Author Topic: Zennor 18-22 weeks  (Read 1808 times)

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Offline PaulJ

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Zennor 18-22 weeks
« on: July 28, 2019, 12:17:54 PM »
Four weeks since last post. The “shock” of a new pup is over...for now at least. Here is what we have been up to.

Introduction of the place board and stop whistle has begun. Place board is awesome, Zennor knows parking his butt on there is where the fun begins. We can gesture towards it and he will go to his place while we set up a hunting game. Stop whistle is coming along through association. Recall is great...pipping away from strangers and other dogs now . We are always prepared to “leg it” in the event of an immediate response not occurring to avoid a fail. In a new location recently, I did have to run for quite some time until he came an the usual full pelt. I don’t think he was expecting it so caught him off guard.

With hindsight we would have done less with Zennor early on. We did not think we were doing much at the time but it can creep up on you. We would also have restricted access to other people more. Other people dont listen.

For new cocker owners don’t worry about exercise and walks, pup will get enough with play. Lots of people seem to want to get out as soon as possible and “walk” their puppy. There is no rush getting out and walking your dog, don’t let it work out it can easily self reward. You should be the reward and most important thing in the world to pup. It is not easy sometimes and inevitably something more exciting will be there.  Make sure eye contact is established  early on and challenge the pup to think. If we have to get on all fours on the ground and play excitedly to create bond then good! We are always thinking of ways to challenge Zennor mentally. It’s the best way to tire him out and helps massively with creating the bond.

We are experiencing the teething caused by adult teeth.  Thank god for all the early bite inhibition training. Zennor was going nuts trying to get something from under the sofa when we flicked it out it was one of his puppy teeth.  We have also found something that beats pizzles and yakers...dried salmon skins.  They last a very long time and pup goes crazy for them. 

We are now working with a local gundog trainer who seems very enthusiastic about helping us bring Zennor along but then we are listening to him and modifying our behaviour and actions where needed. Zennor has a very strong desire to hunt so we tapping into that with his play/training. We have to work on his retrieves, he has gone a bit “I might...I might not”, depending on his mood. I do wonder if we should cut back off the desire to hunt and work more on the retrieve. But then less is more or at least that what everyone says...including us! Keep him keen for the retrieve. With such a strong desire to hunt though it’s tricky getting him excited about the retrieve.

Photobucket has gone weird so trying flickr, hopefully format will be okay.

“Wet pup on placeboard”

9F1FCF18-7C6C-4DC4-96EB-653AF9D1167C by Paul Johnson, on Flickr

Offline Cheadlea

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Re: Zennor 18-22 weeks
« Reply #1 on: July 28, 2019, 01:35:54 PM »
Hi I just wanted to say that Zennor’s training regime sounds awesome and clearly involves a lot of hard work and thought. Our Cedric who is 20 weeks is very stubborn and Uber confident and excitable so it would be wonderful to be able to take a leaf out of your book. Thank you for sharing.

Offline PaulJ

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Re: Zennor 18-22 weeks
« Reply #2 on: July 28, 2019, 03:10:13 PM »
Not sure about regime...makes it sound like a boot camp  :005:

Everything is play and fun in short sharp sessions. Everyone is having a laugh and enjoying it. Patience and consistency get there in the end.

We have also found it useful to watch each other with pup and be constructive about what’s happening. It is easy to deviate from “the plan”. It is more important for me as OH is the primary so I have to mirror what she does. Unless we regularly “check in” with each other there can be quite a lot of variation from a short period of time.

OH has done incredible job, I’m lucky as I get to escape to a workplace five days a week. She works from home on and off so does not have that luxury. It can seem like hard work sometimes but it is a lot of fun and worth the effort.

Offline ejp

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Re: Zennor 18-22 weeks
« Reply #3 on: July 28, 2019, 03:17:42 PM »
I really enjoy your updates on Zennor and getting a view on the training has been so interesting.  He is a great wee dog and you have both done an amazing job with him.  Thanks for the update.

Offline Pearly

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Re: Zennor 18-22 weeks
« Reply #4 on: July 28, 2019, 11:01:50 PM »
Zennor is coming on nicely  :D

Kukri will be 27 weeks tomorrow.  We’ve started on basic obedience, steadiness and recall.  No placeboards yet though may choose to do so if her presentation needs improvement, currently she presents nicely but not as well as Coral.

We do very little in formal training sessions with her, it’s all as an opportunity presents.  She walks nicely to heel off lead, most of the time but does get distracted when the other dogs are around, which is understandable given her age.

She will retrieve and does for fun - they have a large paddling pool and she has had a couple of retrieves out of the water today.  Again, it’s when an opportunity arises and perhaps once a week although we are both brought “gifts” all day everyday  :005:. We took her to a garden with lots of shrubs today, she was quite happy to go into cover which means we don’t need to worry about encouraging her.  Hunting has not yet started and I won’t be encouraging her for a while, she may be a picking up dog as we have two “born hunters” who are both a handful. 

The most important is that we now have chickens and Kukri (the Gurkha knife or punjabi for chicken  :lol2:) has no interest in them.  She comes into the area of garden they are contained in - protection from two of the others  ph34r) and either wanders round or sits while we clean, restock and water the hens!

She is a complete delight compared to Coral although not as challenging or driven  :lol:

Offline PaulJ

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Re: Zennor 18-22 weeks
« Reply #5 on: July 29, 2019, 08:46:45 AM »
Sounds like Kukri is coming along great too!

It is always good to hear how other dogs are coming on with different traits, methods and experiences. I would like to see how a WCS that is less “Hunt” driven develops. The ying to Zs yang. I think it would help us with his retrieves. The placeboard and release have really helped and focusing on the “eye contact”. There is something very satisfying about a dog heeling with head tilted up looking you in the eye.

Totally, agree all fun for now and no pressure with any of the “training”.