# The Puppy Challenge



## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

I know several of us just brought home new puppies. Being that it's starting to get cold (at least by me it is) I need some additional motivation to get out there and work on socializing my guy. So I thought it might be fun to issue a friendly challenge to all those new puppy owners. You don't HAVE to have a new puppy to join the challenge - anyone can!!

Here's the deal. At least THREE times each week you have to do one of the following tasks with your puppy:

1. Introduce them to a new person
2. Introduce them to a new surface (for walking on)
3. Introduce them to a new animal
4. Introduce them to a new sound
5. Take them to a new place indoors
6. Take them to a new place outdoors
7. Start teaching them a new behavior
8. Proof a known behavior in a new location

You can combine these, too. For example - if I took Mauser to the lake front (new surface = sand, new location = beach, new sound = waves) and he met a lady and her dog (new person & new animal) and I made him sit to greet them (proof a known behavior in new location) and when she threw his ball for him and it went inside a box he had to find it (teach new behavior = search) - I would have done ALL the tasks!! Well - that is if Mauser knew the Sit command already - but you get my meaning!









So, who's up for it??

After you do a task come back here and post about it. You might give other people ideas of things to do with THEIR puppies!


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## SunCzarina (Nov 24, 2000)

I'm up for trying to find things Otto hasn't experienced.

He hasn't met bunnies or cows or chipmunks or anything else you normally don't find in the city. 

Gotta wait for snow for him to get a surface I haven't tried.

We're going walking in a few minutes, will look for 3 new people!


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## Nikkoli110 (Sep 9, 2008)

Sounds great! Although the new animal one may be hard, but we'll see what we can find! I'll have to see if my camera will work for once and I'll take some pics!


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

'New animal' can be either a new species of animal or just a new member of a species.

So, meeting a new dog on a walk counts as meeting a new animal!


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## Nikkoli110 (Sep 9, 2008)

Oooh ok cool! I'll definatly do that, Titan has been good so far when meeting new dogs. I would like him to meet some other animals, I was just thinking maybe DH and I could take him to this park where they allow horses, that would be a good one! I'll never forget the look on Katie's face when she saw a horse for the first time on our NE meet up in MA, it was priceless! Better get him used to it a little sooner! Thanks!


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## KristinEnn (Oct 2, 2008)

ohhh Vacumn cleaners is a good one too.. that and walking a GSD pup at night. 

As far as the vacumn cleaner, I am proud to report that I vacumned the other day with my 16 week old in the room and she was ok with it. Didn't get scared of it or try to bite it. We just slowly got her acclaimated. First by let her sniff it with it off then turning it on and not moving it. We did this a few times a week, than finally a few days ago just let her sit in the room with me, she was curious while I was vacumning she would kind of chase it first but then get interested in something else. However I dont let her chase it. I would turn it off she got out of control in that way. 

A mistake I made with my other GSD is we never took him out places at night, I wish I would have. He is protective by nature but he is down right suspicious of anyone and everyone at night. We cant even walk him at night. Well I can't, my husband can. So I would definately suggest that. One reason why I don't think I did walk Kahn at night is because we brought him home in early July so during all those key learning stages it didn't get dark until real late. Now with Bella we just got her in September this year so all her puppy kindergarten classes are at night and now it gets dark at 4:30 pm. So definately something I wish I would have known with my other shepherd as a pup!


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## VectorSketcher (Jul 20, 2008)

Hey this will be great for Rogue and I! I am constantly trying to get her into new situations, to help her with her fear of things. 
Can I post one that happend two days ago? Can that count? Or does it have to be from now on? Hee hee!


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

Let's start from today and go forward.


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

> Originally Posted By: IluvmyBellaNKahnA mistake I made with my other GSD is we never took him out places at night, I wish I would have.


Great advice!!  This is something I wouldn't have thought of!


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

Ok, I had some REALLY good ones tonight.

Mauser went to the Pet Supplies Plus store (new place indoors). Met 8 new people (including an autistic boy). Met and ate 2 crickets (new animals?).









The young autistic boy was screeching the whole time he was interacting with Mauser (new sound - and a LOUD one at that!).


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## Deejays_Owner (Oct 5, 2005)

> Quote: Met and ate 2 crickets (new animals?).










now that is great!!!

But I don't think Socialization should include eating the other animal!!

Little Raven, likes playing with dead snakes, could I use that one









PS.







on the new pup!!


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## SunCzarina (Nov 24, 2000)

Yesterday Otto met the minpin up the street - he was pleased to meet it, Morgan threatened to eat it - it's charged us before but this time stopped suddenly when it saw Baby Bigfoot lunging happily towards it.

Otto also met the yule tree, it's lights and the boys special holiday express.

The day before, he met a few new people, including a man driving a bike with a leafblower motor attached.

New animals are tough for me other than other dogs and cats, but he did finally introduce himself (woof ^ 1k) to the wooden reindeer that have lived in my garden since before he came home. The leaves have just fallen off the bush infront of it so he must have never seen them before









Today he will be meeting many animated holiday things.


