Small Dog Training

We just adopted an 8 week old rat terrier puppy I know it’s early but I want to start her training as soon as possible for obedience and house training does anyoen have any suggestions on where I can go to get tips and ideas for this ?

housetraining should start immediatly upon bringing him home. At first you should take the dog out every couple of hours and stay out with him until he goes. When he goes he needs to be rewarded right away, with praise and treats. Whe in the house look for signs he is about to go sniffing, circling, you’ll oick up on them quick. In the event he does go you must punish him in the act, a loud NO is recommended, sometimes a quick swat on the butt but not to hard is neccesary. Then immediatly take him out and wait til he does his business, rewarding him and praising him when he does. If you find an accodent after the fact do not punish the dog, even if uoi bring him to it and show him it it will not understand and it will only confuse him

we just got her friday and shes a cockapoo. she has already taken a dump on the carpet and peed various times on wooden floor. we went out and bought those mats they can go on but where should we put them? we want her to be trained to need to go outside to go potty.

also bout what age should we start with the sit and lay or obedience training with her?

Sorry the potty training advice says "he" and not "she"…I keep it pre-written.

Set a timer to remind you to take your puppy out every 30 minutes. Take him to the spot you want him to potty and wait patiently until he does. Once he seems to be doing good with that, then set the timer for 45 minutes, and so on and so on. Work at getting it to 2 hours and up. Always take him to his potty spot. If he poops in the wrong place (house, or where ever) pick up the poop and put it where you want him to go and show him nicely so he will get the idea.

Also, take him out every time he wakes up, about 15-30 minutes after eating, and after hard play.

Never tell him NO when he potties in the wrong place because you will confuse him. He will think that the act of going potty is bad, not where he is going potty. And never stick his nose in it. You don’t want to scare him or make him angry with you.

Use positive reinforcement EVERY TIME. Tell him something like "good potty" when he gets it right.

Remember, he is a baby. Be patient and consistent. It takes a while to develop bladder control, but give him time and it will happen.

Good reading would be "Training Your Puppy" magazine type book by the editors of Dog Fancy magazine, and "House-Training" also by the editors of Dog Fancy.

You also might want to clean and deorderize the spots on the floor where she pees and poops so she won’t be attracted back to those spots. We use Fresh N Clean oxy-strength….it works great the first time, no need to use it over and over again to get rid of the smell and stain. I would swear by it!

As for obedience training….start NOW. You can never start too soon. We started at 8 weeks and he learned quickly.

Good luck

We were doing pretty good so we thought for the potty training but we went away for one afternoon and now she is pooping in the house again. It is very cold now though maybe its that? this is our first puppy we’ve had to train.Please help.

First off, Dont go to pet smart. They use that Purely Positive CRAP. Anywho, get a crate that will be large enough for her stand up and turn around in comfortably when she is an adult. Then block it off to make it that fit that way for how she is now and no bigger. Puppies do not like to mess where they sleep. Put her in there, when ever she cannot be watched, at night, at work, basicly whenever, you cannot be there to not let her out of your sight. DONT use the crate as punishment. You want her to happy in the crate. It will be her ‘den’. Take her out a few min. after every meal, every drink of water, after a hard play session, when she get up, when she goes to bed, and every 3-4 hours (yep, even at night) pretty soon she will get the idea and let you know in her own way that she has to go out. This may be whining, scratching at the door, barking, sitting at you feet and starring at you, nudging you with her nose. Anything, soon you will realize her sign and what it means.

Labs are NOTORIUS for chewing and digging. Be sure to have PLENTY of rawhides, kongs, and indistructable toys to stimulate her mind. If she gets bored, SHE WILL FIND SOMETHING TO DO. Again, the crate comes in handy when you cant watch her.

Start obediance training now. Keep sessions short and fun.

Make sure you keep her WELL exercized. Labs are very intense dogs, that especially as pups (which can be untill the age of 3) will NEVER quit. Swimming, running, fetch, and playing with other dogs is very good in wearing them out

Are there any special tips for training an older puppy?
I mean obedience training not potty training.
We adopted our girl, Princess, at 6 months. And we are working with her according to all the websites we read. I was just wondering if we should be doing something different since she is older?
We are new to dog owning.

6 months is still young! Training should go just as smoothly as it would for a younger puppy. Thank you for adopting, that always puts a smile on my face! =D

Just got her last night…planning on puppy/obedience training..bu no classes open right now

don’t take her to places like petsmart / petco etc until all her shots are done. Doberman especially are prone to catching parvo and it is more serious for them as well as Rottweilers and other black / tan breeds. Although puppy classes are good to start before all the shots are done, make sure that its a clean environment and that they check vaccination records for puppies.

Take the training one step at a time
1) get her used to the leash: put the leash on her, even around the house and let her drag it around. (don’t let her bite it) she should just get used to it being there.
2) don’t get a retractable leash (because that just reinforces her pulling on the leash) get a short one, like 6 feet. When you walk with her, if she pulls, sharply yank the leash back a little bit (don’t just pull) and release and tell her "heel". If she does it again repeat it. When she is being good and walking next to you, praise her "good girl for Heeling!" and give her a treat.
This is not something you will achieve in one day, but she will get used to

Oh and one more thing, its best to do it when she is at least a little bit tired, (like she had at least some play time before). Mine is a ball of energy, and her attention span is about a millisecond when she is 2 excited. so i play with her first to let some of that energy out and then it is much easier to train.

I hate the thought of paying hundreds to have our puppy trained when we could do it ourselves. Can someone help recommend a very good book to us,we have a border collie currently 8 weeks old.

Try any books by CAESAR MILAN, also know as THE DOG WHISPERER.
He gives great advice, and very easy to follow his instructions.
Debi

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What age do you think I should start obedience training my pup [sit, lay down, stay, come]? I’ve already started "manners" [no bite, no jump, etc.].

And how do you suggest to train a puppy not to nip. I have been saying no bite whenever she nips at me or whoever else. She seems to be pretty much ignoring it. I’ve also tried yelping, it works sometimes. And what should I do after? Ignore her?

The sooner the better. Most breeders start teahing their pups before they go to their new homes.

You probably aren’t yipping in a high enough pitch or loud enough. If she stops you praise her, if she doesn’t you yip again.

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Get a crate and crate train before housetraining. Best thing I ever did for my Cocker spaniel.

You can find information on crate training all over the place. Just google.

And make sure he gets well socialized- ESPECIALLY with children who tend to scare dogs that aren’t used to them. This means start taking him to the park or to relatives homes who have kids so he gets used to seeing them.

And love him up. If he knows you love him, he’ll trust you, which makes all training much easier.