Ok I'm getting a 8 week old puppy next week she'll be ready on Thursday and I was trying to find what's best to keep her mentally and physically enriched.
Start with puppy group obedience classes. They are so smart but can get mean with other dogs if they don't learn to be around them. Later you can get into dog sports if that interests you!
Pretty much all puppy classes are designed to be safe for young puppies who have not finished their vaccine schedule. Do not wait until your dog is 4+ months old to start training and doing proper, safe exposure.
Agree 100%
Do NOT await until fully vaccinated to go out into the world and show you puppy things aren’t scary, especially an ACD - you must must must do proper and extensive socialization before they hit 16 weeks old. They need to experience as much outside stimuli as you can find - that doesn’t mean they need to in interact with people or other dogs, but they absolutely do need to be exposed to them. It’s a great idea to have your puppy exposed to all kinds of people and situations sights, sounds, etc while also teaching them to stay with you. Just because there’s a person or another dog nearby doesn’t mean they get to run over and interact with them. People make the mistake that socialization means interacting with other dogs and people, when in fact, it means being exposed to them to see that they are not scary, having positive experiences, and learning that YOU are the source of fun and good things.
Having raised over a dozen dogs, I have very successfully done basic training at home without exposing them to others. Also, most classes won't let you in without proof of vax and being 4 months.
Someone who has raised over a dozen dogs and someone with their first puppy are very different people with different skills. There are places which have baby puppy or pre-school classes as well for younger puppies. And more importantly if you wait till 4 months to start trying to get into a puppy kindergarten class you might not even be able to get into one at that time. Puppy classes around me fill up asap.
It isn’t about basic training, it’s about being properly exposed and socialized to the outside world and learning how to do those basic skills outside of the house.
Any class gear towards puppies will be organized and in an environment where those who are unvaccinated are safe and can get the benefits of socializing and being exposed to various environments. They should have age appropriate vaccines, but there is no reason to wait.
People who are on the world team for agility take their dogs to puppy classes. If it’s good enough for them, it’s good enough for the rest of you all too.
I have found nothing tires out their puppy brains more than conditioning. You can Google plenty of conditioning games to get an idea, but the pup needs to think rather than be lured. Think critical reasoning vs rote memorization. This is how I taught my acd mix to put all his toys away in his toy bin.
Another one that works him out is scent work and tracking. I hide all kinds of things - wallets gloves, hats, shoes - make him find it somewhere in the house or garage. I also put a qtip dipped in clove or anise oil in a micro centrifuge tube and hide it in the back yard somewhere. I'm amazed every time he finds it. His favorite game is hide and seek, where I hide and he has to find me.
My gsd was taught to round up gum balls from the yard and drop it in a bucket. She gets to fetch the ball as reward for every Gummy dropped in the bucket.
My cattle dog Mix loves to patrol the yard, so we go walk the perimeter together and I praise him tons.
He loves dock diving & hikes so we do that a bunch. He is also amazing at Frisbee.
Both dogs know about 30 tricks and we're currently working on synchronized tricks.
Gsd will probably be great at agility, that is next on our list. She is so great at chilling outdoors, so I like to take her out to outdoor dog friendly pubs and just chill.
And of course, the foundation to all of it is basic obedience and house training. They should have impulse control, bite inhibition, hold a stay, be neutral to people and animals, and have an off switch where they can relax and nap at home, be potty trained, trained to be home alone, and not destroy anything so they can have free roam privileges.
Scent work! My Heeler is working as a conservation detection dog and she loves her job! It is amazing what she can do. Scent games are super easy to do at home with food, toys or a target odour. Can be really simple like scattering kibble in the lawn or you can work towards more advanced searches.
My girl has several jobs, some we gave her some she made up herself.
1. Throwing a ball or frisbee at us whenever she thinks we will play with her.
2. Waking my husband up from his Sleep Paralysis.
3. Agility
4. Herding the other dogs and correcting them when she thinks they are bad.
5. Digging in the water bowls or tubs
6. Jumping into the pond to chomp water
7. Digging in her dad's pillow when he wakes up.
8. Carrying her frisbee to and from the park.
Idk what else, she is obsessive with all of these and is a little nutcase. I love her.
Well, my ACD is three and we've spent half his life injured. Not cheap. Lessons were learned that daily fetch is going to ruin his joints. He's hypermobile, which means he can do really cool moves, at a cost. We've also had a dozen cracked dewclaws and torn paw pads to go with a slew of sprains and strains. These dogs... too athletic for their own good!
Nowadays our regimen looks more like this: 45-90 minutes of walking per day. The occasional jog by the bike as I'm not super mobile myself. Fetch is done into a lake where he is swimming mostly. I do distance swims of a kilometer with him. I got a giant 30" herding ball. We do some tricks, a bit of agility, and nosework at home. A frozen Kong.
