Awesome Puppy: Activities & Training to Make Your Puppy an Awesome Dog

Awesome Puppy

Activities & Training to Make Your Pup An

Awesome Dog

By Ray & Emma Lincoln

Awesome Puppy

Activities & Training Tips to Make Every Pup an Awesome Dog

By Ray & Emma Lincoln

Copyright 2011 by Ray & Emma Lincoln

Published by: Awesome Book Publishing

Smashwords Edition

All rights reserved.

Thank you for downloading this ebook. It remains the copyrighted property of the author, and may not be reproduced, copied and distributed for commercial or non-commercial purposes. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download their own copy and discover other works by this author. Thank you for your support.

Other Books by Ray & Emma Lincoln:

The Cure for Useless Dog Syndrome

Dogs Hate Crates

Dog –In-a-Box

WARNING-DISCLAIMER

This book is intended to provide general information about activities for puppies, for readers to apply taking into account all reasonable health and safety precaution;, their, and their pup’s, physical condition, environment; and all municipal laws. This book is NOT intended to provide expert legal or veterinary advice. The activities and ideas presented are merely examples and suggestions. Owners should consult with their veterinarian and their family physician before engaging in physical exercise or activity with their pups. Owners should carefully observe their pup during physical activity, especially in extreme weather; should monitor vital signs, and should stop and consult a veterinarian if the pup shows distress or unusual signs or symptoms. Pups may also bite or hurt other dogs or humans, or be injured by other dogs, with risks increasing in public areas. The authors advise keeping pets leashed unless the pet is contained in accordance with local laws and to practice activities with more than one dog or involving children with utmost caution. Owners should research laws regarding animal attacks and legal guidelines for housing, walking and vaccinating their animal(s) in their community, and should comply with all applicable laws. The authors, publisher and Awesome Dog Professional Training Shall Have no Liability for any loss or damages, physical or material, to any person, animal or property occurring through the use of any information or technique described in this book.

This book is dedicated to the rescue of pups suffering in puppy mills and other abusive situations here and around the world- they are also Awesome Puppies

Table of Contents

PART 1- Introduction:

Chapter 1: What your puppy learns now, he’ll do for the rest of his life

Chapter 2: What Every Puppy Needs to Learn in Life

Section A: List of Attitudes & Habits Every Well-Behaved Puppy Should Learn

Section B: List of 15 Skills Every Puppy Should Learn to Reach His Potential

Chapter 3: List of 40 Bad Behaviors & Thought Patterns to Never Teach Puppies

PART 2: Training

Chapter 4: How to Make Every Puppy an Awesome Puppy with New Learning Every Day

Chapter 5- Obedience Training

Section A: Overview- General Training Tips & Troubleshooting Based on Canine Psychology

Section B: Instructions for Training Basic Commands:

1. Training Heel (or how to walk on leash)

2. Training Sit

3. Training (Lie) Down

4. Training Stay

5. Training Come or Recall

6. Training Look

7. Training Drop It & Leave It

8. Training Go to Your Place

Chapter 6- Introducing Your Pup to New Stimuli & Different Surfaces

Section A: Why & How to Introduce Your Pup to New Stimuli & Different Surfaces

Section B: List of 100 Different Surfaces and Novel Items to Introduce Your Puppy To

PART 3: Activities

Chapter 7- Activities & Games to Make Your Puppy a Better Dog

#1 Follow My Eyes

#2 Find Your Way In To Me

#3 Yours and Mine (Frustration Tolerance)

#4 Forcefield (Control Your Pup with Your Psychic Energy)

#5 Hurry to Mom & Dad

-#6 Heeling Without a Leash

-#7 Follow the Flashlight

-# 8 Ring a Bell

-# 9 The Finger Pointing Game

-# 10 The Gate Test Game

-# 11 Umbilical Cord

-# 12 Find Hidden Rewards

-# 13 Nosework

# 14 Which Hand?

# 15 Identify Family Members

# 16 Interactive Toys

# 17 Explore a Tunnel

# 18 Play Soccer

# 19 Mock Veterinary Exam

#20 Use a Soft Mouth

#21 Give Kisses

#22 Grooming

#23 Shell Game

# 24 Slow Motion

# 25 Play Hide & Seek

#26 Play Basketball

#27 Walk a Straight Line

#28 Stand Like a Show Dog

#29 Jump Through Hoop(s)

