Adelaide AFLW Senior Coach Matthew Clarke reckons he underestimated how challenging training a new puppy can be.
Clarke’s family welcomed a Kelpie into their home about six months ago and has since had some tough times teaching it basic skills.
“Her name is Madam Peanut Wiggle-butt and obviously the kids came up with that,” Clarke said on this week’s episode of The Crows Show.
“I wasn’t too sure about it (the name) but turns out she is a peanut.
“We had a Kelpie for 19 years and we got that Kelpie before we had kids and we had a lot of time to train it.
“Then we got another one, much to my wife’s irritation because she said ‘We haven’t got time for this dog’ and I said ‘It’ll be fine’.
“But turns out she was right.”
The two-time Premiership Coach has now called on his team’s Skipper Chelsea Randall, who is also the proud owner of a Kelpie, to lend him a hand.
“It just so happens that Chelsea has a dog who everyone said was the craziest dog in the Club but she’s had some success at bringing Lenny under a level of control,” Clarke said.
“We thought if she can control Lenny, then maybe she can help us out with Peanut.
“We haven’t quite got her under control yet, (getting her to) come back is a bit of a challenge, jumping up is a bit of a challenge, and she’s wrecked a lot of stuff.”
Randall, a three-time Premiership Captain and AFL Development Coach, said she had spent countless hours training her Kelpie, Lenny, since he came into her life in March, 2020.
“Being a Kelpie, it’s also been very challenging in terms of training him,” Randall said.
“He’s got so much energy and I’ve just had to train myself to be a better owner.
“What I’ve learnt over my journey of meeting lots of dog trainers is that Kelpies love running and they love playing but we have to balance that physical attribute with their mental stimulation.”
Randall gave Clarke a few tips and was confident Peanut would improve in time.
“We’re going to do a 3m lead so the idea being that we’re trying to get Peanut to learn how to come back to us but we still have a level of control,” Randall said.
“But I want to make sure all four of her legs are on the ground when I reward her as well.
“Peanut is such a beautiful dog with so much beautiful potential.
“She’s highly intelligent, hopefully with 10 minutes a day (Doc) can get some good things out of Peanut and she’ll be a great household dog.”
Also on this week’s episode of The Crows Show, Belinda Sloane catches up with ruckman Reilly O'Brien to find out what he does away from footy, while Ned McHenry joins Tom Doedee to discuss his Hungry Jack's Whopper Moment.
The Crows Show airs on Channel 7 this Saturday from 1pm.
