Puppy Training Tips

[0reo]

I got a new puppy recently and I've been trying to 'potty train' her. She's got a puppy pad to do her business on but sometimes she forgets. I've stuffed her nose into pee when she pee's somewhere she's not supposed to, but I dunno.

She's only about 7 weeks old.

Anyone know any good training tips?

[FlamesKickAss]

rubbing there nose in it is actually a bad thing to do some people say. Because the dog will start hiding where it pees. Just take her outside as soon as she starts to go. With my last lab we would take her only have her in for 20-30 mins max between pee breaks. Really praise them when they go outside. She is 7 months old now and hasnt had an accident in about a month *knocks on wood*, now if we can just get her to stop chewing every cord she sees whether its plugged in or not!

Also I heard a good thing to teach is hang a bell at the door and then ring it when you take them outside to teach them when they have to go to ring the bell. My buddy did that with his dog and it works for him. I kept forgetting to get a bell, my girl just sits or lays at the back door. Or whines if we are upstairs.

[mac_gurl]

I've heard that as well about rubbing its nose in it...
Just keep at it, and keep taking them outside constantly. Eventually they will get it. There will still be occasional accidents, but they will become less frequent. When we are at work for the day, we'd leave her the pee pads, but eventually she would just tear them into a million pieces. We got the hint, and stopped putting them back there, and ever since, she has gone the whole day without going.

[Ford Prefect]

It's been a long time since I trained a pup, but what we did was spread out some newspaper in several strategic places around the house, and when the pup started whizzing somewhere we'd scoop it up and put it on the nearest newspaper. After it finished its business we'd pet it and call it a good dog. It soon got the message and started whizzing/dumping on the newspaper. We then started eliminating the newspaper, leaving only some at the back door. At that point we started interrupting it when it did is biz on the paper and put it outside, congratulating it when it came back in for being a good dog. Overall, it seemed to work pretty well.

[0reo]

Thanks guys!

I also heard that if you're going to do the news paper deal or something similar, that you shouldn't clean up all the pee just so she can smell it and knows that there's the place to be if she needs to tinkle.

Is this true?

[Russic]

Originally Posted by FlamesKickAss

Also I heard a good thing to teach is hang a bell at the door and then ring it when you take them outside to teach them when they have to go to ring the bell. My buddy did that with his dog and it works for him. I kept forgetting to get a bell, my girl just sits or lays at the back door. Or whines if we are upstairs.

I had a psyc professor giving a lecture on classical conditioning in university. He trained his dog to ring a bell every time he needed to go outside. He had the department dean over for dinner once and proudly explained that he'd conditioned his dog to use a bell to get outside. The dean then explained to him that in actuality the dog had conditioned him to open the door at the sound of a bell. I always found that funny.

Ya don't rub the dogs nose in the urine. When they do something wrong you have about a second and a half to correct them, otherwise it will probably just confuse them.

[octothorp]

We've got a bell for our dog and it works great. Keep the rope on a string and every time you take the dog outside, pull the string so that the bell bumps against the dog's nose. With our guy, it took only a couple weeks of this before he figured out that he could ring the bell to go out. We would leave our guy in his crate after a meal (it's his sleeping area so he's going to try really hard to avoid peeing there) for about fifteen minutes, and then take him outside, and reward him as soon as he relieves himself.
Dogs are naturally clean animals and once they realize that they have the option of leaving the house when they need to pee, they'll prefer that to soiling their living space. As others have said, focus on rewarding good behavior, rather than punishing bad behavior.

[jammies]

Originally Posted by octothorp

As others have said, focus on rewarding good behavior, rather than punishing bad behavior.

Good rule for kids too.

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

Originally Posted by 0reo

Thanks guys!

I also heard that if you're going to do the news paper deal or something similar, that you shouldn't clean up all the pee just so she can smell it and knows that there's the place to be if she needs to tinkle.

Is this true?

Put it this way: dogs have a sense of smell that is something like 75 times more acute than ours. You don't have to worry about them being able to smell it. I'd clean it up as well as I could, otherwise you'll have to be smelling their pee!

I echo the comments of others who say that the best way is to use positive reinforcement. Basically, you're not teaching your dog "don't go in the house"--you're teaching him "Do go outside to do your business." That's much easier for a dog brain to compute. I suggest removing the negative reinforcement altogether; it doesn't help and may confuse him.

