When we finished our ramps game, we quickly moved on to the next challenge before the pups fell asleep and quit on us! Puppies have bursts of energetic play sessions and then take long naps; I wanted to take full advantage of having Barry’s help.
There are several small and not-so-small fields that are attached to our main barn, all with areas inside the barn. Most of these fields and stalls are places the puppies had not been in but could see from where they live. This provides a veritable maze of possible places to explore and possible places to become stuck behind a new fence barrier.
I have been presenting the puppies with barrier challenges of some sort daily since they were three weeks old. Today we upped the game quite a lot. Because of how these pens & stalls are set up, it is possible for adventuresome puppies to find themselves far from their litter mates and behind long fences that they are unfamiliar with. They can see where they want to be but have to figure out how to get there.
The pup becomes a detective of sorts as he follows his nose along the fencing, problem-solving as he goes. You should see the look on a pup’s face when he/she masters the task! This training figures hugely in creating environmental discernment because making decisions about what noises, sights, and sounds matter out in the field in the middle of the night requires a problem-solving mentality. Environmentally discerning dogs are quieter than dogs that lack this early experience. If that matters to you, here’s a tool to help you build that into your pup.