Hello Reader,
I hope you’re having a good week. First up, I have exciting news to share. I have a new WordPress website just for the Maremmas and dog training! I have wanted to build this for years but was too scared to try. Well, I finally did it, and I am so happy! WordPress wasn’t as hard to figure out as I thought it would be and is so much better than Weebly.
The URL is prancingponymaremmas.com. I still have tweaks to make and pages to add, but the basics are there. The dogs are still on the old site for now, but the goats and dogs will eventually be separated. (I might eventually build a new WordPress site for the goats.) So check out the new site if you get a chance!
And now for something even more exciting than a website – puppies! Here is a video of Circe’s adorable 9-week-old puppies. (We have puppies available from this litter. 💜)
This might look like a random melee of cute puppies being fed treats, but it’s actually a very intentional training session. It’s the early stages of teaching puppies how to get attention appropriately and, eventually, to sit on cue.
First, the puppies learn to associate the clicker’s sound with yummy food, which we call “charging the clicker.” Then, they learn to offer behaviors like eye contact, standing, or sitting politely to get the food. The trick with training an entire litter of 11 puppies is to be fast when doling out the treat so the puppies don’t get frustrated!
Eventually, I’ll start shaping the behavior I prefer to see, which is a “mand” or an offered sit. (The key here is I don’t cue the puppies to sit at this stage. It’s entirely voluntary.) Only when the puppies are reliably offering the behavior is the “sit” cue added.
This is how you can train your dog to do anything. You start by reinforcing them for the behaviors they offer you. Then, you start selectively shaping those behaviors into something you like. Only when you’re willing to bet $20 will they offer the behavior do you add the cue!
That is how you train 11 puppies at once! Now, you can try that with just one dog—or maybe two! Let me know how that goes!
Happy training,
Kim
PS If you would like one of these beautiful, amazing puppies who will come already knowing how to sit politely for attention, click the link below to apply.