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## amjrchamberlain (Mar 8, 2005)

I'm in!









Took Cora to Lowe's. By the time we left the store, 6 people had petted her. She also experienced riding in a shopping cart for the first time.









Great idea, Lauri!


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## Nikkoli110 (Sep 9, 2008)

> Originally Posted By: AngelaMOI'm in!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


No way! Do all Lowes let you bring dogs/puppies in? Do you just ask for the manager? I'd love to do that with Titan and Katie!


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## amjrchamberlain (Mar 8, 2005)

I think it varies from location to location.







I just go into a store and ask for the manager and ask if I can bring what ever dog in. I explain that it is a GSD (which does make a difference in some places), but that it is either a puppy out for socialization or a well behaved adult. 

It was great!







We racked in a lot of socialization in a short amount of time! Of course, we had to keep an eye out to make sure she wasn't being stressed, but she had so much fun the entire time. At one point, this lady came up speaking German to her and it was the funniest thing...she totally fell in the love with the woman, was trying to crawl up into her arms. The lady offerred to puppysit her if I ever need someone. LOL


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## Jake's Mom (Nov 27, 2008)

I'm in. We just brought our wee little man home yesterday.

So far he has met: the four of us, our cat, a neighbor girl.
He's walked on: a wood floor, a tile floor, carpet, short grass, tall grass, and a wood deck.

Jake's Mom

Max (GSD) June 1997 to September 2006
Jake (GSD) Oct 2008


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

Jake's Mom - congrats on your new family addition!!

Angela - I've found many local (non-chain) stores are ok with me bringing a dog in, especially a puppy.







Just like you I go ask first.


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

Yesterday Mauser went to the MIL's with us for Turkey Day.

Mauser met 4 new people - one of whom walks with a cane, was in a new location (MILs house) and met the vacuum cleaner face to face (which didn't go so well







).

I didn't know how to work MILs vacuum so I was about to ask how do you make it so it's ready to vacuum (move the handle down) and they said press the yellow button. Well, that was the ON button and Mauser was sitting right in front of it when I did.

He took off and then watched me vacuum from behind the couch.








I'll have to get our vacuum out and show him it's ok.


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## Deejays_Owner (Oct 5, 2005)

Lauri 

I should not have said anything about eating the other animal.
We have a new animal meeting too!!

Yesterday when Little Raven was outside a bird hit the sliding glass doors, and she grabbed it before it hit
the deck. Then she ran off the deck with bird in mouth, and pulled out some feathers and started to eat then little thing.


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## rainydaygoods (Oct 13, 2008)

I'm in!







Great idea, Lauri! Charlie is just over 6 1/2 months old, and we moved to this city (from a city with no winter) not long before adopting him, so I can definitely use the motivation to continue to socialize him! They don't begin obedience classes in December at the school I want to take him to, so in the meantime, I am going to really work hard at socializing him on my own - since Charlie knows all the commands they are going to teach in class already, I'm really looking forward to class because of the socialization and focusing opportunities. Since we're waiting now to start classes, I'm jumping in with this challenge... I'm also going to start clicker training (new behaviors)!

Anyway, I've been thinking about this challenge and we began last night!







We went to try and find PetCo so that I could get a clicker (got lost... I'm new here, lol) and instead ended up at a small local pet shop right before they closed. They didn't have clickers, but I didn't leave right away because I wanted Charlie to get the chance to explore all the smells and sights and see how he behaved in a new place, with new people. I got to take care of three of the tasks at once with that!

1. Take them to a new place indoors - the little pet shop!

2. Introduce him to a new person - Charlie met two of the pet store employees and was moderately calm (I forgot to make him sit - dang, that would have been another challenge item! - but he didn't get hyper and jumpy - just sniffed and let them pet him).

3. Introduce them to a new animal - well, we met lots of birds, fishies (he was quite interested in the fishtanks), and guinea pigs. Ooh, that also counts as...

4. New sounds! The parrot squawks and fishtank bubbles were definitely new to Charlie. 

Tonight we're going to PetSmart to get that new clicker - I'll work on proofing things he knows while we're there!


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## rainydaygoods (Oct 13, 2008)

OK! Back from PetSmart, and with this challenge in mind, I came with a ziplock back of tiny cheese bits for Charlie ready in my pocket. This was his second time at PetSmart and, while he charmed everyone his first time, he was not focused on me at all and was hard to manage. This time, oh boy! What a difference more work - and getting him to focus on me - makes!

We definitely proofed all his known commands (well, except "Kennel" and "potty" of course!) at PetSmart - in front of people, dogs, in crowded and empty aisles... I was just beaming with pride at Charlie! He even got complimented for being so focused. There seem to be a lot of GSD lovers in this town (smart people, lol) so he always gets a lot of attention and people wanting to pet him. We are definitely still working on his sitting and being calm when strangers come up to him (he is always friendly, but he does jump up at times, still) but I was so proud of him tonight. He did so, so much better than last time!