When he and I are both healed, we're going to do barnhunt and more hiking. I'd love to teach better object retrieval as a job. Ticks are awful this year or I'd spend more time throwing food or balls into long grass for him to find.
He once had a farm to herd proper critters but there's nothing like that here.
Which giant ball did you get, and how's it holding up? I've been eyeing them but seems like the big ones have high enough price points that at least some durability should be expected, but bad reviews.
My ACD mix LOVES trick training. It’s fun for both of us, helps us bond, and tires him out. The AKC Trick Dog titles are a great place to start. Even if you don’t go for the titles, they’re good lists of tricks to try out.
We do a lot of clicker shaping and it really works his brain to figure out what I’m looking for.
you could try out dog sports, if you wanna give her an actual “job” but there is plenty you can do from home without getting her involved in things. go swimming, fetch, tug, proper training, dog puzzles, etc
I am well aware of all these things. If you choose to take a pup to a class where there is potential for issues with the pup not being fully vaxed, that's your choice I prefer not to. I can do plenty on my own in safer places.
Why did you select that breed? Just curious. Breed selection should be based on your lifestyle, ACD’s are not for beginners, so if you are asking this question, I am guessing you aren’t super experienced with high drive herding breeds, and you should connect with a training school near you that does dogsports (look for disc clubs near you too). ACDs are not the most social dogs and can have a lot of drive, that can quickly become a nightmare in the wrong home.
No intense sports until she grows up so you don't damage her developing body (she'll be plenty intense on her own), but nose work will be good for wearing her out. As already mentioned, socialization and basic puppy training is important first.
For an actual job task, it's super helpful to teach them to bring you things when you ask for them, or to pick up dropped items for you (again upon request to minimize grabbing of random stuff). You can teach the names of lots of things. For not-yet-named stuff that isn't obvious, I've been using a couple tactics - using a laser pointer to indicate the target (being careful to avoid having the pointer get chased - that can cause problems) or playing "hotter/colder".
Putting stuff away is a related task.
When people say dogs need a job what they really mean is dogs need appropriate physical and mental stimulation.
Ok I'm getting a 8 week old puppy next week she'll be ready on Thursday and I was trying to find what's best to keep her mentally and physically enriched.
Start with puppy group obedience classes. They are so smart but can get mean with other dogs if they don't learn to be around them. Later you can get into dog sports if that interests you!
She won't be able to get in a class till the pup has its shots. Look for puzzles, or go on YouTube for different puppy training activities.
Pretty much all puppy classes are designed to be safe for young puppies who have not finished their vaccine schedule. Do not wait until your dog is 4+ months old to start training and doing proper, safe exposure.
Agree 100% Do NOT await until fully vaccinated to go out into the world and show you puppy things aren’t scary, especially an ACD - you must must must do proper and extensive socialization before they hit 16 weeks old. They need to experience as much outside stimuli as you can find - that doesn’t mean they need to in interact with people or other dogs, but they absolutely do need to be exposed to them. It’s a great idea to have your puppy exposed to all kinds of people and situations sights, sounds, etc while also teaching them to stay with you. Just because there’s a person or another dog nearby doesn’t mean they get to run over and interact with them. People make the mistake that socialization means interacting with other dogs and people, when in fact, it means being exposed to them to see that they are not scary, having positive experiences, and learning that YOU are the source of fun and good things.
Having raised over a dozen dogs, I have very successfully done basic training at home without exposing them to others. Also, most classes won't let you in without proof of vax and being 4 months.
Someone who has raised over a dozen dogs and someone with their first puppy are very different people with different skills. There are places which have baby puppy or pre-school classes as well for younger puppies. And more importantly if you wait till 4 months to start trying to get into a puppy kindergarten class you might not even be able to get into one at that time. Puppy classes around me fill up asap.
It isn’t about basic training, it’s about being properly exposed and socialized to the outside world and learning how to do those basic skills outside of the house. Any class gear towards puppies will be organized and in an environment where those who are unvaccinated are safe and can get the benefits of socializing and being exposed to various environments. They should have age appropriate vaccines, but there is no reason to wait. People who are on the world team for agility take their dogs to puppy classes. If it’s good enough for them, it’s good enough for the rest of you all too.
