November 16, 2009: Producing Perfect Puppies (like me!) :-)
Hi hi hi!
People often ask Tui how exactly I managed to turn out quite so perfect. What's the secret? Is it nature or is it nurture? Most importantly, how can you make your own puppy this well-behaved, brilliant, snuggly, and lovable? ;-)
Well, if you ask me, it certainly helps that I am three-quarters poodle, one of the most intelligent dog breeds out there. And if you ask Tui, she'll tell you that I must have been born this way and she just lucked out getting such a good dog. (*preen, preen, fluff my fur, bat my eyelashes*) Plus, the owners of my canine parents are awesome, splendiferous people who took extremely good care of me as a puppy and made sure I was mentally stimulated and snuggled from birth, so we're sure that helped, too!
But in case this helps you, there are a couple of books Tui used when I first came to her (at about eight weeks old), so, since people have asked, we figured we'd share those! Of course, there are thousands of books like this out there, so you don't have to get these particular ones...most of them probably have a lot of the same advice. The important thing is actually following it!
Tui's favorite was this one:
Puppy Parenting!
Cute and totally useful! At least if we're remembering correctly...that was a few years ago!
We also used these books:
And later Tui read this, which was less about specific techniques and more of a really fascinating look at dog psychology:
Not surprisingly, Tui is all in favor of reading books whenever you're looking for solutions to problems. Even though she grew up with dogs, she still wanted to do her research for me! And she learned some really useful things...for instance, when your puppy is still small, you should spend time holding and touching her paws one by one. That way she'll get used to it from an early age, which will make clipping her nails later MUCH easier (for you and your groomer!). Tui did this to me, and now I'm thoroughly excellent at letting people hold my paws as if I'm getting a manicure. :-)
A lot of Tui's training tips are based on the style of our favorite professional dog trainer, Victoria Stilwell of It's Me or the Dog fame (and she has her own books on puppy training, which we bet are awesome!). Watching It's Me or the Dog on TV is (a) hilarious and (b) also very instructive. Personally, I love it when Tui uses Victoria's methods on me, because it means I get looooooooooots of treats! Hooray!
And finally, if you can find dog training classes near you, it might be worth it to sign up! For one thing, it's important to socialize your dog (we need friends! yay friends!), and for another, it's great bonding between you and your dog as well. We never did obedience training (I am much too perfect to need that!), but as regular readers know, we did agility training and I LOVE IT! It makes me so happy and well-exercised and tired...I think every dog should try it! :-) Our classes were with fantabulous Go Play! in Arlington, MA (yay yay yay!), but if you're not in this area, try searching online for some near you!
And apart from all of that, the best thing you can do is love your dog, exercise your dog, pay attention to your dog, and do everything you can to keep them healthy, which includes regular check-ups, teeth brushing, and a good diet. (Tui and I have slightly different theories on that last one...my idea of a good diet is CHEESE ALL DAY LONG, but she won't let me have that, which I think is PARTICULARLY UNFAIR considering all the nonstop cheese SHE'S been eating lately. HARRUMPH.)
So hopefully that all helps! If all else fails, perhaps one day we'll resort to cloning, and then everyone can have one of me! Mwa ha ha! Sunshines taking over the world! :-) Best plan ever.
Happy tails,
Sunshine! :-)
