we live in blizzard land.
our new puppy needs LOTS of exercise.
suggestions for wearing him out are needed, for a person alone with lots of cow chores and snow plowing to do in blizzard conditions. Forcing him into the snow seems to make him think I am CRAZY not a leader......

Betty, it sounds like a perfect time to introduce marker training! (clicker-type training)

As a retired vet I'm sure you are familiar with the concept, but here's some reading to get you started. Wearing your pup out mentally will help in this bad weather.

The Power of Traiing Dogs with Markers Free!

and the video (a picture's worth a thousand words sometimes!)
http://leerburg.com/219.htm

Make sure you are using really good treats; I like to use bits of real food, like cooked chicken breast or steak. For an 11 week old pup, you'd want the treats to be pencil eraser sized, or a tad bigger.

Fun, easy commands to teach are 'touch' and 'watch me'. The 'watch me' one is a great foundation for future training as well, because it gets the pup used to looking at your face and focusing on you.

PS welcome! post a pic of your pup in the bio section. We all love puppy pictures...

Ditto on the marker training! Ed's video - the Power of Training Dogs with Markers - is really, really good! It has lots of real life examples and really teaches you how to do it.

Also, I started training our dog to play fetch when he was just a puppy - you can do it with marker training too. Now when it's raining and I can't get him out, we can at least play fetch down the length of the hallway. We also taught him hide and seek - with a person and with his ball. Just different games that get them moving and keep their brain engaged.

What great posts!

And Betty, this board has lots of folks who have been marker-training and can help you, so please post any questions. It's a great topic.



ETA
There's dogfishing too, if you happen to have a hallway or good-size unbreakable room.


More ETA
http://leerburg.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Board=15&Number=166833&Searchpage=1&Main=17224&Words=dogfishing&topic=0&Search=true#Post166659



Edited by Connie Sutherland (12/09/2009 12:17 PM)
Edit reason: ETA

Use that snow! Snowball chasing is fun! You throw a snowball, it lands, he'll look for it for a few seconds then scoop up some snow that will melt by the time he get's back, then he'll pick up more and try to stuff it down your gloves XD Running in the snow is hard work so you only have to be out with him for 20 or so minutes (and he'll be having a lot of fun and enjoying the snow), if you take him out twice or three times a day and do that it's a grand old time.

For indoor games I recommend "slide" get at least two people and keep the toy in sliding across the floor nonstop for at least 30 minutes, back and forth, in a triangle or square (depending on person number) it can be fun your you to, award points for number of times the toy gets to the other person before your dog gets it, awarding bonuses from getting it between your pup's legs (you'll find it'll get harder and harder...with my guy no one in the house gets more than 3 points anymore). It does work well for dogs who don't always bring things back to the person who threw it. Obviously I'd recommend doing this away from the good china and super slippery floors (and for apartments, not when your downstairs neighbors are home)

and yes of course, marker training too, the marker training "box game" http://www.clickertraining.com/node/167 is better for those quiet days.

we are doing "were's Jeff?" (go find Jeff, get piece of Iams) and "where's Betty", (go find Betty, get piece of Iams)
he also has done some scent work(FIND IT) with bone stuffed with peanut butter.
he knows down, sit, roll over, shake(shouldn't have taught him that), jump over your leg, jump logs for fireplace (all for diet Iams dog food). My IG thinks he's bananas to try so hard for such a pathetic reward.....
Now it's time to put the chains on the Bobcat which is stuck in a snowbank with the snowblower buried..... ugh

google "101 things to do with a box"...

I love that game when it's -50!

I brought a box home for just that purpose this week.

Yote is driving me crazy and we are only about 2 weeks into winter here.