Settling in and Training a Tibetan Terrier Dog in Barbados

My Tibetan Terrier puppy arrived here from the UK at approximately 12.5 weeks of age which was the earliest time she could be shipped. I prefer to get a puppy as early as possible as I enjoy training my dogs and puppies are definitely fun to train. She came from Ken Sinclair of Araki Kennels in the U.K.

When I went to the Airport to collect her and they wheeled her and her crate in, she was standing on her hind legs with her front paws in the air giving off a rather mournful singing. Probably wondering where she was going, as she had left behind a lot of Tibetan Terrier family and friends and was now on her own for the first time. It would have been a long journey for a puppy.

She came in with a registered name Araki Miss Conduct and her pet name in Barbados is Tibby.

When she came inside the veterinary compound, I asked the vet on duty, Dr. Maitland, if I could take her out of her crate and walk her on a leash in the enclosed yard until she and the Customs Officer were ready for her. It is sensible to bring a soft collar and leash to the airport as the vet has to take the puppy out of its crate to be examined. So I took her out and she wagged her tail and stepped out as if she knew everyone in the room! Then she wanted to play with the other dog arrivals which were 2 large adult Newfoundlands The Newfoundland owners told me their dogs were dog friendly and would not hurt her so the Tibetan Terrier puppy was allowed to approach and sniff and she was happy again with her tail wagging. Talking with the Newfoundlands’ female owner, the Newfoundlands have obedience training titles and their owners were aware of this blog and have visited it several times before coming to Barbados. I know Newfoundlands love water and their owners told me they will be just about next door to the sea and also the property they live on has a swimming pool. The owners had to ship these dogs to the UK first (coming from USA/Canada) before their arrival in Barbados. And they arrived in huge wooden crates.

The Tibetan’s flight, through Virgin Airlines, had been delayed, and when we returned home it was late in the evening and it was getting dark. I introduced her first to my 2 male Bouviers and I think they went in shock as she was delighted to see other dogs and showing no fear, proceeded to swing on poor Rick Lois’ beard and that Bouvier weighs over 100 lbs! The two male dogs sniffed her and recognized that she was female and obviously a puppy and they were fine with the idea of a new female. I then introduced her to the female Bouviers, one at a time, and both female Bouviers growled, to which I told them “no” but the Tibetan Terrier kissed them, and thank goodness did not swing on their beards. My Bouviers are not accustomed to small and medium sized dogs but they sensed that this was a playful, affectionate puppy although also somewhat rude!

Both of these female Bouviers have Novice CD obedience titles and so I could command them more easily than untrained dogs and they knew as I brought in the puppy and put them on a “down stay” and also told them “behave” that they were not to be aggressive towards the puppy. The Tibetan’s interaction with the Bouviers was always closely supervised until I felt confident that the Bouviers would not hurt her. The main Bouviers to watch were the female Bouviers and once they accepted the Tibetan by playing with her, I relaxed more. The Tibetan puppy was crated for her own safety when I was not around to supervise her.

This was the easiest puppy I ever had to housetrain. She was crated the first few nights and I would get up once during the night and let her out in the front garden and she would come back in. She has never soiled the house. Maybe the fact that there are other dogs here might have helped in her training as she watched everything.

Before purchasing this breed, my research described the Tibetan Terrier breed as intelligent and somewhat mischievous. I have found this to be very accurate. She is also very friendly towards other dogs which, besides the breed’s appearance and history, made the Tibetan Terrier a good choice for me.

When I first introduced her to her crate where she would be sometimes, until she and the other dogs were settled, she went inside the crate and watched me secure the latch on the crate door and then she calmly put one of her large paws through the crate wire and she opened the crate and stepped out and sat looking at me! After I recovered from shock and laughter, I did remedy that by pushing a lock on the latch so she could not let herself out again.

After she settled in she was no longer crated but the door always left open in case she wanted to sleep in the crate. She has never interfered with any furniture except that she likes heights, and I have found her as a puppy asleep in my walk in closet in the bedroom, on one of the high shelves. As a puppy she did like to take leaves off patio plants and she was corrected with a “no” and given one of her toys. She does not trouble plants nor Black African snails anymore but, as a puppy, she would pick them up. She will still chase lizards and birds and I try to keep frogs out of my grounds as, in Barbados, they can be poisonous to dogs. None of my dogs are allowed to chase frogs and they will stop on a “no” command but I prefer to remove any frogs I see on this property.

This Tibetan still opens kitchen cupboard doors and she knows where to find empty pet bottles and brings them out to play with. I realised from early that she loves to take the caps off these bottles, using her teeth and paws but because I would not want her to swallow any of the chewed pieces, I take away the cap when she takes it off but allow her to play with the plastic pet bottles. And when I see that she can tear plastic away from the bottles, I dump the bottles. She prefers these to regular dog toys.

She has yet to open the fridge door and I have watched her trying with that!

She was on basic puppy training classes at Waterford from four months of age, primarily for her to be well socialized and enjoy herself.

Tibby has always been trained at home with small treats and praise and sometimes with a toy thrown as a reward.

Puppies coming to Barbados from the UK might come down with just one inoculation but I did request of the Tibetan Terrier’s breeder to inoculate as early as possible after talking to his vet, and Tibby came to Barbados with two inoculations. Parvo virus can be very strong and fatal in Barbados and it makes sense to be as careful as possible.

No puppy, in my opinion, should be on group training classes, until it is fully protected against parvo virus.

It also makes sense to be extra cautious when visiting the vet for the parvo inoculation, to let the vet come out of his office to your vehicle or to lift the puppy inside the vet’s office. Dog friends and people connected to dogs, especially those who come in contact with other dogs on a regular basis or whose kennels have had parvo, should be thought of as a security caution to be temporarily avoided.

