Inside the Puppy Pen, Day 40 with the Easter litter

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJNzy26dYXY

We played the Box Game today, and the puppies did such a great job starting to learn how training works.

The whole purpose of the Box Game is teaching puppies how to learn. Dogs are not born automatically understanding what we want from them, so one of the very first steps in training is helping them learn how to figure things out and offer behaviors.

In this game, the puppies are rewarded for interacting with the box or tin cake pan. At first, they do not understand why they are getting rewarded. They might sniff it, paw it, step in it, or bump it accidentally. But pretty quickly, they begin connecting their actions to the reward. They start experimenting and trying different things to make the reward happen again.

That problem solving process is incredibly important. The puppies are learning that their choices matter and that engaging with new things is rewarding instead of scary. This helps build confidence, curiosity, resilience, and a puppy that enjoys learning and training.

You can actually watch the moment it “clicks” for some of them. Suddenly they realize, “Oh… interacting with this thing makes good things happen!” From there, they become more thoughtful, more engaged, and more eager to participate.

Exercises like this create an excellent foundation for future obedience, service work, therapy work, and simply being adaptable family companions who are confident in new situations.