Puppies can be very creative when they play. A lot of their behaviors are unique to their youthful curiosity and fade as they mature and heed their training. That’s good in some instances, such as shoe chewing, grabbing anything they can reach off nose-level counters, or shredding linens. Puppies need a lot of overseeing. For example, things can get dangerous if they find a plugged-in cord to be interesting.
And Puppies can find cord-like items interesting. My own puppy, who is 6 months old in the video below, has a propensity towards grabbing the leashes I attach to my board-and-train puppies, latching on and walking onward. He leads them, follows them, hangs on as they run. But in this video, the 6-month-old Lab puppy decides to make a game of it, too. The leash walking soon turns into a quick tug-o-war game between two puppies.
Though the tug-o-war that grows from this puppy walking behavior will likely stay in these puppies’ repertoire, especially if encouraged, the leash walking may not. Time will tell. If a puppy grows a play behavior such as tug, and loves to play this game, this outlet can be a life reward for good behavior. In these cases, the love of a game can be as reinforcing as the love of a food reward when training dogs and puppies.
When a dog or puppy enters the Love Wags A Tail board-and-train boot camp program, they get daily exercise and play time as well as formal training periods. There is a lot to keep them busy and I love finding out what behaviors are uniquely theirs.
Helen Verte Schwarzmann
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Certified in Training and Counseling
Certified Pet Dog Trainer-Knowledge Assessed
Certified Trick Dog Instructor
AKC STAR Puppy, CGC, and Trick Dog Trainer and Evaluator
Your Board-and-Train Dog Trainer for south and southwest Florida, Southwest Ranches, Plantation, Fort Lauderdale, Weston, Broward, Naples, Collier, Fort Myers, Lee county
