Socialization
This week your puppy spent a lot of time simply adjusting to its new life! Your pup's trainer has been working to make positive associations with their home, family, and pets. This means lots of treats, praise and snuggles for exploring and showing calm behavior!
Potty Training
Our goal is to set up puppies up for potty training success by keeping them on very tight schedules to prevent them from having accidents in the house. We offer tons of praise and rewards everytime they potty outside to keep them from wanting to waste a drop inside! We will slowly try to increase the time between potty breaks, and encourage any natural tendencies to ask to go out between scheduled trips!
Developmental Milestones
What fun things has your puppy accomplished, explored, responded to this week?! (Bite inhibition, toys that peak interest, sleep hours, appetite, coordination, etc.)
Crate Training
Our goal for the end of the first week is for puppies to be able to self soothe in less than 30 minutes when they are in the crate overnight, during the day with people around, or during the day in isolation. They may wake up and make noise again, but as long as they relax again in less than 30 minutes we are happy! This is a bit of a lofty goal, but since we start crate training at 2 weeks old, we always cross our fingers!
Car Training
Our goal is for your puppy to be able to ride calmly and comfortably in the car without climbing in the driver's lap! Our goal is for your puppy to enjoy and settle for short rides with minimal stimulation.
Leash Training
Our goal for this week is for your puppy to be comfortable having its harness put on and taken off. Puppy should also be able to comfortably wear harness for up to an hour, and be comfortable dragging its leash.
Cues
Positive Interrupter
Used to shift puppy's attention to you! This is very helpful if you are trying to break a mischievous thought!
Name
Puppy should start shifting their attention towards their name!
Come
Puppy recalls under minimal distraction from 3 ft away
SitPuppy will follow lure to sit
This week we worked to identify any areas where your puppy might lack confidence, and creating a plan on how to improve in those areas. We built positive associations by playing in a new space and encouraged them to explore.
We will continue with the same potty training strategy as last week for the next couple of weeks! Hopefully, by now your puppy has a well established potty routine, and is associated outside with the best place to potty! The goal for this week was to increase the frequency of awake potty breaks by 5 minutes and have fewer accidents!
Our goal for your puppy this week was to be able to self soothe at bedtime in less than 20 minutes, and to be able to self soothe during the day in less than 30 minutes. If your pup isn't quite meeting the mark here yet, don't fret! It is a BIG skill, and we've set some really high goals!
Our goal is for your puppy to be able to ride calmly and comfortably. Our goal this week is for your puppy to be able to take short rides with us with an added experience while still in the car. We are also working to increase your puppy's confidence in approaching the car!
In week 2 of training, we aim to get our puppies to start walking on their leash! We aim for minimal pulling from the beginning. We are usually able to accomplish this by offering lots of treats for staying close. If your pup does pull, we make sure we don't reinforce the behavior by continuing to walk. We simply use a treat to lure the pup back to us!
Positive InterrupterPuppy should respond 30% of the time under minimal distraction
ComePuppy recalls under minimal distraction from 4+ ft away
SitPuppy will follow lure to sit, hold sit for 10 secs
This week we visited at least one novel space! Again, we worked on building positive associations and exposing them to new sights, sounds and smells. We spent time letting your puppy take it all in! It's so much fun to watch their little world grow in supported little steps.
We will continue with the same potty training strategy for the next couple of weeks! Hopefully, by now your puppy has a well established potty routine, and is associated outside with the best place to potty! The goal for this week was to increase the frequency of awake potty breaks by 5 minutes and have fewer accidents!
Our goal for your puppy this week was to be able to self soothe at bedtime in less than 15 minutes, and to be able to self soothe during the day in less than 20 minutes. If your pup isn't quite meeting the mark here yet, don't fret! It is a BIG skill, and we've set some really high goals!
Our goal is for your puppy to be able to ride calmly and comfortably in the car without climbing in the driver's lap! Our goal for this week is for your puppy to be able to ride calmly during most of a car ride! We are also introducing the idea of them entering the car on their own by rewarding the puppy for walking to the car!
We are continuing the same walking exercises as last week, but trying to treat less often. At this point, we are wanting to maintain a loose leash, and be able to regain the puppy's attention using a positive interrupter and your pup's name! We are allowing sniffing and exploring to let them get used to their environment, but it is also a very important stress relief activity for them!
Drop ItReward for puppy naturally offering "drop it" during play time
This week we visited at least one novel space! Again, we worked on building positive associations and exposing them to new sights, sounds and smells. We spent time letting your puppy take it all in!
The goal for this week was to increase the frequency of awake potty breaks by another 5 minutes and decrease accidents in comparison to last week.
Our goal for your puppy this week was to be able to self soothe at bedtime in less than 5 minutes, and to be able to self soothe during the day in less than 15 minutes. If your pup isn't quite meeting the mark here yet, don't fret! It is a BIG skill, and we've set some really high goals!
Our goal is for your puppy to be able to ride calmly and comfortably in the car without climbing in the driver's lap! Our goal for this week is for your puppy to be able to ride calmly for most of a car ride! Your puppy should hopefully be approaching the car with confidence by now!
Our leash walking goals this week consist of two ten minute purposeful walks each day. On walks we always allow time for sniffing and exploring. Sniffing is very important for your puppy to be able to understand its environment, but also relieves stress. We are practicing "heeling" (loose leash) for about 1-2 minutes at a time. We try to keep walks interesting by practicing commands. Our goal is for minimal pulling.
