One of the most enjoyable parts of working with a young puppy is watching how quickly they can pick up new behaviors when they have a solid foundation of communication and engagement.
In this Training Sessions episode, we're back with Vader, our approximately 4-month-old rescue puppy currently in the Free Dogs Foundation Foster & Train program at Primal Canine.
We start the session by reinforcing some of the basic behaviors we've been building with Vader, including his heel position, head position, and engagement. Then, we decide to introduce something completely new: the weave!
For a puppy who's never seen the movement before, Vader picked it up incredibly quickly.
Building Puppy Training Foundations Through Luring
Before introducing more complicated exercises, we spend a lot of time developing basic communication with our puppies.
One of the methods we use during this process is food luring.
Luring allows us to guide a puppy through different positions and movements while creating opportunities to mark and reward the behaviors we want to see.
During this session with Vader, we focus on several foundational skills:
Heel position: Building value in being next to the handler and developing an understanding of where we want the puppy positioned.
Head position: Encouraging Vader to follow the lure and develop the head positioning we want to see during future obedience exercises.
Engagement: Marking and rewarding Vader for paying attention and actively participating in training.
Movement: Using the lure to guide Vader through different positions while keeping him comfortable and motivated.
These might seem like basic exercises, but they're important building blocks for more advanced obedience training.
The better a puppy understands how to follow a lure, respond to markers, and engage with the handler, the easier it becomes to introduce additional behaviors.
Introducing the Weave for the First Time
After getting some foundational repetitions in, we decided to introduce Vader to a new movement: weaving between the handler's legs.
This was Vader's first time seeing the lure for this particular exercise.
Rather than immediately naming the behavior or expecting him to perform the entire movement, we used the lure to guide him through the exercise.
Because Vader already has experience following a lure and understanding our reward system, he was able to pick up the new movement quickly.
That's one of the benefits of building strong foundations before introducing more complicated behaviors.
When a puppy understands the training process, new exercises become opportunities to expand their skills rather than completely unfamiliar challenges.
For Vader, the weave was another chance to practice following the lure, staying engaged, and learning a new movement.
And as usual, he had a great time doing it!
Why Engagement Is So Important in Puppy Training
Engagement is one of the most important components of our puppy training programs at Primal Canine.
Before expecting a puppy to perform obedience exercises around distractions or in unfamiliar environments, we want to build a strong history of the puppy finding value in interacting with its handler.
This starts with simple exercises that encourage attention, movement, and participation.
With Vader, we're reinforcing engagement throughout the session rather than focusing exclusively on the final position or movement.
By marking and rewarding the behaviors we want, we can help him understand what earns reinforcement and encourage him to offer those behaviors again.
As his training progresses, we'll continue building on these foundations by introducing additional movements, duration, commands, and distractions.
A Confident, Social, and Biddable Rescue Puppy
One of the things that makes Vader so much fun to train is his personality.
He's an extremely confident, social, and biddable puppy who genuinely enjoys participating in training.
Vader is also highly motivated by both food and toys, giving us plenty of opportunities to reinforce behaviors and introduce new exercises.
His willingness to engage, follow a lure, and try unfamiliar movements has made him a blast to work with.
At approximately 4 months old, Vader is still very much a young puppy with plenty of development ahead of him.
But the foundation he's building now gives us a great starting point for whatever direction his future training takes.
Whether that's continuing with advanced obedience, exploring working-dog activities, or simply becoming a well-trained family companion, he's showing some exciting potential.
Why We Introduce New Behaviors Before Naming Them
Something worth noting about this session is that we're introducing the weave through luring rather than immediately attaching a verbal command to it.
This is an important part of how we approach teaching new behaviors.
We want the dog to understand the movement before we start asking for it by name.
Initially, we're focused on creating the behavior, marking successful repetitions, and rewarding the dog for following through.
As the dog develops a better understanding of the exercise, we can begin adding verbal commands and gradually reducing the amount of assistance needed.
This approach helps create clarity and reduces the likelihood of repeatedly giving commands the dog doesn't yet understand.
For Vader, our focus during this first introduction was simply getting successful repetitions and creating a positive experience with the new movement.
Vader Is Available for Adoption Through Free Dogs Foundation!
While Vader has been making great progress in training, there's something even more important we want everyone to know.
Vader is still looking for his forever home!
Vader came into our Free Dogs Foundation Foster & Train program as a young shelter puppy, and we've been working on building his training foundation while helping him find the right family.
He's approximately 4 months old, and while we don't know his exact breed mix, we suspect there's some bully and possibly herding breed in him.
What we do know is that he's:
Confident and social
Highly motivated by food and toys
Biddable and eager to learn
Playful, energetic, and fun to work with
Showing promising potential as an active companion or working-dog prospect
We'd love to see Vader find a home where his personality, energy, and willingness to learn can continue to develop.
If you're interested in adopting Vader, please reach out to us through our website.
Even if you're not looking to adopt, sharing Vader's training videos can make a huge difference in helping us find him the right home.
Puppy Training and Rescue Dog Training in Gilroy, California
At Primal Canine, we work with dogs of all ages, behaviors, and training goals.
From teaching puppies their first foundational behaviors to developing advanced obedience and working dogs, we focus on creating clear communication and helping dogs understand what we're asking of them.
Through our Free Dogs Foundation Foster & Train program, we also provide training and support for rescue dogs as we work toward finding them permanent homes.
Located in Gilroy, California, we serve dog owners throughout Morgan Hill, San Jose, the Bay Area, and surrounding Northern California communities.
Interested in adopting Vader or learning more about our dog training programs?
Visit primalcanine.com to contact us.
You can also follow Vader's progress on our YouTube channel, where we share full training sessions and show the process behind building foundational obedience, engagement, and confidence.
And please help us spread the word about Vader. Somewhere out there is the right home for this awesome little guy!