Posts Tagged ‘puppy training’
Puppy Training – Socialization
February 24th, 2010
I am working on socialization with little Blaze. He is meeting people, kids, hearing new sounds, walking on new textures (gravel, grass, concrete). I hope to get him to the play ground this weekend with moving swings and other fun things. There is a lot of socialization you can do at home. Just find something new and see if your puppy is nervous about it. If he is, its an opportunity to train!
In our first puppy diary – I am showing how I teach Blaze not to be scared of something new. Scroll down to see our little movie debut!
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Puppy Training Basics
December 14th, 2009
Puppy Training Basics
1. Teach the puppy his name.
Use it a lot, and say "Yes" whenever he responds by looking at you. Give the puppy a big hug and lots of smiles as his "treat" following the "Yes." We want to establish several primary reinforcers as early as possible, so that he doesn’t become dependent on food. We’ll save food treats for more formal training. Make sure that your "Yes" sounds different from your everyday, conversational "Yes." Make it a bright-sounding utterance.
2. Build really strong eye contact.
Make eye contact his permission-seeking behavior for anything he wants: getting out of the crate, going out the door (you can wait for the puppy to sit and give you eye contact at the door), eating a meal, etc. No verbal cues. Just put yourself in a position where he can easily make eye contact (like kneeling in front of the puppy), and then reinforce the eye contact with a "Yes") – and then give the puppy the primary reinforcer which is whatever he wants at that moment (e.g., getting out of the crate, going out the door, eating, etc.)
3. Condition the meaning of the clicker by doing a few very short sessions of freebies every day: click, treat, click, treat, and so on. All you’re teaching the puppy at this point is that the click predicts the treat (the primary reinforcer). Later, he’ll learn that his own behavior can make you click, and that’s when the operant conditioning begins. After a few days of conditioning the clicker, you can start to alternate the click with the "Yes" to work on name and eye contact.
4. Work on housetraining.
If you are absolutely religious about this, you can get the bulk (so to speak!) of it done within just a couple of weeks. After that, expect occasional "accidents" until his bladder and sphincter control improve (i.e., till he’s about 6 months old). Figure out the most likely times when he’ll need to eliminate – basically, after anything he does (eat, wake up, play, etc.). The rule of thumb is that an 8 week old puppy can hold for 1 hour (while he’s awake). After that, add 1 hour for each month of age. So, at 12 weeks/3 months, he can hold for 2 hours while awake.
I don’t use clicker training for housetraining. I do try to teach a cue, and here’s how to do that. Just as he’s starting to squat, say your cue quietly (so as not to startle the puppy). You are classically conditioning the cue. Before he’s finished eliminating, give the puppy a few quiet praise words.
He should be able to get through a 6-7 hour night within a week or so, especially if you’re careful to make clear to the puppy when we go to sleep at night. And, of course, make sure he’s empty at that time (withhold water after about 7 p.m. to help the puppy).
When you’re not watching the puppy, he should be confined to a crate or x-pen, so that he can’t make a mistake. You might also feed the puppy in his crate – partly to establish the crate as a wonderful place, and partly to protect your other dogs (and their food, which the puppy might think he can eat!) and to give them a little peace and quiet occasionally. I would also have the puppy ride crated in the car – mostly for safety and also to prevent carsickness.
5. Teach the puppy to play.
My preference is that all play is interactive with humans. I do not leave a million toys lying around but just one chew toy (like a Nylabone). The chew toy is not an interactive toy but just something to teach the puppy to chew on something approved (rather than the furniture). It will also be helpful when he starts teething, at about 4 months. Play can be with interactive toys (tug, fetch games – as long as you get the toy back – and so on) and also gentle body games ("Gotcha!", push-pull games, etc.)
6. Teach the puppy to relinquish a toy by doing exchanges, like this:
Give the puppy a toy (holding on to it if necessary to prevent his running off with it). Then show the puppy a wonderful treat in your other hand (close to his face, so that he can’t miss it!). The instant he opens his mouth to give up the toy, say "Yes" and give the puppy the treat (hiding the toy behind your back). Do a few of these exchanges each time. After a few days, you’ll be able to add a cue like "Give" (which will also be his Retrieve cue to relinquish the dumbbell). Say "Give" as he’s opening his mouth, then say "Yes," and then give the treat. Pretty soon, you won’t need to present the treat, once he knows the verbal cue. At that point, continue the "Yes" and treat (from behind your back), and then start building distance. This whole process will take about a week or so, though it won’t be absolute – especially when the thing in his mouth is just toooooo reinforcing in itself!