We picked up some clickers and I'm looking forward to starting to train him in this way - we begun tonight, so I guess it was a big evening for Charlie's Puppy Challenge - he met new people, new animals (lots of dogs, lizards, fish, and even crickets at PetSmart!), new sounds (the clicker), new behavior (again the clicker), and proofed many commands (sit, down, stay, leave it, go get it, shake hands) in a new location. Proud of my puppy!


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## Nikkoli110 (Sep 9, 2008)

We're on our way to Lowe's and then to the vet for a shot! I called and got a very friendly "yes we allow them, and we'd love to see your dog!"







I'll post after we get back tonight or tomorow!


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## Nikkoli110 (Sep 9, 2008)

Titan was a great boy!! He "met" a cat at the vet, although the cat was in a large cage. He sniffed and the cat just sat and stared. He was a very good boy for both the vet and vet tech (who is a HUGE GSD fan) and they loved him! He weighs 48 lbs today (holy moly!) and didn't even flinch when he got his shot. 

Then we went to Lowes where on the way in we got some strange looks like "why are you people bringing a dog into Lowes" but right at the front door we were met by 2 very nice women. He was BULLETPROOF! He was so good, walked nice right by my side, sat, gave paw, and down, and was just so good! No whining, not nervous at all, didn't even flinch when a one of those big ol wood carrying carts went on by. Sat niced while we looked at storm doors, and paint. He didn't move or seem worried with the big saw cutting some wood on the next aisle over. He met a nice lady at check out, too. I am so proud of my lil guy! He just seems to have such a great temperment. Makes me really think he's going to make a great therapy dog!!


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## rainydaygoods (Oct 13, 2008)

Yay! I think I'm going to try Home Depot with Charlie too - so glad you guys had a good time!









We got some unexpected socialization tonight - we met three friendly dogs on our walk that Charlie got to sniff and lick and play with!

The first was a cutie-pie little black terrier-type mix walking with a young couple about my age. I had my clicker with Charlie (we're working on perfecting his loose-leash walk) and got him to focus and walk with me, nicely, in the bike lane so that the couple and their dog could keep walking. We complimented each others' dogs as we got close, and while Charlie was walking toward their little gal, I said "he is very friendly to small dogs, I just wanted to get out of the way because I notice that sometimes they get scared and I don't want to scare your puppy." They said "oh!! She actually loves big dogs!" Sure enough, her tail was waggy and she was looking at Charlie, so I said, "well, this is a match made in heaven!" They sniffed and gave kisses and were so cute! We chatted for a few minutes, our dogs were great together, and then we all kept walking.

A few blocks later, just as we were getting close to the park (not a dog park, just a regular park we walk around and loop back to home), a young woman came out of her driveway with a sheppie mix puppy in her hands! She said she's seen me and my fiance walking Charlie lots of times and, since she recently adopted her puppy (a CUTE little girl), she wanted to talk to us to see how old our dog was so she could get an idea of how big her gal would get. Our dogs got along like old friends - it was so cute! Charlie was probably twice her size, but the little puppy was fiesty, so it evened out. They played a little, romped, sniffed... probably about 15 minutes of doggie playtime - it was great!

Finally, when we were almost back home, we saw a woman walking her boxer. We've seen them before, and the boxer has barked at Charlie from far away, but this time she didn't, so I cautiously said hi and let them sniff. It was another successful doggie meeting. This boxer was quite aloof and mellow and wasn't phased by Charlie's energy at all. We stood while our dogs sniffed each other and got comfortable, and then walked together down my block while the boxer's owner (a nice woman in my neighborhood) and I chatted. 

It was so great, seriously. I posted a while back about a bad encounter that Charlie and I had at a dog park, and have been nervous to go to another dog park since then. To meet THREE friendly dogs tonight was so great for Charlie - I was beaming when we got home!

Oh, and he did well on his loose-leash walk too.







But really it was all about the awesome doggie encounters tonight!


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

I’ve been off work (sick) the past two days so I didn’t have much of a chance to work with Mauser but he did get to meet the UPS man when he delivered something to our house.

This weekend I’m going to try to get him out to the sledding hill. TONS of people, lots of kids and he can go sledding with me!









And we’ll be taking him and maybe Kaynya to the farm to meet Santa and Mrs. Claus and visit the animals: http://www.bentzroadfarm.com/winteractivies.html

We will also be looking at riding the streetcar with Santa (if they allow dogs) and going to the tree lighting ceremony.


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

Just a reminder - if you get a chance to take pictures while doing Challenges 1, 3, 4, 5 or 6 be sure to add them to the "I want photos of puppies being socialized" thread:

http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=698128


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## Nikkoli110 (Sep 9, 2008)

Tonight Titan went with me to visit a friend who recently had a baby. So he got to meet Jack, a one month old, got to sniff him, hear him cry, and give him a big kiss on his face







Then he also got to meet my friend's parents, who just so happen to love German Shepherds, so he was much loved today


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## Mandalay (Apr 21, 2008)

> Originally Posted By: Lauri & The Gang 1. Introduce them to a new person
> 2. Introduce them to a new surface (for walking on)
> 3. Introduce them to a new animal
> 4. Introduce them to a new sound
> ...


