#whereas marlo would sort of power through

[abirddogmoment]

what favorite experiences or places or toy's of mav's do you most look forward to introducing to your puppy? what advice or lessons from mav will most benefit your beautiful budding relationships with future dogs?

I have so many fun hiking and walking trails I'm excited to introduce to the puppy, it'll be really cool to see what she likes best (Marlo's favourite being big lakes, Mav's favourite being grasslands, and Pike's favourite being dry sand or dirt).

I'm really interested to see how I balance "letting the puppy be a puppy" and "training foundations while the puppy is still a sponge". With Mav I had no clue what I was doing and no clue what I wanted anything to look like, so I was mostly noodling around doing the bare minimum and fixing problems as they came up. I have a much better idea of what I want for finished behaviours and a much better idea on how to get there, but I'm also a big fan of letting puppies be puppies with low expectations and pressure. It'll be cool to see how that plays out in the new puppy.

#about mav #mav memories #thanks for the ask! #i did some lowkey work with baby pike but she was never my dog so it wasnt much #but it was cool to do anyway #im excited to work on puppy sport foundations #im really really grateful mav was my first dog #he was really intolerant to any unkind unfair or inconsistent training #he would nope out the second it wasnt fun anymore #whereas marlo would sort of power through #(it hasnt been tested with pike but i suspect she would power through as well) #mav made me a much more accountable handler in a way that an easier or more engaged dog wouldnt have #im very grateful for that #because its going to be really beneficial for my future dogs #and because it made me kinder and more fair to mav #it was frustrating at times but the successes always felt so goddamn earned #we had to develop progress inch by inch at times but when those inches added up? it felt amazing.