# Training a new approach



## Mufar42 (Jan 1, 2017)

For us...Yesterday I finally read through the thread "don't walk your dog" I found it very informative and I am going to try some of the methods. Renn is 13 months now and will get neutered next week. I think we have started our more "serious" teenage" phase. Right now I can see why some get rehomed, of course I'd never, but honestly I have questioned myself if I should have gotten a smaller size. He has been a challenge for me mostly because I am finding I am not as stable on my feet as I thought. He is basically very good but when he decides to leap and jump well, its another story. He also loves my daughter and when he see her he wants to leap back and forth between us. A few days ago he decided he no longer likes his crate (I have had absolutely no problems with that). He will bolt out right after I send him in, he has never done this and has always just walked in on his own and lied down) Of course I get him and calmly put him back in. And now he whines, never has before (except when I first got him). He also is jumpy on his walks after a period of time, and wants to bolt into the house when we get close to the door. So Its time for me to revamp, do more with him, give him more mental challenges etc. (I haven't done enough since my fall on Christmas) So I am starting with "stop walking your dog". Next week he will need to be calm after his neuter so we will incorporate this more and more. I am going to PT to help get me better at physical activity and also back on my diet as I did so much better when I had some weight off. So hopefully between the two we will get past this phase. If I don't get myself better it will be difficult to get him past this. So if this new method doesn't work I do have a trainer in mind where he went for day training . This trainer also does a board & train program but if I can physically do it, that is my preference. Oh and to top it all off I now have a hammer toe and the start of a bunion on what was my good foot. Doctor says I will need surgery to correct it as its already fixed, and that is 6 weeks he says of no walking. Yikes. I do still have my moms electric wheelchair and I am thinking if I get it serviced & working again, I could use that to walk Renn while I am recuperating. Meanwhile I will put off doing the surgery. Anyway thats where we are at this week.


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## SMSP (Apr 5, 2018)

Mufar42:

Sorry to hear you're have this difficulty. 



> Doctor says I will need surgery to correct it as its already fixed, and that is 6 weeks he says of no walking. Yikes. I do still have my moms electric wheelchair and I am thinking if I get it serviced & working again, I could use that to walk Renn while I am recuperating.


If it's possible, would you consider getting the wheelchair serviced in time to use it to walk Renn before you have surgery. To acclimate him slower if needed and you still have the freedom and ability to walk if he's initially nervous around the wheelchair. Just a thought. 

Keep us updated on how things are going.


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## Newport (Jul 16, 2014)

Mufar42 said:


> I think we have started our more "serious" teenage" phase. Right now I can see why some get rehomed, of course I'd never, but honestly I have questioned myself if I should have gotten a smaller size. He has been a challenge for me mostly because I am finding I am not as stable on my feet as I thought. He is basically very good but when he decides to leap and jump well, its another story.
> 
> It sounds difficult, Mufar. With teenagers (dogs and human) I look for things to be thankful for each day- and I kind of expect them to be small things. Years ago I had an adolescent aussie that was wearing me out with his energy. I had good success with sitting in my comfy chair with treats and a clicker and doing behavior shaping. Mostly touching his nose to various places in the room. It had the artifact of him always throwing in a nose touch to objects when he was trying to figure out what I wanted, lol. Not always helpful on the agility field.
> 
> Hang in there!


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## Mufar42 (Jan 1, 2017)

f it's possible, would you consider getting the wheelchair serviced in time to use it to walk Renn before you have surgery. To acclimate him slower if needed and you still have the freedom and ability to walk if he's initially nervous around the wheelchair. Just a thought. 

Keep us updated on how things are going.

Yes definitely my husband is contacting the company today in fact, and i will take him out with it to acclimate him. It will all work out I am sure. Thankyou.


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## Mufar42 (Jan 1, 2017)

_It sounds difficult, Mufar. _

The are times during the day it is, but I'm good I got this! Love my boy. This morning we started with him touching my hand. He just needs more mental activities I am sure. I do tend to vent here on and off LOL, but then we get past the phase and move onto the next. LOL Its all good.


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## Moni (May 8, 2018)

I hear you - teenager at 10 months - with weird issues all of a sudden too. I thank my husband literally every single day that we went mini and not standard. I actually wanted Moyen which is a size I am very familiar with from Europe - but after realizing how difficult it would be to find one I "settled" for mini and boy am I glad I did. When Louie first arrived - all 3 pounds of him - and we kept stepping on him and tripping over him (he was just so itty bitty compared to any of our dogs of the last 30 years) I thought boy we made such a mistake. Now I marvel at his perfect size. There are a lot of challenges here too but in the same day we have glorious moments (he cuddles and is such a goofball) which I never thought would happen in the beginning - he was so stand offish and didn't like cuddling as a wee pup. So you take the more challenging moments and deal with it. I am 100% sure once we are through this phase we will have glorious dogs. Strength and good luck with your surgery Mufar!


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## Johanna (Jun 21, 2017)

I had a bunionectomy and two hammertoes corrected about 18 months ago. I never used a wheelchair, but I wish I had known about those little wheeled devices that you use by resting the knee on it. One of those would have been much, much easier than a wheelchair or crutches.