I posted the story and photo in the picture section but tonight we:

1. Santa
2. the mall floor, a metal ramp up to santa, green indoor/outdoor carpeting
3. LOTS of other dogs and some stuffed mechanical reindeer
4. jingle bells and "ho ho hos"
5. the mall
6. the mall parking lot
7. sit with Santa
8. silent, sit, stay, leave it, heel, and down


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## Nikkoli110 (Sep 9, 2008)

Went to my niece's 5th birthday party this Sunday. Titan got to meet 1 new child (everyone else was sick!) and 4 new adults. He got to see a few new things, balloons, went and played in the snow with the girls, and got to hear singing! He was really funny, tilting his head while we were all singing Happy Birthday! Also while we were there we proofed sit, stay, down and paw. Even had the girls ask him for paw.


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

Mauser got to have his picture taken with Santa on Saturday. He also got to meet 3 little goats and a pig, got to look at a reindeer (they said it didn't like dogs so we didn't go to close) and met Santa and his Elf and several other new people and kids.

After that we went to the local Petco where he met Daisy May, a 10 week old Rottie puppy and the two of them were the hit of the store. They were wrestling and chasing each other and Mauser would stop and bark at Daisy May.









Mauser met more new people and kids and got a new chew toy.


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## Jake's Mom (Nov 27, 2008)

Originally Posted By: Lauri & The Gang
1. Introduce them to a new person
2. Introduce them to a new surface (for walking on)
3. Introduce them to a new animal
4. Introduce them to a new sound
5. Take them to a new place indoors
6. Take them to a new place outdoors
7. Start teaching them a new behavior
8. Proof a known behavior in a new location

This was Jake's first full week home. He's still mighty young, but here is what we accomplished this week.

1. Met 4 new adults, 4 new teenagers, 1 clinically obese person (along with incontinence), 1 not-so-nice elderly man
2. Mulch and gravel
3. cat, parakeets, chickens
4. telephone, vacuum cleaner, variety of music styles
5. vet's office
6. not yet
7. come, sit, bedtime, sit before being fed, more house training
8. Does the kitchen count? We usually keep Jake in the living room except at meal times. In the latter part of the week we allowed him to venture into the kitchen freely. We practiced our behaviors in there too.


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## rainydaygoods (Oct 13, 2008)

This Saturday, we went on a long (1 hr. 45 min.) hike on a nearby plateau (we live within walking distance of some great trails at the edge of town. We were far, far away from any people and cars (and on the plateau, we could have seen someone coming literally a mile away) so we let Charlie off-leash - a great time for him to explore and for us to practice the all-important recall! He did well - the first time, he got a little distracted by something under a big bush but did come back. After that, his recall response got quicker - I was very proud of him! We would never have let him off-leash, of course, if his recall wasn't very good, but still, it's great to proof the "come" command in many, many new locations!


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## doxsee (Jun 14, 2007)

DH and I had off of work today and Jayda was with us all day long.

1. Introduce them to a new person
- too many to count, she tends to attract people

2. Introduce them to a new surface (for walking on)
- Today she got to walk on a concrete floor and also a slippery sidewalk 

3. Introduce them to a new animal - She got to meet a new cat at the Companion Shop. She also got to look at fish, ferrets, reptiles, etc at Petco

4. Introduce them to a new sound - Snow blower

5. Take them to a new place indoors - giant PetsMart

6. Take them to a new place outdoors - college campus at 10 to the hour when classes change and there are people everywhere!

7. Start teaching them a new behavior - She is starting to catch onto "leave it"

8. Proof a known behavior in a new location - She did some sits and downs in Petsmart. We also went to my parent's house the other day and proofed her recall.


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

Nikon is 16 weeks and so far the only two things I've found that gave him pause or upset him were....

1. Non-carpeted stairs. At home our stairs have carpet and he mastered them within days. When I took him to work, he refused to go up or down the stair case. Finally we used some tough love. We took him while classes were in session (I work at a college) to the computer lab, so he saw us and all these other kids going UP the stairs and finally decided to join us (along with lots of praise and treats).

2. Stuffy toys that sing AND have detailed faces. It seems to be the combination of the unusual noise and the face looking so real. He was VERY upset by a gorilla I found at the pet store. He growled at it, barked at it, and nearly backed out of his harness trying to get away. I turned off the noise, put it face down, and made a trail of treats. Eventually he was eating treats off the monkey. A few hours later at home, he and Coke were destroying the monkey in a game of tug. He was not as upset but still veeeeery perplexed by a singing toy. Ever since the monkey thing my friend has been bringing these singing toys to puppy class. On Saturday there was a puppy toy that yips and then dogs back flips. Now Nikon is to the point that he doesn't even notice.