#30 Calling Multiple Dogs

#31 Jump Over/Crawl Under a Bar

#32 Wait

#33 Teach Your Pup to Crawl

#34 Get Excited; Then Calm Down

#35 Puppy Massage

#36 Play In the Leaves

#37 Weave Through Poles

#38 Kiddie Pool

#39 Bark for Help

#40 Learn to Come to Everyone

#41 Long Leash

#42 Toy On a Line

#43 Chase the Bubbles

#44 Pup On the Table

#45 Puppy Stairs

Part 4: Socializing Your Puppy

Chapter 8- Socializing Your Pup to People & Dogs:

Section A: Why & How to Socialize Your Pup

Section B: Socializing Your Pup to Different People

Section C: Socializing Your Pup at a Pet Store

Section D: Play Dates to Socialize Your Pup to Other Pups

Chapter 9- List of 45 New People, Places & Things Every Puppy Should Encounter

Part 5: Housetraining

Chapter 10- Instructions for Housetraining Your Puppy

Chapter 11- List of 12 Tips to Prevent Housetraining Mistakes

Chapter 12- Why Crate Training is Not the Best Way to Housetrain

PART 1 – Introduction

Show me your dog and I will tell you what manner of a man you are

-Max Von Stephanitz

Chapter 1: What Your Puppy Learns Now, He’ll Do for the Rest of His Life.

The activities and training methods in this book are designed to change your entire future with your dog.

Each week of development in your pup’s first year, especially during his first six months, will have huge impact on his future personality and behavior. And dogs learn most of their crucial life skills in the period between birth and twenty weeks, as well as learning most of their good and bad habits, whether you consciously teach them or not. Before twenty weeks is also the crucial time to introduce your pup to all the people, places and things you plan for him to encounter later in life to prevent reactive behavior later on.

Every single interaction with your young puppy will have a lasting effect, and we wrote this book to help new pet parents get exactly the results they want. Achieving powerful lifelong effects from seemingly small interventions is the cornerstone of how we train dogs. And this book teaches you how to make everyday activities with your pup work for you, shaping his character while you have fun together.

In the average home, good, or bad, habits may get reinforced hundreds or thousands of times a day, quickly making your pup’s behaviors deeply ingrained. And every little thing you do around him matters. So we created realistic activities to occupy your pup whenever you have a few free minutes, along with enjoyable and easy games, mental games and practical ways your pup can help your family, rather than some of the impractical tricks you may find in other books.

It’s imperative to start teaching your pup good habits the very first day you bring him home because patterns of relating set down in your pup’s very first day in your home can influence his behavior for the rest of his life. And what you do with your pup in the first six or eight months of his life, especially during the first hours, days and weeks, can have as much effect on his behavior as all you do in the coming years.

Caring owners can certainly train and shape their dogs to be better at any age (as we’ve found rehabilitating adult and senior dogs with serious issues). And dogs have almost unlimited potential. But you can never recapture the powerful and far-ranging influence of a pup’s early weeks when the littlest adjustments make the biggest difference. For this reason, you should start actively shaping your pup’s behavior, personality, mental health and intelligence from the very first second you welcome him into your home. Unfortunately, by the time most owners bring pups to formal obedience classes, the pups have already lost much of their potential to be the great dogs they could have been.

We believe a committed pet parent can accomplish a lot more at home, with a surprisingly small amount of work, than you can by confining your puppy’s training to formal classes. By enjoying specific games and activities, like the 45 activities described in detail in the Activities section, or by introducing important stimuli like new people, places and things based on the various Lists in this book you can strengthen the bond with your puppy and build his potential.

