Jana

JANA’S PAGE

(Please check here for regular updates)

Jana came home with us in April 2014, introducing herself quickly and confidently to our other dogs. We will update regularly on her progress, not just in the home, but also as she begins her socialisation and training.

Jana (Bamabel
Amelia) about to leave for her new home.

WEEK ONE AND TWO
After an uneventful journey home, Jana was introduced to our other dogs, one at a time. As often happens, the younger dogs loved her to bits and the two oldies couldn’t stand her! Jana was undeterred in her attempts to endear herself to them and by the end of the first week, they are now tolerating this mischievous intruder!

One of the biggest problems with new puppies, is the crying at night. The best way to avoid this is to ensure that on the first day, the puppy spends some time on her own. Much better that she cries and yells during daylight hours, rather than the middle of the night!

Some people advise letting the puppy
sleep in your bedroom for the first couple of nights, but for me this is simply putting off the inevitable and is a total no no.

Jana had a couple of half hour stints alone in her pen during the first day. At first she yelled her head off, but was completely ignored. She was only allowed out of the pen when she had been quiet for a few minutes. Answering the call of a crying puppy is usually a big mistake, which teaches the pup exactly how to flick your switches. The first night and all subsequent nights since, have been silent ones – RESULT!

Jana spent her first full day at home and on the second day, her socialisation commenced with a trip to the vet’s. Stuart and Alison (her breeders) had already taken her and two of her siblings to their vet for first innoculation, without any problems, but it is always a good idea to take a young puppy to the vet for no other reason, than to give her a positive association with a location which can often have fearful connotations.

On her third day, Jana was taken to our local supermarket. These are
great locations to experience the comings and goings at the main entrance, as well as an early experience of the slow moving traffic in the car park.

Young puppies always attract attention and of course one should encourage strangers to approach in a calm manner. If you see any signs of nervousness from your puppy, do not reassure her as this may well reinforce her fear.

Jana has turned out to be very outgoing from the outset, her tail wagging like mad when anyone approaches.

Other locations visited during the first week, included Exeter St David’s railway station. Whilst it wasn’t a peak time, there were plenty of people on the platforms as well as moving trains. Jana was taken onto the platform to experience the sights, sounds and smells. At this stage, she was being carried and was totally inquisitive and un-phased throughout. She will be returning to this location in the near future, on-lead.

At the end of her first week, she was taken to a local branch of Costa Coffee, where she was approached by adults and children and again showed a totally calm, outgoing nature.

She also went for a walk around the local Pets at Home store, where of course there were many interesting smells. It was also her first time on a shiny floor, which she took in her stride.

By now, she was already well used to being on the lead,
which we had commenced on day three. We allowed her to trail her lead
around the garden for a few minutes before picking up the lead.
Of
course, she resisted tension on the lead at first, but the trick is to
move forward with purpose, by using short, gentle tugs on the lead.
Pulling constantly on a tight lead will simply result in the puppy
digging her heels in and refusing to move.

MEALTIMES

This can be one of the more stressful times with a new puppy. We all want to see the puppy eating well, but don’t be surprised if she isn’t that interested at first. Jana had been used to four meals a day, but we reduced this to three meals after a few days. Most manufacturers of complete dog foods, recommend unrealistically high quantities of food for such small stomachs, so don’t necessarily worry if your pup isn’t eating as much as stated on the feeding guide.

Many puppy owners feel that they need to be able to remove the pup’s food bowl whilst she is eating, but this can be counter-productive. My recommendation is that for the first week or so, simply let the pup get on with eating without too much interference. You can assess what sort of eater she is. If she is a reluctant eater, the last thing she needs is interference from the owner. If the puppy eats voraciously, this can often be a sign that the breeder has fed all the litter from one large bowl. This is bad practice and can often lead to food aggression later. If your puppy eats in this way, it is important to establish interactions with the puppy at an early stage, whilst it is eating.

This is best achieved by simply keeping a hand on or in the pup’s food bowl whilst it is eating. If the puppy growls, simply keep your hand in place. At subsequent mealtimes you can drip-feed the pup’s food by only putting a small amount into its bowl at first. When it has almost finished, add more food. This demonstrates to the puppy that you are a provider of and not a threat to, it’s food resource.

