Socialization during the quarantine has been hard. I couldn't get him into puppy class, but I managed to get personal trainer to train us at home. I'm happier with his second trainer. She’s also a groomer and provides other services like daycare. Every week, I drove him for his training session or some weeks, she picked him up to go play with other dogs. I didn't care too much about training, but more of socialization with other dogs and people, so that Finn can grow into a confident dog.
After few sessions of socialization, he doesn't bark at our neighbors and their dogs during our walk much. He still barks here and there, but will listen 70% of the time when I tell him "no bark." He was bred to be a herding and guard dog during the ancient time, therefore, I don't expect him to not bark at all.
Leash training was challenging, and I definitely don't want to use harsh training. His trainer introduced me to chain collar for leash training. I practiced with him everyday for a week, but he kept pulling and distracted by different smell, sight and sound and I don't want to hurt his trachea. I meant he's just puppy who needs to get used to his environment. Everything is still new to him. So I decided to use retractable leash, because I want him to smell, hear and see as much as he can, then I can work with disciplined walk with him later. After a week of not using his training leash, he started walking nicely on leash on his own. I don't expect him to walk by side automatically when I command "heel" but he doesn't pull his leash much anymore and always keep walking forward during our walk. I'm very happy about that. The best part of our everyday activity is to go on our walk. He gets excited when I say, “Finn, Are you ready for our walk?” and start getting his leash and potty bags pouch. He knows our routine!
As far as his house training goes, as soon as he's 5 months old, he only has 1 accident inside the house. Housebreaking will take a long time. So I give him another 6 months. Other than that, he knows how to hold it longer before his next potty trip outside. I introduced him potty bell hanging by the door, but he's scared of the sound, so I switched to smart door bell. But he's still scared to ring his door bell. I haven't given up on it yet. I keep pressing the door bell, and say "Go potty!" before I open the door and let him out, hopefully one day, he will press the bell to let me know he needs to go potty outside.
Finn recognized me as his pack leader since he’s young and he grows closer to me like a child to his mother. Every morning, he would sit by the stair and wait for me to come down. He's always excited to see when I come home that he peed himself sometimes, and his tail almost comes loose from all the excitements. He's still teething and all his adult teeth are coming out and he can't help but nipping us sometimes especially when he's excited. He knows that we don't like it when he bites, so he always grabs his toy to prevent him from nipping us. My heart melts every time he does that.
Finn and I have special bond. He always follows me around, even to the bathroom. 😂
He would wait for me at the bathroom door! When I work on my computer downstair, he would come and be around me, then go back and then come and check on me again. I allow access to almost every rooms in the house, except upstair. As soon as he's adult or perhaps at 1 year old, we'll open the whole house for him and he doesn't have to sleep in his crate inside his playpen anymore.
Finn is very vocal. He makes us laugh every time he's mumbling about something or huffing by himself. He would let us know when he doesn't agree with us. 😂
Finn is also sensitive and responds only to nice and calm words and praise. Therefore, being patient is key in order to train him while maintain our pack relationship. It tooks me sometimes, but it's worth it. For example, when I need to clean his paws, and he wouldn't let me. Instead of pushing him, I would praise him calmly and gently say "Good boy, Finn!" then he would let me.
I'm very happy when he only responds to calm and nice words. Because I don't respond well to "force" either and I definitely don't respond well to tension and stress from harsh tone or frustration. Of course, there are times that he's looking for trouble and he doesn't listen when I tell him no. But after 3 times, I would put him in timeout. For example, if he jumps on the chair and try to get something, or chew something that he shouldn't, I would say, "nah uh!” and if he doesn't back off, I would calmly put him out of the room and would let him in again in 5 minutes. Timeout works so well with him, because all he wants is to be around me. But at 5 months of age, he's been soooo good. He's never been in timeout quite a while now. 😂
It's pretty weird to say that Finn has helped me getting to know the part that I didn't know before, perhaps he is bringing the best out of me. I never thought I'm an animal lover, but I am. I get to see my mother instinct kicking in. He makes me know what I'm capable and not capable of when it comes to being a mother in the future. If anything, he helps me recognize the patience I have, and help my husband realized that he needs to work on that when he becomes a dad! 😂
Finn definitely tests our limit! He challenges us everyday. His trainer said, he's not like any other dog. He's more like a little kid. He has his mood, his own mind, sensitive, get upset and throwing tantrum like little human does! She's right! I don't expect him to behave like other dog. I see him as my child and helpfully when he's adult, he behaves like a big boy should!
I don't like being cuddled and nor does Finn. I know I love cuddle with my husband but definitely not with anybody else and most definitely not with animal, but Finn and I love our cuddle sessions and I make sure he gets one in the morning and before bed.
His favorite spot is our living room. I'm not sure why. But if we don't see him around kitchen or dining room, we can be sure that he'll be on the sofa chilling with his bones or looking out the windows. Hehe. He likes family room too, which is the room he sleeps every night in his playpen. But in family room, I have too many pillows that make him thinks they are also his toys. 😂
Finn has been a great addition in my life, probably our family life. He makes us laugh everyday with his clumsiness, quirkiness, and sometimes stubbornness. His sense of humor has brightened up our days. He's a lot of works, but he's a family and a great companion that I never thought I need in my life. I love you, my goofy ball!
Check Finn's instagram for his puppyhood journey: tibetanterrierfinn
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