OK, now you've brought home your adorable, furry bundle of joy .
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Rule #1: Consistency and structure make a pup feel secure. Don't just put food in your dog's dish and walk away, have her earn some of it by doing what you want. It'll help her learn how to learn, that there's a give-and-take, she does something, you do something. Just establish in your mind what behaviors you're looking for and reward them. Be consistent.
Rule #2: Control the pup's environment; Freedom must be earned. Just like you childproof your house when you have a toddler, you want to puppy proof your house to some extent when you have a pup. There's no reason for your puppy to have the run of the house unsupervised until she's older and has demonstrated she is housebroken and not likely to chew on everything in sight. Use baby gates or an x-pen to confine your pup to a small, safe area in your house.
You know puppies like to chew so try to keep unsafe items away from the pup. If she does grab something she shouldn't--and she will--try the object exchange method. Offer her something yummy in return. Don't chase her around the house yelling; that's a fun game and teaches her to run from you. Once she learns that you're willing to trade something really tasty for what she's got, she'll give it up.
Rule #3: Don't let the pup have accidents. Believe it or not, the best way to teach the pup to potty where you want her to is to make sure she doesn't go anywhere else. The more mistakes she makes, the more confusing it is for her. Even if you clean up the spot, my belief is that dogs can still smell it, and when they go by that spot again and they have to potty, they smell it and figure they went there once so they'll go there again. I try to take out a new puppy at least every hour but you'll also need to take her out after she eats, after she's been playing, after she wakes up from a nap, and any time you're in doubt and you think she might have to go. So, you'll be going out a lot but it's worth it in the long run and hey, we all need exercise.
Once you're outside, as soon as the pup starts to go, put a word to it. Doesn't matter what--dogs don't know English, or any other language for that matter. Dogs learn by association so you want to pair the word with the occurrence. Over time, they will learn to go on command. This can be a godsend when traveling or in bad weather. Trust me, standing out in sub-freezing temperatures while your dog is searching for the "right" spot to potty gets old, fast.
After your pup has gone to the bathroom, it's time for a party! Praise, perhaps a treat, it's cause for a celebration. Since housebreaking seems to be such a problem for so many people, it really is a festive occasion. If your neighbors think you're wacky, well, let them. It'll also help keep you humble.
Rule #4: Make sit a default behavior. A sitting dog can't be jumping up. Start from day 1 asking your dog to sit before being petted. