The Most Important Dog Training Secret for New Puppy Owners

Recently, I wrote an answer to a puppy training question on yahoo answers. People say that some of those questions are really dumb. And they may be right, but really dumb questions can raise excellent issues that impact all of us dog lovers.

For example, the questioner wrote: "But we went to puppy training class so he remembers SOME commands." My response: Why doesn't he respond to ALL the commands taught in the puppy training class?
Puppy Learning (your dog) and Puppy Training (you)
Clearly, the commands learned in the class were not reinforced in the case of the yahoo answers questioner.

Let's take a look at this issue from the standpoint of the way a dog learns. Do you show a puppy how to sit 10 times and then expected him to know the verbal command and the hand signal? And then you stop training him?

Puppy learning (your dog) and puppy training (you) are ongoing processes. For example, I was gone for a week when we brought Simon home from PA. When I came back, Alvin (6 months at the time) wasn't responding to simple obedience commands. No one had bothered to reinforce "Sit," "Down," "Stay," and "Come" while I was gone. He hadn't forgotten them; he just wasn't used to doing them.

The Puppy Training Secret

Okay, it's not really a secret, but I needed to get your attention. It's more like common sense. I had to jog Alvin's memory - every day. I remembered the dog trainer mantra from the It's PAWSible! Dog Training and Puppy Training DVD - incorporate the commands into daily living and make the dog work for his rewards.

Of course you need to reinforce basic obedience training with short fun sessions on a daily basis, especially when you're teaching a new command. But the real secret to teaching dog obedience is to make it part of everyday activities.

But how to you make basic obedience part of your daily routine? Think about the times you interact with your dog(s) during the day and see what commands you can incorporate into your interactions.

Examples

1. You're bringing your dog in from outdoors. Ask him to Sit and Stay, and once you've walked through the door into your home, ask him to Come. Same activity going out the door, unless the dog really has to go!
2. Before you put his full food disk on the floor, ask for a Sit or a Down.
3. Your new puppy is shadowing you all over the house. As he's following you, stop, say Come, and lavish a lot of praise.
4. Alvin gets an occasional ice cube to supplement his drinking water. I get him to lie down, put the ice cube a foot in front of him, and say "Leave It." Once he looks at me, I say "Okay," and he gets the ice cube.
5. Simon (14 weeks) is leased in the house sometimes because he's not fully housetrained. So we practice the Stay and Come commands a lot.

I'm sure you can think of other situations where you can use the obedience commands. Once you've done these reinforcing activities for a few weeks, they become part of the routine. You will find that it'll make life easier for you and you will have a well-trained dog in no time. As a new puppy owner myself, anything that makes life easier is a gift!
valmillsy

FREE Dog/Puppy Training Ebook

I consolidated the six blogs about dog training (Are You Training Your Dog Or Is He Training You) into an ebook. It contains resources as well as my experiences with Alvin and Simon.

Here are the sections of the ebook:

Introduction

• Dog Training as an Ongoing Process
• Why Dog Training Is So Critical
• Types of Training Covered in This Book

Training Foundation: 8 Concepts to Understand Before You Begin Dog Training

• Are You Committed to Training Your Dog?
• Establish Yourself as the Leader of the Pack
• Your Dog is a Family Member
• Communicate with Your Dog
• Patience and Consistency are Mandatory
• Rewards Work, Punishment Does NOT Work
• Show Respect for Your Pup
• Dogs Deserve EXCELLENT Treatment

HouseTraining

• Internet Search
• Housetraining Alvin
• Housetraining Simon
• References

Obedience Commands

• Basic Commands
• Lesson Learned

Overcoming Aggressive Behavior

• An Example -Whining
• When Your Training is Not Working
• Dog Forums
• Your Vet
• A Certified Dog Trainer

Advanced Commands

valmillsy

Puppy Training - The Big Picture

I finally got smart about puppy training - it's not a finite thing with a beginning and an end - puppy training turns into dog training and NEVER ends.

At first, I thought I could housetrain Alvin and teach him a few commands, and then bingo - a perfectly trained, obedient puppy. What WAS I thinking?

First, I discovered the Basic Command training needed constant reinforcement (this was explained very thoroughly in the It's PAWSible! Dog Training and Puppy Training DVD I used for training). The best example is the COME command - Alvin conveniently forgets that one. And if he's distracted - a rabbit, a bird, someone cooking food - he might forget "SIT." At times, "NO" is clearly a foreign sound. And housetraining - that's a never-ending vigil. One little lapse in his schedule means a possible accident.

Then the behavior/agression issues started in the last few weeks (Alvin is now 5 plus months):

• Jumping up on everyone
• Barking for seemingly no reason
• Backbark (similar to people backtalk)
• Biting/Nipping
• Pulling on the leash
• Constantly getting into mischief (pulling socks or clothes out of a drawer, chewing slippers, chomping on the computer mouse)

It was clear that housetraining and basic command training were not enough and it was time for a new plan. This must be the stage where many people give up training and decide the puppy wasn't such a great idea. And that's how dogs end up in shelters. Lack of committment - people just give up.

What's the solution in Alvin's case - a look at the issues and how to address them with more comprehensive training. And it seems to be working - one day at a time.

More details in future posts . . .

Recall Training Tip - Lure versus Reward

Alvin's typical reaction to the Come Command

If you're new to training a puppy basic commands, you're going to make mistakes. If your pup is not responding the way you want him to, the dog's not stubborn or stupid, you're doing something wrong.

A Prince Alvin example
The Prince responds quite nicely to both verbal and hand commands for sit, stay, and down. The command "Come" is the problem. As long as he's fairly certain I have treats on my person, he'll come when called, even if there are distractions. But when there are no treats in sight (or smell), the reaction is what you see in the picture above.