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## Mufar42 (Jan 1, 2017)

Glad yours is over with. I am putting it off for as long as I can. I like to work in my yard and with Spring around the corner I don't want to be laid up. So as long as I can keep going I will. Did it really take 6 weeks to recover? That seems so long to me right now. Yes my friend just broke her tibia and issuing one of those scooters, she is also 7 months pregnant and they don't want her using crutches. I just happen to have this chair left from when my mom was alive so I figured if necessary it could be handy. I don't get a whole lot of help walking the dog so I thought it may be a good option if and when I have the surgery. I am glad your surgery is behind you.


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## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

haha, I got Babykins when she was in that wild teenager phase - I regret I never saw the sweet, compliant puppy. She's 3 and just when I think we're growing out of it, it pops back up again. I wanted a spoo but I wasn't sure I was strong enough to handle one so I got a minipoo. Sometimes when I see spoos, especially beautifully ones, there's a little regret feeling in my core.

Sorry you fell and injured yourself - especially during the holidays, that's miserable. But since you're going to PT talk to them about your bunion that's forming. I had one and exercises and a change to a wider shoe completely eliminated it - you'd never guess my large toe was heading east instead of north. It was a lot of stretching the toe towards north and towards west. I know if you google you'll find info about it. I have arthritis which has caused ugly bone growth and I still have a bump there - but I'm not going to have surgery when my toes are straight and I don't have any pain. Hopefully some PT can help yours too, even if you had surgery.

There are some fun activities you can do sitting or minimal moving around. Look up dog tricks - some of them are easy to train and fun.

As part of nose work there are several easy things you can do and train Renn to do. One is to take a large beach towel. Scatter a few treats on the towel then roll it up into a roll and teach Renn to slowly unroll it looking for the treats. You can also scatter treats in a room and then send Renn in to find and eat them. You can also use a snuffle mat for the same effect https://www.amazon.com/Wooly-Snuffl...8&qid=1547050653&sr=8-3&keywords=snuffle+mats Hopefully some fun brain games will help with his energy.


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## asuk (Jan 6, 2017)

oh mufar, you have my sympathies with the teen phase. milo is almost 2 and though he has bouts of silliness but for most part, he is an absolute joy. i wanted this size and glad i did. though i love a spoo, its a bit too much "dog" for me.

one thing i wanted to mentioned, a few members here mentioned susan garrett. i cant find any of her videos, though maybe i am not looking good enough. i did find her blog and she had a video about a game called "its yer choice". well its an excellent game! this might help with the jumping. milo's issue is he tends to be too friendly with other dogs. but with "its yer choice", i must say that problem got nipped quite quickly. the game can be modified for any situation.


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## Mufar42 (Jan 1, 2017)

WE had a good morning. WE did touch, no words, click, treat. Did the 2x so far today. Then I put a towel on floor and put a treat on it. Didn't take to long for him to realize he has to be looking down at towel to get click & treat. Then a short potty walk and as I had washing machine trouble and a repair man here he is now in his crate. He went willingly. In a bit we will read this morning. It seemed to help but who knows. I just love this boy to bits. I just have to do more with him. Will keep you all posted as to our progress.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

I do understand how challenging the second year with a spoo can be. Lily was crazy until she was about 18 months old then she settled a bit, but her real maturity set in when she was just shy of turning three. There were many times I wondered why I had wanted her so badly for so many years. Thankfully Javelin was a much easier youngster.


Brain games are the best for making a smart dog turn into an easy keeper. I was out doing training with Javelin for three hours on Monday, but a lot of it was impulse control stuff and I was sitting for that. He slept fabulously Monday night.


Mufar I know you will lick this phase and I hope the problems with your feet heal easily once you get them fixed.


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## Mfmst (Jun 18, 2014)

That was something that kept me going: Catherine’s admission that the now highly credentialed Lily, was a wild child. The other positive spin is that these slow to mature poodles retain their youthful joie de vivre through the years, when other breeds are geriatrics. I’m sorry your foot issues have happened in the middle of teenager trials and the neuter. Here for you


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Mfmst that is very nice to hear. Lily was a wild child but as you note she like many spoos age wonderfully. She thinks she is two, not ten!


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## Asta's Mom (Aug 20, 2014)

Mufar it sounds like you have high and high difficulties right now and a spoo teenager to boot. Brain games seemed to me, like a must in this stage (thank you Lily cd re) Know that they do outgrow it. Asta settled down a little after his 2nd birthday, now is 4 and the perfect companion for me (thank you Click'n'Treat) He has learned not to jump on me, except by command (thank you Lily cd re) As you can see, I put a lot of stock in PF members - I am always learning something. Anyhows sending thoughts and prayers your way ((HUGS))


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## ericwd9 (Jun 13, 2014)

