The first six months after a puppy comes home is critical in shaping the relationship between puppy and family. Lapses and mistakes here can take months to fix, and families often do not have the time, persistence to repair the companionship-gone-wrong. This could lead to trips to the shelter or rescue groups with a tale of woe and a plea to find this “good dog but he…” needs a new home. Followed by a purchase or adoption of another dog and starting on the same path again.
It’s easy to blame the puppy or the breed for example Labs are really to energetic or Terriers are too nippy or say we only took this puppy because he was free, but the truth is that almost any dog can be trained and suitable for almost any family if the family is willing and able to spend the time and energy with the puppy (dog). Much of the early problems in puppy training occur because of the persistence of an old belief that dogs are not ready for training until they are six months old. Well this is just plain wrong. Puppies are ready to learn when they are born. Training merely formalizes the learning so that the family and the puppy can get along and build a bond to last a lifetime.Yo need to teach appropriate behaviors so he will not learn the inappropriate behaviors and that is the way he becomes your dream dog.
Separation anxiety in a puppy starts when he feels uncomfortable being home alone. This could lead into behaviors like barking, chewing on furniture or other items, howling and of course going potty in the house. Usually the anxiety happens 5-10 minutes after you leave. You should right away start teaching your puppy it’s okay to be alone and I’m coming back. A way to do this is to get your puppy from day one use to being alone in his crate or area where he will be in a long-term confinement area when your home. When he is in his crate or confinement area give him a toy and a chew toy to help keep him busy and happy. If your pup starts to whine or bark in their confinement area try your best to ignore him for as long as you can. Only make sure he is not whining because he needs to go potty. Also keep in mind that if you puppy does something wrong while your gone you should not punish him when you get home. Otherwise he will start to associate punishment with your return. When you first get home you should not make a big deal about your return, instead ignore him for a few minutes, then let him out of his create or confinement area and promptly take him out to potty. He will soon understand how this works and become okay with it.
One of the first things you need to decide is if your puppy going to be allowed on the furniture. So if you don’t want him on the furniture then you must never invite him up onto the furniture. To prevent your puppy from jumping up on your furniture when you there with him attach a houseline to his collar. So when he tries to jump up on the furniture step on the houseline to prevent him from jumping. When your puppy moves away from the furniture give him a treat with praise.
To your puppy jumping up is considered a submissive form of greeting in the dog world. However, you must teach your puppy that this greeting is not acceptable in the human world. So when this happens turn away from your puppy fold your arms across your chest and completely ignore your puppy. When your puppy stops jumping and has all his or her paws on the floor, give him the sit command. When he follows this command give him a treat and praise him. If your puppy starts to jump up after this repeat the same process he will soon get the understanding.
If you take your puppy out to go potty, then bring him back into the house and immediately leave for the day, your puppy will quickly learn that going potty is associated with your leaving and being left alone all day. Because of this your puppy will start procrastinating while outside just to keep you around for a while. A way around this is to set time aside to play with him or her once you are back in the house, giving your pup at least 5-10 minutes of play time before you have to leave.
The best and safest way to tether your dog to a door is to slip the leash handle over the doorknob on the other side of the door, drop the leash to the floor, and slip it under the door. Then close the door. Make sure you have a long enough leash so that your dog can get to the items he needs. However you should never use this practice and tether your dog unless you plan to be home and could supervise just in case something happens.
Now your puppy has been in and out of his crate a few times, and now you would like him to sleep there through the night. A good way to do this is to sit the crate on your night stand or a chair close to your bed in a area where he can still see your or you can put your fingers through the crate door. First tire your puppy out by playing with him, make sure he has gone potty and then lure him into the cage with a treat. Go to bed and turn out the lights as usual If the puppy whines, place your fingers in the door of the crate and talk softly to the puppy until he falls asleep. The first night will be the hardest and depending on his age he will only sleep for about 4 hours before he needs to go out to potty again. Make sure you wake up if he starts to whine again and let him out to potty, then promptly bring him back place him back in the crate and tell him to go night night again. If he whines again talk to him softly again until he settles down. He just needs reassurance that you are still close by. Soon he will be use to this routine and once his bladder is larger he will sleep though the night in his crate.
Are you trying to crate train your puppy but he keeps whining? He whines because he would like to be snuggled up to you instead. If you let your puppy sleep on your bed or couch when you first got him it may be harder to crate train him. If you are just about to get a puppy and want to crate train here’s what you can do. First when you get him from the breeder find out if he had a certain blanket he slept on and if you can have it. If so you can put it in the crate so that he will have a familiar smell and feel safe. Okay no blanket that’s okay. Just try to make the crate as comfortable as possible so he will feel at home. Get a small treat and allow the puppy to sniff it and then place the treat in the crate so that the puppy will want to follow the treat. Do not close the door, let him come in and out as much as he wants. Repeat this several times. Think of a phrase you want to use for him to know it is time to go into the crate and use it each time. When you think that he is comfortable next it is time to try closing the door for a while. Place a new toy in there so he will have something new to spark his interest. After you close the door sit on the floor in front of the crate and keep visible so that he knows that you are still there. You can also put your fingers though the crate so that he can lick them and feel your touch. After 5-10 minutes he should stop whining and calm down enough to settle down and possibly go to sleep.
It’s hard for a child under lets say 10, not to understand that you can not use certain tones with puppies when you are trying to train them. You may end up feeling like you are training both the puppy and your child. Kids have a way of using a very high-pitched tone and the words they use are not always pronounced properly. The best way to handle this is to over-enunciate all of your words in front of your child so that he or see can see how it is done. Once they see what you are doing and how your puppy reacts they will want to follow your lead.
Does your pup bark at everything? If the answer is yes. To your puppy this means great things. Because more than likely whatever they are barking at goes away and they feel like they are in charge. Puppies who bark at everything perceives themselves as the boss and not you. They feel as the boss they must guard their territory. You must stop this right away, make sure your puppy knows your the boss and stop the barking That does not mean yelling at your puppy, it means teaching them the appropriate times when to bark. Anytime you hear your puppy starting to bark say Shhht (make sure you emphasis the “T”). Then use a treat to lure him or her back to your side. If your puppy ignores you, place his leash on him and drag him over so that you can gain control.