There’s no need for harsh corrections. Loving pet parents can easily get the exact dog of your desires, with no strain for owner or dog. And puppies can actually become more intelligent if they experience the right stimuli and learning from a very young age.

One perk of selecting a young puppy is the unique opportunity to dial in the exact personality you want for the creature who will be your close companion for a big part of your life. But, even if you acted on impulse when you bought or adopted your pup, even if he’s older and even if he shows some minor behavioral problems or seems hard to control, you can still shape him to show more of the behaviors you want- starting with an investment of just a few minutes at a time for some of the activities in this book.

Your dog’s potential can be as individual as that of a child you raise. And much of his value system- the choices he makes and the personality he develops depends on your parenting. Awesome Puppy gives pet parents the full picture- all the obedience commands and the most important games, activities and ways of interacting to create truly Awesome Dogs- exquisite dogs that transform life in a higher sense for their families.

In addition to detailed instructions and insider’s hints for training all the basic commands to pups in every state of mind, Awesome Puppy also includes 45 enjoyable games and exercises designed to shape your pup’s psychology while building physical and emotional fitness. These activities help teach vital attitudes and habits and vital skills (listed in Chapter 2, Sections A & B). And they also help you avoid the 40 Bad Behaviors & Thought Patterns You Should Never Teach Your Puppy listed in Chapter 3. Just reading these lists can provide insights for you to immediately start improving your relationship with your dog.

These days, dogs live longer than ever, with fifteen years a common lifespan. We believe your dog will be a central member of your family for all those years, defining an entire era in your family’s life. And pet parents and their dogs have a right to actively enjoy their bond every day, in a manner that’s practical and integrated with family life. Dogs also provide emotional, and even spiritual, fulfillment, allowing us to enjoy our inborn bond with nature and our sense of our higher selves. And we can, on some level, return the favor to them by bringing out their highest potential.

Once owners understand the basics of canine psychology that underlie the training techniques, activities and games described in this book, they will have a greater in-depth understanding of dogs. And this can act as a comfortable jumping off point for a lifetime of better communication and influence, so you’ll always know what to do with your dog and you’ll never have misunderstandings.

Pet parents never have to raise their voices or use harsh physical corrections to get obedience and respect. We personally don’t use choke or prong collars, we don’t physically push puppies into position to train obedience and we never lock pups in crates for training or any other purpose. We know you get better results training with positive reinforcement, changes in lifestyle and an understanding of canine psychology.

How to use this book:

Start anywhere in the book based on your needs. You can start with the quick reference lists of the most vital things to teach a puppy, including lists of specific people, places and things to expose your puppy to during his first six months to make him a better dog for the rest of his life. Use these checklists whenever you have a free moment and want to do something quick, interesting and productive with your pup.

You can start at the beginning of the Obedience Training Section for general tips to make all training easier and more effective, and then work through the commands. Or skip ahead to start with any of the individual commands you need at the moment.

Other pet parents will want to immediately try some activities and games in Part 3. You can scan the standardized descriptions of each activity to choose the ones that fit best with your lifestyle and your pup’s needs at the moment.

Or you may first want to read the Housetraining section for in-depth instructions on how to housetrain your pup and teach him good house manners without crates or cages.

The Obedience Training Section shows you gentle methods to train your pup all the basic commands. The section also includes instructions for teaching him how to go to a specific place where he won’t disturb guests; how to drop items on command and how to walk politely on a leash and never pull you.

The 45 Activities in this book teach your puppy a wide variety of skills he’ll need in life, including physical, mental, emotional and social skills. For example, activities like Umbilical Cord and Heeling Without a Leash teach your pup that the best place to be is by his owner’s side and that he shouldn’t make trouble in the home. The mental games Follow My Eyes and The Finger Pointing Game teach your pup the vital skill of looking to you for information in life, rather than just reacting on his own. And this one habit alone can improve your entire future with your dog.