Things that haven't bothered him yet: snow blower, leaf blower, HUGE riding mower, vacuums, other dogs, cats, people (have yet to meet a person he doesn't want to run up to and lick their face), gun fire, people yelling and shouting, tarp surface, wood pallet surface, snow, gravel on the baseball in-field....

Commands he knows dang well (can do with just a verbal command and in new situations): sit, platz, shake, speak, touch

Commands we are working on: recalls, "come along!" (loose leash walk), stay

Commands I'm not really teaching but still say before they are executed (classical conditioning): pass auf, packen

Various places I've taken Nikon: parents house, grandpas apartment while me relatives are there, pet stores, local training club, breeder's training club, Wildhaus kennel for tattoo and play, an acquaintance's house/training building, baseball field to run off lead with other dogs, to work to meet people and walk around offices, the vet, hotel room, dog shows. Saturday he is IN his first show and over Christmas he's coming to stay at my in-laws. It's mostly hard for me to find dog-friendly places I can actually take him into. Before it got REALLY cold, I did a lot of work just taking him on short errands in the car where I would leave him locked in the car for 20 minutes or so. This helped him settle in the car and has helped his crate manners as far as me attempting to crate him in new situations and be able to leave him. I also bring him to Coke's obedience class and either work him in a corner out of the way (and allow the class to use him as a distraction for their work), or practice being calm in the crate.


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## rainydaygoods (Oct 13, 2008)

Yesterday was cold and rainy here, so I thought it would be a great time to try out our local dog park! That sounds weird, I know, but Charlie had a bad experience at a dog park across town (I've posted about it on these forums) and I wanted the park to be really empty. We lucked out! The park was empty when we got there, so he got to explore a new location. Then a few more dogs came - a Belgian Malinois (actually a dog from our city's K-9 unit - he was an awesome looking dog, and was there with his officer/trainer/handler), and an Akita. Those two dogs were unaltered males and, while all three of our dogs were sniffing each other fine, and Charlie got along well with both (lots of sniffing and licking faces), the mal and the akita started posturing; then Charlie barked at the mal and then went over and licked the mal's owner. 

All three of us as owners were on top of things and leashed our dogs before there was any sort of drama whatsoever, and took them to opposite ends of the park. The akita's "mom" had him on a very long lead - I realized those would be so handy at dog parks and now want to get one! Anyway, we proofed some behavior both on-leash and off-leash at the park - sit, stay, come (it was rainy or we would have done "down" as well). Charlie was definitely distracted but we kept working and he did . (He didn't do as well later on our walk in the field - wasn't running away but just lay down and watched me walk to him and put his leash on - working, working, working on it!)

Later, three chihuahuas showed up and Charlie was super friendly toward them, too. So we met new dogs, new people, found a new location outdoors (and had a good experience there!), and proofed some known behavior in a new location. Oh! And he discovered a new surface - wood chips! The park had some sort of mulch covering on the ground.


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

Tonight we took Mauser and the other 3 little guys to the local mall to meet Santa and have their picture taken.

Mauser met a TON of new people - just about everyone in the mall wanted to stop and pet all the dogs.


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## rainydaygoods (Oct 13, 2008)

Got an unexpected chance to introduce Charlie to a new sound last night on our walk - church bells! Right when we were walking by the church on one of our regular routes, they started chiming. It surprised Charlie, but no barking - just looked over at the church each time they rang with that great "curious puppy" expression.

We also encountered trash bags out after dark for the first time (this morning was trash day, and I might not have even noticed the bags, had Charlie not barked at the first one because he thought it was something very odd, I suppose - after letting him sniff to see what it was, he was fine at all the other houses. We also came upon some of those blinking construction zone markers - again, after dark this was surprising and Charlie barked when he first saw them. A little time to sniff and he was just fine!


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

I was putting away a metal crate and Mauser was walking all over it. New surface!


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## Jake's Mom (Nov 27, 2008)

Jake is now 8 weeks old. Here's what we did this week:

1. Introduce them to a new person -- neighbor

2. Introduce them to a new surface (for walking on) -- short walk in the woods, over hay, over metal fencing laying on the ground

3. Introduce them to a new animal -- rabbits, sheep, goats

4. Introduce them to a new sound -- thunderstorm (on CD), alarm clock, metal pots falling off the counter, glass breaking, hubby cussing (umm, yeah, we had a bit of an accident in the kitchen) 

5. Take them to a new place indoors -- not this week

6. Take them to a new place outdoors -- the woods

7. Start teaching them a new behavior -- gimme five (our version of shake, because "shake Jake" just gets confusing!

8. Proof a known behavior in a new location -- sit at the vets, come to name at the vets


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## rainydaygoods (Oct 13, 2008)

This Saturday Charlie and I went on a new hike in the National Monument park near our house (there are lots of trails there). He was a pro on all kinds of surfaces there - sand, rocky soil, brush, and he even did a little rock-climbing! 










(I was watching him too closely to get a good picture without him pulling the leash like he is here, but I was so impressed with his bravery - just started climbing up the steep volcanic rock - too cool!)

