Training happens everywhere. Many people only teach new things at home, get them well known there, and then try to generalize to gradually increasing distractions. But with Dazzle and Voodoo, I started (and worked on) various behaviors wherever we happened to be- starting on day 1. And it resulted in dogs that ‘generalized’ beautifully! Later, I could teach something new at home and even if I had only worked on it at home, they would perform it the same in new places.
This also makes my life much easier, not having to try to teach everything at home first, especially when I spend so much time away from home socializing. And a LOT of that time is spent just hanging out in new places, in the vehicle, or on a blanket or mat, where we can work on learning a wide variety of new behaviors and skills.
And it helps the puppy learn to focus on various tasks, starting with just moments of time and gradually building to longer and longer focus on the task regardless of what is going on around the pup. Right from the start, the environment is ‘background’, not the main attraction! In most of the videos of Voodoo socializing, I was having to encourage him to look at stuff before I started the video because he had already figured out that ignoring the environment and focusing on me paid very well!
Training here is usually not dedicated sessions (but those happen too!) It is always happening in some form or another all throughout the day. House manners, car manners, potty training (lots of different surfaces and on cue), leash manners, focus/check-ins, position changes, stay, settle/relax, crate games, recall, retrieve, handling, impulse control, empowerment, and so much more all get interspersed WHILE we are out socializing. Just quick little bits here and there, all kept super fun.
Puppies are ALWAYS learning, every moment they are awake, whether you are teaching them or not. So I put that sponge of a brain to good use! They WANT to learn! They NEED to learn! And starting as early as possible with age appropriate training has been VERY successful for me! I have been VERY happy with the results!
That said, because of how I train, it makes it hard to get video of the training sessions. If I wore a GoPro or similar device, it would show you what the puppy is doing, but not what I’m doing. And I don’t plan to have a tri-pod with me at all times to set up my phone. If I had someone to follow us around and operate the camera, that would be ideal. And if anyone wants to accompany us on various outings to do that, I’m open to that. I will get as much video as possible, but it will likely be shared the way I shared Voodoo’s training- in compilation videos covering a range of topics or locations: https://raisingageniuspuppy.com/socialization-and-exposure/
Note: I had put all of Voodoo’s training videos on Vimeo, but then it got too expensive so I lost access to most of them. I have them on my computer still and recently (last year) uploaded several to Youtube so that the videos on the website could work. But those are just the highlights, not the day by day compilations. I’ll be sharing similar videos on a variety of behaviors and socialization locations with Mr.
In this video we work on recall with an obstacle (a small ditch with flowing water), and retrieve. I also reward several check ins and sits he offered.