Nosework and Find Hidden Rewards sharpen your pup’s senses and his mind. Explore a Tunnel works on coordination and emotional confidence. Use a Soft Mouth teaches a puppy not to bite humans and Mock Veterinary Exam is essential practice to make your pup a better citizen at the vet. Special games like The Gate Test Game teach your pup to think and solve problems while actually building his IQ. Your pup can also learn to Identify Family Members by name, to Learn to Come to Everyone, to find a person that is out of sight and to Give Kisses or Use a Soft Mouth to greet guests, rather than nipping or jumping up on people. These skills will make him much more welcome whenever people gather.

So that pups can burn off physical energy, the book also includes easy games like Play Soccer, Play Basketball, Toy on a Line, Jump Over/Crawl Under a Bar and multiple activities that work just as well indoors as outdoors- even for toy and teacup breeds.

Puppy games like these do more than just prevent behavior problems. If you stimulate your puppy’s mind and body when he’s young, he will become a healthier, happier and more intelligent dog. And a dog that practices decision-making early in life, through games, will learn to make better choices later in life in every situation.

Even if you are reading Awesome Puppy six months after getting your pup- and even if he is showing some behavior difficulties- you will still benefit from all the activities and principles of canine psychology in this book. Starting right this moment, you and your pup can enjoy some of the games and activities. Pretend today is the first day you’re bringing your new fur baby home and start shaping his behavior for the positive right now.

We are proud to help pet parents and their puppies at this critical time in their journey…

Chapter 2: What Every Puppy Needs to Learn in Life

Section A: List of Attitudes & Habits Every Well-Behaved Puppy Should Learn

You’ll find activities & training tips throughout Awesome Puppy to help teach all these vital attitudes and habits. Your pup should grow up to believe:

1. I always think before I act

2. I’ll only get attention & affection when I perform activities my owners want

3. I’ll never get attention or anything positive, if I jump up on people

4. I never put my mouth on a human harshly, even in play

5. I look to my human leader for guidance in the face of any new or intense stimulus- I constantly check in with my people for direction

6. I accept delayed gratification & tolerate frustration, knowing this brings reward

7. I always come every time my owners call. It’s like a reflex for me to want to follow my owners rather than running off by myself

8. Human touch is a good thing, not something to be afraid of

9. I never push past a human; all humans get the right-of-way over dogs in every situation

10. Friendly new people are likeable and harmless. It feels natural acting calm & polite in public places, rather than crazy

11. There’s no need to get overexcited about other dogs. I always meet them properly

12. It’s easy to communicate my needs to my owners and vice versa. We speak the same language, so there’s no need to force what I want

13. The only way I’ll get what I want in life is by doing the things my humans want

14.I’m comfortable with my body & feel balanced & stable moving in different situations, so I’m less prone to injury

15. I always treat all family members, including children and elders, with full respect

16. I’m human-oriented; even though I enjoy playing with other dogs, I’d rather be with humans than alone or with dogs

17. I respect and act gentle towards my owners’ visitors, including children and infants

18. I respect my owners’ small pets, including cats and livestock, because this is what my owners want.

19. I respect my owners’ possessions and every item in their home, and I never damage anything, even when they go away

20. Mealtime is calm time. My owners are the only way I get food and I know they’re fair, so all I have to do is stay calm and pleasant to get the nutrition I need.

21. I only urinate and defecate outside of the house. My owners’ house- including every room- is my house and it doesn’t feel natural to soil it.

22. I’m familiar with the outside world because my owners take me out all the time. When I encounter new things in the world I feel pleasantly alert and interested, not nervous, hyperactive or aggressive.

23. I know how to learn; if I make an error, I know I can learn to do better next time to gain rewards.

24. I can be empathetic with humans about important things, even when their ways are different than dogs’ ways. For example, I understand that human skin is more tender than dogs’, so I treat it gently.

25. I stay calmly and happily in the home to wait for my owners whenever they go away. I never feel overly stressed, never damage items, never hurt myself, never bark excessively and I never require crating.