Here he is, surveying the trail:










That was about a 4.5 mile walk so we had a blissfully tired puppy here last night.









This morning, Charlie was introduced to another new surface - snow! We got a little bit of snow that stuck around for a while this morning. He got the zoomies in our backyard.









This afternoon, we went to PetCo, which we have not visited before (we've been to PetSmart, though). Charlie really impressed me with his behavior around kids - he's always been very friendly and gentle with children, but this time a little 3-year-old boy asked me if he could pet my dog. His mom said it was ok so I had Charlie sit and the little boy pet him (very gently!). Charlie licked his hand and the boy got the giggles! The boy's younger sister - she looked to be about 1 and 1/2 - came up and Charlie licked her cheek. Now, Charlie is a very excited, energetic puppy, but he showed no signs of that around these little children. Just gentle and calm. He also did that cute "big dog lean" thing against the mom of the two cutie-pies, and she said "my gosh, your dog is just adorable!" They had a little papillon (with the cutest fuzzy big ears!) and you'd think the two dogs were the same size, the way they got along. It was really cute! When we were checking out I heard the mom tell the dad what a great dog Charlie was, and how good he was with their kids. The boy came up again and Charlie sat down and let him pet him. 

Then he met *another* little girl (who came behind us in line) and her teenage siblings - they asked if he was friendly and I said "oh yes!" Charlie, once again, was very gentle with the little one - but he jumped up on the teenager to try and lick his face.







He seems to have a good sense of "don't jump on kids!!" but we definitely need to continue to work on that with the big folks.

He met other people and another dog (looked like a small-ish pit bull - they licked each others' faces and moved on) around the store. He was very excitable whenever there weren't kids around, but I was able to get him to sit, down, and stay in three different places (including getting him to down-stay for a little bit while I was swiping my card and paying).

We bought a new Kong (the black one - for "power chewers") and a "Bad Cuz" that Charlie already loves.









We took another hike today and now he is laying at my feet. He had a big day and a pretty big weekend!


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

Yesterday Mauser got to meet the people at the schutzhund club we are joining.

New people, new location and new surface (rubber matts).

We also stopped at Trish's house on the way home and picked up Nitro for a puppy sleepover party this week!


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## Mandalay (Apr 21, 2008)

> Originally Posted By: Lauri & The Gang We also stopped at Trish's house on the way home and picked up Nitro for a puppy sleepover party this week!


I cant wait to see these pictures!!


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## Jake's Mom (Nov 27, 2008)

Oops . . . I thought I was posting these each week, but I guess I forgot.

Week #2 he:

* met 3 new adults
* met 8 new children
* met with a private trainer (who proclaimed his personality to be great!)
* went to the feed store
* went the vet (conformation and temperament are supberb and that we are doing a great job with him. Rear dewclaw is attached tight enough not to be a problem, but if we neuter him we could have it removed then.)
* took a walk every day in the woods
* learned to wear the leash nicely
* learned to wear a harness
* let’s go for a hike
* let’s go for a ride
* proofed come, sit and gimme five with distractions and in a new location
* learning down, stop it, and off
* walked on sand for the first time
* walked on ice for the first time
* learned to steal laundry from the drying rack and twigs from the kindling box. I don’t really mind the later, but the socks don’t need any extra holes!


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## Jake's Mom (Nov 27, 2008)

Week #4

This week he has:

* met some new adults (hats, cane, long beard)
* met 8 children (the same ones he met last week)
* went to Petsmart (stress! I forgot everybody and their brother would be out shopping for Christmas. We must have seen 100 people.)
* went to the mall and played on the grass by the parking lot
* walked on pavement for the first time
* walked on asphalt for the first time
* took a walk several days in the woods
* decided that banging noises are normal and happen all the time
* learned that there are more rooms in the house (He’s only had access to about half the house until he discovered that behind the gate is a whole ‘nother world.)
* learned that if you throw your body weight at the bedroom door it will open
* learned to go down stairs without pretending you are Peter Pan


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

> Originally Posted By: Mandalay
> 
> 
> > Originally Posted By: Lauri & The Gang We also stopped at Trish's house on the way home and picked up Nitro for a puppy sleepover party this week!
> ...


There's a couple threads in the Pictures section of the boys!!


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## rainydaygoods (Oct 13, 2008)

I haven't posted in here for a while, but I just wanted to say that I still find this challenge so helpful - have been taking part in it even without the posts.







In fact, sometimes I think "oh gosh - I need to do my Puppy Challenge... quick, think of a new location to proof some behavior!!"







It keeps me on my toes.







I will get back to my routine of remembering to write things down and post about it soon!


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## Nikkoli110 (Sep 9, 2008)

We've been slacking off a little on the challenge, but today was good! This past weekend we had the GSRNE over for a home visit and Titan got to meet 2 new people. Today I brought him to work, he got to meet 2 new people, including 1 police officer! He was such a good boy, he sat, gave paw, and then proceeded to jump up and lick the officer on the face! And the officer loved it! He just goes "awwww that's a good boy" while Titan was kissing all over his face.


