Since my last blog on this subject I have changed my care approach. My Siberian Husky puppy has adapted well to its new home. I am using a combination of approaches to her training. One of the best books on the subject is The Thinking Dog by Fisher. There is a surprising, not to say pleasing, amount of animal ethology (behaviour) and psychology theory in it. There are various approaches to training, and one of the most fun and effective is clicker training. I have decided that I was doing an awful lot at once in the first week. One thing I have changed is that I have cut back on the food rewards. Instead, I use other forms of positive reinforcement. I use praise and play. Bela (Portuguese for 'beautiful') has now learned to sit and she does this on command. I have been wondering what to teach her next according to what suits my purposes. I admit to being stuck between "sit" and "lie down". I once read a book on training sight hounds for falconry. One lesson I drew from that was that the most important command is "stay". You want to be able to control your dog at all times. Teaching your dog to stay is obviously vital to keeping it under control.
And as for the fun stuff. Bela loves ice cubes in her drinking water. And she loves having her teeth cleaned. This is something I learned at vets' school! I clean her teeth three times a day, ie after each meal.
That's all for today. More soon.
Postscript. Three weeks in to her training and it has had to be suspended. She has learned to 'sit'; As to other commands, well, 'lie down' and stay remain high priorities. Why? Because I am watching her health very closely. She may have gastrointestinal tract problens or nephrological, that is, kidney, problems. Tomorrow I receive the results of her haematocrit, that is, blood test results. She has been unthrifty of late, that is, not putting on weight or eating. So a much-anticipated day tomorrow,
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