Great conversation about non reward punishers over the past week or so. More on that later.
For those of you not on facebook I thought I would post a few new pictures and videos of Feature’s little boy “Swagger.” He turned three weeks old yesterday and is a whopping five lbs!
He is totally living up to his name.
I still have made no decisions where the little guys will live still to early to see what his structure is going to look like. For now I am just enjoying the entertainment factor of having him live here.
This is the latest video put together over the weekend.
Today I am grateful for Swagger who makes me laugh out loud, what a character.
I want to come back as one of YOUR puppies! Between his sweet, attentive mama and you, Swag Man is getting a great start toward being a super balanced, happy and content dog.
Oh my gosh, the last picture is such a touching portrait of mama and her son. It should be framed on a wall. Beautiful!
Hi Susan! 2×2 question: I’m having trouble getting high value for the toy with my dog, and I don’t think reinforcing with cookies is the way to go. She has very high value for the crate, can I use this as reinforcement? Or would that take focus away from the poles?
@Stella, you could use the crate but by putting Soooo much reinforcement value in the crate I would be concerned about you dog looking to leave work to find the crate in the future. Really training shouldn’t progress forward unless your foundation is in place. Your foundation includes massively (ideally equal) high value for both food and toys. I would progress forward with a food stuffed “Tug-it” toy (do a search on this blog to find a coupon) while continuing to build tug drive as a separate exercise.
I am a ‘Swagger-fan’. Enjoy the laughter, there is never enough in the world.
Thanks so much for sharing with the non-facebook people! I can’t help thinking back to the “Journey” and why we get the dog that we do. The last picture is so worth a thousand words!! What a good mom!
You can see Swagger has already learned how to Think, Plan, Do. He will become smarter than all of us. Whoever ends up with him will have to learn to think BEYOND the boundaries of outside the box—way, way, beyond. A new episode has begun.
Never Be Lonely has been nominated for the following categories:
Best Cinematagraphy
Best Editor
Best Director
Best Costumes
Best Writer
Best Music
Best Actor
Best Actress
Best Supporting Actress/Actor
Best PICTURE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I would love to learn more about the criteria and signs that you are going to use to determine whether this adorable agility puppy will be a good agility teammate. I’m not a breeder and will never understand all there is to know about structure, but your blog provides a unique opportunity to see how you will put this important decision making process in action and along learn with you.
At what age can you see the pup’s structure?
The movie is awesome – If you’re making Feature (!) films starring him, don’t you think the chances of him going to live with someone else are getting pretty slim?
Really love the updates on Swagger. Brings back the memories of when I would get weekly pictures and updates on Rudy’s litter. ‘Course I didn’t know who I was going to get at that time, with 8 boys in an 11 pup litter I had a lot of pictures to look at!
What a fantastic idea for the mobile! Interaction on all levels!
Walt Disney’s production has competition! Wonderful video. I love all the enrichment you put for SUPER Puppy Swagger.
Love the puppy mobile of hanging bottles,Great idea !
This may be in the running for one of your best “fun” videos ever. Gotta love iMovie!
Looks like the Swag-Man is having lots of fun exploring his world under the watchful eyes of his mama.