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Establish a teacher-learner relationship
Use two types of rewards-praise and petting. When your puppy asks for attention, you
probably respond by petting, which is only natural. Begin using these requests to show
that you are the teacher and your puppy is the learner. It may sound silly but it's
important to establish this relationship early in puppyhood.
Each time your puppy asks to be petted, respond by holding your hand about a foot
above his nose and saying, "Rover (substitute your dog's name), sit." Move your hand
back over his ears as you speak. This makes him look up, which is the first part of sitting.
Keep repeating "good sit" until he sits. Then pet him on the throat and chest with your
other hand for a few seconds as you repeat the praise.
If not successful at first, repeat
the procedure. When your dog sits from five to ten seconds, release him from
the command by saying "OK", then pet and praise him again.
Gradually increase the sitting time until you have reached one or two minutes
before you say "OK". Be sure everyone who lives with the pet follows this
procedure. Consistent treatment from the whole family makes for a better
adjusted, happier pet. Insist that your pet earn praise.
Teaching where to go
At first, feed at least three times a day. All dogs do not have the same digestive
rates-you may need to feed your puppy as often as five times a day in order to avoid
overloading his system and causing loose, difficult-to-control bowel movements.
When you find the right schedule, the result is a dog that eats and then has a bowel
movement within a few minutes.
Feed indoors. Remember, dogs do not like to eliminate where they eat. If your dog is
urinating or defecating in a certain area, try feeding him right at that spot (after clean
up, of course.)
Right after your dog finishes eating, chase him out good naturedly to his toilet area,
ahead of you if possible. Then let him sniff around for a good spot. Do not confuse
things by urging him to go. After he goes to the bathroom, crouch down and point at the
urine or fecal matter and say "good dog". Look right at the stuff, not at the dog. If your
dog sniffs it, praise and pet him enthusiastically.
Take your puppy outside
- After waking up, even from a nap
- After extreme excitement
- After drinking water
- After prolonged chewing on a toy, etc.
- If he starts sniffing around the house for a good spot
In about four days your pup should automatically head for his proper place after meals
or whenever the urge strikes. If it takes longer, be patient.
After this stage of house training, your puppy knows where to go, but not when to go.
Do not try to teach self control (the "when" part) until you can be sure he will always
head for the door when it's time to go.
Teaching when to go
Teaching when to go
To teach self control, you must keep feeding times consistent. Don't feed at 7:30 a.m.
on week days and then sleep in on Sunday--you'll ruin the whole program. Dogs can
control their urine for as long as thirteen hours when they need to. To teach self
control, you should try to let your dog outdoors only at times when you are ordinarily
home to do so. Whenever you see signs that your pup wants to go to the bathroom
during the forbidden hours, try to distract him by tossing a ball, playing with a toy or
doing any activity that will take his mind off the urge.
If possible, have your puppy sleep in a room with people. Because he will be inclined to
tune into your sleeping times, there will be fewer accidents and less night time
disturbance. Given a little blanket as a bed, most puppies soon learn to sleep through
the entire night.
How to deal with mistakes
Old fashioned house training methods tell us to grab the puppy, show him the mess and
punish him. This is not necessary and probably harmful. Instead, if you discover an
accident, just say "ugh" disgustedly and whisk puppy out to his proper toilet area. Leave
him there while you clean up the mess. Make sure he cannot see you cleaning up.
Strangely, many dogs find it rewarding to watch their owner picking up stools or
cleaning urine, and often leave another such gift as soon as they can. Because puppies
seem to enjoy this game, it is a good idea to have them watch you clean up after they go
to the bathroom in the correct place. To discourage repeat visits, accidents must be
cleaned up well enough to completely eliminate odor. After blotting and cleaning as best
you can with paper towels, soak the stained area with an enzymatic cleaner. Let it
remain on the stain 30 minutes or longer, blot up the liquid, and if still necessary, use
regular rug cleaner afterwards. To work properly, the enzyme cleaner must be used
before using regular rug cleaner.
Puppy's Place in the Family
The reason dogs are such good pets and fit so well into human society is that they are
social animals by nature. Their greatest psychological need is to be part of a group.
Whether it's a family of just you and puppy, or a boisterous household full of children
and pets, in order to be happy your new puppy must feel secure about her place in the
group. If you watch puppies at play, you will see a lot of growling and tussling. There is
more to this play fighting than meets the eye. Those little guys are already deciding who
is going to be "top dog". Whether you realize it or not, something very much like this
play fighting is happening at home between your puppy and the rest of the family.
To be confident and secure what puppies need most is a master they can depend on.
For your dog to have a happy life and be a pleasure to own, at least one person in the
family must become such a master. Dogs have no mental concept of "friends and equals".
