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Permalink Reply by Beth on April 11, 2011 at 7:42pm

In defense of your breeder:

 

1) I have never heard of a baby puppy coming home who had ever worn a collar.  It is dangerous--- VERY DANGEROUS--- for the pups to wear collars when they are still all playing together.  Moreover, leash and collar training is a VERY time-consuming affair and lies solidly in the camp of "puppy buyer responsibility."  Your breeder probably had from 4 to 10 pups to deal with.  It takes days to accustom EACH pup to a collar and they can't be done en masse because they need to be watched carefully.  I little pup is too small to break the breakaway on a safety collar.  Well, anyway, the reasons are way too lengthy to continue to list, but the fact that your pup is used to neither collar nor leash is to be expected and one should never expect a breeder to go to this level of training with a pup.

 

2) Your pup should ideally have been outside a bit.  However, several things could have been going on.  There could have been awful weather, heaps of snow or pouring buckets, most days since the pups were old enough to venture out.  There could have been a bad parvo outbreak in the area and the breeder has a yard frequented by foxes and stray dogs.  The breeder could have come down with the flu at the age he/she usually takes them out.  Or, frankly, puppy could have been out every single day for the last several weeks and the breeder lives in the country and your pup is now in the city and traffic noises scare the pants off him.  Or the thought of facing the wide world without his litter scares him.  Or he could be a timid pup by nature and the first time you took him out, oh, I dunno, a car backfired or something blew in the wind and he over-generalized and came to fear the entire outdoors.  

 

So sure, your breeder could have dropped the ball.  But the collar thing is to be expected and the fear thing can have dozens of possible explanations besides breeder error.

Regardless, now you have the pup and it's up to you to accustom him to a collar and leash.  We've all gone through this lovely process.  As for the outdoors, have you tried giving him some yummy peanut butter outside?  Or engaged him with a favorite toy?  I would definitely talk to the trainer of the class about this.  She or he can evaluate your Jack to see if he's a naturally shy pup in other circumstances and give you some good tips on how to work on this now so you don't end up with a fearful adult. 

 

Good luck!  Puppies are young and they learn and change fast.  

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Permalink Reply by Robyn - Halo's Mom on April 11, 2011 at 9:46pm

When we brought our puppy home in January, she had never worn a collar either, or walked on a leash. But we were very lucky, she's a bold little one, not afraid of anything! We put on the leash, took a squeaky toy with us and off we went! We have more trouble stopping her from pulling forward. LOL

Just try to encourage him to go forward, every step is a celebration. It will take time and patience, but hang in there!

One thing..make sure when he's acting scared that you don't pick him up, pat him or tell him it's OK, you'll just be teaching him that he's right to be scared, as you reinforce the behavior. Patience and smiles and all will be well in good time!  He's a very cute little guy!

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Permalink Reply by Kari & Quin on April 11, 2011 at 10:54pm

It is very easy to forget that they are babies He is barely learning what the world is all about:)

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Permalink Reply by Priscilla, CARLY, and Frankie on April 11, 2011 at 11:03pm

Id put the collar on him  no matter how he acts he'll get use to it.. make sure you get a very light weight small leash for a small dog and attach it on his collar  lt him just hang out with it on... he will get use to it.. and take him out side  , offer him string cheese if he walks treat him ... sit in the grass and offer him treats .

I would say at 12 weeks they like to walk a short block, provided they are use to the leash. .My frankie wasnt out side much because of the weather  where he came from it had been snowing all winter .. well almost anyway lol... he had only been out side twice and he did fine.. He didnt want to walk on a leash at first but i had to do what ive told you and hes great with it now.. at 15 wks.

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