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Puppy School

Posted by in Dogs, Pets


A couple of readers have asked about the puppy, so I wanted to offer an update:

Scotty has gotten the last of his puppy vaccinations and his neutering is out of the way. At the six months mark, which he officially hits on Tuesday, he’s now weighing in at 55 pounds, which puts him in line to be roughly 65-70 pounds, which would be just about average for an adult Collie.

He also had his first session of obedience school. I figure that a dog that big definitely needs to be controllable. What’s really cool about the trainer I selected is that she used to work exclusively with Collies, so she loves the breed. She also says that it’s one of the easiest breeds of dog there is to train, and Scotty’s definitely showing a quick ability to learn new things without trying to assert any dominant behavior.

The biggest challenge in this week’s homework assignment is the “Leave It” command. That’s when you put a treat down and make the dog not go for it by saying, “Leave it.” As soon as he looks away, you immediately reward him. I figured Scotty would have a hard time with this one, because he really likes his treats. But he’s doing very well with it already; yesterday he actually acted like he wasn’t interested in the cluster of treats I placed on the floor after I gave him the command.

Maybe he’s already figured out that if he ignores them, he’ll still get his treats.

Who said bribery got you nowhere?