Referring puppy play Flashcards
Why is refereeing puppy play important?
Play is a primary form of socialisation
What is the main consideration in puppy play?
Safety
What are the security issues we need to address in puppy class?
Double gated - airlock around all entrance and exit points.
Instruct owners on their use of double security
Monitor for breaches
Multiple chairs and other hiding places for shy pups
Can you run puppy play sessions outdoors?
No! We can’t ensure security/safety in an outdoor situation
What are the priorities of puppy play
Do no harm - protect pups from getting creamed
Everybody consents - pups & owners
Build confidence of shy pups
Why do we not want to install fear?
It’s easy to install and very hard to uninstall
What does padding pups mean?
Building up early experiences that are neutral or more ideally good
In life, shit happens, puppy play and socialisation are a bit like an insurance policy, we are giving the dog multiple good experiences so that when he has a bad experience he will hopefully bounce back quickly, and have a narrow fear if any
What do we mean by shy dogs?
Underconfident
Fearful
Why do we want to build the confidence of shy pups in play?
We want to undo the lack of confidence because of the time sensitivity. Otherwise we are trying to uninstall fear in an adult dog which is so much harder
What if a pup has no good experiences?
The puppy is at the highest risk - one bad experience = 100% bad! This can result in a hugely fearfully dog.
What if a pup has no good experiences?
The puppy is at the highest risk - one bad experience = 100% bad! This can result in a hugely fearful dog/phobia
What about the pup who has a handful of good experiences - thin padding
The fear from a bad experience could be limited to that experience only.
What about the pup who has dozens of good experiences? - thick padding
More resilient pup, better bounce back from bad experiences, potentially less fear from bad experiences
What about the thickest padded dog - I can’t count how many good experiences he has had!
The holy grail! This is optimal
What experiences do we need to have padding in for pups?
Body handling
Strangers
Dog dog
What is a big priority in puppy classes?
Socialisation, good experiences because of time sensitivity
What concerns might owners have?
Bringing overconfident pups down a peg or too
What notion do we need to push back against wt overconfident puppies
Bringing them down a peg or two
This will happen naturally. It doesn’t need to be orchestrated
We do not want to risk installing fear
Tearing pups down is easy, building them up is difficult & sometimes impossible
What do we need to be careful of in puppy classes?
Overconfident pups interactions wt shy pups
How can we help confident & shy dog interactions?
We need to focus on wrangling to protect the shy pups
Separate play areas
Sequester small pups fm much larger pups until they prove they are raucous & padded
Is age or size & confidence more important to consider?
size & confidence
When does age matter in pup classes?
adult dogs – any pup wt 3/4 or fully erupted adult teeth inc canines, incisors & premolars (5 months)
How can you separate play areas?
ex pens (double layer)
elevated area
physical separation
Shy pups on one side raucous pups on the other.
It’s normally very clear when pups need to move to the other side!
How can we prep owners?
Normalise normal behv
What normal behvr should we prep owners for?
Biting
Hiding
Snapping
Yelps
Arguing
Should we let owners intervene in pup play?
Yes, if they are uncomfortable. We want owners to feel comfortable & for them to come back
What exceptions are there to owner intervention
Owners who aren’t letting their puppies hide
What scripts can we have re owners not letting pup hide
First
“It’s actually better to let him hide”
“he’ll come out in his own time”
“he’s more likely to come out on his own”
They almost always come out if we let them hide
Then monitor
second time - You know what, let him hide for now
Then if they do it again wrangle owner - can you help me over here a minute
or do on-lead exercise and make an area for shy pup & one other carefully selected.
What situation in pups is an emergency?
Owner not letting puppy hide
What is a consent trst
Remove perp see if vic comes back for more
Are there any downsides to consent tests?
No
Why do consent test
We then know for sure if both dogs are consenting. It is the only way to tell.
Why do we need to be careful with adults in consent tests?
Risk of redirected bites
What are the advantages to consent tests?
Test your hypothesis
Model for owners
Body handling practice
cheap & easy and fast
Gives presumed vic a chance to get away
takes away guesswork
we get lots of information
Improves trainer’s eye
What if it’s not clear who the perp is and who the vic is?
do consent tests both ways!
What should trainers do when they do a consent test?
get attention
describe
narrate
What is a good script for consent tests?
“So we think it’s fine but, “think” isn’t good enough. so we temporarily restrain bubbles to see if kiwi comes back for more or uses her opportunity to get away ….. and there we go, she has voted with her feet for more play with Bubbles, so we know both puppies are consenting here”
What should we do if the owner is still unsure or worried after a consent test?
Redirect the pups
Why do we carefully narrate consent tests?
So that owners can do them too
What is the order for coaching consent tests?
6 points
1) Describe concept (we want to sure both dogs want to play)
2) Model at least 2
3) Narrate
4) Encourage owners to do their own
5) Prompt owners to do them during play
6) Then fade prompts (what do you think?
7) R+ publically any owner who does do consent tests “that was great you checked and didn’t guess”
What about squabbles?
1) Normalise
2) Monitor for trends
How can we normalise squabbles?
Everybody argues and so do dogs & puppies
arguing is not assault
Its just a disagreement
Its not a slippery slope to violence/serial killing!!
What do we not expect to see during puppy play?
1) Not all pups play bow or self handicap
2) Not all pups role reversal or have a wide play activity repertoire (4 f’s!)
What do we want to see in puppy play?
Play face
Paw raises
Playmate consent
How can we normalise squabbles?
Everybody argues and so do dogs & puppies
arguing is not assault
It’s just a disagreement
It’s not a slippery slope to violence/serial killing!!
What should we do with shy puppies
1) Effective hiding places - safe houses
2) Have them in with other shy pups
3) Facilitate play sessions wt shy pup parents
4) Loads of treats - cannot overdo this
5) offer puppy socials - volume quantity endeavor
6) No bad experiences
Give them time.
What is a typical progression of shy pups
Week 1 = fearful
tail tucked
making self small
hiding
not taking food
small signs of curiosity
Week2/3 = mixed bag.
alternates between hiding and venturing out
takes food readily
More relaxed tail
some tentative play wt quiet pups44Then uphill from there!!
What are puppy socials?
Emphasis on free play
Crafty to include short interruptions thus recycling play as a R+ for other behaviours
Drop in format
Same rules - just extra opp for volume
Protect shy p[uppies
Narrate features of play if you can
Look at those play faces
Look at that paw raise
This may be on the back burner in class
consents tests
monitoring barriers
coaching
ring leading - recaa=lls/sits etc.
do it when possible
Review - priorities pups
Make no pup worse
Protect shy puppies