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## Tetley's Mom (Dec 1, 2008)

I have been participating as well. I started on January 1 after my pup had her 2nd round of shots. Below are some details of each with what we have done to date.

1. Introduce them to a new person – I have parked us in front of Costco, Dairy Queen, Starbucks, etc. She meets a lot of new people this way.
2. Introduce them to a new surface (for walking on) – Cardboard, gravel, 
3. Introduce them to a new animal – a few new dogs, and a cat that thinks she lives in my backyard… she “came with the house…”
4. Introduce them to a new sound – shopping carts, a whip (not hitting her, but the sound outside!), and dropped dishes in the sink. Absolutely NO reaction from any of the above.
5. Take them to a new place indoors – my work out room, Home Depot, external garage, etc.
6. Take them to a new place outdoors – above – Costco, Dairy Queen, Starbucks and various other outdoor shopping areas and walkways
7. Start teaching them a new behavior – worked on sit, down, roll, spin, crawl, place, and “walk on a leash with stops,” 
8. Proof a known behavior in a new location – worked on the above in all sorts of random places. Bridges with traffic, sidewalks with people, in front of stores, etc.


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## Jake's Mom (Nov 27, 2008)

We've been doing this challenge with Jake since we brought him home. He is now 15 1/2 weeks old and has:

1. Been introduced to 300 people--including all ages, colors, genders, and sizes. We have also done hats, turbans, walkers, canes, wheelchairs, electric wheelchairs, electric assist scooters, electric shopping carts, shopping carts, strollers, walking sticks. 

2. Been introduced to 30 new surfaces (for walking on) –some of which are carpet, tile, hardwood flooring, plywood, hay, straw, short grass, hayfield grass, tall grass, gravel, asphalt, snow, ice, sand,
puddles, metal, tree bark, mulch, large rocks, etc 

3. Been introduced to a huge variety new animals (we live in a very rural area) – dogs (about 100), 20 puppies, 10 cats, 4 kittens, geese, ducks, chickens, rabbits, rabbit babies, sheep, goats, horses, cows, rats (mice, gerbils, guinea pigs, hamsters), birds (parakeets, parrots, and birds outside), fish (in fish tanks and a lobster in big tank) 

4. Introduce them to a new sound – I can't even begin to count all the sounds he has heard. Living where we do he hears normal farm sounds all day long. He hears gunshots with regularity. Planes go overhead, garbage trucks, snow plows, ice crashing off the barn, trees snapping in half from the weight of snow and ice, the chainsaw . . . um, yeah we had a huge ice storm that did major damage in the area.

5. Take them to a new place indoors – 3 different vet's offices, my neighbor's house, the feed store, the farm store, the training club, 3 different pet stores, the State Park office, 2 hardware stores, a bookstore, 

6. Take them to a new place outdoors – Trail 1 at the state park, shelter area 2 at the state park, the helicopter pad at the National Guard armory, my son's boss' yard, outside the mall, outside various department stores, 

7. Start teaching them a new behavior – sit, down, stand, down-stay, roll over, harness (training challenge #2), kong/ball/bone (training challenge #1), gimme five, come, puppy push-ups, twirl, "off" (some people call it leave it), watch/focus, take it, bring it, drop it, give it, mat (place), settle down, vet protocol, loose leash walking, off lead heel. Plus household cues, crate training, and house training -- all of which are great! 

8. Proof a known behavior in a new location – we proof all the behaviors every time we go somewhere. 


Whew! We have been busy!


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

Sounds great!!

I should have updated Mauser's list after the pet expo ...

New people met - over 7,000! Ok, not ALL of them came up and touched him but I'd have to guess that over 200 did! Talking to him, petting him, rubbing his tummy. Old, young, black, white, tall, short, strollered and wheelchaired. Not a single problem.


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## GSD4LIFE21 (Mar 8, 2007)

Great post!

Today I think we covered everything when we picked up my hubby at LAX (Los Angeles) airport. Quest got to meet lots of people, people wearing weird hats, old and young people. People on (police) bikes, saw and heard very loud buses. Had fun staring at the automatic doors opening and closing. While in baggage claim he got to examine the conveyer belt thing with the luggage passing by. Lets see, people in wheel chairs, he got to meet a lot of kids traveling with their parents. Crossed some streets with number cars around. The list goes on! I think LAX is a great place to socialize, so many different sounds, sights and smells! He did awesome, he was apprehensive for .2 seconds when he first heard a loud bus but after that he was fine and had not protested one bit when meeting everyone and walking through doors that moved on its own, etc. I am so proud of him! Tomorrow or thurs we plan to go up the stables and meet the horses for the first time, cant wait to see his reaction to that! I will get some pictures of course.

Oh can you believe that the cops on the bikes and stopped to ask what breed he was??? I was like, shouldnt you know? lol I know most cops are k9 handlers but shesh, dont they see the sables around a little more than regular people?


