing excellent with obedience at 5 months old. She's very energetic and doing as well as I could imagine for that age but I do need some help! She really does not like to "kennel" and I think it's because she is kenneled while my wife and I are at work so she's afraid she's going to get locked up for a while, how do I fix this? Also, how to I get her to really love bumpers? She goes nuts for feathers and the bumper I taped a feather to but plain bumpers she doesn't really get too excited about, I'm not doing much more than 2/3 retrieves a day but I just want to prepare for the future? Finally, and I'm sure this is the most common "new guy" question...but how do I know if I'm on the right track or not?! I'm following Tom Dokken's series and I'm in line with the book but there's so many different methods and I see so many different dogs at different stages here, my plan is to just continue with obedience until I'm comfortable with her in that but is there a point where I'm "too late" to get efficient results when I move on?

Thanks a lot for your help!!

I don't know Tom Dokken's series or much of anyone else's for that matter. So I can't comment on them.
I can understand Your post about your situation about Your dog though.
Obedience for a 5 month old pup should be fun. Sit get's a reward for the pup ie ..it gets a reaction it is pleased about ...bumpers or feathers or even a tennis ball are just things that 'move' ..which encourages chase/find
/catch/carry. ....with that in mind then obviously the time you spend with the little critter is exciting and enjoyable doing interaction and play with the natural abilities of any pup.
8 weeks old (assuming that's when you got the pup) ..until 5 month old is the HUGE learning period .....more important than the 1 year old to the 18 month old !! ..?
It shapes the behaviour and nurture of the young dog much more than any drill or exercise within any retriever program or someone's individual promotional dvd.
Your crate system is wrong ?...The crate should be used and conditioned to the dog on a daily basis as a 'safe zone' ..the pup should be fed in the crate ,water in the crate and affection in the crate , with the door open when you are with the pup ..Look up 'Crate Training' on google if that helps?..
As for the time period when you and your wife are away at work ?.......You should seriously look at someone calling in to break that time ?.....Or you should not have the dog !!
As for ''I'm only doing 2 or 3 retrieves a day '' ?> ..let me ask you this ?..If the dog loved it , why not more ?...Perfect opportunity to encourage it ?..just saying .....?
Forget this 'fanciful illusion' that hide and crate and kennel association ' thing !! ..That is way more complicated or a 5 month old pup that is locked up for best part of the day ...and I imagine 8 hours during the night when you and your wife are in bed too ?> !....
Get your head out of the book and take the dog out !
Have a nice day

[Roe90]

Thanks for all the replies! It's all going well so far. She still just does not want to retrieve bumpers, she will retrieve sticks and feathers just NOT BUMPERS!! I am using small, light bumpers and small canvas bumpers. She was retrieving her canvas one for a while but has stopped showing interest in it. She will just run up to it, sniff it, and run back. I don't get it, will FF later down the line help with this? I need a remedy on this and I just don't know what to do.

[mnaj_springer]

Forget the feathers. Unless they're attached to a bird, they're teaching nothing. Like I said before, if you make bumpers the only game in town, they'll seem a whole lot more fun. Force fetch will help, but don't worry about that now... I doubt either of you are ready.

Can you post a video of her retrieving (or not retrieving) a bumper so we can get a better idea?

[Roe90]

Forget the feathers. Unless they're attached to a bird, they're teaching nothing. Like I said before, if you make bumpers the only game in town, they'll seem a whole lot more fun. Force fetch will help, but don't worry about that now... I doubt either of you are ready.

Can you post a video of her retrieving (or not retrieving) a bumper so we can get a better idea?

Sure can, when I work her tonight I'll video one. For the record I wasnt meaning force fetch any time soon at all. Thanks!