Hershey the Newfoundland

I know not everybody has the kind of money it takes to get professional training done. So, here’s some tips on home-training your puppy on a budget!

Always remember, the #1 motivator for a puppy’s behavior is food, and the #2 motivator is play. Dogs love food, and they love to play. They learn by rewards, not by punishments/consequences. By using these two rewards strategically, you can encourage certain behaviors and discourage others, without incurring the cost of a big professional lesson.

Some places can charge upwards of $80 for an hour of training with your dog!! (I know, it’s insane.) Meanwhile, a good $15 bag of treats can last you several days if you’re clever with it. Make the most of every bite and you’ll be able to keep the bag going much longer than you’d expect!

Hershey suddenly wouldn’t put any weight on her leg this morning, scared the crap out of me. (Don’t worry, she ended up being fine! Just has to rest up a bit.) It turns out, our local animal clinic WAS still open and even accepting walk-ins! We just pulled our car up to the curb and called them, and within a few minutes, someone came out and talked to us, taking Hershey straight from the backseat. All simple and convenient! They seemed 

Now, here’s the tricky part. The total (with X-Ray) ended up being $183... so yeah. Not exactly a shallow price point. I’m curious if any charges were added based on the necessity to stay safe and the use of medical equipment (the man who came out to our car was wearing an entire plastic face shield outside of his mask!) 

So, as much as I love Hershey, walking her can be a nightmare sometimes. She’s just so big and hyper, it’s hard to control her whatsoever. I’m sure all you X-Large Breed owners out there can relate!

I asked my local PetSupermarket about what I can do and the woman working there – who was super sweet and helpful – let me know that the collar was the problem. I was using a chain intertwined with soft leather, which I thought gave me greater control over her without hurting her throat or anything. Apparently, that’s not the case, and I actually could’ve seriously injured Hershey’s throat doing that!! Yikes! (Don’t fret, my vet confirmed that luckily, her throat is perfectly healthy so far.)

The PetSupermarket set me up with the Easy Walk Harness. I’ll be honest, at $27.99, I was a little hesitant to make the purchase, but she talked me into it. And it works like a charm!! Hershey has been SO much more well-behaved on walks, and I’ve been able to keep her away from all the bones and sticks along the way. Getting it on and off can be a tad bit annoying, as you can’t just leave the harness on when the dog is inside (she’ll chew through it), but it’s perfect for walks and dog park visits.

Here’s Hershey’s first successful “shake”! :) We were so proud of our smart puppy for learning this trick, it’s a tough one! You can’t quite tell in the picture, but she’s shaking our hands with her paw!

This picture is a bit old, I think Hershey was around 4-5 months old here, and probably only about 40 pounds... (as I type this, she’s 8 months old and over 65 pounds!) I can’t believe how fast she grew!

For those who want to teach your dog to "shake”:

1) Hold a treat in front of them and give the “sit” command. (Personally, I use a flat palm pointed up, and raise it vertically.)

2) Reward the sit ONLY ONCE! Do not reward future sits (we don’t want her to think the trick is “completed” once she sits)

3) With the hand NOT holding the treat, form a flat palm, pointed down, and reach out under the dog’s chin and say “shake”. The dog will be confused, that’s okay; just repeat “shake”.

4) (Optional) Slightly grab/touch the dog’s front leg. Do not lift it if they’re afraid or confused; we just want to indicate that the leg is involved somehow.

5) As soon as the dog bends the front knee or moves the front leg, reward with praise and treat. Repeat a few times until the dog starts trying to move the front leg when you say “shake”.

6) When the dog moves the front leg, reward them (praise + treat) WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY grabbing/shaking their paw. They will connect the two ideas and, hopefully, start voluntarily giving you their paw as part of the trick. 

7) Make sure that once you reach Step #6, you no longer reward for Step #5. We want them to understand that the “shake” is what gets them the treat, and not just kicking their leg out.