I'd add to that a few tips, because timing is so important. You want to be able to predict when your dog will have to go, because that will help immensely. Basically, maximize the number of times the dog goes outside and gets praised, and you'll reap the benefits--dogs are desperate to please you, and if going to the bathroom outside is what it takes to get some attention and praise, they'll definitely do it.

So how can you predict when your dog needs to go? Here are a few tips:
1. Take them out immediately after they eat. Dogs have a compact abdomen, so their stomach presses on their bladder and bowel when it's full. Most dogs will do both #1 and #2 in short order after eating.
2. If it's not a smaller breed, consider feeding all their food in one feeding. After a while, you'll be able to set your watch by their B.M.s. If it's a smaller breed this is probably not practical as they can sometimes get a little hypoglycemic.
3. A walk also helps to "jar things loose" if they haven't gone #2 in a while. There's another much grosser trick that I can tell you if you PM me--but I won't post it here in case anyone has a weak stomach.
4. Use a crate when the dog isn't supervised. They won't go in the crate--and they'll hold it until you let them out. Then you have a great opportunity: a. Let dog out of crate and take dog immediately outside. b. Praise dog when they do their business outside. c. Profit!
5. Otherwise, watch for the signs that the dog is about to go. Most dogs will circle and sniff the ground for a while before finding the "right spot" to do their business. If he starts circling and sniffing in the house, take him outside right away, and praise him effusively when he goes.
6. Post pictures of your dog!

[TheDragon]

Don't get discouraged, and don't give up on your dog.

It always breaks my heart when I hear stories about people forfeiting their puppy to the dog pound or SPCA or whatver because they couldn't house break them in the first few months.

[0reo]

Originally Posted by TheDragon

Don't get discouraged, and don't give up on your dog.

It always breaks my heart when I hear stories about people forfeiting their puppy to the dog pound or SPCA or whatver because they couldn't house break them in the first few months.

Haha no of course not. She's cool.

I know it sounds cheesy but I actually love the pup.

[moncton golden flames]

crate train your dog. keeping them in a crate when they cannot be supervised teaches them to hold their bladder. they will do everything they can to not go potty in their crate. dogs are den animals and like their dens clean. some people say that keeping a dog in a crate is wrong, but it is actually good for the dogs, they feel comfortable in enclosed spaces.

[FlamesKickAss]

Originally Posted by 0reo

I know it sounds cheesy but I actually love the pup.

not cheesy at all I have two (<---see avatar) that I love a lot.

[Tower]

[FlamesKickAss]

Originally Posted by Iowa_Flames_Fan

6. Post pictures of your dog!

I bumped a thread just to do this!

[red sky]

Do many people leave their dog alone while they got to work? Are they able to hold their bladder for 8+ hours or does everyone find a dog walker?

[Old Yeller]

An adult dog is able to hold their bladders for 8+ hours, a puppy is not.

Also crate train your dogs people, it's a den instinct and the pup will try and avoid at all costs from messing in their "den".

It amazes me that people still rub a dogs nose in an accident... Sure general ignorance is an excuse, but how can you not do a bit of research before actually getting the dog?

[octothorp]

Originally Posted by red sky

Do many people leave their dog alone while they got to work? Are they able to hold their bladder for 8+ hours or does everyone find a dog walker?

Our dog does okay with it. Holding the bladder isn't a problem at all, although he's also smart enough to not drink a lot of water when we're gone, even though there's plenty set out for him. Depending on what sort of breed you have, it'll be more of an issue to make sure that he doesn't get bored and turn destructive. We send our guy to a doggy daycare once a week to break up the monotony of the days.

[GrrlGoalie33]

Our three dogs are home all day alone. Two of them are in crates, one is not, but she is boarded into a smaller area.

The two dogs that are crated during the day LOVE their crates. If they're bored, or need to sleep, often they'll go there to do so.

Also, the bell on the door really works. With our puppy, every time we put her outside, we'd "help" her ring the bell. Now all three ring the bell when they want to go outside.

Where she does go inside, make sure you clean it thouroughly right away. They'll start going back to that same spot time and time again if you don't.

And, after she has all of her shots, make sure you socialize her really well. Make sure you socialize her with men, women, kids and other dogs.

[octothorp]

Originally Posted by Frankster

Make sure you socialize her with men, women, kids and other dogs.

And people with different skin colours! Few things are more embarrassing at the dog park than having a racist dog.