Of course, there may be occasions when you will need a pup to give up a
resource, so for that reason, whilst the above procedure is generally
recommended, you should OCCASIONALLY take the food bowl away. When you
have done so, ask the puppy to sit and then return the food resource. If
these procedures are carried out correctly and proportionately, food
aggression is highly unlikely. If your puppy continues to growl or even
snaps at your hands, you should consult a behaviourist at the earliest
opportunity.

TOILET TRAINING
Still a work in progress!!!

WEEK THREE TO FIVE

This takes us up to age 14 weeks and towards the end of the Juvenile socialisation period. Following this period, comes a fear imprint period and ideally we don’t want to expose her to anything fearful for a while now.

Here she is in the City centre with all the usual sights and sounds. Totally unfazed by everything she saw, including buses, lorries and of course lots of people.	On her second visit to the railway station, she moves towards an incoming train with her tail up, copying the confident approach of her handler.
Then she sits close to the stationary train, with barely a care in the world. Train, what train!	Then she gets on the train, disregarding all the noise, hustle and bustle. Mind the gap!
Here she is confidently going ahead up the stairs to the footbridge, tail up, full of confidence.	Here at Exeter Quay, she shows she has a good head for heights!
A day out on Dartmoor. Jana likes to carry things, even if they are as big or bigger than herself. Note the use of an extendible lead – often criticised by some trainers. We believe they are a very effective training aid, especially for young puppies when used correctly. Socialising with other dogs can be controlled and we move on after a few seconds, requiring the puppy to follow. This creates a habit which continues when we can eventually allow the puppy off-lead. Also great for reinforcing the recall and direction changing. 100% success is the name of the game when training young puppies.	Here is Jana at the grooming salon with Sadie (Perfect Paws Grooming, Exeter) Generally speaking, there is no need for us to send Rottweilers to a professional groomer, as they are so easy to do at home. We thought this would be a good experience for her and so it proved. She stood on the grooming table confidently and was happy for Sadie to fully examine and groom her. The importance of regular grooming cannot be over-emphasised. Not only is it a great opportunity to check for skin problems, ear problems etc. but it also reinforces the groomer’s status in relation to the dog, ie strong leadership. It’s also a great way to get your dog used to being examined, for instance when they have to go to the vet.  Many of my clients state that they rarely groom their dogs for one reason or another. It is in my view, an essential part of dog ownership and should be carried out several times a week,  even if only for a few minutes, whether you think your dog needs it or not!
A sunny day out at Killerton country park, where she is about to meet her first sheep!	They’re behind you! Again, we used a flexi-lead so that any lunging can be interrupted. On this occasion, she seemed more intrigued by these weird, large, wooly dogs! Further interactions with livestock are vitally important.
Out on Dartmoor with Uncle Rudi who has been brilliant with her from the day she came.	Here we see the formal start of Jana’s obedience training at 14 weeks. She is in the down-stay, a discipline which we feel is the most important of all. We build up the distance and duration of the exercise, as well as varying the locations too. We are not interested in competition, preferring to work with our dogs in real-life situations. We also prefer toy reward rather than food reward. We believe that some of the food-freak trainers are contributing to the rapidly increasing dog obesity problem, affecting more than 50% of UK dogs. No wonder when some puppy trainers advocate food-stuffing techniques. We realise that food reward has its place but it is sometimes used to inappropriate levels these days.
Here she comes, confidently recalling with focus and concentration on her handler.	She finishes in the down position to end a successful control discipline. A clever young puppy. Next comes the retrieve!
Jana is in the sit, focusing on the ball on a rope, our favourite method of reward. We tend to make the puppy wait, even when we have thrown it, until we are ready to send her.	Off she goes, with determination and drive to retrieve the ball. Jayne stands ready to encourage her back in.
Back she comes, without hesitation or deviation direct to Jayne who encourages her with lots of enthusiasm……	……before presenting the ball. She then gets lots of praise for a job well done (Jana, that is!)

These are the things she has achieved up to the age of 14 weeks. We are going to give her a break from exposure to new things now, with the approach of a fear imprint period. That said, she has been exposed to such a wide variety of things in such a short time, we feel it is now just a matter of continuing to build on what she has already done, whilst working hard on her control and obedience standards, watch this space!

If you would like Jayne to come and help you with one to one puppy training or help with its early settling in and socialisation, please ring Jayne on
01392 811727 /07759 861650.