Down Stay Command

After Slurpie was consistent with his Sit and Down commands we started on the stay command in his 2nd week with us. Stay command is very very useful when you need to clear his pee/poo, pick up food that has dropped etc basically when u need poochie to stay away to allow you some time to clear up or mop the floor.

I am so proud of my PP he learns so quickly although he was only about 3 mths old. This is what we did:

1. Give down command first but no reward

2. with one hand placed gently on his back, we put the treat about 1m away (stretch as far as I could with my hand still on his back)

3. when he attempted to get up to get to the treat, I placed light pressure on his back while my other hand made the "stop" sign (fingers all opened like signaling 5) in his face and say Stay.

4. Released after about 1-2 seconds as I say OK and let him run to the treat and relish it.

5. Repeat
Tip: gradually we did not have to hold him in place, so we adjusted the pressure on his back as he progressed.

We increased the waiting time to 30sec, 45sec and 1 min gradually. We also started to walk away with the treat in our hands while he stayed, increasing the distance as we increased the time. He will come running the moment he hears OK at reallt high speed haha.

Now we can do the stay while we walk into other rooms/out of sight! Try it! Stay is really good cos only with Stay can you take nice pics like this:


after our home trainings we did attend some formal classes and found the methods they used were different. I guess there are many ways to train poochie so as long as it works I think any method is fine =) The above method was from a book we bought. Will do books review soon.

Xiao Mi Feng

cannot resist posting my little bumble bee here

this is messy bee before his grooming. looks like a girl haha with the head gear.








checking out the tree for beehive












he sees the treat there (at the middle of the trunk) but he has not gotten clearance to eat it hehe














see super will power at work here as he goes nearer but waits for my Ok haha hilarious






disclaimer: i do not advocate clothes for dogs in singapore weather so any clothes we buy (too cute to resist!) we only let him wear for photo taking and maybe the first 5mins when we have visitors or when visiting others. this bumble bee only cost me S$9 from Shanghai how to resist! hehe.

MS Gathering at Sentosa

29th June 2008
Sentosa Tanjung Beach
Lots of fun, sand and food!

this has to be the most exciting day in Slurpie's 6 mths on earth! to be surrounded by loads of people (he loves people!) and poochie friends. It was really great as everyone there are dog/MS lovers so everyone was tolerant to any doggy mischief and understands if the poochies were playful.

checking out his new friends
cool mohawk MS

all lined up swimming classes =)apprehensive Slurpieyeah my brave boy can swim!where there is food, slurpie is always there

the organisers are awesome and the event was a success! the result? 2o over tired poochies who had the best time running, swimming, eating and playing. lets organise the next outing NOW!

by the way, pls forgive my greedy chor lor pup who ate the meatballs of your pups hehe. cocodada...paiseh la.

Down Command

After Slurpie was doing Sit command consistently, we introduced the Down command. This is relatively easy really as the pup will eagerly do anything to get the treat now that he knows training means treat! Don't worry later as we phrase out the treats he will still do the command automatically with consistent training and practice.

We start with Sit > Treat

Then in sit position, we used another treat. Place it near his nose and direct downwards to the floor. At this point his head would be near the floor but his butt in the air hehe. Held on to the treat until he settled down his butt and is in down position. Immediately gave him the treat and praised him. After a few times, we added the down command the moment his entire body is on the floor.

oops wrong pic...this is the "Carpet" version haha his favorite at rest position.......Down!

Down is good for safety! A dog in down position will be calmer and this is very useful outside when you want him to stay put in a more submissive position than Sit.

After he knows the command, he will perform a down quickly without the butt in the air part first. We also deviated from the treat at nose to ground and substituted a hand action of vertically moving our hand downwards (downward sweeping motion) while standing up (human not dog). Again after we give the treat we say OK to release Slurpie from the action.

The OK release command will be useful later for the Stay training.

Tricks and Treats

We are pretty strict on Slurpie's diet. We try to at least. One big no no on any ingredients listed is anything to do with Chicken. Apparently alot of schnauzers get schnauzer bumps from eating chicken and so we try to avoid.

We also try to get items that does not list too many ingredients. One good example is the Shiloh & Lester Salmon Wild (100% salmon and not else supposedly). Omega-3 that should make his black coat glossier....

Only bane? this stuff is fishy big time. slurpie's breathe stinks really and cos we use this as our outdoor treats initially, it stank up the treats bag and even my bag cos i put the treats bag in mine. And when he licks himself the smell just gets all over!

We have stopped since the last pack as I cannot really stand the stench. But perhaps it will be ok to feed your dog some before his bath session just so he gets the goodness. DO NOT place the opened bag in your bag or car if you do not want to be mistaken as a fishmonger though.

Our regular treat is Jerky Naturals by Zuke's at home.

• Fortified with vitamins and minerals
• Only 17 calories per piece
• Made without artificial colors, flavors or by-products
• Free of wheat, corn and soy

As we put Slurpie thru regular training sessions daily we wanted something that will not make him obese from too much snacking and easy to chew and swallow (this is quite soft). As the pieces are pretty big, we cut them into small 2-3mm squares and place them in a container by his play area so it is always available. We only cut a few pieces each time and replenish as it runs out to avoid spoilage from frequent exposure to air in the "daily" container.

The reason we have different treats for home and outdoors is to keep Slurpie interested. Little rascal is so distracted outside that he is not attracted to the treats at all since he knows he can have the same stuff at home. After we finished the salmon, we bought cheese sticks. Hmmm...the ingredients are so-so la but at least no chicken parts. It is again soft and we cut them into small pieces.

I think its ok to change treats to keep the dog interested in the training since it would only make up 10-20% of his daily diet. But I still dislike funny treats i see with all types of nice coloring and shapes as i think they are meant to attract the owners and not benefit the dog at all.


Other regular treats that Slurpie gets includes apples, pears, oranges, yoghurt (good for him really but have to be the natural and plain type), basically any fruits we are having ourselves other then grapes which i heard are a no-no. He would sit and wait (drool and stare as well) while we eat our apples (he knows the hierarchy, he eats last! no begging allowed) Greedy boy is sooooo cooperative when he knows there is a slurpilicious treat soon!

Identity Revealed

When we first got slurpie he had the usual puppy cut. Subsequently we only gave him a 1cm bear cut to retain his puppy fur instead of clipping it all off for a regular schnauzer cut. thus slurpie always look a little afro like and being black, many people could not recognise what breed he is. We often have passer-bys ask "Oh what a cute puppy, what breed is he"

To celebrate his 6th month birthday tomorrow, we finally tried the schnauzer cut and he looks so different!

>> Puppy boy

>> afro pup

yeah tadah the black schnauzer. pardon his legs, i actually washed his feet earlier and they were wet so it looks like it is tapered. it is actually a nice straight cut (funny how i sound like i am talking about jeans...)

the man likes this cut, feels that slurpie's eyes look brighter and more alert now that we can actually see them and that he looks nice and sleek. i kinda miss his afro look though cos it makes him looks so messy and cute like a teddy. As for Slurpie? This is what he thinks:

look ma i can see you now

Sit Training

As soon as the 2nd week when Slurpie was effectively toilet trained, we started on teaching him basic commands. We read that while puppies looks oooh so teeny their brains are very developed and they are very eager to learn. We bought a couple of books (will do a review later on the books) and read extensively online too. Sigh this puppy is time-consuming!

Items prepared: Treats! we used kibbles and beef jerky. Try to use small size treats so the pup will not take too long to chew it and also not get obese feeding on treats! Ideally the treat should be able to be swallow with minimal chewing so he can get back to attention for the next treat.

No distractions

I started with Slurpie indoor with no other distraction like TV or sounds; holding 5 to 10 of his favourite treat. While puppies have brains that are thirsty to absorb new trainings, they also have short attention spans. Thus in the first week we only did the training 5 to 10 times each round so as to keep his interest and leave him wanting more.

Praise and reward

The ideal situation is to have your puppy looking at you but Slurpie is a very hyper dog and I found that pretty hard. Thus we made sure he knows I have something good in it for him by letting him get a whiff of the treat. Once I got his attention, I moved one of my hands holding a treat over his nose and slowly move it above his head. By now I have his full attention as he really wants to slurp up the treat =)

When I move the treat above his head he will naturally tip his nose and head up to follow the scent and the treat and will also naturally end up in the sit position. As soon as his bump hit the ground I made a big hoohaa praising him and giving him the treat. Once he finish the treat I repeated the process. By the 3rd time or so he does it very quickly sometimes even without waiting for my treat to totally reach above his head. Tip: try not to push down his backside or even touching him at all.

“Sit”

On the second session I starting associating the action of his bump on the floor with the command word "Sit". I repeated all the steps above with the addition of saying a firm “Sit” while moving my hand and just as his bump was about to hit the floor. Again repetition is the key to his understanding and I did this another 5-10 times. As Slurpie is pretty interested and fast, I did one session in the morning and one at night. hehe like having medicine, twice a day before meals. Tip: do trainings before meals so they are slightly hungrier (yes they are always hungry believe me so i use slightly hungrier) so they will be more attentive.

“Ok” release command

Release commands are important so let the pup knows he is finish with the action required. This is especially important later when I want to teach Slurpie the stay command so he knows he is to maintain the command until he is "released". I used "ok" cos i started using it before i read it is not recommended since it is a word we tend to use frequently and now i have to stick with it as Slurpie has already associated that as a release command. Other words that can be used will be "Done", "Off" etc, any single syllabus word should do I think. I would say “ok” before giving the treat to Slurpie when he successfully do the Sit command. This act as a “clicker” training where I can imagine the thought bubble of Slurpie would read: command+ action + ok = yummy reward.

Phase out the treat

After lots of repetition and patience, Slurpie could sit upon hearing the command without the hand signal. So I started to stop giving the treat but use lots of praise and head rubs/pets in place. I mean it would be impossible for me to forever give him a treat for every command in future ma so I used prasie inetead. Tip: Do not use the treat to lure your dog after you are convinced he understands the command.

Daily routine

I worked this command into his daily routine. maybe that is also why started with a Sit command as it does help me to gain some control over him when I need him to stay still. It also reinforces my status as the "pack leader" or owner so he knows who is the boss. Slurpie has to “sit” before he receives his dinner or before I give him his ball or any other toy.

Distraction

When the Slurpie became really a master at the Sit command at home, i started training again with the command and release BUT also with a treat outside during his walks. Distracted he sometimes may ignore me when that happens I do not repeat "Sit Slurpie Sit Sit Sit" instead I walk a little wait till I think he is less distracted and try again. He has to learn to do the act at one "Sit" and not after "Sit Sit Sit" everytime!

Key notes (from website la not me):

• Be consistent. Always use the same word to mean the same thing. Remember, human language is not natural to your dog—he has to learn that words have specific meanings. He'll learn “Sit,” but he'll have a lot of trouble with “Aww, baby, pweeze sit here by me” or “You better sit right now, dammit!” or “Sit … sit down! … sitsitsit …” So play fair and use one word consistently.
  
  
• Be concise. Give your command once and once only. If you repeat a command three, four, or five times, your dog learns that he doesn't have to do it until you say “down … down … down … down” or until you yell really loud or until you say the word and wave your arm at him or some other silly thing.
  
  
• Be generous. Reward your dog for doing what you tell him to do. When you begin teaching a new command, reward him every single time he gets it right. A reward is something your dog likes—that might be a treat, a toy, or a butt scratch, as long as it obviously makes your dog happy. Use a word of praise—“good dog” or “pretty!” or whatever you like—along with the reward, and eventually the word itself will become a reward.
  
  
• Be smart. If you're not in a position to enforce a command, don't give the command unless you know for certain your dog will obey. If you're in the bathtub, don't tell your dog “Down” unless you're willing to get out of the tub, drip through the house, put your dog where you want him, and have him lie down. If you give a command that you can't enforce, your dog learns that he has to do it if you're standing there holding the leash, but he doesn't have to do it if you're all wet or otherwise unable to make sure he does it. The point of training is to teach the dog that he must do what you say when you say it—and if you're consistent and smart when you're training him, you'll end up with a reliable dog.
  
  
• Be prepared. If you're going to need a leash to manage your dog while teaching him to sit, then have the leash on him or close at hand. If your dog doesn't yet come reliably when called, then keep a long line near the backdoor and put it on him when he goes out at night to potty. Then if you say “Come” and he doesn't, you can reel him in.
  
  
• Be happy. Your dog is your friend, and he really does want to please you. Use a happy voice when you give commands, and a very happy voice when you praise him. Put yourself in his place—if two people called you, one in a tone that said, “Oh, I'm so happy to see you; come and be here where I am!” and the other in a growling tone that said, “You get over here right now,” which one would you go see? Use your voice to tell your dog how delighted you'd be to have him do what you tell him.

Slurpie Week 1

Day 1 (22nd Feb)

Slurpie came home with me after I braved 40mins of peak hour traffic, heavy rain and armed only with a cut trashbin box. He remained stiff throughout the journey in the box at the front passenger foot area. The moment we reached home and I placed him in his playpen, he morphed into an ostrich:

Luckily before i started to call the cops for being conned into buying an ostrich looking like a dog, he managed to move a little. The little fellow was quiet throughout that night and he walked cautiously with a hunched back showing how uncertain he was. The man came back early to meet his new baby whom we fear may be a dumb and inactive pup.

Day 2

We bought him to the vet to ensure he was in good health. He sat quietly between us, making no noise even when the other dogs at the vet barked at him. He liked to look at the road and the cars though. Vet ensure us he is one healthy boy and pretty big size too for his age. Weight: 2.2kg, 25cm by 26cm (withers and length). He started to warm up to us but was still timid....we were sighing that we have to accept his timidness and dumb nature.

Day 3

We discovered Slurpie's fox tail. He started to hop around, whined to be let out when we leave him alone in the playpen and was interested in everything. He was also able to pee and poo at the paper area. He did pee in the living room when we let him out as he did not dare to return to the playpen for fear of being locked in again.

In the next couple of days we realise Slurpie was also a mini sumo. He managed to shift his playpen into all sorts of shapes and one morning, we found him standing OUTSIDE the playpen barking at the people downstairs! Lil sumo managed to push his way out of his playpen! However he underestimated his mummy's creative mind. I filled the laundry box with water and used it to keep the playpen in place. Lil sumo now cannot push what is prob almost 15kg of water. =P

Slurpie also learnt the sit command. Smart pup! He also started chewing his make-shift DHL house. We wonder how much he has eaten though. Poor pup however started coughing, we suspect he caught it at the vet. It broke our hearts to hear him wheezing and coughing like he was out of breath. Vet issued antibiotics and the no shower order. To clean his ears we resorted to doing it at the lift lobby as only when he is out of the house does he stay still, afraid to move. So from dumb/inactive to sumo/smartass chewer, we have now one smelly pup.

Update: Smelly pup can now play the STAY game. This lil guy really is a smart dog. From refusing to budge once we clip on the leash (plus a real frowning look that cracks us up) to now trotting with the lease while attempting to bite it, he picks things up so fast. He also understand the word NO and while he cunningly tries to pretend and get on the carpet or into the rooms thinking we are not watching, the moment he hears NO, he backs off. Sometimes he would let us know how displeased he is by giving us a snobbish bark but he would than lie and wait outside the room. We are proud of lil smelly

Our new baby - Slurpie

Born: 24/12/2007
Breed: Full Black Schnauzer
Markings: White patch on chest area
Cost: S$1380


Introducing the newest member to our home. Slurpie born on Christmas Eve =)

After all the research online and visiting so many pets shop we finally found our best friend. To summarise the posts earlier, The man wanted big dogs, I like them too but given all that he shortlisted were shedders, I had to refuse as housework as it is now for 2 of us is taking up so much time. Then he wanted a Standard Schnauzer. However this is not available locally and to ship one of the flurry from NZ or Aus will cost a bomb. We got a little distracted by the gentle giant Black Russian Terrier pup which Ericsson Pet was selling at S$8,888. haha we are not that rich but the BRT is really a great pup although I wonder how can we both squeeze into the corridor at home and all the doorways seeing that he likes following his owner =P

The common schnauzer in Sg is the Salt & Pepper. There are also quite a few Black and Silver. Being the difficult persons we both are, we again wanted something not easily available. Full black. So we left our names on a waiting list and that also explains the price of Slurpie as there was only 1 F and 1 M pup making the demand/suppy curve pretty skewed.

Selection

Gan Cheong Spider (aka the man) wanted to be the first to select from the litter so we went asap on 17th Feb, Sunday. The female pup was very yappy, barking and howling and she was also smaller in size and her fur not as black (slightly brownish). We picked the male after much observation and deliberation (read this) as he was bigger in size and his fur were black and dense although he was not really full black as he has a white patch on his chest and a few white blotches on 2 of his paws. We figured the white patch made him special too. So we placed the deposit and went to buy the necessities to prepare for him. (he had to stay for 2nd Vaccination and we could only go bring him back the following week)

Preparations

this is the fun part, we happily went directly to the various pet shops to get ready for our best friend's home coming. we bought chew toys, fetch toys, teething toys, leash, collar, shampoo, playpen fence etc etc.

