So most of you noticed that our little Declan (the yellow ribbon puppy from Jules’ litter) is still with us. That’s because his mom had a bunch of business trips planned in the month of January, but still wanted to adopt him (by the way, his name is now Cubbie). So he is staying here and entered in our Progressive Puppy Program. (https://pinewoodcavapoos.com/cavapoos/progressive-pups/ )
Cubbie was doing really well learning to hang out in his Iris pen (with crate, litter box, water, food and toys) with Rohan in our dining area. But now that Rohan is gone, today has been a bit noisier. 😉
Just like those who just took puppies home, Cubbie has to learn to be content in his puppy pen when I’m busy around the house. I can’t always have him running loose and hanging out with me. Sometimes I need to know he’s in a safe, contained area while I get some things done. So getting him (or any puppy) to that point takes time (and maybe some cotton plugs in the ears). 😜 This is just a part of training; learning to not give in when your puppy looks at you with that adorable face and whines to get out.
Today, he got to go outside for a short time and meet some of the other dogs; Ben and Bailey mostly, with Oakley sticking her nose into the mix for a quick second. We’ve had some really cold weather this winter, but today had actually warmed up to a balmy 21 degrees! Ok, it almost felt warm to me, but Cubbie didn’t think so, so we went back inside.
We worked on some clicker training. (Speaking of that, if any of you are interested I would recommend the book by Jane Killion called When Pigs Fly; Training Success With Impossible Dogs. Don’t take that wrong. I don’t think that Cavapoos are hard to train dogs. But the breed that Jane raises are not know for their “train-ability”. It’s just a great training manual for any dog! Another book you might look into is Puppy Start Right; Foundation Training for the Companion Dog by Kenneth and Debbie Martin.) So after a couple clicker training sessions, I put a small collar and leash on him. I usually let a puppy drag the leash around for a while (always under supervision) to get used to the feel of it before I start teaching them to walk on the leash with me.
He’s learning to sleep in a crate (with the door open) and continuing to use his litter box to potty since it’s to cold to go outside for any length of time. Plus he’d probably get lost in the foot of snow we have!
Next on the training agenda; learning to use the computer. 😉