| Housetraining Your New Puppy The most important thing you can do to house train a dog is to never let him make a mistake. Dogs learn by pattern training, and the first time they do something sets the pattern for every other time that follows.In other words, it's ten times harder to un-train a behavior (like relieving himself on the Oriental carpet) that has already been established, than to train the proper behavior (relieving himself in the backyard) in the first place.When you first bring your pup home, take him to the area of your yard in which you want him to toilet. Choose a command word like "Hurry" or"Potty"(Remember you will be saying this word in public for the rest of your dog’s life so choose a word you're not embarrassed to say!) When he performs, say "good!" followed by your command word (Good potty!) In a calm, praising tone, and pick the pup up to take him inside.Your new pup should have his own crate (see article on Crate Training) where he will spend the majority of his first three months. Dogs do not like to soil the area in which they sleep, so the crate should be small enough that he cannot use one part of it for sleeping and another for his toilet. You should take your dog out every two hours by picking him up and carrying him in your arms (thus not allowing him to make a mistake in the house on his way to the designated toilet area). As he squats to relieve himself, use his command word "Go potty" or "hurry". When he completes his toilet, praise him calmly,again using the command word "Good potty" and pick him up and carry him back into the house, where he can have a play session of twenty minutes or so under your direct supervision. For the first few weeks, the puppy should never be out of his crate inside the house unless your eyes are on him every minute.A general rule of thumb is that most dogs can control their bladders one hour for every month of their age. A two month old puppy will have to go out every 2 hours, for example, a three month old, every 3 hours, a four month old every 4 hours. Avoid feeding your dog or allowing him free access to water after 7:00 p.m. and he should be able to double that number at night. Should your dog have an accident in the house, the first thing you should ask yourself is Why weren't you watching him? Punishment is unfair and ineffective if you come upon the scene of the crime after it's over. At that point, all you can do is clean it up, apologize to your dog, and vow to do better next time. If you can catch your dog in the act, quickly scoop him up and carry him outside. A sharp, "Don't!" may be effective in getting his attention, but don't yell at the dog or scold him all the way outside. After all, whose fault is it the accident happened?Who didn't take him out soon enough, watch him closely enough, or read the signals he needed to go out? Besides, a sudden scolding can frighten your dog, which will cause the sphincter muscles to contract and prevent him from finishing outside what he started inside or, even worse, teach him that it';s dangerous to toilet in your presence. When he completes his business on the grass, praise him as usual and carry him back inside. Crate the dog while you clean up his mess, using an enzymatic cleaner that will eradicate the odor and lessen the chances of his returning to the same spot. Expect a regression of your perfectly housetrained dog between 4 and 6 months old. This may be because their bodies are growing faster than their bladders, or it may be adolescent hormones causing a sudden learning disability. Be patient, but be firm. Do not tolerate in an adult -or nearly adult dog what you would not tolerate in a puppy. You may have to retrace your house training steps for a few days, but eventually lessons forgotten will be remembered and all will be on track again. If a regression in housetraining does not clear up after a few days, or if the dog continually soils his crate or bedding, have him checked by your veterinarian for possible illness. Crate Training Every dog deserves a room of his own,a quiet place where he can go to sleep, munch on a bone, or simply contemplate the world undisturbed. ,Dogs are den animals and providing a secure, enclosed area for them to retreat satisfies a strong instinct for them.Most dogs will need little persuasion to use their crates, but your new pet should be introduced to his crate the moment he arrives home. ,Choose a size that allows your dog to stand up,turn around, and stretch out, but make sure it is not too large for your puppy (who is likely to use one part for sleeping and one part for a bathroom if there is enough room). Crate dividers are sold by most large pet supply companies to allow your puppy to grow into a large crate.If you have purchased a wire crate, cover it with a blanket or towel to provide a dim, secure environment (make certain the cover is not accessible for your new pup to chew). Put your dog's food bowl inside and some tempting toys. You might consider tossing in a few treats or stuffing a rubber toy with peanut butter and letting him chew it inside the crate. Keep the door open while he explores. While your dog is busy enjoying his dinner or gnawing on a bone, close the door for a few minutes, but sit beside the crate and reassure him you are still there. After one or two minutes, open the door again. ;Play this game several times, but make sure never to open the door while your dog is whining, barking or scratching to get out.To do so will only teach him that the object of the crate is to escape from it, and that he can acheive that end by barking, clawing and whining!By nightfall, your dog should be ready to spend the night in his crate with the door closed, preferrably in your bedroom, where he can be reassurred by your presence and continue to bond with you even while you're sleeping.If your dog whines or barks during the night, take him out to his toilet area, then immediately put him back in his crate. If he continues to whine, ignore him. ;You are teaching him that when he';s in the crate, he should be resting, and that the only acceptable reason to disturb Mom during the night is for bathroom privileges.;Soon you will have a dog seeks out his crate whenever he is tired or stressed, who can be contentedly left in his crate to chew a bone while you are away, and who sleeps easily and securely through the night.A word of warning: a crate is not the place to leave a dog while you are at work all day, and young puppies should never be left in a crate for more than two hours at a time. ;A puppy who is forced to soil his crate has just learned some very bad habits, and the house breaking rules that have been broken will be extremely difficult to re-teach. Jumping Up Jumping up is a natural greeting behavior in dog language. Your dog is jumping to try to get on eye level with you, and this is a great compliment from his point of view. Unfortunately humans and canines don&'t often agree on this point, and it is up to you to communicate to your dog how you