Somebody has to be boss. Assertive puppies will grow up trying to be boss, which won't
make either one of you happy. A submissive puppy may spend its entire life fretting and
worrying, never sure what is expected. Everything usually works out just fine
automatically--puppies find their place in the family without much trouble and everyone
is happy with the arrangement. If, on the other hand, you have a strongly assertive or
unusually submissive pet there are some things you should keep in mind:
Working with an assertive puppy
Assertive puppies tend to immediately investigate new people and objects. They are
quick to begin play fighting activities with people. When they want to be petted or fed,
they are insistent and demanding. These puppies fall easily into the role of family
protector because they think the people belong to them. This is well and good, but
because dogs cannot really understand human society, there is soon trouble. They may
try to defend you from everyone, and biting the UPS man because he invades your yard
is not ok. Biting the children is not ok. The most serious problems happen when
grandchildren are involved. Perceived either as an outside threat or a competitor, it is
not unusual for grandchildren to be badly injured by big assertive dogs.
The training techniques used to establish your teacher-learner relationship are
especially important. Remember that your dog will be much happier in the long run if he
earns praise and pleasure by obeying you, not by demanding it.
It is especially important for you to be master. Do not allow your dog to nip or bite at
you in a friendly way. Do not stimulate your puppy by waving your arms and acting
excited or by playing tug of war. Do not become what your puppy perceives to be an
equal and competitive playmate.
Working with a submissive puppy
Submissive puppies tend to "shy away" from new people or things, either by lying down
or actually running away. It is normal for most puppies to be slightly submissive. They
wish for nothing more than to please you and this makes them easy to train.
Teach shy puppies things they can do that will earn your calm, reassuring praise. Try to
provide a peaceful environment and a dependable schedule that includes exercise, a
daily obedience session, and reliable feeding times.
Submissive Urination
Most puppies and young dogs have a tendency to urinate in response to new situations,
when meeting a stranger, or even when their owners come home and greet them
excitedly. This is a sign that your puppy is uncertain about what is expected. Never
scold when this happens. Puppy is already trying hard to please. Calmly reassure,
ignoring the urination. Clean up later, in private.
Fear Biting
If puppies don't know what is expected of them, particularly if they are beginning to
believe that people are supposed to do what dogs tell them to do, they may react
inappropriately to strangers. The puppy is afraid, but psychologically unable to be
completely submissive. They usually show signs of fear and try to run away from a
threatening situation, but when escape is prevented, they bite. It happens when
children insist on petting a frightened dog, and happens at the veterinarian's office.
These puppies need the firm leadership and reassurance best achieved through
obedience training.
Destructive Chewing
It is natural for puppies to chew--that's one of the ways they explore and learn. Try to
keep valuable objects that are chewable safely out of reach and provide a satisfactory
alternative like a Nylabone chew toy. Destructive chewing is merely a way to work off
excitement and relieve frustration, not an insidious plan to get even with you. Help
encourage your puppy to be calm. Be easygoing. Don't encourage tug of war or play
that involves chewing and biting.
Home Alone
When you leave home for the day, don't make it into a big deal for the dog. By showing
lots of emotion of any sort (threats or cheerfulness, it doesn't matter) you build up
emotional stress. This is often vented in destructive chewing. Your last three or four
minutes at home should be spent calmly reading or sitting. Then get up and leave,
ignoring your puppy completely--don't even say goodbye. Arrive home the same way.
Ignore your puppy at first and avoid the area where things are most likely to have been
chewed. If things are a mess when you get home, don't let puppy know you care.
Behave calmly. Clean up later when your puppy can't watch. Do not build up more stress
by scolding--that just makes things worse. Again, work on teaching simple obedience
and building the teacher-learner relationship. Puppies need a calm, dependable master.
Chew Treats, Bones and Toys
Don't give your puppy anything small enough to swallow that can't be digested, or things that can be chewed into large indigestible chunks and swallowed.
Chicken bones, rib bones, and pork bones are the most likely to cause trouble. Old gooey rawhide chews or bones from the butcher that have been around for a few days get rotten and stinky and cause diarrhea. If you give things like this (not really a good idea), use good sense. Bones should be too large to swallow and solid enough that they won't be broken up into smaller chunks. Hooves, pig's ears, and miscellaneous semi-digestible treats probably aren't a good idea either, but if you use them be sure they are too large to be swallowed whole, or small enough to go all the way through.
Instead, we suggest using flavored Nylabone or Nylafloss chew toys. If your puppy first
learns to prefer bones and rawhide, he probably won't think chew toys are all that
great, so use them from the beginning. Nylafloss looks like a big thick chunk of nylon
rope. Puppies like it because they can really sink their teeth into the rope, and it helps
keep the teeth clean.
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