Rio’s 10 Week Journey

Training Begins: September 12th, 2025 | Training Ends: November 22nd, 2025

Behaviors Rio will learn or begin learning during his stay here:

BEHAVIOR	5 Weeks In Training
Sit	Rio is really good at “sit”! He sits very well to be let out of the playpen, his crate, and at doorways. He also sits before he gets his meals and sits for attention. If he is jumping and I ignore him, he sits quickly (he rarely jumps, though).
Down	Rio is doing well with “down” and follows a hand signal of pointing at the ground very well. He is in the process of learning the verbal cue. Dogs are very visual beings, so verbal cues can take far longer than visual cues. We introduce verbal cues in this manner: “Rio, down.” Pause. Point to the ground. New cue (verbal) > Pause > Old cue (visual)
Name Recognition	Rio knows is name very well!
Touch	Rio knows “touch” very well and loves to do this behavior! I hold my hand out and say “touch” and he will touch his nose to my hand. This cue is very useful for getting them redirected and focused on us.
Recalls	Rio has a great recall. With no distractions, he recalls nearly instantly. In a stimulating environment (such as leaves blowing in the wind) it can take him a few seconds to realize he’s been called. Overall, he’s doing very well with this and we will continue to practice it around distractions.
Go Into Crate	Rio has been doing really well with his crate. When it’s bedtime, he runs right into it and sits in it waiting for me to give him his treat (a toy filled with peanut butter and/or yogurt and/or canned dog food). He sleeps all night, though he is the first one awake at exactly 6:50AM nearly every morning.
Leash Walking	Rio is doing a fabulous job heeling on and off leash! We go on very short 5 minute walks to make sure the walk is successful and he’s doing a great job with that. As soon as he is fully vaccinated in a couple of weeks, he will begin practicing inside stores in public.
Place	Rio loves “place”. We primarily use a Klimb, which is a plastic training platform, and he runs to it right away when directed (and often if we walk by it he runs to it as well). You can use any kind of “place” – a bed, rug, platform, or raised dog bed are all great options. There will be instructions on how to train him to a new “place” in his go home notes. He picked up on the one we use here very quickly so I know he will transition to a new one probably in 1-2 sessions!
Stay	Rio is doing really well with “stay”! He is starting to stay through distractions (toys being thrown, me moving around, etc.) and does pretty well with distance and duration as well (I can walk a few feet away). We will continue progressing through more distractions, distance and duration.
Drop It	Rio isn’t a huge tugger (especially not when we are in a training session… he’s so focused on the training he won’t play) so we haven’t gotten to work on this too much, but he very easily exchanges objects he has for treats.
Leave It	Rio is progressing nicely with “leave it”. He will leave treats that are dropped from a small height.
Wait	Rio is learning to “wait” at thresholds such as in his crate and at gates and doorways. This has been one of the more challenging behaviors to work on. Rio was pretty bad about trying to push out doorways and is getting much better at waiting for an “ok” to go through doors. This is one behavior that I find incredibly important because busting out of doors can be very dangerous. He’s doing so much better now!
Potty Training	Rio is doing really well with potty training and hasn’t had an accident in a few weeks. A potty schedule is essential at this age and he’s making it around 40-60 minutes between potty breaks while he is up and active. He does signal he needs to potty when he is in his playpen (he acts like he needs out by jumping on the side of the playpen and whining when he was previously content). He is holding it for 2-3 hours while in the crate during the day and holds it all night. I will say it’s important to make sure he has a good chance to go potty before being crated, and that he’s in an appropriately sized crate. I had him in a larger crate since I knew he was going to grow fast, but he had a few accidents in it. Since moving to a smaller crate he has had no accidents.

Rio’s Midway Update

Rio is the gentle giant of the group (with people… with other puppies he can get a little carried away sometimes!) He is so sweet and loves everyone he meets. He has had moments of shyness early on (I rarely see that anymore) but he is quick to bounce back and hardly anything bothers him for very long. He was the quiet puppy of the group, but has recently found his voice and now likes to bark a lot during play, but is quiet during down times. I think when he’s not around other dogs he will be quiet most of the time, though this can change as they age.

Rio has been on a lot of outings so far during his time here and is always curious and eager to greet people, though is calm about it. He is content sitting in the stroller and waiting for people to approach him and I hope he continues to be his calm self once he’s on the ground in a couple of weeks! When it’s his “alone time” with me he is content to lay around and relax. When the other puppies are around, he’s go go go! He really loves their company but I think he also enjoys his peaceful times with just me.

Rio is a quick learner, though, like most puppies, is still easily distracted. He’s getting pretty good during group training at being able to focus, but when outdoors he has a hard time concentrating because he has too many fun smells and things to look at. We are working on outdoor focusing every day and making progress. This is also why leash sessions need to be kept short while they are puppies. He does great with recalls, so I allow him to wander around and sniff and have fun, and t hen I call him over and practice heeling for a minute or two and then release him again with “ok!” and repeat that a few times during our walks. Indoors he is walking wonderfully and focusing incredibly well! We always try to keep things positive and end on a good note, so short outdoor sessions are best right now while he’s still learning how to focus more.

Car rides are a breeze with Rio. He’s quiet and content in the car (as long as it’s kept cool! He gets hot easily) and I don’t believe he has ever gotten car sick – if he did it would have been his first ride or two. He is sleeping the entire night, though he is always the first one awake and it is almost always at exactly 6:50 am which is kind of funny. I can tell what time it is by Rio. He loves his crate and is doing very well in it, he never whines anymore aside from when he wakes up from naps/overnight sleeping and needs to potty. Overall Rio is making wonderful progress and is such a nice puppy!

Rio’s Favorites

Favorite Treats: Rio is not picky at all but he really loves these Nibs and so do I; they break in half very easily. He also loves chicken and shredded cheese!
Favorite Frozen Treat (to stuff his hoof/Kong/etc.): Rio likes this canned food and also enjoys peanut butter and cheese whiz. I use a Toppl (size small) for all of his crate snacking. I coat the inside with peanut butter and add a spoonful of canned food. I am currently not freezing, though he is cleaning them out really well so I will probably begin freezing his soon.
Favorite Toy: Rio enjoys the flirt pole and also really likes this tug toy and these balls. We are still working on fetching but he does enjoy chasing them! He also likes a variety of stuffed toys, though the exact stuffed toys he likes change frequently.
Favorite Bed: Flat Bed – this keeps him comfy without making him too hot.
Favorite Chews: Beef Tendons, No Hide Chews, & his absolute favorite are Twizzies (sadly, the Twizzies only are ok while they still have puppy teeth… adult dogs tend to eat them really fast). I always keep an eye on him with the Twizzies, you want to throw the ends away when they get small.

Rio’s Photo Gallery

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