Educanines

Another huge thing that is really simple to train is name recognition. You should do this about 100 times/week in the beginning.  Say his name, and the second he looks at you, give him a small treat.  You may be able to use his kibble for this, but be prepared to give him a better treat for harder tasks.  Just like with people, harder jobs deserve a larger paycheck.

When you begin working on name recognition,  you should say his name one time, and only one time…you don’t want his name to turn into “FluffyFluffyFluffyFluffyYouDumbDogDon’tYouHearMeCallingYou?”, so say it once, and wait.  Training a dog requires a lot of patience.  In the beginning, you can say his name one time and clap or make the kissy noise, etc. to get him to look at you.  Before long, every time you say his name, his head will whip right around to look at you.  Building this foundation now will make teaching recalls and walking politely and everything else sooo much easier.  This will also help him learn his name quickly.  If you’re consistent with this, it will become a conditioned response, and he won’t be able to stop himself from looking when you call his name, even if he’s chasing a squirrel across the yard.

Barking is a natural thing for dogs to do. They bark when they are happy, nervous, or scared. Even though it is totally normal for dogs to bark, it is not always appropriate. There are several humane ways to work with your dog to limit barking. The easiest, and most common, way to stop your dog from barking is to teach him to bark on command. If you put the behavior on cue, this often causes the dog’s brain to change when it is acceptable to bark. Once the dog learns that you will ask him to bark when you want to hear it, he will wait for the signal most of the time. If an intruder comes into your basement window, I’m sure you won’t want Spot to wait for permission to bark!

In addition to teaching your dog to bark on command, you can also teach an incompatible behavior. If your dog barks when the doorbell rings, find a patient friend to help you retrain your dog. Have your friend stand outside and ring the doorbell. When your dog starts to bark and race to the door, jump up and call him to the kitchen, where his treats are kept. You will have to be fast here! Ask him to sit, and reward the quiet sit, while your friend waits outside. After a few minutes, try it again. Usually by the 5th repetition or so, your dog will start heading to the kitchen when the doorbell rings, instead of racing for the door, barking to beat the band.

If your dog is left in the back yard all day while you are at work, and he is barking while you are gone, the first thing to do is make sure that he has plenty to do in the back yard. It is very rare for dogs to just run around without something to engage their minds. They should have interactive toys, like Buster Cubes and stuffed Kongs, to keep them busy. Dogs left in the back yard are prone to picking up all sorts of bad habits, like digging, barking, and turning into a canine Houdini.

Most puppies will nip and gnaw on a person during play, just as they do with their littermates. Typically, a puppy learns bite inhibition, or not to bite harder than his playmates will allow, between about six and nine weeks of age. He learns this from his mother and littermates. If puppies are playing in their whelping box, and one puppy (we’ll call him Spot) is a little too rough with another puppy (Fido), Fido will give a loud yelp and ignore Spot for five to ten minutes. The other puppies will typically respect this time-out, and Spot learns that if he gets too rowdy with Fido, the game is over, and he has to play alone until Fido forgives him.

if you have brought home a puppy that did not learn proper bite inhibition from his mother or littermates, you can teach him to be gentle on you. After all, puppies protected by fur are a bit tougher than human hands. If your puppy bites your hand while you are playing with him, and you feel that he is playing too rough, treat him just like Fido would. Give a loud ‘puppy yelp’, and ignore him for a few minutes. You will need to do this consistently, so that your puppy does not get mixed messages. It is also not acceptable for your puppy to gnaw on the hands of visitors, even if they are encouraging the behavior. One day, you may have a toddler in the house, and their tender skin will not tolerate the abuse that your burly, construction working neighbor’s skin can handle. Your puppy must be taught to be gentle with all humans from an early age.

If you feel that you have consistently tried yelping to teach your puppy that he is playing too rough, and his behavior has not improved, you can try putting something that tastes bad, like Bitter Apple or Phooey, on your hands. Often, this is the last step for a puppy that is nearly over nipping at your hands. The taste of these things will deter him from continuing this behavior.

All puppies will nip at humans during play times. This is very normal behavior. If the behavior progresses, or includes growling or lunging at people, you should consult a behavior specialist to ensure that these habits do not escalate.

People can easily turn their new puppy into a jumping machine by their actions early in the puppy’s life. It is human instinct to pick up a puppy as soon as you see it, and bring his face up to your face. This reinforces face to face greetings in puppies, which will encourage them to jump up in order to receive the same sort of greeting. When greeting your puppy, be sure you leave him on the ground, unless you (and all of your friends) are tough enough to catch an eighty pound dog coming at you from across the room who just wants to say hello.

If you have adopted a jumping puppy, there are several things that you can use to keep him from jumping on you.

·     First, turn your back on the puppy. Often, this will confuse him, and he will stop jumping long enough to find your face again. Praise him when he has all four feet on the floor.

·     Next, reward your puppy for sitting politely. This should be reinforced whenever anyone comes into the house. You can leave a cookie jar on the front porch, and as people come inside, your puppy will see the treat and sit for it.

·     When greeting your puppy, do so calmly. This will help him remain calm as well. If every greeting is noncholant. your puppy will realize that the world does not revolve around you entering the house.

·     If your puppy is still having issues jumping on guests, you may try having him on his leash when expected guests come to visit. Don’t use the leash to jerk him down, but use it to have control before they enter the house. If you ask the puppy to sit, he can’t jump. Teaching an incompatible behavior will often cure jumping.

