I suspected, when I decided that Riddick would get pretty much the same training as I am giving Volt, that Riddick's blindness would make him harder to train- I just didn't realise how.
For one thing, where I started training Volt from day one to sit and wait for his food, Riddick smells his food and goes BANANAS! It seems he can't actually see his dish clearly on the kitchen floor, so if I let go his collar he runs flat out for where he thinks it is and more often than not he stands in it before he finds it! He also eats SO fast that he literally chokes on his food, so I have taken to pouring his food out onto a towel on the kitchen floor. He has to "find" it so that he can eat it all and whilst he still finishes it in under a minute it has slowed him down enough that he doesn't choke anymore.
Giving him a treat or a cookie is also tricky because instead of just taking the treat he opens his mouth WIDE and LUNGES in the direction of the smell! He's gaffed my one finger by accident making a grab for a piece of biltong!
House training is going very well. My knucklehead got me a nice big box from work and Riddick now sleeps in the box next to my husband's side of the bed instead of in the bath where he was (the bath- if you have an adjoining bathroom thats warm like we do- works very well to house train a puppy as they can't jump out and they won't pee on their beds). Last night he slept from 11pm to 5am instead of waking at around 3am for a potty break like he has done since we brought him home.
Having Volt here as a good influence and a playmate is such a help! Thelma and Louise do not like puppies and don't like to play, so Volt provides the company he didn't get when he was a little puppy!
2 comments:
I wonder if the clicker will not work? You know the clicker training method? It makes a sound, and then you get the reward after. He will work on sound, not true. COntact em if you want to know more.
Such cuteness! Sounds like you have your hands very full, but no doubt the rewards will be great when you have a lovely, well-trained dog at the end of it all!
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