would prefer to be greeted.Kicking, kneeing, and stepping on the toes of a jumping dog are not only cruel and dangerous, they rarely work to discourage the behavior. Jumping up is an immediately self-rewarding behavior.'Your dog jumps up, he gets to see your face, and he gets your attention (even scolding, to a dog, is attention!)'Far better is to simply make certain that the dog is not rewarded for jumping up.When your dog jumps up, fold your arms (a sign of rejection) lower your head (refusing him the eye contact he is looking for) and immediately turn your back. When four feet are on the floor, kneel down, praise him, give him the attention he wants. f you have a treat in your pocket to reward the four feet on the floor, he will learn even faster.Most dogs who jump on their owners will also jump on visitors.';Teach your dog to sit. Enlist the help of a neighbor or family member who will play the role of visitor. Ask your helper to go outside and ring the doorbell. When the doorbell rings, ask your dog to sit.Reward him for doing so, and put a leash on him, if necessary, to help him remember to hold his sit even when you open the door. Open the door.If your dog breaks his sit, close the door and wait until he is calmly sitting again. When your dog is able to remain sitting after you open the door, ask the visitor to come in, pet your dog, and give him a treat.If the dog jumps up at any time during this process, the visitor will fold his arms, turn his back, and go away.This game should be played with as many different people as possible. After many, many repetitions, the sound of the doorbell should be your dog's cue to sit quietly in front of the door and wait to be petted!Some people teach their dogs a command for Jump as young puppies. In this way, jumping up becomes a reward that you, the human, control, and the dog will not jump unless invited to do so. This method may not work for dogs whose jumping impulse is high, but might help prevent an unpleasant habit from getting started in other dogs. Teaching Bite Inhibition Biting, nipping, and mouthing are all perfectly natural behaviors in dogs, and among dogs are completely acceptable behaviors. Dogs wrestle with their jaws and play chasing, nipping games for fun. ;When dogs come to live with a human pack; they do not automatically discriminate between a playful canine who would enjoy a rousing game of chase-and-nip, and a squealing, running toddler who would not. ;Only humans have the perception to make that distinction and it is up to us to set the rules immediately and absolutely: No teeth on human flesh.Ever. No exceptions. Not in fun, not in play, not from a six week old puppy, not from an older dog trying to snatch a treat, not by accident, not on purpose. There must be, from the moment your new dog comes into your life, a policy of zero tolerance for biting.Fortunately, Nature has provided us with a powerful ally in our attempt to teach Rover proper control of his most powerful weapon. It is called bite inhibition, and every puppy is born with it. Young pups nip, tug and chew on their littermates constantly. Occasionally a pup will get too rough and its sibling will let it know by letting out a powerful scream and running away, thus ending the game. This is how the young puppy learns exactly how hard he can bite without doing harm.When the puppy leaves his littermates at eight weeks old and goes to live with his human family, the lessons that were begun on bite inhibition usually stop. So what has he learned? There is a limit to how hard you can bite another dog and still be friends, but there are no rules whatsoever about biting people! It is very important that you continue to teach your new puppy the same lessons his littermates began. But remember, our goal is to teach that any bite, no matter how playful, delicate or harmless,is too hard. The rule is no teeth on human flesh.The moment your young pup starts mouthing you,which will be very soon after you meet him,you are to scream as though he has taken off your finger (no wimpy "ouch"; will do here), jerk your hand away, and end your interaction with him. Is this an over-reaction? Absolutely, and that is the point. Puppies communicate in overly dramatic yelps and screams, and that is also what they understand. Be loud! Be dramatic! In a few seconds, give him another chance. Most likely, he is starting to understand the rules now, but if you feel puppy teeth again, react in exactly the same way, only this time walk away from the pup. If he comes at you with puppy teeth a third time, scream loudly, snatch him up, and put him in his crate. The game is definitely over.Throughout your dog's puppyhood you will occasionally have to remind him of his bite inhibition with a sharp yelp and an end to the game, and be make sure that everyone who interacts with the puppy knows the rules: no teeth on human flesh. You are building the character of a dog that will last a lifetime. Puppies who have learned bite inhibition at a young age will almost always grow up to be safe, reliable dogs. What is Clicker Training? Clicker training is based on the techniques used at Sea World and other non-domestic animal training institutions to reliably and accurately capture the behaviors we want, and eliminate those we do not. A small clicker box,much like a child's cricket toy, is pressed each time the dog does something we want him to, and the sound of the clicker is followed consistently and immediately by a treat. With amazing speed, the dog catches on to the fact that every time he hears the click, he gets a treat, and soon he is trying everything he knows to get you to click the box. When he hits on the one thing you're looking forbe it a sit, a speak, a roll over, or a down,and you click the box, it';s as though you have taken a photograph of that moment in the dog's mind. He can separate the moment his rump hit the ground for the sit from all others because the sound of the clicker has marked it in his memory. When he hears the click (and gets the treat!)at the moment his rump hits the ground several times in a row, there's no doubt in his mind it's the sit that earns him the click! From now on, he will sit at every possible opportunity, hoping to hear the click' and get the treat. That's why some people call the clicker "the magic box";!Clicker training speeds the learning process by as much as ten times in comparison with traditional obedience. It uses no harsh corrections or punishments, and rewards only the behaviors you want to keep. There are quite a few rules, however, and clicker training requires most people to adopt an entirely new mind set about how they deal with their dog. The most successful clicker trainer must learn how to be observant and responsive, and for the first few days may feel tied to the clicker and a pocketful of treats. But the amazing rapidity with which the dog learns is a reward for both the dog and the human, and a reliable, well trained companion who loves to learn is the ultimate pay-off. |