Daisy’s Basics: Week 3

  Miss Daisy is now 12 weeks old, and she and her people are making phenomenal progress with her basics training. We do have to work on her response time with Casandra – Daisy tends to either ignore her completely, or she takes her time responding to commands. But, overall, Daisy has been doing fantastic. Casandra and Tyler are working very hard with her, and it shows.

In this week’s lesson, Daisy began to learn the “place” command. She picked it up so fast that by the third repetition, she was already trying to anticipate Tyler and Casandra by going directly to her spot and either sitting or going into a down position without being asked. It was such a joy to watch this young pup learn and then practice something she had never done before as if she’d been doing it since she was born.

Being only 12 weeks old, Daisy has a work threshhold of about 30 minutes. Sometimes, she can work a bit longer but when she’s had enough, she indicates that by biting at her leash and mouthing hands and arms. This will resolve as she gets older, but for now, she is released from her lesson time the first time she tries to show that resistance. She is asked to do something very simple – like sit – and then she’s released and given a toy immediately so that she knows she can go and be a puppy. It’s very important to always end lessons on a positive note.

While Daisy is doing extremely well with her lessons overall and she’s responsive to both Casandra and Tyler, she is still learning that she has to give Spencer and Valerie – the two children – the same respect.  Little Valerie gets a bit nervous when she’s trying to work with Daisy, because Daisy tends to try to force her to give up the treat. Spencer is autistic, and though Daisy does gravitate to him quite a bit [she’s constantly checking on him], he hasn’t connected with her yet. This is something only time can resolve, but Casandra and Tyler are working with him to help him teach Daisy how to be with him. They’ve been doing a great job so far; Daisy is now sleeping with Spencer at night, which is what they wanted.

This puppy is highly intelligent, super inquisitive, playful, loving, and most importantly, she is calm under pressure. If Spencer is expressing vocally, she checks on him but does not become excited or panicked. When the door bell rings or someone knocks, she’s first at the door [that will be changing] but she doesn’t bark to alert. She’s actually a very quiet little girl…

Keep up the excellent work, Casandra and Tyler! You’re doing an awesome job!