On July 6th we attended an AKC Open Show in Puyallup, WA at the Washington Cluster. We showed Kurisu, our Kai Ken pup who is 9 months old, under judge Joyce Dandridge and she got 1st in Group!
We went back to the show on July 8th to show under Sylvie Mcgee and Kurisu brought home a Best in Show! Her first one! We were so excited. She is so sweet and loves showing off for the judges and meeting new people.
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We attended IABCA's Evergreen Sieger in Enumclaw, WA on 6/15 & 6/16.
Kurisu (our 9 month old Kai Ken puppy) showed under 5 judges, receiving SG-1 ratings from every judge! That is the highest rating possible. She received 3 titles in one weekend and is currently the first and only Kai Ken with her national, international, and honors title! :) In addition to her ratings she was 2nd in group 5 times!! On 6/16 we went in to compete for Best in Show once, against a large number of dogs (10+!) and she received a Reserve Best in Show! Potty Training
Potty training is a very important staple of living with dogs. The last thing you want is to come home after work and for the next hour you're cleaning up poo and piddle. While it is possible to potty train your puppy without a crate-- I highly recommend one as it will make the process much more smooth! Here are some tips before we get started: 1. Consistency is key! Create a routine and stick to it. If you usually woke up at 7:30am to leave to work at 8am, then you will probably want to start waking up at 7am. 2. Control resources. Drinking water will make your pup need to pee, and eating will make your pup need to poo. With puppies I pick up water bowls about 1 hour before I'm going to go to bed, that way they can get that last piddle out before bed. In the morning before work offer a little bit of water if you are going to be gone for longer than 4 hours. If you let them drink as much as they want or leave water down then they will have to potty while you are gone. The same applies to food. If you are going to work do not feed them a very large meal before you go. Keep morning and evening portions smaller. If they eat a large meal in the morning or at night they will have to poo after a couple hours. If your puppy still isn't fond of being in the crate then it might be more beneficial to feed their morning portion via a kong or puzzle toy. 3. Eating and drinking stimulate their intestines. This means shortly after eating or drinking they will have to go potty! 4. If your puppy gets distracted when going outside to potty then take them outside on a leash. This allows you to control their environment and control their rewards. Yes, I said rewards. If your puppy goes outside and starts playing with leaves and sticks or your other dog then they are rewarding themselves (essentially, leaves/sticks/playing > pottying). When your puppy goes outside, pottying is the last thing on their mind because there is so much fun and rewarding things in life! 5. If you want a designated potty area you have to have your puppy on leash and walk them to the area to potty every time. When choosing an area to make a potty area you should choose a place a slight distance from your house and along the edge of the yard. Bonus points if there is a tree or bushes. You want the pottty area larger at first (to minimize error) then make it smaller as they get older. I like to get the little orange flags from Home Depot to mark out the corners of the area (and these flags will become cues for your pup to potty as you train them to this spot). 6. Keep the potty area smelling like potty! Keep a poo or two in the potty area so the puppy can smell that it is a potty area. Smelling their potty will make them need to go. 7. Treats! I perfer to use cut up hot dogs, string cheese, lunch meat, or bits of chicken. These treats are high value and your puppy will remember why they got them (for going potty!). It is important to say 'potty' while they are going potty. They will learn that soon after treats will follow and eventually you can command your pup to go potty. But when first training this don't follow them around telling them to 'potty' because they don't know what it means yet. I recommend giving 3 treats, one at a time. This way you are extending how long they are rewarded (from 1 second to 3 seconds) and it will make an impression on your pup. In my guide for potty training I am going to use my personal schedule-- you will have to tailor it to your own schedule and to your puppy. Every puppy is different! You will have a hard time finding a routine that works for every puppy. Know your puppy, know the signs that they 'gotta go', and learn what makes them need to potty and what doesn't (for example, if Tavi has zoomies first thing in the morning I know she has to poop). As your puppy gets older and has less accidents you can give them more freedom. With freedom comes responsibility-- if they start having accidents after you adjust your schedule then you may have moved too fast and you need to take a step back and adjust it again. 7am - Wake up, get 3 treats and take puppy outside to potty immediately (on leash). If you have a designated potty area, run your puppy over to it. The excitement of running (and you!) will hopefully make your puppy have to go. Give your pup 4-6 feet of the leash to sniff and pee. Give your pup 5 minutes to potty. Do not speak to them or move around much or tell them to potty. You don't want to distract them from pottying and make them more focused on you or wanting to play. If they potty, while pottying say 'potty!' and give them the treats. If they did not potty after 5 minutes, take your pup inside. Feed a light breakfast to your pup and offer a small amount of water (1/2 to 1 cup). If your pup did NOT potty in the 5 minutes outside, feed them in their crate or feed them and then put them in their crate. 