The Education of Ben

[Beekissed]

*******Warning: Thread may contain graphic pics of blood, innards, dead animals, etc., as we live on and work a homestead, on which this pup's job is integral. If this offends you, you might want to leave the thread now. ******

Thought I'd move my training of our 2.5 mo. old LGD pup over to a new thread and quit dominating Southern's training thread. I was starting to gush and goo over the pup and that's not instructional at all.

Will update as I go along. Today was the first day Ben didn't respond to a correction when told to do something, so I now have two areas on which to concentrate...stay and come, particularly when faced with things that excite him.

Tomorrow I work on his harness that will carry his receiver for our electric containment system so that it fits him better. After today and his brief jaunt through the woods he is no longer trusted to stay with my older dog, so must be placed on our system earlier than I had anticipated.

Today he had an exciting day...the first day of archery season with fresh game all around, blood and gore galore and everything a puppy could want. This was his waterloo, as he became too excited by it all to obey simple commands. He is currently doing a time out on a tie out for his transgressions. I will release him tomorrow morning and will work with him this week on these areas.

Pics of his day today...he had a big day full of new things and a lot of activity here, so I wasn't real hard on him when he slipped up, but he definitely knew he had done wrong. Smart pup!

 

[Beekissed]

The addition of raw meat and offal to Ben's diet seemed to help grow in a flash and he's twice the size he was just a few short weeks ago. It seems impossible that we just got him three weeks ago!

Ben is now on the electric system, a little earlier than I would have liked to put him on it but he was growing bold enough to enter the woods around the meadow and this is hunting season. Don't want to lose him. He's responding well to the corrections of the collar and is a wise little dog...learns quick. I noticed he needs a much higher setting on his collar to even feel the corrections...my other dogs used the training mode correction all their lives, but this pup is already up to the fourth setting. I hope he doesn't become too desensitized to that as there's not much higher one can go.

There for a week I didn't have time to pay much attention to him and he got a little streak of rebellion going on but snapped right back into listening to my corrections this morning. This afternoon I'll be working with him on a long line to start official training on come, stay, leave it, etc.

He's still doing great around the chickens, still follows me closely wherever I go and responds pretty quickly to my commands when he knows I'm paying attention....when I'm working or distracted he will try to sneak past me on some things, much like most kids.

I'm still pleased as punch over this little guy and am very happy to have found him. Him and Jake are getting much play time each morning and are eating close to one another without any signs of food aggression from either dog.

Meanwhile he has been slipping into the coop and licking up any fermented feed left behind by the chickens....which is kind of a good thing, I guess, because it leaves his poops without any smell at all! Win! Could be why he's putting on weight like crazy.

Can't wait to work on his obedience later today!

 

[Beekissed]

I'm so glad I got this pup! He is forcing my old dog to play all the time, which gives Ol' Jake more exercise and will keep him more active in his old age. It's fun to watch them chasing, wrestling and tugging at one another...Jake has been lonely too long, so this pup is a gift for him right now.

Cleaned out their dog house this past week, filled it with fresh, sweet hay and washed their cushy dog bed. Fixed the heavy towel across the front of the door to keep out too much cold air. Now Jake has someone to keep him warm this winter...what a blessing!

I had built this dog house big enough for two, on the back of the chicken coop. Built it from pallets and stuffed the pallets with hay, then covered the pallets with boards to protect the hay insulation. The floor and the ceiling is insulated in just such a manner, though the wall they share with the chickens is not...I want them to be able to hear everything going on in there.

The front of the house has a wall to block the wind and an overhang...sort of like a little porch over the entrance to the dog house and coop. This keeps direct wind and rain from blowing into both entrances and gives them a dry place in front of their winter entrances...no mud, in other words.

All that translates into the dogs sleeping cheek by jowl to the chickens, having a warm place to be while they guard on a cold winter's night, when they aren't out patrolling.

I'm glad Jake will have a partner this winter, even if he is really young. Just his presence in the area will help keep the bears, coyotes, bobcats and foxes from moving into this old dog's territory.

Little Ben is learning good things from Jake...when to bark at danger, when to be quiet, when to pay attention to the chickens and when to ignore them, how to scavenge and forage on the property for whatever natural food that comes their way. I saw the pup carrying a deer tail bone the other day to the edge of the woods and digging a hole to bury it.

He is doing well on the electric containment system and has been treating the chickens like part of the landscape, which is just perfect. Later on I expect he'll bond with them a little, the same as Jake, and get anxious when I handle them and then butcher...Jake pouts about that from afar now and gives me the stink eye the rest of the day.

 

[bonbean01]

Ben is beautiful!!!! Makes me think of my Keera when she was that age...loveable, energetic, naughty at times but a bundle of joy and love

Then came the puppy naughty stage with chasing the sheep and that was a daily challenge....happy to say that persistence has paid off and when she turned a year old in July, rules finally clicked in her brain and now I trust her with the sheep and no more time outs. Corrections were just not working...being isolated from "her" herd worked like magic.

Every dog is unique....I have learned that the books on raising a LGD are pretty general....not surprised I'd get a pup who defied the books...both my children did too

 

[Beekissed]

Bonbean, did you just leave him out with the sheep and then separate them when he chased? I've heard of folks using a stick hanging crosswise to their collar that bangs against their legs and trips them when they chase the sheep...don't know if that works or not.

This pup is now ignoring the chickens...but considering different stages and such, I may have to do additional training there.

 

[bonbean01]

I separated her in the smaller paddock and when the sheep left for the pasture and she was left behind, she cried and whined...it was pitiful. I took her out to them later and watched and first time she went to chase, got her and leashed her and took her back home alone...one chance only and then isolation from them. Did not take too many times for her to put it together that chasing meant she couldn't be with her herd.

