Abby Kennels Learns From A Natural Trainer

Zoe and Ziggy roll, tumble, wrestle and bark.   Zena nips at Zelda as she approaches the food bowl.   Zip and Z cuddle together, exhausted from their last adventure.   Zeke pauses for a moment before exploding in motion and running toward the rolling ball. 

Ziva’s puppies are six weeks old.  Overnight it seems, they grew from cute, indistinguishable fur balls into sturdy individuals.  Ziva has also changed.  At birth, her puppies are her total focus.  She loves, nurtures and protects them, only leaving them for brief bathroom breaks.  Now, Ziva spends more and more time away from her litter.  Her role has subtly shifted from gentle nurturer to disciplinarian.  Instinctively Ziva knows that she must prepare her puppies for a world where they follow human rules.

As fascinating as it’s been to watch the puppies develop, it’s equally fascinating to watch Ziva change.  As the puppies grow and become more rebellious, Ziva’s discipline becomes firmer.  The loud yelp is replaced with a warning growl if she feels puppy teeth during playtime.  A clingy puppy is now nudged away, rather than pulled closer.  A too-sharp bite during nursing results in Ziva shaking off the puppies and walking away.  She won’t hesitate to wade into the middle of a rough scuffle and grab an offender by the scuff of the neck, holding him up to remind him that she is dominant.  Ziva is tolerant of her pups’ missteps but she never lets them forget that she is the pack leader.

Ziva is a natural teacher.  She didn’t read any books or attend any classes or watch any videos.  She doesn’t worry about overcorrecting or hurting feelings or not being loved.  She teaches by instinct.  She will give her pups the best start she can in life and that includes teaching them what they need to know to survive in a human world. 

Abby Kennels’ training program continues what Ziva started.   An eight week old puppy enters his forever home already knowing some critical lessons learned from both his mother and his litter mates.  Don’t stop that training.  Don’t be fooled by the sweet face and the gentle eyes.  Those harmless nips will turn into hurtful bites.  The cute puppy bark will become a loud, ringing nuisance.  Dominant playing will turn into dominant behavior.  Ziva trained her puppies to know that there are rules that must be followed.    Build on what she started and continue the job of training!

For more puppy information, like us on Facebook   (http://www.facebook.com/AbbyKennels) and follow us on Twitter (@dogmankevin)