7:15am - Your puppy should be done eating by 7:15. The next 30 minutes is for you to get ready for work! If my puppy pottied when I first took him out, I usually let him follow me around while eating breakfast, getting dressed, etc. If he did not potty, then I keep him in the crate for the 30 minutes. THIS IS IMPORTANT! You do not want to reward your pup with time out of their crate when they didn't potty. You're also setting them up for failure because while brushing your teeth they could sneak off and potty. Know thy puppy. If your pup went potty outside at 7am and they also have an accident consistently before you take them out again at 7:45am, then you should crate them while you're getting ready. At least until they're able to control their bladder more. 7:45am - It is time for potty time again! Take 3 treats out with you and have your puppy on a leash. You have to leave for work in 15 minutes and don't want to be late so it is important to make sure they go and aren't messing around. Remember what I said about eating and drinking stimulating their tummy? They should definitely have to potty now! Take your pup to their potty area and wait for them to potty. Again, do not say anything or move around too much so you don't distract your puppy. Give them 5 minutes to potty. If they go potty then say 'potty!' while they are pottying and give them their treats when they are done. After they potty if you have some time before you have to go, play with them a little before taking them in. I prefer to keep their leash on so I'm not chasing a puppy around who thinks 'keep away' sounds like a really fun game. If they do not potty, then do not play with them outside after the 5 minutes. Back in the crate they go. Pretty soon your pup will learn: going potty = treats and play time :) and not going potty = no treats and no play time :( 8am - Time to go to work. Crate your puppy while you are gone. Puppies do not like to go potty where they sleep so it is important to restrict how much room they have. If you choose to use an x-pen instead of a crate, keep it small. Enough for the puppy's bed and a little bit of room. If you want the x-pen to have a lot of room you'll want to put potty pads down because the more room they have, the farther away they can get from their bed to go potty. I do not recommend using an x-pen with potty pads because the puppy will learn that it is okay to go potty inside (and the puppy could be naughty, rip up the pad and possibly consume it, so it isn't worth the risk and confusion). You can give your pup a chew or kong before you leave-- ALWAYS give something larger than their head otherwise your pup could choke on the toy or chew. /* NOTE: You could also choose to take your puppy for a walk in the morning. IF you take your puppy for a walk in the morning, be sure to stop for a couple minutes to let them potty. A lot of the time puppies become excited by all the !things! while on walks and so they forget to potty. Your puppy may also be too excited to potty when not at home because there will be a lot of interesting smells and !things! Every puppy is different so take notice if your pup goes potty on walks or not, and if your puppy does not go potty on the walk then immediately take them into your yard to their potty area for some quiet time to go potty. */ 8am to 5pm - Some choose to come home during lunch breaks or have a dog walker or someone come to take their puppy out to go potty. This is optional. I never did those and have had no issues with potty training. 5pm - You're home! Immediately get 3 treats and take your puppy out to go potty on leash. Take them to their potty area. They've been (hopefully) holding it all day so they need to go. While they potty say 'potty!', and when they're done give them the treats. Now it is time to have some fun! Once they're done pottying take the leash off and let them play in the yard, they've earned it! You can also take extra treats outside with you and practice some training (sit, down, shake, etc). They've been cooped up all day so they've got some energy to use up! If they didn't potty right away, then wait (with them on leash). Give them up to 10 minutes to potty and if they do not potty then take them inside. No play time for them until they potty. When you go inside feed your puppy a nice meal and offer them as much water as they want. Typically I feed 1/4th cup in morning and the evening, but when I get home from work in the afternoon I will feed 1/2 a cup. If your puppy went potty outside, you can play around with them after they eat. I prefer to encourage calmness while I try to take care of things when I first get home (read mail, pay bills, start a load of laundry, etc). I carry treats with me and reward puppy when they make good choices (sitting, laying down, following me). If your puppy did not go potty when you were outside, then feed them in their crate or put them in their crate when they are done eating. 5:45pm - So you've had some time to get things taken care of-- now it is time to walk your puppy! Remember what I said about eating and drinking stimulating their tummies? They're going to have to potty soon. I take puppy to their potty spot in the yard before the walk AND after the walk. I do this because sometimes puppies are so distracted by !things! while on a walk they might forget to potty and I want to ensure that they go. You also do not want to get your puppy in the habit of going potty only when they are on a walk. I keep walks to 20 - 30 minutes and practice obedience (sitting at cross walks, sitting to greet people, sitting to sniff mailboxes and lamp posts) while on walks. 6:30pm - You should be home from your walk by now. Your puppy should also be pretty tired. If your puppy went potty while on your walk, then you can leave them out as long as you make sure to supervise them. If your puppy did not go potty, put them back in their crate with something to chew on. Most likely they will take a little nap. 7pm - Take puppy out to potty again with some treats. Yes, again! Exercise also stimulates their tummies and gets things moving. The goal of potty training is to keep them empty and have them potty before they have an accident. If your puppy goes potty then be sure to reward them and let them have some time out of the crate. 7:15pm - When coming inside from going potty, feed your puppy a light dinner. If they went potty, leave them out of their crate. If they didn't, feed them in their crate or put them in their crate after eating. 8pm - Time for another walk! Repeat the steps from your earlier walk. I keep walks to 20 - 30 minutes. 8:30pm - You should be home from your walk. If your puppy went potty then have your puppy out with you, if they did not potty then put them in their crate. 10pm - Take puppy potty again. Let them have a drink when you come inside and then pick up their water for the night. 11pm - Last potty trip for the night! Depending on the puppy I might get up at 2am to take them to go potty but generally puppies sleep throughout the night. |