Puppy Equipment, Testing and Exposure - Page 1

What do others have for puppy equipment (16 weeks old and under)? Ideas? Pics? This is what we have so far... A wooden a-frame, wire mesh a-frame, glass cat walk & zip line. We will be adding a teeter, tunnel, cat walk & "rubble" by weeks end... Prior to this most of our stuff was "redneck rigged" and we're now going Pro, LOL!

Would love to see pictures of what other breeders are doing, more specifically under 8 weeks of age since most pups leave here by then. I will be adding traction to the steps as well and other equipment...

 

wire mesh a-frame

6' X 3' glass catwalk

carpeted a-frame

puppy zip-line

gunfire

Pup testing first piece built

 

 

Good equipment .. gonna need some paint if it stays outside or if the puppies get to chewing on that wood better if not painted or treated wood perhaps.

Well, I cheat. I drive around and use random playgrounds. LOL 

For under 8 weeks, my stuff is cruder than that. Your obstacles are nice, Jillian. Very nice. 

Thank you and LMAO Jen! However that has it's additional benefits of socializing at the same time too;) I thought about buying one of those elaborate playground sets.... We would look like child baiting weirdos since we don't have kids;)!!!

I figured it was time to upgrade our redneck rigged stuff for the pups, next year will be the adult's equipment. So much to do and not enough time! Just finished their teeter today! We're trying to build one thing a day in hopes to have it ready for our Hope X Sly pups which turn 3 weeks old this Sunday...
 

Nicely done on both the equipment and the pups! I think that gunfire will mean feeding time to them though, lol.

I only had a few pieces that I made, like a flirt pole. The rest of my "obstacles" were natural rocks and stumps on the property, the wheelbarrow full of wood, the quad, or else the kiddie playground at the school. Also, when Thor was a pup there were frozen ponds to take him on, and construction equipment at a local park (for safe distance) exposure. Gunfire, chainsaw, leaf blower noise exposure as well.

Mr. Hoover is one they all like or a scared to death of .. some attack and most flee Mr. Hoover.

Well, you also live in the country, don't you? I am stuck in suburbia now, so I do take full advantage of the playgrounds my tax dollars fund. Some of them are pretty darned elaborate, and yes, we get the "let's not ralph in the car" lesson, plus screaming kids and stiff, terrified parents. It's a good value. 

 

 

" I do take full advantage of the playgrounds my tax dollars fund" I agree Jen, 100%! Have to use what's available for the area in which you reside;) Those playgrounds are awesome!

And yes, we're out in the country, if not I'd actually have to socialize myself! I always joke when i'm raising pups that i'm headed to town to be socialized!!!

LOL, Koots, true;) I only do the food on the first time to make sure the response is what we had anticipated following that we will target practice with them in their pen, when their sleeping in out playing together so it becomes just another noise like a car driving by.

What we were doing is very similar to the way you're doing it:))) Nothing can replace getting them out in the real world and woods to figure things out on their own.

bubbabooboo we've had great success with vacuums and using the shopvac, vacuum and blower without a hitch. But that dang thing is running here everyday so they're used to it before they're even walking.

wow that is some sweet equipment - congrats. you should contact Kim Moore from canzcech, he has about the best set up i have ever seen (on video).

 

slightly off topic but i have always wondered if all that exposure and puppy confidence building especially in early bite work is a false economy of sorts.

i just compare it to dog breeders i grew up around who ignore their pups for the first 18 months of their life, test them hard so most fail,wash out the fails right there and progress the ones that could hack it pretty much straaight into work. 

the same thing for working horses, run wild until about 4 - 5yo then run them in, a week later they are out working, rather badly but working. brutal times methinks

i realise a commercial breeder would never do that in a pink fit or someone wanting to have completed titles by 2yo, but hypothetically speaking for genetic strength....

Thank you vk4gsd, we're in contact with Kim and Tony and they've helped out tons;) We recently used their stud dog Sly as well, they're very good people!

I agree with your off topic post. I like to see what's genetically there but I also want to see all the pups in the litter succeed in their new homes and this I find is the best way to do it for them. This is why I select pups based on initial reaction to equipment NOT after they've been coaxed/introduced to it several times to make them feel comfortable. I want the pup that goes right up, over on, in & under with no hesitation. Same with tug and biting, it's either there or it's not I don't want to "build a dog up" that we're keeping back. 

In a perfect world we would be able to keep back the entire litter and do exactly as you said, unfortunately that's not our reality so we must prepare all the pups for the real world as best we can according to the individual and choose the strongest pup/pups to keep back for potential breeding prospects.

Liberty in the video, that was her first time ever playing tug, ever! So that was a test to see if she'd carry something in her mouth over an object she's never been over. Many pups will not do this, especially their first time on a see through surface. It speaks volumes of the pups confidence and nerve. If a pup wont do what she did without heistation there's no reason to keep it and wait until it's 18 months to test. This helps narrow the selection down.