·     For unexpected visitors, like a UPS delivery, teach your dog to run to the back door, or the kitchen, or any room away from the front door whenever the doorbell rings. Have treats readily available and practice with a patient friend. If your dog runs to the kitchen, you can ask him to sit and stay for his treat, and then answer the door. You can also bring your dogs to the back yard if it is fenced. This is not meant to be a permanent solution, but will allow you to manage the situation and still have guests come over while you are training your dog to sit politely when someone comes to the door.

Puppies need a consistent set of rules in their new home, especially for housebreaking. As soon as you bring a new puppy home, you should take him to the area of the yard that has been designated as the puppy’s ‘bathroom’. As you are training him, it is important that you do not play with the puppy until after he eliminates. If the puppy does not eliminate after five minutes, bring him inside and place him in his kennel for five to ten minutes. Then, return to the yard and wait again. Repeat this pattern until he eliminates properly outside. Every time your puppy eliminates in the proper location, throw a ‘potty party’ for him. He should know how pleased you are right away. Give him a treat, a nice belly rub, or a quick game of fetch in the yard.

Your puppy will need to be taken outside every few hours at first. He will need to go out after meals, as soon as he wakes up, and after playing. If you are consistent with your puppy, housebreaking will be over before you know it. If you are too busy to pay attention to the puppy, he should be in his kennel, or tethered to you. Letting a new puppy run around your house unsupervised is just like taking the diaper off of a toddler and turning him loose on your new Persian rug. Set your puppy up to succeed, and he will do just that. If your puppy does have an accident in the house (and he will!), do not scold him or punish him for it. After all, you weren’t potty trained in a day. If your puppy eliminates in the house, ask yourself why you didn’t see the signals he gave you beforehand. You will probably find that you are the guilty party! Every time your puppy eliminates outside, you must reward him for it. This will increase the likelihood of the repetition of the behavior.

For more information, see our post on crate training your puppy.

First, the crate.  It should be large enough to accommodate your dog when he is fully grown, otherwise you’ll just have to buy a new one in a few months.  The crate should come with a divider (most of them do now), and you should give him enough space to stand up, lie down, and turn around.  If he has more room than this, he can eliminate at one end of the crate, and rest at the other, making the housebreaking process longer and harder.  As he grows, you will need to move the divider back.  The best crates are the wire ones that fold down and look like a really thin suitcase, not the plastic airline kennels.  The drop pin wire crates are cheaper, but not as sturdy.  They’re also harder to put together, and it takes 2 people to hold the sides and top steady.  To train him to enjoy the crate, never use it as punishment.  It has to be a place he feels safe, and likes to be, otherwise every time you leave, he’ll feel like he’s being punished.

When you get your crate, set it up wherever you will be keeping it, and put a treat inside it, on the floor.  Let your puppy wander around and smell the crate, allowing him to go inside and ‘find’ the treat.  The crate is already looking pretty good…see how this works??  Don’t try to close the door on him at first, until he is going in and out easily on his own.  Then, try closing the door for about 2 minutes, but don’t leave the room.  Give him a small treat as you put him in the crate, and as long as he is quiet, you can let him out of the crate in a few minutes.  Never let him out when he’s throwing a fit.  Now, keep in mind, he may whimper or bark to tell you he needs to go outside while in his crate, and you definitely don’t want to ignore that!  You will come to know which are the ‘urgent – take me outside’ barks, and which are the ‘come play with me, I’m bored’ barks.

You can work up to 30 minutes or so in his crate, always rewarding him for going into it, either with a treat or a stuffed Kong (www.kongcompany.com has tons of recipes for stuffing Kongs, like with peanut butter, cheese, frozen chicken broth, etc.).  If he is very reluctant about going into the crate, put his treat or Kong or dinner inside the crate, and close the door, keeping him OUT of it.  When you open the door, he’ll dive in to get the reward.  This is what you want to see…a dog that enjoys being in the crate.  Most puppies up to about 6 months will be able to stay in the crate for 3-4 hours without eliminating.  This is after he has eaten and has eliminated in the morning, of course.  Your puppy will need to go out for at least 20 minutes or so at lunchtime, so he can stretch his legs and go outside.

Another thing you’ll need to agree on is what you will all say when you are sending him to his kennel.  You could say crate, kennel, go to bed, do hard time (yes, I know someone that uses that!), etc.  It really doesn’t matter what you use, as long as everyone in the family agrees on it so that he has a clear understanding of what it is.

For more tips on housebreaking, see our Housebreaking Basics post.

• If your puppy is doing something you don’t like, instead of saying “NO”, give your dog something else to do, like sit or lie down. Using an incompatible behavior works when he is jumping, running through the house, or chewing on your new shoes.
  
• Before asking your puppy to do anything, be certain you have his attention. If you don’t hear someone, you can’t do what they are asking. It’s the same for your puppy.
  
• All rewards do not have to be food. Try using a life reward like chasing a ball, going for a walk or a good tummy rub to reward behaviors you would like your puppy to repeat.
  
• When your puppy is demanding attention, give him more than he bargained for. A quick session of puppy pushups will often convince your puppy that playing alone is more fun than bothering you for attention. Puppy pushups are quick sessions of sit and down, done in rapid fire succession. See how many you can do in a minute!

Educanines is now a WordPress site!  That means that we’ll be filling it up with all sorts of free tips for training dogs.  You’ll be able to search the site and find help with the issue that you’re having (especially once I post all of the archived material that I have).  If you have a question that you’d like for us to answer, feel free to send it to questions@educanines.com and we’ll be in touch!

If you’d like to schedule a behavioral consultation, you can also email chrissy@educanines.com for details on how to set this up.

If you’re looking for dog training in Denver (our former home), visit www.wagwag.net.