I had considered an electric shock collar or dangle stick....but ended up using neither...my corrections didn't faze her, but being away from her sheep worked.

Hope this helps with Ben!

 

[BlessedWithGoats]

Following this thread! I like reading about your adventures and results with training Ben! He sounds like a wonderful dog!

 

[Beekissed]

Bonbean, it surely does. I'm betting that these breeds bond with sheep more than chickens, though. I know my older dog LOVED the sheep, played with them, licked their butts, etc. He merely gets anxious when I kill the chickens or make them squawk, but he doesn't suffer much if he has to be separate from them. I wonder if this pup will attach to the chickens? They say Anatolians are more likely to attach to a chicken flock, so it will be interesting to see.

@BlessedWithGoats, I'm glad to see you here! It helps to have someone to bounce ideas off of when striking out into new territory and there are two parts of this dog's breeding of which I'm not familiar...Anatolian and Maremma. I sure hope I don't mess him up! He's not quite as speedy to learn as my previous dogs, so he make take more repetition.

 

[BlessedWithGoats]

Bonbean, it surely does. I'm betting that these breeds bond with sheep more than chickens, though. I know my older dog LOVED the sheep, played with them, licked their butts, etc. He merely gets anxious when I kill the chickens or make them squawk, but he doesn't suffer much if he has to be separate from them. I wonder if this pup will attach to the chickens? They say Anatolians are more likely to attach to a chicken flock, so it will be interesting to see.

@BlessedWithGoats, I'm glad to see you here! It helps to have someone to bounce ideas off of when striking out into new territory and there are two parts of this dog's breeding of which I'm not familiar...Anatolian and Maremma. I sure hope I don't mess him up! He's not quite as speedy to learn as my previous dogs, so he make take more repetition.

Thanks @Beekissed! This is a great learning opportunity for me as well, as I am new to LGD's, and am working on getting my almost 2 year old LGD flock trained. Sometimes he does well, other times he doesn't. :T I believe in him though! So I'll probably be able to use some of the methods that you use for Ben, to help Compadre be where he needs to be. Thanks again!!
Aww, I don't believe that you would "mess him up"... Your pup sounds like he is in capable hands! And we can learn from each other, and from our experience!

 

[Beekissed]

Oh, how nice!!!! We can learn together!! That makes me excited, because I've never really had to train this kind of breed from a pup before, so it's a huge learning curve for me.

Last evening I did another training session with him on walking on the leash...he had a problem walking on the left side, always wanted to be on the right. I was trying to teach him to walk on either side, whatever side I needed him to be on. He already grasps the concept that he is not to be out front...he's been glued to my right calf wherever we walk since the day he arrived.

We also worked on sit/stay and the technique I used from a YT vid~after much searching for one that made the most sense~was enormously helpful. It worked! And it worked better than anything I had tried in the past.

We worked on "down" or "lie down"...he's none too consistent on that, but I'll keep trying. I want to be able to tell him "down" from a distance and have him lie down immediately. I'd also like to have him sit/stay from a distance as well. I have a feeling this is going to take much, much repetition....as with most training.

I'm amazed at how quickly he learned our feeding ritual of sitting or lying down calmly before being fed. The older dog demonstrates it well and the pup just naturally has followed suit. He automatically sits calmly now when I get his scoop of food and has learned to not rush into Jake's food when I feed Jake first. He will sit calmly and wait until I go back to the feed tote and get his portion and is careful to not look at the feed in my hand...that's something he learned pretty quickly, to not have an excited stance when waiting to be fed.

I also worked with him and Aliza, my 18 mo. old granddaughter, while he is eating. She and I sat next to them as they ate, I put my hands in the food and even put my face near the food~on both dogs~and then I reclaimed the food...made him wait...then gave it back him. I watched the responses I got each time. I let her put her hand down and pick up pieces of the food, then feed them to him. I'm trying to make these dogs pretty bomb proof when it comes to little children. Later on I'll teach Aliza, when she can better comprehend it, about keeping a respectful distance from dogs while they are eating, but I really want these dogs to understand that real little kids don't always know how to keep distance and what their behavior should be if they do not. I'm also working on this pup about getting in her face...she's the only human his size and he immediately wants to sniff her face or mouth her hair when she bends over or sits on the ground...he's just trying to play but his teeth and nails are too sharp, so he has to learn respect in those areas.

Also worked with him on sitting calmly while the collars are being placed around his neck and then replaced later on, etc. He does VERY well with that.

Now I'm working on potty training. Yep, potty training an outside dog. My brother brought his house dog out here and she let fly wherever she was, which are now the places the pup wants to poop as well, even though I had cleaned up all her piles and moved them to the appropriate place. Yesterday I stepped it up with putting cinnamon powder down in all previous poop spots that were not in the desired location....the pup got a face full of cinnamon right away.

My next step on that is to wait until he is done eating, then walk him to the poop area and wait with him. As with most young things, they want to poop right after they have breakfast, so this will be a good time to show him~again!~where he is allowed to poop.

I noticed that, after having a training session last evening, he was much more calm and respectful when greeting me this morning. He is also slowly learning the electric fence boundary...he's taking much more learning on that than any other dog I've ever had. He also is taking a more powerful reminder...maybe due to the looseness of the skin around his neck?

All in all he seems to be coming along really well and is currently fully trustworthy around the chickens. Saw one sunbathing right next to him this morning and he just walked around it...would have been a perfect time to jump a chicken, while it lay sprawled all over the grass, but he just politely stepped around and then sat down.

I'm hoping all this early exposure to the chickens and watching how Jake is around them will fully imprint upon him that they are just part of the landscape and not to be played with. So far, so good!