My Canine

He's a puppy dude.
And there isn't a thing you can do about it now.
The only thing you can do is watch for replicating the circumstances and try to avert it.
 
So much pulling today. Not sure if all the noise from water (lots of rain lately) kept him disengaged or the long car ride yesterday did it. I still walked him about 20 minutes last night. Brief walk today. Even pretraining, lots of pulling. I just brought him back to his kennel each time he pulled, so no training of his other things this morning. I guess this is training in a way, but not his favorite training. Am I doing the right thing to communicate "no pulling" to him? I have some videos from leerburg I ought to rewatch and watch again this night.
 
More engaged, I was comfortable letting him out of kennel for some leash training just now. By leash training, I mean having him heel on either side when walking straight. Sitting when I stop. He can cling at my side even with change in directions with him on my inner side or outer side.
 
Pulling is useful in context. Frustration for bite work, frustration for recalls...all useful things. But keep it in context of harness or wide flat collar. A crisp way to distinguish is with prong collar for chill walks. Harness or wide collar for excitement. Prong is not for taking his head off, but self correction and power steering.
 
Too many "No, No, no" creates stress. Everything is new for your puppy. He needs to figure some things out for himself. Reward good behavior, but ignore some of the poor behaviour. You want him to learn to make good choices. He doesn't need to learn everything in the first six months. Walking around with his tail down means he is tired or stressed, or both. Too much stimulation is as bad as too little. I have had Belgian Sheepdogs for many years (long coated, black variety.) I can't imagine my life without one. Relax a little so your puppy can learn to relax, too. Most belgians are high energy, they do need physical and mental stimulation. You might look for puppy obedience classes, nosework classes. But if you want him to chill out at home, practice chilling out at home. A tired puppy is a good puppy, but you want a puppy that can chill out without you having to get him exhausted every day. Sit on the floor with him, give him a safe toy, let him play with it, you can play with him, some, but quietly, casually. Spend just as much time letting him play with it by himself. Pet him and tell him he is good while he is quiet and calm. Reward the behaviour you want to strengthen. If you want a calm dog, reward calm. Have fun with your puppy!
 
amiller said:
Too many "No, No, no" creates stress. Everything is new for your puppy. He needs to figure some things out for himself. Reward good behavior, but ignore some of the poor behaviour. You want him to learn to make good choices. He doesn't need to learn everything in the first six months. Walking around with his tail down means he is tired or stressed, or both. Too much stimulation is as bad as too little. I have had Belgian Sheepdogs for many years (long coated, black variety.) I can't imagine my life without one. Relax a little so your puppy can learn to relax, too. Most belgians are high energy, they do need physical and mental stimulation. You might look for puppy obedience classes, nosework classes. But if you want him to chill out at home, practice chilling out at home. A tired puppy is a good puppy, but you want a puppy that can chill out without you having to get him exhausted every day. Sit on the floor with him, give him a safe toy, let him play with it, you can play with him, some, but quietly, casually. Spend just as much time letting him play with it by himself. Pet him and tell him he is good while he is quiet and calm. Reward the behaviour you want to strengthen. If you want a calm dog, reward calm. Have fun with your puppy!
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Yes. Thanks about the nos. I remember hearing that in one training video. I try not to use the word too much. Thanks so much for your advice!
 
thumblessprimate1 said:
Yes. Thanks about the nos. I remember hearing that in one training video. I try not to use the word too much. Thanks so much for your advice!
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You Are Welcome. You wrote In an earlier post that you would like to teach your puppy some impulse control. If your interested, you can teach some basic control exercises as A regular part of the puppies day.