Except for walks in the cul de sac gap where I live, she was not exposed to other outside dogs until she had her third inoculation in early May when she would have been approximately four months old.
She was also put on Certifect (prevention against ticks and fleas) and she has been wormed with medicines like Albendazole which were obtained from a vet’s office.

As a puppy, she won two out of two Best Puppy in Show, with Challenge Certificates, under UK judges Jeff Horswell and Robin Searle. And in just three shows, achieved the title Champion. Robin Searle, UK judge, did give Tibby’s playmate, and my favourite Bouvier Des Flandres, Ch. Calliope Rhapsody, C.D. the Reserve Best in Show and also Tibby was the Utility Group winner besides being Best Puppy in Show.

She was very playful and used to like to carry her lead in her mouth while trotting. I broke this habit by walking her briskly in my gap and she had so many other interesting things to watch that she stopped playing with the lead.

I don’t believe judges expect dogs and puppies to be like statutes, especially puppies. They want to see some animation and this Tibetan is full of herself. Her tail is always up, a sign of confidence.

The Tibetan Terrier is examined by the conformation judge on a table. She was trained as a puppy to stay in a natural stack and also exposed to different people going over her on the table as a judge would do, opening the mouth to look at the bite, feeling the coat, pressing down on the top line, feeling the muscles and, of course, searching her face, for her eyes.

To train her to stand and stay, when she sitting or lying down, I lured her with a treat to get up and then told her “stand”. After she understood the word “stand” I no longer used the treat to lure her but to reward her when she stood on command. I used my hand to block her from approaching further and told her “stay”. When she went to the Special Beginners dog training class at Waterford she already knew the basics. “Stay” was also used for sits, and downs and always rewarded with little treats. Very short lessons and I was only a few inches away from her so I could put her back in place. Sit was taught to her as a puppy by luring her into position through showing a treat and by placing it above her head and telling her “sit”, when she sat, she was rewarded with a treat. To learn “down” I held a treat by her head and gradually brought my hand down to the ground. Of course, the treat was inside my hand so she could not grab it. When she went “down”, she got the treat. After a short while, I no longer needed to lure her but always rewarded her as soon as she did the basic commands. Puppies naturally follow their owners and in taking her for walks, I used the word “heel” to start off. I am now working on hand signals for these exercises.

From a puppy she started enjoying agility classes, but I used the classes to introduce her to only very low jumps and obstacles. As an adult she can now do all jumps and it is like if she has springs in her feet. Of course, for a dog to do agility, it has to be trained in basic obedience commands such as “come”, “wait”, “over” and the names of the obstacles. Because I have been doing agility for several years with Bouviers, it makes it a lot easier to train Tibby. We run in agility once a week with The Barbados Dog Training Club at Waterford. She likes her little rewards/treats and also enjoys having her agility toy. The toy is thrown over the jumps when we are doing a sequence and I am telling her “to go on” and “over”.

She entered Novice obedience as a puppy and I was not expecting her to pass any levels as a puppy but I thought it was good for her to socialize with other dogs and enjoy herself while she was settling in the obedience patterns and discipline. She has always been very easy to motivate with rewards. She has had a great time at the classes at Waterford with The Barbados Dog Training Club. Of course, there were many more distractions and the “stays” were longer in time than at home. And her co-operation in doing sits and downs was less reliable as there were so many other puppies and dogs to get to know. And friendly people. As a puppy, taking her off the leash for an off leash heeling and other exercises, was hilarious, to say the least. But I was happy with her progress and also that she was having a good time.

I am aware that Tibetan Terriers can have separation anxiety but I don’t think Tibby has ever had a hard time with that as she always has Bouviers with her when humans are absent and she loves the Bouviers.

Because she is a coated breed, I introduced her to bath time from her first week in Barbados. In my yard, in the sunshine, with the hose, to get a bath, her shampoo and coat conditioner and then rinsed and brushed out. She comes running when called for her bath and is put in a “stay” for her shampoo and coat conditioner. She was always given small treats as training rewards for being so good.

This breed was known as “Little People” and is a noted companion dog that the original owners, in Tibet, used to regard as a good luck dog and according to the history never used to sell. She is extremely alert and does bark at strange people and things and sings when she is happy, in a high pitched siren type voice.  She lives and gets on well with my Bouviers and they eat, in separate bowls, and play together. She is now fully grown and no longer swings on the Bouviers’ beards but she still likes to kiss them and nibble and pull their ears and if, left unsupervised, will steal their food! Her favourite Bouvier is the most dominant of the Bouviers and this Tibetan Terrier loves to rough play with Rhapsody. Although Rhapsody is play growling, Tibby’s tail is wagging and Rhapsody rolls over for the Tibetan Terrier to jump on her and bite her and Rhapsody gives the Tibetan Bouvier slaps in return. And they run together. They are best friends.

This is an independent breed which loves to explore and also loves most people. As this breed was also used in earlier times as a guard/watch dog, it can be reserved towards strangers.

She only has leg C to pass now for the CD Novice title. She loves coming out to do obedience training with the other dogs and puppies at The B’dos. Dog Training Club’s weekly classes as she loves to receive her little rewards and reinforcements (frozen meat) and to run around with a dog friend afterwards. She is lots of fun to train and as an adult tries hard to please although I am always aware that she might still decide to be overly playful when the leash is taken off and her formal off leash obedience training is done in an enclosed area.

She has settled in well in Barbados and as an adult Tibetan Terrier she is very well trained.

Tags: Dog training in Barbados, dogs in Barbados, Settling in a new puppy, Tibetan Terrier, Training a new pupy