7. Socialize the puppy like crazy!
He’ll need exposure to all kinds of things, people, and places. You can carry the puppy in places that are not yet safe for the puppy to touch the ground in (where other dogs have been). He also needs time with you alone, without your other dogs present, so that he bonds more strongly with you than with them.
8. What To Do About Unwanted Behavior
Remember that your puppy is just doing what comes naturally – even if it’s not what you want! There are three important principles to follow with these unwanted behaviors: prevention, distraction, and interruption.
Prevention: Do everything possible to make unwanted behavior impossible!
For example, make sure there are no tempting electric cords in full view.
Distraction : When the puppy is doing something you don’t want,
divert his attention away from it to something more interesting.
For example, when the puppy starts to move towards your shoes, wiggle
a toy in front of his nose and playfully draw the puppy away.
Interruption: When your puppy is doing something you don’t like
and you can’t distract the puppy easily or quickly enough, interrupt the
behavior with a loud sound (hand clap, or slap on hard surface).
When he responds to the sound by startling, immediately ask the puppy
to do something you like that he knows how to do, and, when he does
it, c/t.
Dani Weinberg
Albuquerque, New Mexico
daniw@earthlink.net
Posted in New Puppy, Puppy Mouthing | 
Tags: dog training, House Training, puppy, puppy training | 
1 Comment »
Puppy Mouthing and Biting
December 14th, 2009
Puppy Training & Puppy Mouthing
Almost all puppies mouth, its how they explore. Ever seen a baby play with a toy? He always puts it in his mouth to figure out what the object is. Dogs are the same way.
Their mouths are like our hands. Before puppy training, it is very natural for a dog to mouth people when they first come home to their new life away from their pack. In the pack, the puppies will mouth each other as well as the mom. When they get too harsh the other puppy will YELP to let them know it hurt. This is called learning bite inhibition and dogs that are taken away from their litters too early might not learn this as well. If your puppy was taken too early (before 6-7 weeks) then get your puppy with other puppies and that can help puppy training.
Stop your puppy mouthing
It is relatively easy to teach your puppy not to do this with proper puppy training. In fact, most puppies simply grow out of this behavior altogether. Remember, they are teething when they are young, so chewing feels good! Give lots of toys with different textures to help get their chewing needs appropriately with puppy training.
1. Never reinforce puppy mouthing
This puppy training technique means you must remove your attention every time this happens. Attention to a dog includes eye contact. With kids its best to tell them to cross their arms and stare at the ceiling. 30 seconds is about the time you should ignore your puppy. Don’t push your puppy away as this can become a game quickly.
2. Try yelping like a puppy
Yelping in many puppy training cases will communicate exactly what you want – that it hurts when your puppy does that. That in combination with removing your attention will likely get rid of the mouthing problem. Of course some puppies will become excited by this yelp and bite harder – if that happens, don’t use this puppy training method.
3. What if those don’t work
Another puppy training technique is using a little lemon juice or bitter apple on your hands. When the puppy mouths you, they won’t like the taste.
4. Teach him something else to do
Teach your dog to lick on the cue "no bite". Put a treat in your hand. When your puppy licks, give him the treat and say "no bite". He’ll learn this puppy training lesson fast 
5. Grabbing a dogs mouth
The problem with this method is you really want your dog to be comfortable with having their mouths and teeth handled. If they have a negative association to your hand in their mouth, this can create more problems. Be clear about your consequences and try the above methods, if you are 100% consistent, you will see this behavior go away.
Puppy Training Advice
December 10th, 2009
Puppy Training
Puppy training can be a trying time. The key to this time is to really remember that all puppy behavior is normal. They like to mouth, jump, bark, dig and piddle wherever they are. They aren’t doing it to annoy you, they are just doing what they have learned so far. It is our job to train them not to do these things.
