Ideally, you should start handling your puppy’s collar from day one. At every opportunity, nonchalantly slip your hand in your puppy’s buckle collar and then praise, reward with a tasty tidbit, and release. It is that simple! Think of all the times you can practice this behavior—when you are brushing him, placing down his feeding bowl, petting him, talking to him, and on and on.
If your puppy panics or objects, you will need to progress in small steps. Start with just touching the collar, followed by plenty of yummy tidbits and verbal praise. Gradually advance to putting your hand in the collar. Always praise and reward him for small increments of progress. Let your puppy come to you. Never grab your puppy or his collar because this will exacerbate the problem and make him hand-shy.
The No-Wiggle Game
Just as your puppy should accept handling and touching, he should learn to sit and accept verbal and physical praise while you check his ears, teeth, and feet. Ideally, your puppy should be wearing his buckle collar and his leash. With your puppy sitting, kneel on the ground with the leash tucked under your knee to prevent him from wandering off. Have a handful of tidbits nearby.
With your puppy sitting, use your right hand to gently hold his collar while you use your left hand to gently pet his back for three or four seconds. Praise with a calm “Good boy.” Be sure to praise him only while he is sitting and not wiggling. The praise reinforces the behavior you want, which is sitting still. If you praise while he is wiggling, you are telling your puppy that wiggling is what you want. If your praise is too wild, excited, or animated, it will cause the puppy to become excited—and thus wiggle—thereby defeating the purpose of the exercise. Switch hands: place your left hand in the collar and gently stroke him with your right hand. Praise, reward, and then switch hands again.
Teach your puppy to accept physical and verbal praise while he is standing and lying down, too. Some puppies find the mere anticipation of physical praise too stimulating; therefore, always progress at a speed that is within your puppy’s physical and mental capabilities.
Leash On/Leash Off
What happens when you try to attach your puppy’s leash to his collar? If he is like many puppies, he probably goes over-the-top crazy because he has learned to associate his leash with something fun, such as going for a walk or a ride in the car.
On the flip side, what happens when you unclip his leash? Does he stare at you adoringly as if to ask, “What are we going to do now?” Does he wander around, sniffing, or immediately bolt away to chase squirrels or rabbits or leaves blowing in the wind? Does he tear off around the yard, leaving a cloud of dust in his wake?
Ideally, your puppy should not assume that unclipping his leash means that he can run away and do his own thing. By encouraging a fun, respectful, and mutually loving human–canine relationship from day one, the leash becomes inconsequential. Your puppy should want to be with you because you are zany and fun, and he never knows which exciting game will happen next—not because he is tethered to you by a 6-foot leash. Your puppy should care less about the leash either way. A leash should never differentiate between training and not training, working and not working, or being with you and running away. The release cue, be it “Free” or “OK” or whatever word you choose, should be your puppy’s signal that he is finished with an exercise and can run off and play.
Oftentimes, owners inadvertently go overboard and use the leash for giving corrections instead of for controlling the puppy and keeping him safe or close by. When corrections always happen on leash, it’s no wonder that a puppy grows into an adult dog who runs away as soon as he has the opportunity. Likewise, puppies (and adult dogs) who are never habituated to fun training and playing off leash with their owners are often inadvertently conditioned to get excited and run away when they are off leash. Such dogs quickly learn that all of the fun stuff happens away from their owners—when they are “set free.”
Training your puppy to focus on you (or at the very least to not bolt and run away) when you unclip the leash is not terribly difficult. Remember, everything about dog training and rearing is about the relationship you have with your dog. You begin by instilling in your puppy’s mind that taking off his leash is an everyday occurrence and no big deal. And, being off leash (just like being on leash) means that the two of you are going to engage in some fun and fabulous interactive game, be it fetching, swimming, recalling, tugging, snuggling, and so forth. By conditioning a puppy to associate you with all of his fun—teaching him that you are the center of his universe—his default behavior is looking to you to see what crazy, fun game you have in store.
To avoid the frenzied ritual that often accompanies the anticipation of attaching or unclipping a leash, teach your puppy the fun leash-on/leash-off game. With your hand in his collar, attach his leash with the cue “Leash on” (or any command you choose to use) and then praise (or click) and reward with a yummy treat. Take the leash off, using the command “Leash off,"” and then praise (or click) and reward with plenty of tidbits. This encourages him to look to you rather than run off when his leash is unclipped and teaches him that when the leash comes off, he can earn treats.
Alternatively, unclip the leash and immediately scatter some tasty tidbits on the ground. This teaches him to look to the ground for tasty tidbits rather than searching the horizon for something to run after. Either way, always have the treats ready. This exercise serves no purpose if you have to search around for treats once you’ve taken the leash off.
If your puppy is toy crazy, you can try this game: Begin by unclipping his leash and immediately having him jump for his toy and engage in a quick game of tug. Put a command to it, such as “Get it.” This teaches him to focus on you when the leash comes off. Also, when the leash comes off, the tug toy appears—and that means fun!
Remember, it’s all about conditioning your puppy to see you as the center of his world. Instill in him that if he sticks with you, he will have more fun than if he tries to chase rabbits or deer or tussle with his canine buddies.
By incorporating these games into your daily routines, you build a stronger bond and increase your puppy’s vocabulary. You also achieve your goal of watching your puppy grow into an adult dog who looks to you for all of his fun and games. No more zooming wildly around the house or yard when the leash appears or disappears!
Fetch
Fetching is a great way to tire out a puppy while simultaneously building a strong bond. Retrieve games are the foundation of many obedience skills and other games that you can play with your puppy. By capitalizing on your puppy’s natural instinct to retrieve, you can get toys back easily and stay in control of the games.
Some dogs are more eager to retrieve, even at a young age. Most, but certainly not all, retrievers and other sporting dogs, as well as many herding breeds, are natural retrievers, whether retrieving a stick, tug toy, ball, or flying disc. If your puppy is not, don’t despair. Some puppies need a bit of encouragement to flourish at retrieving. This fun game is sure to teach even the most reluctant puppy how to retrieve and, more importantly, to love retrieving.
As with nearly everything associated with puppies, you make retrieving a fun game. To generate excitement, tie a long line on your puppy’s toy and drag and wiggle it around on the ground. Most puppies love movement and will chase anything that moves; your goal is to have him chase the toy on the string.
Drag the toy around until your puppy shows excitement. Put a command to it, such as “Fetch” or “Get It” so that he begins to associate the command with running and picking up things. When he gets the toy, reward with “Good boy” or “Good fetch.” Let him strut around with the toy in his mouth as he savors his mammoth achievement.
Continue playing and dragging the toy but don’t let him get it every time. The excitement comes from the chase and capture. Make him work a little harder each time for the toy. Remember, it is a game. It should be fun and exciting. If he is reluctant to pick the toy up, drag or wiggle it some more to generate more movement to encourage him to get it. If necessary, sit on the floor and drag the toy around your legs and behind your back as you bolster his interest in the toy.
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