So I recently got my first Malinois pup. She is 13 weeks old now, and doing amazing for the most part.
We live in an apartment building, so I have to take her outside on leash quite often. My main concern right now is that she's learning to ignore me when outside. I always have good treats on me, and I reward for attention, but I can't always compete with interesting garbage blowing across the parking lot, or delicious poop to eat on the ground. She has also decided that the whole parking lot and property is hers and is on constant alert for people to bark at.
It's been 10 years since I've had a puppy, so I'm not sure of what I should be expecting for a pup her age.
Hi Tabatha,
You may want to focus on the rate of reinforcement. She is a tiny baby with zero attention span.
Don't just wait until she gets distracted and then lure her into attention. Deliver reinforcements at a quick pace so her focus stays on you. After a minute or so of focus, you may want come up with a cue like "free", which means "okay....now go sniff what you want and your attention doesn't need to be on me".
Alternate...some time focusing, some time "free" (and gradually increase the focus time).
"Free" (ie: a release cue allowing her access to go check out that interesting stuff) may also become a reinforcer in and of itself, eventually.
Ah, that makes sense, thanks! I know it isn't fair to expect full attention on every potty break walk, but I was getting frustrated with her just wanting to sniff and look around so much.
But adding a cue for free sniff time is a great idea. It's funny how sometimes we need such obvious things pointed out, lol!
How should I react to her barking at people in the parking lot and in the building? I live in a pretty big, busy building, and she's decided that barking at people is fun. Ideally I'd work at a distance and get closer, but I never know when someone is going to appear near us, and then she completely ignores anything I do.
Or is this a normal puppy thing that she'll grow out of?
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How much focus to expect from puppy?
#319908 - 03/03/2011 02:49 PM 
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