Slurpie shall have a corner in the balcony. the balcony has bamboo blinds so he will be safe from the elements and our furniture will also be safe. Besides, it is the airest part of the house and so the stench of his pee and poo shall not be a problem. Tip: buy the playpen fence as opposed to a cage no matter how big it is as the fence gives more flexibility to rearrange the size as your puppy grows. this is what we are using, you can hook them together and form the shape and size that is ideal.
we set up the playpen is a simple square first, then took it apart and formed a "house" shape using part of the wall, then took it apart and tried all types of configurations. we also had the plants in the balcony shifted around just to find the best spot for Slurpie. Finally we decided that since he was still so tiny, it would be easier for us to toilet/paper train him in a contained area where eat, sleep and poo areas are distinct. A too big area initially may confuse him and give him a choice of where to do what. Thus it will be better to slowly increase the area later.

i was really tempted by the nice kennels/beds for doggies. however i am aware that not all dogs like to use them and they are really not cheap! creative juices flowed and i decided to make one for Slurpie using the DHL jumbo box we had first. After all puppies do not mind the looks as much as we do =P. Wanted to give him an option to hide is he feels like it or stay covered should he feel cold or scared. Did not take a good shot of how my DHL house looks like but here is a pic that shows the layout of Slurpies initial home for the 1st couple of days:

tiny tiny black fur ball

in the end we had to expand the paper part to the full lenght on the left of the picture as he did not know he has to do his biz on paper. by instinct he never did it in the house or in the quarter with the water bowl. however slowly we reduced the size of the paper area by placing him on it whenever we catch him about to poo or pee and then go crazy with lavishing praises to let him know that is a desired behavior. well more on that later....

Selecting your puppy

yeah now we have decided on the full black schnauzer we wanted to be able to get the "best" from a litter. of cos my best and your best may differ. some people prefer shy dainty dogs who are all nice and proper while others like us prefers robust active dogs who are well...a little mischievious.

thank God for the worldwide web! we read again all possible articles and here are some links that may be useful:

http://www.yourpurebredpuppy.com/buying/common/puppies.html
easy to read, easy to understand

http://www.dogbreedsfinder.com/dog-breeds/dog-breed/how-to-select-a-puppy-for-you.html
a little wordy but useful

generally the sentiment seems to be "Pick a puppy that is active, friendly, and inquisitive. Avoid the one that appears to be afraid of everything or snarls at people". the thing is most of the articles are based on overseas scenarios whereby there are professional puppy breeders who will show you the parents of the pup and allow you to observe their behaviors. In sg however, we were rejected by ALL of the pet shops and pet farms. Nobody allowed us to see the parent dogs. of cos there are also alot of imported dogs which also means it is impossible to view the parents.

the man actually printed a checklist of what to do and how to select the pup but when we got down to it, many did not work. 1stly the pups in available were 6-7 weeks old. Being so young, many are still very inactive and their characters are not apparent at all. We did try to do the following:

1. jiggle our keys or make some noise behind the pup and watch for response mainly to test that hearing is fine...

2. try to turn the pup over on his back and rub his tummy. if the pup is agressive or too fearful they may snare and struggle until you release him. a more ideal response would be for them to try and struggle then lay still when they realise you are not letting go. a pup that is too agressive or has problems submitting may mean training difficulties later. of cos if the pup does not try to break free at all, this pup is a tad too timid and may have confidence issues later. we had only 2 puppies to choose from, a female and a male and both passed this test.

3. let the puppies down and observe their behaviors when together and apart. We realise the female pup was yapping 90% of the time both alone and with company. She also tends to rome about more. The male pup seldom barked and sit quietly to observe walking around and sniffing occassionally.

as we only had 2 choices, the above honestly did not manage to help us make our decision. soooo we used the simplest approach, we chose the male for his slightly bigger built and unique marking on the chest. his face and body was also more square-ish inline with the standard appearance a schnauzer should have. we also like it he did not yap as much as his lil sis. if however you could have more puppies to choose from i believe you can run a few more tests to make a wiser decision.