Bringing up Puppy! Meeting Karl
Join us in this series, where we follow in the footsteps of our lead trainer and owner Linda Brennen, as she gets her new puppy and experiences all the challenges and joys of adding a new puppy to the family.
We will be sharing videos, pictures and blog posts that includes great tips for all new puppy owners – follow us on Facebook and on Instagram to get daily updates, or check back here daily.
As you will find out, getting a new puppy can be a challenge… even for trainers!
View the entire series at HERE
Meeting Karl
Karl is our 8-year-old Bernese Mountain Dog and introducing him and Tucker was key to starting off our new life with puppy in a safe and positive way. The first meeting went better than expected, as you can see from our videos.
This first video is an introduction from Linda, explaining what they will be working on. The second video shows them meeting for the first time! See below the videos for pointers on what to look for as they meet, and how Linda used treats and positive reinforcement to help in their introduction.
As you watch the video, pay attention to how we introduce Tucker and Karl. We focused on getting Karl settled – that meant him getting treats whenever he looked at Tucker calmly.
We also looked for calm body language from both dogs. What body language do you look for? People spend YEARS learning about dog behavior! But there are some basic signals you can look for when looking at how calm your dog is:
- A relaxed body posture
- Smooth hair (mostly at the back of their neck)
- Mouth open and relaxed
- Ears in natural position
- A calmly wagging tail
- Eyes are normal shape
Check out this chart for some basic guidelines and illustrations on what to look for:
Struggling to understand your dog’s behavior? Contact us at info@yourcaninecoach.com – we have gone through specific training to understand dog behavior, and we would love to help!
View the entire series at HERE!