26. I enjoy pleasant walks in the neighborhood with my owner and the only way I know how to walk is heeling softly at my owner’s side. I’d never try to pull, but, if I ever did, I know my owner would immediately stop walking, turn around or terminate the walk entirely.

27. I know my owners are fair. They show leadership, which I naturally follow rather than cruelty, inconsistency or overly domineering discipline.

Section B: List of 15 Skills Every Puppy Should Learn to Reach His Potential

You will find instructions and activities to promote these necessary skills throughout Awesome Puppy. By the time he grows up, every puppy should learn these skills:

1. Using his nose properly, as dogs were bred for

2. Bounce-back, the ability to return to a calm, inquisitive state, even after being startled by something new.

3. Meeting other dogs properly

4. Meeting new people properly

5. Greeting new stimuli with caution but not fear. Pups should be unafraid to follow their owner up steps, riding in a car, walking through shallow water, snow, etc.

6. Tolerating grooming & veterinary exams

7. Tolerating human touch on every part of the body, including touch by children

8. Tolerating touch to sensitive body parts- specifically paws/nails, ears, tail and inside mouth

9. Heeling or walking properly beside every family member on a leash.

10. Walking at his owner’s side on command while not on a leash

11. Controlling his own body; no spinning, jumping or bouncing off walls when it’s time to act calm. At any time a pup should feel able to stay or wait on command.

12. Dropping an item he’s holding in his mouth whenever his owners say so with no hesitation.

13. Excelling in exercise and sports. Dogs are natural athletes and young dogs should have reasonable exercise to develop their bodies and center their minds.

14. Learning a large working vocabulary of words and verbal commands (at least 100)

15. Coming willingly to people whenever they call

Chapter 3: List of 40 Bad Behaviors & Thought Patterns To Never Teach Puppies:

You’ll find instructions and activities throughout Awesome Puppy to help change most of these bad behaviors and thought patterns. Your pup should never think:

1. It’s okay to jump on people; I get attention for jumping on people.

2. I can tune-out or act autistic towards people, as though I don’t deeply notice or even care about them, and yet I can still obtain the things I want.

3. I don’t lose privileges, attention or what’s important to me even if I growl at, snap at or bite people.

4. I nip people’s hands (or heels) so hard it draws blood, but my owners laugh at it because I’m just a puppy…

5. I like dogs better than people. I’ve grown up during my formative weeks constantly running and playfighting with other dogs, and I take all my guidance from dogs. Because I’ve spent more time with dogs than alone with people, I can’t bear to be away from dogs for an instant & I feel humans are secondary

6. I’ve learned the place for a dog is in a crate, not with a family, because my owners (or breeders) left me in a crate all the time. Now, I feel more natural isolated in a cage than free in the house with the people.

It’s okay to go from zero to sixty in two seconds- either I’m not relating to people at all, or I act completely wild, pushing myself on them insistently.

7. I have strange cravings. I feel compelled to consume inedible objects that make me sick and cost huge vet bills. My owners downplay my condition, calling it normal puppy chewing, which it is not.

8. I, and only I, control mealtime. My owners leave my food down all day and I eat whenever I please. I also demand some of their human food. If there’s another dog in my home, I aggressively force him to give me some of his. And if people try to stop me I might bite them, too.

Being around food makes me crazy. I’ve learned that I can get food by stealing and counter-surfing

9. I can split my owners against each other. After I disrespect one spouse, the other indulges me. So, when one spouse refuses my whims I try the other. They start yelling at each other and I get anything I want.

10. The first way I learned to play was with my teeth and my owners encouraged me to bite their hands when I was a tiny puppy. Now I’ll always bite them.

11. I play tug of war with my owners and they encourage it, even though they always lose. So, if I want, I can also bite on and tug their clothing, the leash, etc…

12. Every time I go on a walk it’s a pulling contest. My owner keeps pulling on me, but I pull harder.

13. The outside world is a novel place for me because my owners rarely take me out. On the rare occasions they did, I went nuts the second I saw new things. And this created a pattern where my owners take me out even less.