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Bumping this up, as there are new puppies coming in daily!
Today Karlo went to the Memorial day Parade and [email protected] weeks. He met his quota of 100 people! The sounds of sirens, gunshots, the marching band, horses and clapping hands didn't faze him. He met several dogs as well. Two senior GSDs and their owners gushing over Karlo!
Little kids recognized he was a GSD and asked before just petting him was awesome! He did get a couple of biscuits from people,too. One he passed up, the other he ate very slowly. I didn't want him to have either one, but I'm sure they will do no harm. Both were offered when my daughter was handling the leash and I wasn't paying attention(ceremony was going on). Yesterday he went to a huge garden center with sliding doors, big industrial carts and people everywhere, a farmers market was going on, so we stopped there too! 
This is a great thread, I had to search to find it!!!


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

This is the challlenge list from page 1

1. Introduce them to a new person
2. Introduce them to a new surface (for walking on)
3. Introduce them to a new animal
4. Introduce them to a new sound
5. Take them to a new place indoors
6. Take them to a new place outdoors
7. Start teaching them a new behavior
8. Proof a known behavior in a new location


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## Annichka (May 14, 2009)

What a great thread!
Sigrid met and played with a "stranger" who walked into the house (well, she never met my friend before). She went to the cemetery (grass, weirdly placed stones...nothing too novel I suppose...). Went to a rural park and walked on a dock over a deep pond, climbed on fallen logs, walked some trails with very tall grass...

She's had more exciting days but she's only 9 weeks so we're taking things kind of slow. How many times do you need to introduce them to the same weird thing, anyway? For instance, she did well walking on a bouncy playstructure bridge last week, but do we need to do that a few times so it remains familiar?


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Today Karlo went to my 12 yr old nephews little league game, met about 20 kids, and the same amount of adults. My 1 yr nephew got a taste of him, too. Karlo was digging a small rock out of the ground to chew on, and little Liam decided to kiss him, dirty nose and all! It went well, Karlo loved him! Both babies had to be watched w/ putting things in their mouths We worked on sitz and platz at the game.
We then went to Pet Supplies Plus(first pet store visit) to get a new harness. He met a feather duster on the end of the employees waving hand, and played tug w/ it. Walked thru a mudpuddle on the way to the car, hard to avoid, it downpoured earlier. I hope he sleeps good tonight, last night he was very restless and whiney. Maybe he is starting to teethe?
I want to get him to a playground asap! Oh, and we ran into the vets office for the weekly weigh-in(12 wks). Last night our home scales said 28.4#-vets today said 29.1-so at least I know ours are somewhat accurate.


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

So Nikon is 9 months now but yesterday on our walk we encountered three NEW things:

1) An in-ground sprinkler. Nikon was confused by it since it was sending a bit of spray backwards into his face.
2) A little boy on a motorized scooter. Nikon was mildly interested in the scooter, and he LOVED the little boy (he hugged Nikon and Nikon licked all over his face)
3) someone had a yard waste bag on the curb that smelled REALLY bad, like raw sewage. I smelled it, and Nikon was kind of weirded out by it, so I let him sniff a bit longer until he realized the smell was coming from the bag.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Karlo is 14 weeks and weighs over 30# Saturday, he went on a pontoon boat ride and was subjected to sideways rain on the way back to the dock(which was about a 1/4 mile long and warped). Met over 50 people, some dogs, fish and turtles to sniff and earlier in the day went to the annual Do-dah parade. Saw a huge helium dinosaur and the sound of sirens, marching bands every weird thing in the do-dah was nothing to him, he was more concerned with the tree droppings on the ground, wanting to eat them. Youth group on Sunday with kids and music blasting, again no fear.
A questionable behavior has started: when I put my hand up to tell him to stay during our short training exercises, he backs up and turns around, goes the other way. I don't know why he is doing this, I just began that hand movement and never really worked on stay much til the other day-wierd...not afraid, but just avoiding? I'll have to do something else for his stay command.


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## Doggydog (May 12, 2009)

Good thread. I do think it's so important to introduce puppies to anything that they will likely encounter as adults. 
I live in the city, so new noises, sights, people, animals are regular. I will have to make efforts to show her what nature is, lol! 
I bring her to work a few days a week. Partly to work on housetraining cuz she still pees indoors. But mostly for the social aspect. She is seeing new people, mail carriers, ups deliveries. She came from Ohio and the first few trips to the city were pretty overwhelming for her. Now trucks, construction, cars honk, and the like don't phase her one bit. 
It's good to keep this list of challanges in mind. thanks


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## Lindab (May 14, 2009)

Well, I am so proud of Gunny. Today we went to Tractor supply and he did great, a little hesitation at first but then he was fine. Met 3 new people and got a biscuit. Would not eat it until we were in the truck. He really is not as food motivated as I assumed he would be. Next we went thru a drive thru to pick up food. Our grandson spent last night with us and he and gunny played, with Michael being a very active 9 year old, Gunny was great. 

Gunny also swam in big boy pool for the first time today, met a new dog, and was very near to a riding lawn mower.


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