When you feed him hold his bowl of food up above his head, just wait, he should sit when he gets tired of looking up. If he knows the sit command, you can say it, Once Only. Wait him out. Once he sits, slowly lower his bowl slightly away from him. I expect him to start to get up. Watch him closely, as soon as he starts to get up you stand up straight holding the bowl in the prior position. Do not give another command, when he sits, start to put the food down slowly, repeat. All of my Belgian s have learned this in one lesson. As soon as you put the bowl on the floor you can release him to eat. The goal is to extend the time between you putting the food down and releasing him to eat. No force, no corrections. He learns to watch you and he learns to wait. I play this game when my dogs go in or outdoors, too. Dog goes to door, position yourself between dog and door with your hand on the door knob. Say sit, wait, after dog sits, slowly open door, if he starts to get up close the door. Ideally the dog learns to sit and wait for you to open the door, you go through first, and he remains seated until you release him. No force, no physical or voice corrections. He learns to watch and wait. You can do the same thing before you release him from his crate. Ask for the sit with your hand on the latch, wait. When he sits slowly open the door, if he gets up close the door. He learns to sit until released. These are simple control exercises you can incorporate into the routine and Yes, they count as training. This becomes a safety exercise to learn to sit and wait. Good luck!
 
amiller said:
You Are Welcome. You wrote In an earlier post that you would like to teach your puppy some impulse control. If your interested, you can teach some basic control exercises as A regular part of the puppies day.

When you feed him hold his bowl of food up above his head, just wait, he should sit when he gets tired of looking up. If he knows the sit command, you can say it, Once Only. Wait him out. Once he sits, slowly lower his bowl slightly away from him. I expect him to start to get up. Watch him closely, as soon as he starts to get up you stand up straight holding the bowl in the prior position. Do not give another command, when he sits, start to put the food down slowly, repeat. All of my Belgian s have learned this in one lesson. As soon as you put the bowl on the floor you can release him to eat. The goal is to extend the time between you putting the food down and releasing him to eat. No force, no corrections. He learns to watch you and he learns to wait. I play this game when my dogs go in or outdoors, too. Dog goes to door, position yourself between dog and door with your hand on the door knob. Say sit, wait, after dog sits, slowly open door, if he starts to get up close the door. Ideally the dog learns to sit and wait for you to open the door, you go through first, and he remains seated until you release him. No force, no physical or voice corrections. He learns to watch and wait. You can do the same thing before you release him from his crate. Ask for the sit with your hand on the latch, wait. When he sits slowly open the door, if he gets up close the door. He learns to sit until released. These are simple control exercises you can incorporate into the routine and Yes, they count as training. This becomes a safety exercise to learn to sit and wait. Good luck!
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Very good ideas! I've thought of doing similar things like with opening doggie gates and car doors, but what you say reinforces what I'm doing and need to do more of. I can expand on your suggestions. I appreciate very much.
 
Last two days I've been so swamped with work, so no walk at night. I'm still working at this time. Still the boy has been super calm. He's tethered right now in room with my wife and I. He had a short nap and just woke up. Without the night walks, I still get some fetch games in and quality leisure time with him. Take him on long car rides.
 
Walks gotten better in recent days. I used a toy for him to bite and walk with me. But yesterday I decided that wasn't intimate enough or engaging so I involved luring. It worked pretty well, and I'll keep it going.

What's bothered me recently, and I will have to call my vet about is that he's vomited once two nights in a row. He was vomiting maybe once every several, several days. But night before last, I found piece of wet bone in his kennel after he vomited yellow green liquid. No food. His vomit episodes occur between 2 and 4am, I wake up being a light sleeper. His vomiting hadnt bothered me much before, because he's never lost appetite not showed any bowel movement problems. No loss of energy. He appeared fine. Still I'll give my get a call and bring him in.
 
Cadillactaste said:
What about those narrow ramps meant to help a dog into higher vehicles. For the trip down. Slip it behind the seats when not in use.
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He rides in this fall truck maybe once a week 3 or 4 months a year, so I'd prefer not to have to buy something extra. Plus he's almost a big boy puppy. I want him to do a big thing every so often. He looks so cool going up or down.
 
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