After reading the OP and considering the replies and implications, My opinion is: ALL dogs need exercise, period. How much exercise depends on the dog and its breed. Having your dog spend undue time sleeping instead of doing "things" apart from mind games is not healthy. I can see that some highly strung dogs might benefit from a term of training where exciting pursuits are absent and might slow down that dogs level of arousal and allow a little more basic training. Walking is not good exercise for larger dogs. A toy might find a short walk enough. A standard would see it as but a snifathon. Standard poodles need vigorous exercise to be healthy. As 12 weeks old puppies they need to grow strong bones and ligaments to prevent later injuries. Twice each day but not severe. At 24 weeks they should have as much exercise as they can easily tolerate. At three years most standards have enough sense to tell you how much exercise they need. My experience about 1 hr per day of vigorous exercise. When the dog no longer returns the ball or goes to the gate or car they are saying "enough". A dog who is confined to its home all day while you work will become agitated, aroused and excited when the opportunity of leaving the home and possibly having a play time is presented. This is NOT behavior to be corrected. It is just a high energy dog who has been confined.


Eric.


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## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

Eric brings up a good point about exercise. I have several training activities related to agility that are helpful in exercising my dog when the weather outside is frightful or I’m ill. Perhaps you can devise something appropriate for your house and your dog. One of mine is to send my dog upstairs. She has to either sit or lay down on command and wait for the release word. Upon release she runs down the stairs ending with two feet on the floor and two hind legs on the stairs then she has to wait as I move around until I come back and treat her. Then she has to run upstairs again and repeat it. Another is sending her through weave poles and as she gets to the end I toss a toy for her to fetch and return. Obviously an easier version of this is to just play fetch. We also do fetch over jumps etc. These are fun activities where she expends energy and I don’t. It took time to train these and they were/are for her dog sports but if you look around your house and get creative you could train some fun silly physical activities for your dog. Maybe teaching your dog to dance standing up on the hind legs. Or my 6 yo daughter taught our tpoo to stand on a ball and roll it. These are more physical activities that not only exercise but build strength and balance etc.


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## Mufar42 (Jan 1, 2017)

Yes thank you everyone for your replies. Yes perhaps too he hasn't been getting enough time to just run...Its been very wet and the yard is too wet. We have still been walking about 1 mile each day, though not every day the past two weeks as every day we have had heavy rain. So lack of exercise may be a contributing factor. I will try harder on that. Tuesday he will get neutered so we will more than likely just do leisurely walks until he is healed. Today is day 2 and I repeated yesterday. It went much better. He was off lead from me (no distractions) we did the mat game. He is learning it pretty quick as the cat came out walked past and Renn was more interestested in looking tt the mat, getting a click & treat. He did not chase the cat? So we are making these short and sweet. Thank you so much . I think he likes to be doing something more than we have been doing guess I was getting lapsed.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Have you tried a chuck it ball launcher? https://www.chewy.com/chuckit-classic-launcher-color/dp/38347?utm_source=google-product&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=hg&utm_content=Chuckit%21&utm_term=&gclid=CjwKCAiA99vhBRBnEiwAwpk-uFcCy3tOCCSx0ZcVTzh03ID2I2pbLmy4SDTpcR9G2rxUgZIeBVyXzhoCKUAQAvD_BwE You can sit in a chair and make good long throws. I know you don't want to do it in the rain, but maybe it would work for you after Renn is clear to resume normal activity levels post neuter.


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## Charmed (Aug 4, 2014)

Oh Mufar, I somehow missed this thread. Wilson is already four years old and he still has periodic lapses of judgment. They don't last long, and are often rather half-hearted attempts. We have been seeing the Geico commercial with Maxwell, the pig. That pig's attitude towards life is exactly like Wilson's, "Whee!". Impulse control is present, but contained in a quivering mass of excitement. If ever a dog could levitate it would be Wilson. I think he was just born happy. Unfortunately, sometimes our ideas of happiness differ. I am sorry to hear about your health issues and hope you get that wheelchair up and running, so you can take Renn for walks while you are recovering.


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## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

I am late to this...and have nothing useful to add as far as ideas that haven't already been mentioned. But I wanted to say how sorry I am you fell and are having these difficulties. You've gotten some good suggestions anyhow. I hope the pt goes well. I think those people are worth their weight...used them several times for various things. Do take care and I wish you the best. I know how puppies can be such a pain sometimes...the big ones take a long time to mature, don't they. I have had big dogs and lately small ones, which are easier in some ways but not all ways. Your dog is lovely and will mature eventually. Hang in there.


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## Mufar42 (Jan 1, 2017)

Well we have been practicing a little everyday and also getting a walk in. I already see some improvement and he is acting more like himself, (the good self). Today he got neutered, well I won't so keen on it but it was the agreement I made with the breeder. So it is done and we just got back home. I think he will be babied somewhat tonight. We have 45 minutes and he cane at a little and have a pain pill. I had to look to see that they really did anything as he acts perfectly normal, maybe just pacing a bit as he probably isn't quite comfortable . Well now he just settled down so we will wait it out a bit., go out and see if he is hungry. Off to care for my boy


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Well I am glad the neuter went well. We don't neuter our boys (but Lily is spayed), so I understand not quite being on board for doing it.


I hope everything continues in positive directions. Be well.


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## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

I hope the neutering helps settle him down. Sounds like he's off to a good start with the healing from his surgery.


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