14. I act fearful around thunder, the vacuum cleaner, loud noises and a hundred other strange things. Rather than staying calm and/or getting me professional help, my owners nervously pet me, which reinforces my fears.

15. When I act inappropriately, my owners narrow the world even more so they can live with my bad behavior. For example, I have separation anxiety, so my owners have stopped going out to dinner.

16. I don’t like my owner’s spouse or romantic partner, so I bite them, growl at them, etc, and my owner allows it.

17. My owners are very busy and ignore me when I act calm or do what I’m supposed to. But when I’m bad everything stops and they give me attention. This makes me want to act bad more often.

18. One or more of the family members encourages me to jump on them. Now I jump on all people, even though in the dog world this is very rude behavior.

19. I don’t like people touching me. I grew up in my early weeks without this kind of stimulus, and now I’ll either turn away, or sometimes even act nasty if a human tries to touch me.

I’m grown now, and physically old enough to be capable of holding my bladder and bowels. But I despise my owners and/or their other pets so I intentionally mark the house with my urine (and feces) to make it clear who owns this place.

20. I enjoy games that give me the physical, or height, advantage on humans so I can show them who’s boss.

21. I go where I want to go and run out the second a door is left open. If the humans want to follow me when I run away, fine, but I’ve got things to do and I’m not looking back.

22. My instinct tells me to chase and hunt, so I’ll chase and hunt when I want to. Lucky for me, my owners provided a cat, a hamster and/or a smaller dog.

23. And, if that gets boring, I can chase their children.

24. I have no respect for children, even my owner’s children, because they are small and weaker than me in every way. I barely notice them except as an annoyance.

25. If I want to take something that belongs to my owners’ kids, I do, especially all their little snacks and their stuffed toys, which I tug out of their hands. My owners don’t seem to mind when I bother the children- they don’t show leadership or take time to teach me alternate behaviors

26. My human parents act inconsistent with discipline. One is overly soft, the other overly temperamental and cruel. Both ways harm my behavior.

27. My owner followed a dog trainer who told them to alpha roll me or use a shock collar, prong collar or other cruel method of discipline when I was very young. So I learned to be timid and afraid of everything.

28. My owner used those same overly harsh methods when I was very young, and now I’ve become the bully, attempting to use dominance/aggression on anything weaker than I, including my owner’s timid wife!

30. I’m a little afraid of other new dogs because I never experienced them young. Now I’ve learned that if I lunge at dogs and act angry my owner will soothe and pet me and make the scary dogs go away.

31. I’m a little dog, and my owner pets me if I snap or growl at people who approach when I’m in her arms. Since she pets me, I guess she’s okay with my aggression.

32. I’m a small dog and my owners don’t seem to realize I’m a dog. They cuddle me or hold me all the time and never let me walk on the floor. They also don’t ask me to show any manners or obedience, even though I wouldn’t mind some structure.

33. I have nothing to do all day. I’m left in a blank room or crate.

34. Sometimes I’m so bored that barking is the most enjoyable thing I do all day.

35. My owners were stressed when I was a young pup and they’ve always acted unpredictable in response to all my actions. Now that I act stressed all the time, too, they almost seem more comfortable.

36. To get rid of stress, I’ve learned to chew on myself. I’ve licked and bitten some spots raw.

37. I am a victim of no exercise. I let out this bodily frustration the minute my owners come home by immediately bouncing off walls and running around like a tornado.

38. My entire world that I know is my backyard or, even worse, a tiny crate. Like any wild animal left 24/7 in a tiny cage, I am a disaster waiting to happen.

PART 2: Training

Chapter 4: How to Make Every Puppy an Awesome Puppy with New Learning Every Day

If your pup’s not learning something new every day, then he can’t achieve his full potential

Why not write a wish list of all the different things you’d love your dog to accomplish in his life? And then, over the course of his lifetime, spend time with him and make the wishes come true day by day. To make it easy, all of