So what's a newbie trainer to do? In the case of the Come command, my mistake is that I'm using treats as a lure instead of a reward. I finally remembered the discussion of lure versus reward in the training DVD I'm using (see Bringing Your New Pup Home continued). The trainer in "It's Pawsible" recommends phasing out the lure (treats in your hand) to the point where there are no treats in your hand. Once the phaseout is complete, you reinforce randomly with a positive comment or a treat as a reward (but not originally in your hand as a lure).

Over time the pup will associate the treat with the command even if he doesn't get a treat every time. According to this trainer, treats will always be needed as a reward. The trainer asks this question, "Would you come to work if there were no paycheck?"

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Bringing Your New Pup Home continued

Besides the items mentioned in my previous post “Bringing Your New Pup Home – Are You Ready??,” what else do you need before your new pup arrives? You may read some of these items or activities and decide that you don’t really need to get or do them, but that’s up to you.

Dog bed
A dog bed is intended for a dog to sleep in overnight. That’s D O G, not P U P P Y. For a puppy, you set up a confined area with the dog bed in the area. Then you’re supposed to get up at approximately 3 hour intervals to let the puppy out. As the puppy gets older, the interval lengthens and the theory is that eventually the pup will sleep through the night.

Needless to say, Alvin disproved the theory and soiled the designated area well before the time limit was up. The other more-accepted method is using a crate (see below) during the night.

Crate and/or Carrier
Most experts recommend a crate for house-training and sleeping at night. Crates come in different sizes according to the puppy’s weight. Some dog lovers believe it’s cruel to crate a dog; but supposedly, if you crate-train properly, puppies accept the crate as a sort of den and will sleep in it on their own.

Initially, we decided Alvin would use the crate for the times we would leave him alone (if it was only for an hour or so) and during the night. Bottom line – he hated his crate and whined every two hours throughout the night.

And a tip you may want to consider – if you put padding in the crate because you want the pup to be comfortable, be prepared to wash it frequently. Alvin violated the crate law that dogs will not soil their sleeping areas when the padding was in the crate. When I removed the padding and he slept on the plastic bottom, the soiling lessened.

Carriers can be used for car trips. Alvin arrived from Missouri in a small dog carrier. Car trips with Alvin in the carrier are pure torture for both of us. His I-want-to-get-out-of-here bark is ear-splitting!

Grooming Equipment
This includes puppy shampoo, a comb, brush, and if the dog is long-haired and you plan to groom the dog yourself, consider buying clippers, scissors, and an electric shaver. Lots of luck grooming a pup yourself. I have no idea how groomers keep a dog still while they clip fur/hair and nails.

Lead and Ground Spike, Electric Fence
If you have a yard, but no fenced-in area, a long lead and a ground spike will give the dog some running room. Alvin’s main activity when on the lead is to chomp on the plastic covering the lead. To satisfy his need for exercise, we built him a makeshift 24 X 16 fenced-in area using 2-foot high trellises, wood posts and plastic ties.

Consider an electric fence; pups need to weigh a minimum amount, so read the instructions carefully before buying one.

Deodorizer, Rug or Other Surface Cleaner, and Paper Towels
When the pup eliminates on an indoor surface, experts recommend deodorizing the area to neutralize the odor. Pet stores sell a product created for this purpose. Face it, an untrained pup will soil in the house, no matter how conscientious you are about housetraining. Sop up urine or pick up poop with a paper towel, apply the deodorizer to neutralize, and use the cleaner as the last step. Fail to follow this process results in the pup using the same spot again and again. You need to do it right the first time.

Schedule a vet appointment
First, find a vet through friends’ referrals and schedule an appointment when you know the date of the pup’s arrival. It’s important to take your pup to the vet as soon as possible after you bring the animal home. An independent checkup is sometimes specified in a breeder contract and you need to know if the pup has any conditions that require attention.

Bring the breeder information about vaccinations, microchips, etc. with you to the vet.

Read about Alvin’s initial vet visit in this post: More on Designer Puppy Breeders.

Training Information (Internet notes, DVD(s), books)
Read about housetraining, socialization, and general dog raising, especially if it’s your first dog or you haven’t had a pup in the last few years. Catering to the needs of dogs and puppies is big business and you’ll be amazed at the amount of information available on the Internet, DVDs, and books.

The DVD "It's Pawsible" leads you through 5 weeks of training for the basic commands. If you have the time to train a few minutes a day, you'll be amazed at the results. More on training in future posts. I mention this DVD because it's structured and consistent in the approach to each command as well as using untrained dogs for demo purposes.

Anti-chew spray
A pup WILL chew everything if allowed to do so. The first line of defense is to remove everything the pup can chew from the floor (for example, area rugs, shoes, electrical cords). If furniture becomes a target, you can spray the area with an anti-chew spray purchased at the pet store.

Among other things, Alvin chews his dog tags (microchip identifier and rabies tag) to the point where he started to remove the rabies info. I tried the spray and also a little hot sauce, but Alvin persists in obliterating the tag data.

Bones
Dental cleaning bones, edible bones, and plastic chewing bones satisfy the pup’s teething needs. Remove bones when the pup starts eating plastic pieces. Although these pieces are supposedly not a problem, a persistent chewer (you guessed it – Prince Alvin) will break off pieces and swallow them. I always wonder if he’ll choke and how pieces of plastic get through his small digestive system.

A bell for the door
Dogs can be trained to hit a bell hanging from the outside door knob each time they need to go outdoors to relieve themselves. Alvin rang the bell a few times during his first two weeks in the house. Now, he ignores the bell and locates the first outside door he can find when he needs to go out. Without a bell sounding, we have to be vigilant about his whereabouts.

Hope these pup preparation tips are helpful!