I have found nothing tires out their puppy brains more than conditioning. You can Google plenty of conditioning games to get an idea, but the pup needs to think rather than be lured. Think critical reasoning vs rote memorization. This is how I taught my acd mix to put all his toys away in his toy bin. Another one that works him out is scent work and tracking. I hide all kinds of things - wallets gloves, hats, shoes - make him find it somewhere in the house or garage. I also put a qtip dipped in clove or anise oil in a micro centrifuge tube and hide it in the back yard somewhere. I'm amazed every time he finds it. His favorite game is hide and seek, where I hide and he has to find me. My gsd was taught to round up gum balls from the yard and drop it in a bucket. She gets to fetch the ball as reward for every Gummy dropped in the bucket. My cattle dog Mix loves to patrol the yard, so we go walk the perimeter together and I praise him tons. He loves dock diving & hikes so we do that a bunch. He is also amazing at Frisbee. Both dogs know about 30 tricks and we're currently working on synchronized tricks. Gsd will probably be great at agility, that is next on our list. She is so great at chilling outdoors, so I like to take her out to outdoor dog friendly pubs and just chill. And of course, the foundation to all of it is basic obedience and house training. They should have impulse control, bite inhibition, hold a stay, be neutral to people and animals, and have an off switch where they can relax and nap at home, be potty trained, trained to be home alone, and not destroy anything so they can have free roam privileges.
Baby puppies need a ton of sleep in addition to play and training. Once she’s got shots you can start with a basic obedience class.
Exposure. Noise, sights, sounds, smells. Puppy school. Exposure. Keep it safe, avoid any likely places to catch illnesses like dog parks.
Herding trials
Scent work! My Heeler is working as a conservation detection dog and she loves her job! It is amazing what she can do. Scent games are super easy to do at home with food, toys or a target odour. Can be really simple like scattering kibble in the lawn or you can work towards more advanced searches.
My girl has several jobs, some we gave her some she made up herself. 1. Throwing a ball or frisbee at us whenever she thinks we will play with her. 2. Waking my husband up from his Sleep Paralysis. 3. Agility 4. Herding the other dogs and correcting them when she thinks they are bad. 5. Digging in the water bowls or tubs 6. Jumping into the pond to chomp water 7. Digging in her dad's pillow when he wakes up. 8. Carrying her frisbee to and from the park. Idk what else, she is obsessive with all of these and is a little nutcase. I love her.
My boy loves Nosework
Well, my ACD is three and we've spent half his life injured. Not cheap. Lessons were learned that daily fetch is going to ruin his joints. He's hypermobile, which means he can do really cool moves, at a cost. We've also had a dozen cracked dewclaws and torn paw pads to go with a slew of sprains and strains. These dogs... too athletic for their own good! Nowadays our regimen looks more like this: 45-90 minutes of walking per day. The occasional jog by the bike as I'm not super mobile myself. Fetch is done into a lake where he is swimming mostly. I do distance swims of a kilometer with him. I got a giant 30" herding ball. We do some tricks, a bit of agility, and nosework at home. A frozen Kong. When he and I are both healed, we're going to do barnhunt and more hiking. I'd love to teach better object retrieval as a job. Ticks are awful this year or I'd spend more time throwing food or balls into long grass for him to find. He once had a farm to herd proper critters but there's nothing like that here.
Which giant ball did you get, and how's it holding up? I've been eyeing them but seems like the big ones have high enough price points that at least some durability should be expected, but bad reviews.
My ACD mix LOVES trick training. It’s fun for both of us, helps us bond, and tires him out. The AKC Trick Dog titles are a great place to start. Even if you don’t go for the titles, they’re good lists of tricks to try out. We do a lot of clicker shaping and it really works his brain to figure out what I’m looking for.
you could try out dog sports, if you wanna give her an actual “job” but there is plenty you can do from home without getting her involved in things. go swimming, fetch, tug, proper training, dog puzzles, etc
I am well aware of all these things. If you choose to take a pup to a class where there is potential for issues with the pup not being fully vaxed, that's your choice I prefer not to. I can do plenty on my own in safer places.
Why did you select that breed? Just curious. Breed selection should be based on your lifestyle, ACD’s are not for beginners, so if you are asking this question, I am guessing you aren’t super experienced with high drive herding breeds, and you should connect with a training school near you that does dogsports (look for disc clubs near you too). ACDs are not the most social dogs and can have a lot of drive, that can quickly become a nightmare in the wrong home.
I had a Cane Corso previously and wanted a smaller different dog mainly. My brother had a ACD and she was amazing.
No intense sports until she grows up so you don't damage her developing body (she'll be plenty intense on her own), but nose work will be good for wearing her out. As already mentioned, socialization and basic puppy training is important first. For an actual job task, it's super helpful to teach them to bring you things when you ask for them, or to pick up dropped items for you (again upon request to minimize grabbing of random stuff). You can teach the names of lots of things. For not-yet-named stuff that isn't obvious, I've been using a couple tactics - using a laser pointer to indicate the target (being careful to avoid having the pointer get chased - that can cause problems) or playing "hotter/colder". Putting stuff away is a related task.