ComePuppy recalls under minimal distraction from 5+ ft away
SitPuppy follow sit cue, hold sit for 30 sec
Wait
Down
Drop ItStarting to introduce "drop it" cue before puppy offers behavior
Our goal this week was to start encouraging your pup to ask to go out! Instead of walking your pup out when it was time to go potty, we hung out by the door. As soon as your pup showed the door some attention, we opened the door and went out to go potty! As always, the plan was to set up for success by intervening if your pup showed signs of wanting to potty inside. Our goal this week is to be mostly accident free due to the increasing difficulty!
Our goal for puppies at this stage of training is to be sleeping through the night most nights without crying. However, their small bladders do still wake them up from time to time. Our goal is for your pups to only alert when they need to go potty, and re enter their kennel calmly afterwards. Puppies should be able to self soothe in less than 10 minutes during day time crate training.
Our goal is for your puppy to be able to ride calmly and comfortably in the car without climbing in the driver's lap! Our goal for this week is for your puppy to be able to ride calmly for the majority of a car ride!
This week we have aimed for two ten minute purposeful walks each day. With extra time for sniffing and exploring, sniffing is important for your puppy to understand its environment and relieve stress. We are practicing loose leash walking for 2-3 minutes at a time and encourage your puppy to practice the commands that they are now familiar with.
Puppy recalls under minimal distraction from 6 ft away
Sit
Puppy follow sit cue, hold for 30+sec while treating
Puppy will follow lure
Drop It
Starting to introduce "drop it" cue before puppy offers behavior
Watch Me
Using verbal cue, treat and hand cue to direct eye gaze to handler's face
The socialization goal for this week was the same as last! This week we revisited a past location to assess growth in your puppy's confidence. We also visited a novel location to meet new people, and another to experience new sights and sounds!
This week the plan was to continue with the same technique as last week! Our goal for puppies at this age is to start targeting the door on their own when they want to go out! We are hoping for less accidents this week.
What fun things has your puppy accomplished, explored, responded to this week? Bite inhibition, toys that peak interest, sleep hours, appetite, coordination, etc.
Our goal for puppies at this stage of training is to be sleeping through the night most nights without crying. However, their small bladders do still wake them up from time to time. Our goal is for your pups to only alert when they need to go potty, and re enter their kennel calmly afterwards. Puppies should be able to self soothe in less than 5 minutes during day time crate training. This week we also have been practicing wait for exiting their kennel calmly.
Our goal for this week is for your puppy to be able to ride calmly in the car, experiencing drive thru windows, car washes, and typical sights and sounds of traffic on errands.
This week we are aiming for two purposeful 15 minute walks each day. While on walks we always allow time for sniffing and exploring. Sniffing is very important for your puppy to be able to understand its environment, but also relieves stress. We are practicing loose leash walking for about 3 to 4 minutes at a time. We try to keep walks interesting by practicing commands. Our goal is for pulling to be less each week.
Positive InterrupterPuppy should respond 65% of the time under minimal distraction
NamePuppy should respond 65% of the time under minimal distraction
ComePuppy recalls under minimal distraction from 7 ft away
SitPuppy follow sit cue, hold sit 1-2min (treating at least every 30 secs)
DownPuppy will follow lure
Drop ItPuppy completing "drop it" 20%
WaitIntroduce cue to sit calmly before opening doors
Watch MeUsing verbal cue, treat and hand cue to direct eye gaze to handler's face
This week we focused on novel noises! We worked to seek out locations where we might hear some new things. We made note of anything that was particularly upsetting to your puppy, and are making a plan to build positive associations with noises of this type!
This week the plan was continue with the same technique as last week! Our goal for puppies at this age is to be asking to go outside about 20% of the time, and be 75% accident free!
What fun things has your puppy accomplished, explored, responded to this week?! Bite inhibition, toys that peak interest, sleep hours, appetite, coordination, etc.
Our goal for puppies at this stage of training is to be sleeping through the night most nights without crying. However, their small bladders do still wake them up from time to time. Our goal is for your pups to only alert when they need to go potty, and re enter their kennel calmly afterwards. We are working towards having your puppy be able to wait up to 10 seconds in its kennel!
Our goal for this week is for your puppy to be able to ride calmly for the majority of a car ride! We have continued to work on paws up to get in the car if big enough, and your puppy is being lured without a treat. We are also requiring a sit for entry!
This week we have aimed for two purposeful 15 min walks each day. While on walks we always allow time for sniffing and exploring. Sniffing is very important for your puppy to be able to understand its environment, but also relieves stress. We are practicing loose leash walking for about 5 to 6 minutes at a time. We try to keep walks interesting by practicing commands. Our goal is for pulling to decrease from last week.
Positive InterrupterPuppy should respond 70% of the time under moderate distraction
NamePuppy should respond 70% of the time under moderate distraction
ComePuppy recalls under moderate distraction from 4 ft away
SitPuppy follow sit cue, hold sit 2+min treating at least every 30 secs
KennelPuppy responds 70% to verbal cue
DownPuppy will follow lure, stopping lure 1 foot from ground
Loose Leash WalkingPuppy will walk loosely on a leash for 2min without treats
Drop ItPuppy completing drop it 25%
WaitPuppy will wait for 30 secs in sit position before letting out door