Look Ma, No Leash!
Hero’s life is simple. She’s in the crate, sleeping, or out in her yard with people. She zooms out of the crate into the yard, eats, plays, does her business, and zooms back into the crate. She does all this zooming completely on her own unassisted by anyone. (Okay, so the raw hamburger in the back of the crate is kind of helpful!) The point is, she never has anyone or anything controlling her body. We don’t pick her up, we don’t pull her on a leash, we don’t push her into the crate. It’s all free will. With the puppy yard, we have created a safe environment where she doesn’t have to be controlled. This is crucial to raising a puppy and I think many people miss it. What is a collar and leash to a little puppy the first time she feels it but the grip of a predator on her neck? It’s scary for puppies the first time they have to wear a collar. They are no longer in control of their body; that simple little collar comes with an imprint of fear attached. That’s why for now I keep my puppy’s life small and simple; everything she needs to learn happens in that safe, cozy puppy yard and nothing is forced on her. She’s never pressured to do anything or be anything but herself.
Today we went for a wonderful walk in the woods, just the two of us. I opened the door to the puppy yard and Hero zoomed out and followed me. She stayed close to me because that’s what puppies do; they like to stay close to their owners. So we walked into unfamiliar territory and s he explored the woods, chewed some sticks, sniffed some mushrooms, and when we were done exploring, she followed me back to the puppy yard and zoomed back into her crate.
Life is so simple! For now.
Fascinating.. we really do quickly try to “break” the puppy – aka – acclimate the pup to the human world rather quickly outside of Natural Dog Training…
Is the reason for not picking her up so that she doesn’t feel she needs to exert any energy to get away from you? Rather, you want her to feel she can come to you without the risk of restraint?
Hi Jen;
The reason, as I see and understand it, for not picking up the puppy is two fold. First, it’s scary. Second, with NDT, the goal is for the dog always to feel in control of their body and to choose everything. In the beginning, this just looks like permissiveness. (no confrontation) Later exercises including down, stay, and come are built upon this premise; the dog chooses. Stay tuned for more of this as Hero gets older. Also, you are right about your last point, I want her to feel like she can come to me without risk of restraint, or anything controlling at all.
I just want to tell you how much I am enjoying reading about your puppy. My daughter and I attended the seminar at Rowe with Kevin and you were there. At first I didn’t get it at all, but now I’m hooked. The only problem is that we live in Pennsylvania. I had to laugh when you say you followed him around for twelve years. I know how that feels, but he is safe I live to far away. I am looking forward to reading more about your puppy, especially since my husband keeps saying lets get another Shepherd. I keep saying not till I train under Kevin. That is my dream. Thank you for sharing your puppy with us.
I’m really enjoying reading your blog, especially this post. My puppy is 9 months old and I’ve just discovered NDT. I would like to create an environment for Ryley like you have done for Hero. Does Hero stay in her yard at night too? Would you explain more about her play yard? Also, what do you do in winter? Thanks for writing and posting about Hero.