General Training Goals
As a part of your puppy’s involvement with the Dog Adventures Northwest Puppy Play & Learn program, we will be focusing on the following training goals:
Positive socialization to the sights, sounds, smells, and situations of the human world.
Use classical conditioning and systematic desensitization to build resilience and foster affiliation toward various stimuli; focus on quality over quantity; ensure that all puppies feel safe at every step of the process and that they move forward at their own pace.
Reinforce engagement between puppies and their human guardian.
Teach dogs that checking in with me, paying attention to where I am going and what I am doing, and employing my guidance all equal Good Things for Puppies; use operant conditioning to capture all engagement behaviors, with the eventual goal of putting various behaviors on cue; use classical conditioning to reinforce all engagement behaviors.
Manage and reinforce every time a puppy pees or poops outside (first choice) or in the indoor potty spot (distant second, but appropriate for our youngest participants).
Bring puppies outside (or to the indoor potty) on a regular and recurring schedule, as well as every time they transition from one activity to the next (most especially from sleeping to playtime). Give puppies high-value rewards and ample verbal praise when they pee or poop in an appropriate potty spot.
Teach all puppies to feel comfortable in a crate and/or behind barriers.
Work incrementally to desensitize and counter-condition puppies occasionally spending time in a crate or behind a management barrier such as baby gates, fences, and playpens; use human and canine companionship as a bridge to stressless containment; work slowly and gradually to set puppies up for success; pair all containment and separation training with high-value rewards.
Teach all puppies how to use calming strategies to limit over-arousal and anxiety.
Capture calm/calming behavior to increase its frequency and encourage self-regulation; drill engagement during times when calm behavior is less likely.
Encourage play skills, a soft mouth, bite inhibition, and appropriate chew habits.
Capture appropriate play skills like taking turns, taking breaks, self-moderation, self-interruption, and paying attention to body language; capture and train human engagement and recall out of play; allow licking and potentially very soft mouthing of human hands, but negative punishment (removal of the reinforcer) if a puppy play-bites by temporarily suspending play/interaction and using the “three strikes and you’re out” rule; offer many opportunities for puppies to play and chew with their mouths on toys, high-value and long-lasting chews, and food puzzles.
Manage puppies’ environments to set them up for success at all times.
Full human supervision unless working on separation, at which time monitoring behavior with the Furbo remote camera/treat dispenser.
