What is something that you did awesome at when you got your dog/puppy?

monkeys23

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#21
I am really pleased that I had the good sense to adopt Lily on the spot. There is no way I could have a better first dog of my own.

I am very happy to be able to see Scout have a happy life. She didn't ask to be born the way she is and deserves to be happy. It makes me happy when she grins and booty slams.
 

Dogs6

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#22
I think off leash skills are one of the best things I managed to do with all of the dogs when they were young. I can let them off leash pretty much anywhere and not worry about it. They're not going to take off after anything, they will come back when they're told, most of them have a reliable down that they will do at a distance. It gives me a lot of confidence to take them places. I was able to take 4 dogs, off leash (although Scamp did go on the leash near the end), to a public park, with other dogs, joggers, cyclists, children and squirrels and they all behaved really well. That is my main goal, that I can just take my dogs in public and just relax.

On the flip side however, their leash skills are terrible. They all pull, usually in different directions, and are a general nightmare in their efforts to get at other people and dogs that they would have ignored off leash. :rolleyes:
 

Elrohwen

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#23
I'm pretty sure all of Watson's best traits are things he was born with. There are things that I worked on hard as a puppy that he's not great at now, and others that he is.

If I have to take credit, I'll go with potty training and socializing. We were just so on top of him for house training and the only times he had accidents were when I knew it was too long and wanted to do just one more thing before taking him out. He'll hold it forever now, and go immediately when we get outside, which is also nice.

For socializing, I think it's mostly his nature, but I took him all over and tried to expose him to a lot of people and places. His first dog show was at 9 months and he took it completely in stride as if he'd been going to shows his whole life.
 

Oko

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#24
I'm proud of what I did to focus her energy and ethusiam into workable drive and focus for me, putting those foundations on her has made training and being around her really easy.
 

Finkie_Mom

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#25
Bubbles, I'm glad I took her places and helped her to gain confidence. She had none when she came to me at 1.5 years old, even though she did the show dog thing for a bit when she was a babydog.

Kimma (got her as an 8 week old), I'm SO GLAD I decided to research training early on so that I could decide for myself how I wanted to handle her fear issues/reactivity. It took a couple of years of hard work every day but she's become an amazing dog, and I couldn't have asked for a better partner in crime.

Jari, I'm proud of how I socialized him. He loves people and dogs, isn't afraid of anything, is confident, and just a goofball. And all of the focus work/distraction training we've also been doing since he was a little thing is starting to really pay off as well.
 

Elrohwen

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#27
I thought of something I actually did a great job with - bite inhibition. He has always been a bitey demon spawn, but now he can nail me instead of the tug without leaving a mark. It probably helps that he's a breed intended to have a soft mouth, but still, he has awesome bite inhibition. I never did get him to stop biting though. Haha
 
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#28
Teaching her to learn through shaping. I now have a dog who loves training and will offer up as many behaviors as she can think of to try and figure out what gets her the cookie. She's so much fun to work with! :)
 

MericoX

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#29
As pups, not asking anything of them and just letting them be dogs and working things out for themselves. Also has worked with Nimbus who came to me as an adult.
 

Slick

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#30
1. Potty-training. I love love LOVE the fact that he will pee and poop on command. Makes my life so much easier.

2. Dog Socialization. Leo has always loved playing with other dogs, but he was a super rude son of a gun when I first got him; ignoring calming signals/body checking dogs who were chasing a ball/not leaving dogs alone. Part of it was just age and him maturing out of it, but I also did a lot to consciously teach him to not be rude. I continued taking him to dog parks but monitored him very closely and would put him on a time out on first offense. He is now incredibly good about playing with all kinds of other dogs, listens to subtle cues, doesn't pester and does not chase dogs who are chasing a ball.

3. Toy Drive. Leo has always loved food, and he did like to play, but I really worked on getting him amped for toys. When I first got him, he was kinda meh about chasing balls and didn't tug at all. He would stop playing Frisbee to eat grass alllllll the time.
Now, he has great drive. When I have a toy, he totally focuses on me and I can train new tricks to him with a toy just as easy and sometimes easier than with food. On the other hand, he is not obsessive at all.

