Karma is 13 weeks and while most of our training seems to be on track, she is not very fond of leash walks.
But she loves a good game of tug with some fetch in between. Sometimes she likes chasing down her disc, but really prefers her tug rope.
I'm just wondering about how long we should play. Seems like alot of physical exertion for a 13 week old, but but this is my first Dobe so I may be underestimating her. I see lots of threads on not walking your puppy too far, but we DEFINITELY aren't having that problem ? Just don't want to push her too hard with our games.
You can't possibly play, talk & Love touch your puppy to much / establish the tight bond, is a win-win.
- exercise not essential early on
I'll put a collar on 3-3.5 month old pup and attach a leach...let it drag it around outside, for a few weeks.
- next start walking around the block, starting at 4 months old
Just short walks to start & early OB is also good...to train the mind.
Outside toys are good to have, to play after potty break.
- medium size Jolly Ball & a rubber Frisbee, works here
I truly respect Larry's (Beaumont67) opinion. However, I try to gently inure my pups to a leash as early as possible. My youngest, who is now over 2 1/2 was walking comfortably on a leash at 12 weeks. He was used to a leash at 10-11 weeks.
What doesn’t she like about walks? Does she stop and drag behind, pull on the leash or bite at it?
Once she is used to the leash a bit (drags it around like folks said) you can use her toy love (lure with them in your hand) to get her up and going, if that is the problem.
Oops, just read your thread with my brain in--sounds like exuberance is the problem?
If it is hot, dobes are known for pooping out after just a little while, so if she’s gung-ho at first and then sort of sags, you could be asking her to go too far because of the heat.
Do let her decide when to quit--when to slow down or rest. If you are egging her on in fun, she might be overdoing it. Puppies do that.
So far as frisbees, fetching etc, don’t let her jump high into the air or do a lot of twisting or turning (until about 18 months)--bad for her little joints as she grows.
When she is on the leash, she would MUCH rather either sniff/eat grass or just freeze like a statue. I've noticed she does this more in our neighborhood than if we go to a new area. Maybe in the new areas she is unsure so she is more likely to stick close by me?
We have done lots of dragging the leash around and getting used to it, as well as very short spurts with it (10 steps, 90 degree turn, 10 steps, turn, etc) She never seems to mind. But if we try to go 20-30 steps, pump the brakes LOL
When you have her on leash, do you reward her with a tiny treat every few steps? If not, I would start. Not only with that encourage her, but it's the basis for starting to teach loose leash walking. I keep a treat pouch around my waist full of teeny tiny treats - like the size of half my smallest fingernail. Tiny pieces of cheese, pieces of her kibble, tiny pieces of chicken, a whole bunch of variety... Every few steps, I reward. For now, I would just be rewarding her for going with you. Later, when she's enthusiastic about walks, you would start rewarding for being next to you, so she learns that's where you want her to be when you're walking, but right now you don't have that issue. Reward FREQUENTLY so she gets the idea that going out and about is fun! Keep it short - take a "walk" just a house or two and back. Once that's really fun, go a little farther. She doesn't need long walks right now. You can also drive to a new area and do the same - just a short little walk. That will encourage her to walk in new places and keep it fun, because she needs to see and experience new things. Make sure it's always fun for her - the key to socialization is that the dog has to be enjoying it.
Sometimes necessity really is the mother of invention. I teach all puppies when they arrive about leashes. And while I used to be able to tuck a very young puppy under my arm and run it from the bedroom (on one end of the house) to the door to the back yard I can's do it any more. The most recent puppy came home at 10 weeks and was well on his way to being more than I could comfortably lift or carry.
So he got a leash as he came out of the crate and I showed him a treat and we ran out to the door and then to the back yard.
I don't play tug with any of my dogs--by the time he was four months old my very first Dobe could pull me off my feet playing tug and I decided that we'd find other fun things to do. Instead they chased things that I threw, we went for a lot of walks but I wasn't dealing with heat like you get in Florida--the early dogs were raised in Seattle (rains there a lot but doesn't see much blistering heat Later dogs grew up in Sacramento (hot during the summer but early mornings and evenings were almost always comfortable enough to go for walks and find things to look at and sniff) Later in Los Angeles (well, more like Marina Del Rey--on the coast, not in the valley) early mornings and evenings were always pleasant for walking.
By 13 weeks most Dobe puppies have LOTS of energy and if you are doing most of the exercise in the early morning and after the worst of the mid day heat is done they will tell you if they get tired of fetch, chase and tug--I'd be a little careful about how much tugging you do because of the potential of some neck damage in very young puppies.
I also don't do tug with pups. I have seen pups teeth pulled out with a tug. Just going for walks would never have been enough exercise for my Dobermans. For all of mine it been all about high speed. Mine will race anything. Mikki goes out in the yard and runs a couple of laps before she can even go pee.
Oh yeah, walks were never designed to exercise and wear a puppy out. I did that other ways--my folks (on the outskirts of Seattle were on 9 acres--most of it fenced--took puppies out there at least a couple of times a week) Lived several places near fenced softball or baseball fields--took them there.
And even when I was living where I didn't have places like that, my back yard (although often quite small) was enough to let the young guys run off excess energy--they could be pretty inventive. Several of my young males would come home from a weekend (or more) of dog shows and would launch themselves into a furor of circles, figure eights and diagonals in the yard--until their tongue was dragging on the ground.
I'd let them run until they unwound and take them in the house and wait until they stopped panting and then give them water. Later after their dinner they'd go and pass out for the night.
And training at anything--sits, downs a little heeling a little searching for hidden treats was enough to wear them out--much faster than out and out exercise.
Oh yeah! And of course they'd all like to do the energy dissipation game in the house--house rules here along with "no dogs on the furniture" are also "no dogs running wildly through the house".
Haha, I just jokingly told a friend yesterday that when we walk, I turn into a tiny treat dispenser. We've been at that routine for 4 ish weeks and as long as a bite of something is available, she will follow. The instant food is out of the equation, she's not having it.
We made it a little bit farther today so maybe she is just slow to learn this game. Everything else is going pretty quickly and easily so for that I'm thankful.
The only thing you should know is no forced exercise it can damage the growth plates in their joints after 18 months the growth plates should be closed. The you can run with them ,bike with them ,roller blade with them. you just have to go slow at first until they get conditioned for long exercise bouts. Good Luck remember puppies sleep a lot old wives tale that's when they are growing while they are sleeping.
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