Think of it as teaching your child to read. You wouldn’t punish your child for not knowing the alphabet if they have never seen it before right? So we don’t need to punish our puppies for things we haven’t taught them. Here, we will talk about normal puppy behavior and ways to encourage them to try something new. Remember – Behavior that is followed by something the dog likes will increase! Puppy training should be a lot of fun!
Puppy behavior
Jumping: There are two ways to solve this – first, stand on their leash. Second, teach them to sit. By teaching sit we are removing the desire to jump.
Mouthing: See this full article on puppy mouthing.
Pulling: This one is easy. Just stop walking! If you never go anywhere when the dog pulls, he will quickly learn. Offer a small treat when he is by your side and talk in a happy voice to encourage him.
The key to training any behavior is to be 100% consistent in your efforts. Often times it will get worse before it gets better but it will go away if you are consistent.
Puppy dog training
Try enrolling in a puppy kindergarten near you. This will really help with socialization and early puppy dog training. Find a dog trainer near you.
Housebreaking puppies
Puppies need to go to the bathroom after they play, chew, drink, eat or sleep. Start by putting them on a leash and tethering them to you. That way you can be aware of them when they start sniffing the ground (usually a cue the puppy needs to go potty). Pick them up and carry them outside. When they go potty, tell them “good potty” and give a cookie as a reward. Do not let your puppy off leash until they have finished going so they get into the habit of going potty, then playing. Many puppies will want to go outside just to play if you let them off leash first.
What if my puppy has an accident?
He will. Do not punish your puppy though. If you catch your puppy in the act then clap your hands or pick them up – this will make your puppy stop going. Get him outside FAST and let him finish up out there. Reward him for going outside. Clean up the mess with natures miracle (or read our article on dog urine removal) which will remove the odor completely.
Do NOT rub their nose in it, swat them with a newspaper, or isolate your puppy. It will only teach them to not go in front of you.
If your puppy is going frequently in the house you are probably not supervising them enough. Watch and learn their cues. If you feel you are watching and your puppy isn’t getting it you can always have them checked for a Urinary tract infection.
If your puppy piddles when you greet them, this could be submissive urination. This would be a problem that is usually cured by ignoring the behavior and letting your puppy calm down before touching them when you first see them.
This article not only applies to puppies, but it is how you should train a dog of any age. If you can’t supervise your dog, please put them in a crate to help curb accidents. Remember, dogs go where they go most!
This can be a trying time, so have patience and you will get through it.
Puppy Training Methods
December 10th, 2009
Puppy training is quite simple. Think about what behaviors you want your puppy to have when they are a year, and full grown and start the rules from day one.
Puppy training is all about reinforcing or rewarding what your dog does. Sometimes, a puppy will get reinforced without you even around. If your puppy jumps up on the table and eats a big piece of chicken – the puppy got a reward for jumping up. See how easy that is? The number one rule for puppy training is ALWAYS WATCH YOUR PUPPY. If you aren’t watching you can’t see what they are about to get into. I always tell my puppy training clients to put the puppy on leash and keep that baby with you 100% of the time. If you can’t watch the puppy, put him in his crate for a time with a stuffed kong in order to keep the puppy busy – or if you notice they are going to sleep, its often wise to let them have a nap in their little den.
If you always praised the dog or gave a piece of food ( cheerios are great for puppy training ) for the doing doing good things then the behaviors you liked would increase. Teach sit, loose leash walking and start on stays while your puppy is young. Here are some puppy training rules you have to decide on when starting puppy training.
- Will you let your dog jump on people? If you have a small dog, it might not bother you to let your dog jump – thats a personal decision. If you dont want your dog to jump, puppy training should include never talking to, pushing, or making eye contact with a dog who is jumping.
- Will you let your dog on the furniture? If not, dont let them up there during puppy training.
- Do you want your dog to whine in their crate? If not, never open a crate for a whining puppy.
- Will you let your puppy chew on your hands? If not, never let it happen during puppy training! Pull your hand away and ignore your puppy for 30 seconds.
You see, when you are puppy training, you have to evaluate each individual behavior and think – this is cute now, but will this be so cute in a year? When your puppy is full grown? They are only small for a very short time!