4. "Take a break" "Game Over"
This one relates to the toy drive, but from the beginning I would commentate with "take a break" when we were stopping for a short time and "game over" when we were done playing. This has created a dog who has a high drive and loves to play, but WILL NOT PESTER when I don't want to play. Such a nice thing, and definitely something I will do with all of my future dogs.
 

pinkspore

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#31
I thought of something I actually did a great job with - bite inhibition. He has always been a bitey demon spawn, but now he can nail me instead of the tug without leaving a mark. It probably helps that he's a breed intended to have a soft mouth, but still, he has awesome bite inhibition. I never did get him to stop biting though. Haha
Ooh, I managed that with Briz too! I'm convinced that letting him gnaw gently on my arms/hands/feet/legs/self is the only reason he doesn't have a legally documented bite record. Of course, baby Brisbane didn't have a lot of ways of interacting with the world that didn't involve biting...
 

RD

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#32
Impulse control and the emphasis i placed on teaching it at an early age.

Credit is due in part to her excellent breeding, but also I knocked it out of the park in terms of raising a dog in superb control of herself, physically and mentally.
 

Torch

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#33
I socialized Rhys a ton as a puppy. He went everywhere with me and has never met a stranger. When he was twelve weeks old he rode around a Home Depot with an employee who was a dog lover and wheelchair bound. He sat in his lap like an angel and kissed his chin. He had many, many positive experiences with all kinds of people as a youngster and I'm really grateful for that. He was a naturally confident and happy puppy, but I'm very proud of the effort I made to socialize him. He's DA, and showed signs of that early, but I have been able to manage him effectively in many situations because I was prepared for DA.

He's a very cuddly, easy to handle dog also partially due to all the handling work I've done with him. I can very easily handle both my dogs for any medical procedure, and it's a point of pride for me how well-behaved they are at the vet. They trust me there, even under stress, and I'm proud of that.

Henry was very shy out of the shelter, and although in some ways I was too hard on him, my heart was in the right place when it came to socialization and training. He's very obedient and gentle and I'm proud of that.
 

LMost

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#34
Socialization, walking, recall and bombproofing.

He is walked twice a day during the week and three times a day on weekends, if I'm sick or in crap weather, we still walk. He has sat with me and watched fireworks and does not get excited.

We got it cleared when he was 13 weeks to visit the where my wife works for the terminally ill. Few weeks ago he was cleared to visit the new care facility she works at also for the terminally ill. He is great with them, and is extremely gentle, which a lot are shock how calm he is with them being just 1 year old, and over 160lbs of puppy really.
 

noludoru

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#35
I picked ALL OF THE TICKS OFF OF HIM. Nearly 200. I did it really well.

Training wise, meh. I taught him the joys of "WAIT."
 

Samsonyte!

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#36
With Sam...uhh well I guess I was able to make him actually want to work with me. And he loves pretty much everyone. Though I got him at almost a year old so I don't know. His recall is pretty decent as far as calling off of things go. But he doesn't always come all the way back to me.

With Wilson. Well he's still a baby but I think I'm doing a good job at teaching him that just hanging out near me is a good thing. He follows me from room to room and doesn't really tend to wander away from me outside even when off leash. Unless Sam is also off leash in which case I don't exist and he and Sam need to play chase. But that's a work in progress.
 

SpringerLover

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#37
Essentially nothing. We did pretty much nothing right with Buzz. Other than teach him to walk nicely on a leash with a choke chain. Bailey did a little more and wasn't exposed to that kind of training until she was older.

But really. Nothing.
 
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#38
I'm pretty sure Squash has some pretty solid genetics temperament-wise and he'd be fantastic regardless, but I think I managed his fear periods pretty well. Sort of a modified LAT, "what is THAT (guy/dog/harmless yet terrifying garden statue) doing?" and went through SO much rotisserie chicken. Sometimes he just liked to sit down and watch whatever was concerning him, I just let him be and have his think.

Pip was a little bit of a mess when he got here. He would shut down on a dime for certain things - like calling him/trying to recall in any way whatsoever. I think I did a good job of being creative with finding non-threatening training cues and drawing him out.

Maisy. Poor Maisy, I had a lot of mental/emotional baggage and expectations for her when she came to me. But I did eventually recognize it and learn to connect with her for herself instead of the dog in my head, which I think was pretty dang good.
 

DJEtzel

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#39
Taught Recon great crate games and settling in the house.

Taught Patton great tug drive, heel position, and lack of biting and reactivity.

Frag had the great manners.

Everybody had the great recall - I never have to worry about leashing them in parks, etc.
 

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