Training Tips For Your New Puppy

We’re often asked questions about typical puppy training problems and so have decided to try and supply some solutions.

This first two problems being dealt with in this video we will entitle Jump/Bite: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLz2DudaiT0  The first part deals with jumping. I like to keep this very positive. I want the puppy to know I want her to be around me, but my actions will demonstrate that jumping isn’t the appropriate way. As she jumps on me I will knee her down rather firmly while keeping my voice enthusiastic with lots of praise. I’m baiting this puppy so she stays close to me. Normally they will stay close by your voice encouraging them, but I just brought her into the house for purposes of this demonstration and didn’t give her any time to acclimate so I used bait to entice her to stay with me and of course, that would mean she would try to jump on me. If this were normal circumstances, she would eventually try to run around to the back of my legs and continue jumping and you would keep up the enthusiastic voice while kicking her down. She will eventually come to the front again and sit while you praise her. In this video, because I was using bait, she gave me an opportunity to show how I would deal with biting. Each time she nips me, it give her a little pop on the nose followed by a “no”, then I give her a command “easy” and offer the bait again. Eventually, she will try to get away because I’m making it pretty uncomfortable. I don’t let her, I hold her collar and continue to offer the bait and tell her to “lick”. She will soon figure out that she can “lick” not bite it out of my hand. I’m offering her Royal Canin’s Starter Mousse which is almost addictive to puppies and a great way to teach them to accept bait without biting.

HOUSEBREAKING AND OTHER BASIC HOUSEHOLD MANNERS: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rUZTvrbJC8 This video is Brew on her 12 week birthday. We officially took away the litter and pen yesterday and are starting the official house breaking along with other basic manners. First of all, she is NOT allowed to bark or whine in the crate. When she does, I open the door, grab her muzzle and squeeze it firmly so she knows I mean business, while telling her NO or QUIET. She may get a little hand shy, but we will work through that. When I take her out of the crate I have a slip lead or whatever kind of collar and lead I’m using, in my hand as I open the door. I don’t let her run out, she has to come out calmly, let me put the lead on her and then sit while I open the door. Instinctively she will try to go through first as a sign of her taking charge. Since I am the Alpha (benevolent leader of the pack), she must learn to submit to me calmly, thus, she will learn to sit and wait for me to go through the door and then allow her to come once I decide the time is right. Once in the garage I’m telling her “OUTSIDE” so she learns that when she hears that word, she will know exactly what it means. I don’t get too concerned about her walking in heel position now, one or two things at a time are enough. When we get to the door she has to sit again. When I release her with the “OK” command, she can come through the door. Next I keep repeating the command “HURRY UP” which is my command for her to relieve herself. Notice how often I say it. If she grabs the lead, I reach down and take it from her mouth or just tug on it enough to make it uncomfortable in her mouth. If she doesn’t go in a couple minutes then I take her back in, making her sit going in the door. I offer her water by giving that a name too: “DRINK”. Everything is done for a reason. When I want her to relieve herself she will eventually understand what I’m telling her when I say “HURRY UP”, or when I want her to drink the word “DRINK” will have a meaning to her. She sits again to go inside and when I tell her she can come in, she comes in and sits. I tell her “KENNEL” and shove her in. If she makes noise I open the door, grab her muzzle, squeeze and tell her NO or QUIET. If your puppy has been in the crate for awhile like Brew was then I will take her out again in about 10 minutes. This time I shut the dog in the first run inside to minimize the distraction and she went right away. As soon as she started to go I started praising her “GOOD GIRL, GOOD PUPPY!” I was exuberant in my praise all the time she was relieving herself. Then I petted her afterward and went right inside. I still put her immediately back into the crate after she sat, because we always go into the crate when coming in from outside. In just a minute I let her out, being sure she came out calmly and sat while I stroked her head and face. Then I released her by saying “OK” so she knew she could now play. After about 20 minutes of playing, tugging her rope toy with me and just having fun, she went back into the crate again. I’ll repeat this every couple of hours since I’m home with her all day today. Other times you may have to do a 4 hour time, but I wouldn’t go more than that at this age and then right back to 2 hours….she is very young. If you have to be gone a long time, go back to the pen and litter.