puppy management

Hey, everyone!

Today I want to talk about the things Mom does to keep me from developing bad habits while I'm a young impressionable thing. At the training center, Tails-U-Win!, they call this 'management' (and in fact, they wrote an entire booklet called "Management Magic" -- if you'd like to buy a copy, the Tails-U-Win! website is over there on the left-hand side of the page under my favorite links). I call it common sense. If I'm set up to only do acceptable behaviors now, I'll carry that "good" behavior into adulthood and be a well-behaved canine citizen. Puppies that are properly managed don't wind up at the pound!


Here's an example of some of Mom's good puppy management. The Things tend to leave their stuff all over the house, and that stuff sure is attractive to a young dog like me, who really likes to pick up everything I see and chew on it. So Mom makes sure I stay away from all the stuff by either carrying me or walking me on a leash past it, and then using barriers to keep me from going back to the stuff-infested rooms. (In this photo she's using chairs, bins, and stools -- rumor has it that she in fact owns baby gates and x-pens and other stuff actually made to keep me in areas she wants me, but I've yet to see any of them....) Meanwhile, she gives me plenty of good stuff that I can chew on, and encourages me to chew on them by getting down on the floor and playing with me sometimes. This way I'm getting used to chewing on dog toys instead of kid toys -- it keeps the Things happy, and Mom too since she doesn't have to listen to them screaming about me grabbing and destroying Bakugans and Pokemons and Legos and other stuff with weird names.

Here's another example of good puppy management -- my crate in the van. We go for lots and LOTS of car rides, and when we do, I ride in my crate. It keeps me from wandering about the van climbing on Things and chewing the upholstery, while at the same time keeping me safe in case Mom has to brake or swerve suddenly. (I'm not saying Mom's a crazy driver, mind you, I'm just saying just in case....) She stocks my crate full of toys and bones to chew on, which is also good management because it keeps me happy and I don't bark or whine as we're riding. (Fact of the matter is, I usually use that time to rest up, because we're almost always on our way to someplace super-fun that I'll need my energy for!)

I've also got a crate in the 'dog room' with the sheep-moving sisters, but I really only ever wake up in there in the morning. At some point after I fall asleep at night (in the big bed with Mom and Dad, which is The Way It Should Be), one of them must move me down there. Or it's a magic bed that transports me there during the night. Either way. In any case, that's where I wake up in the morning, and I hang out down there with the sisters from the time Dad wakes me to take me outside and the time Mom gets my breakfast ready, which is about an hour or so. Mom says it's also there for those times she can't keep an eye on me and I can't be outside in my yard because the weather is bad. Oh yeah, that reminds me, my yard is ANOTHER way she uses management -- it's big and safe and oh so fun to be in!!

Yet another way she uses management is to make sure I've got plenty of exercise and am tired when it's time to hang out in the house, or in my crate, or visit with people. Here I'm playing with my friend Solana the Golden, who is a puppy too, but a little older than me. She's my Thursday afternoon playmate, and she's loads of fun. I have lots of play dates, and Mom takes me and the Things for lots of romps in the pastures or in the woods. Honestly, I'm pretty exhausted most of the time. Which means I sleep a lot. Which Mom really likes. "A tired puppy is a good puppy!" she always says.

She makes especially sure that I'm good and tired when I'm going to be playing with Things other than our own. That way I'm not grabbing stuff away from itty bitty Things, or jumping on bigger Things or their Moms. And she also gives me stuff to carry in my mouth so that I'm not tempted to grab at the skirts the girl Things like to wear (and they are SOOOOOOO tempting!!). That's management, too. So is that long leash I'm dragging --that's so Mom can step on it if I make a break for it. (But seriously, where else would I go??)

So, all in all, Mom's got this management stuff down pat. And as a result, I never get yelled at or scolded -- there's no need, I never do anything wrong!

Guess I need to go now -- I'm off to spend the rest of the weekend with Granny Annie and the dog family. She's taking me and my brother, Apolo, to something called a "match" tomorrow. I heard her say to Mom that it's a good place to "get my feet wet". Maybe there's a pool there? (Oooh, I hope so! Swimming!) I'll let you know more when I do. But it'll be a couple days, 'cuz I don't think Granny Annie lets her dogs use the computer.

See ya!