FOR the second week, handlers are again asked to leave puppies out in their cars with someone if they can and to come into the hall without the puppy. This is to avoid all the puppies meeting outside which can lead to many problems and give the puppies a bad association to the hall or even to other dogs or people.
An enriched environment is prepared for the puppies such as treats on the floor (especially at the entry), toys, soft toys, cones, mats, shoes and many items are scattered around the room for the puppies to pick up, sniff and explore. There is also a large bowl of water for them whenever they feel thirsty.
Everyone is seated in a semi circle in one corner of the hall and one handler is asked to get his puppy and bring him into the hall on a long loose lead. There is to be no pulling and the puppy is allowed to enter in his own time. The handler must walk very slowly and not rush or force the puppy to do anything. The handler is encouraged to praise the puppy.
The owner brings the puppy into the room - it will usually come in slowly, and begin to walk around the area near the door (escape route), then it will sniff and eat the treats scattered. After a few minutes the puppy is taken back out the door and then in again a few seconds later. This time the puppy is a little familiar with the area and will normally explore a little further into the room. A confident puppy may even go over to investigate the people.
During the exploration the puppy will show a lot of calming signals such as lip licking, scratching, sniffing the ground with eyes looking around, blinking, yawning and many more. These calming signals along with the enriched environment help the puppy to cope and remain clam. While the pup is wandering in the room it is explained to the handlers why it is important the puppy comes into the room without other puppies and why it needs to explore, and make a positive association to the hall, to the people and to the environment, why the puppies are showing calming signals and why we prefer the puppies to be on a long lead and harness.
After about five minutes this first puppy is taken back out to rest in the car. The second puppy then comes into the hall and the same process is repeated with this puppy. This is done with each puppy, one at a time, until all the puppies have spent about five minutes each in the hall twice over without meeting any of the other puppies.
There are usually only four to six puppies in each class, as this gives time for each one to get special one-to-one treatment. It also means the puppies are more likely to cope when there are only two or three other puppies in the hall at any one time. When the puppies try to jump up on anyone in the hall, the people are asked to turn their backs and to ignore it. This works well and the puppies quickly learn that jumping up has no reward.
Also with a fearful puppy who may be a little afraid of people looking at him, the people are asked to turn there heads and not to make eye contact. This helps the fearful puppy to cope better. If any puppy is not coping with humans at all in the hall, then the humans are asked to leave and go into a back room in order to help the puppy cope and make a more positive association to the hall rather than a fearful one.
Once the class is over and each puppy has been in the hall twice for five minutes each time, the handlers are asked to make sure the puppies relax for the rest of the day and also the next day as they have done a lot of brainwork and used all their senses just doing that little bit of exploring which is well and truly enough for little puppies. Handlers are also asked to bring a stuffed kong the following week so the puppies and handlers can learn some calming down and stress reducing exercises. - Nicole Mackie
