How to Raise and Train Outstanding Livestock Guardian Dogs - Four to Five Weeks Old - Puppy Call & Barrier Challenges - Important and Fun Tools in Puppy Training

Once the puppies have gotten steady on their feet and mastered eating puppy mush we begin working on two very important protocols - The Puppy Call and Barrier Challenges. These activities can be combined or done separately.

The Puppy Call

One of the most important things a breeder can teach their pups is the Puppy Call, and it's very easy to do. We simply start feeding the puppies in an area away from where they are sleeping or playing so they have to come to the new area to get their food. Then every time we put the food down we call the puppies to us with a distinctive and ridiculous sounding "puppy, puppy puppy", over and over and over, until all the puppies have arrived. It doesn't take long before the puppies associate the call with food, and they stop everything they are doing and come running. After we have introduced treats and clicker training to the puppies we can also use the call and reward them with treats other than puppy food. We like to use high value treats such as meat balls or baked chicken. The important thing is that it should be VERY rewarding for the puppies to answer that call!

The Puppy Call is the first step to teaching the puppies recall, which everyone seems to struggle with teaching their Maremmas. If the new owner continues to practice the Puppy Call at home they will retain it. It can be a very valuable safety tool if the puppy gets loose. And by gradually adding in their name the "puppy" can be phased out and you have now taught your dog to come when called. That's not to say your older Maremma will always immediately come if they think something else is more interesting, but like everything else, it's easier to teach a puppy this fun game during their critical socialization period than when they are older.

Barrier Challenges

Another important tool we use is Barrier Challenges. We use a variety of "obstacles" that the puppies must navigate to get from point A to point B. Things like pool noodles, different surfaces to walk on, steps up and down into the dog door and the Puppy Parlor door and x-pens make great barrier challenges. Sometimes they simply navigate them of their own accord to get where they want to go and sometimes we use them in conjunction with feeding or treat time to give them extra motivation. Barrier Challenges teach puppies problem solving as well as how to deal with frustration. And a dog that's not easily frustrated is less likely to behave aggressively with people, other dogs or stock.

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Four and a half weeks old and they are pros at coming when called for dinner! And yes, my two bottle raised rescue kittens know the puppy call, too! We are training the kittens right along with the puppies.

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Here are the pups, coming into the Puppy Parlor from outside, where they are rewarded with meatballs. We also added a barrier challenge in the form of an x-pen fence around the step. You can see that the last couple of puppies got a little frustrated but they kept trying and eventually got around it and got their reward.

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This was a very big challenge for the puppies. I had them in the kennel by the Puppy Parlor while my farm employee, Ethan, was raking the pasture. When he was done he released them while I stood by the gate and called them. My son Noah helped me film and feed the puppies when they arrived. (I should have brought a bigger dish of meatballs, or maybe their dinner. It's hard to feed and film and call puppies all at once.) They had only been in this part of the puppy pasture for a few days and this was a lot for them to navigate and figure out. Where was I? Which way should they go? Plus the last couple of puppies were very distracted by Ethan and thought they should stay and play with him. (Usually I'm by myself when I do the Puppy Call and there are no interesting people around.) If I had thought it through I might have done things differently but as it turned out it was a very good challenge for them and they all eventually made it to the gate and the meatballs! Great job, puppies!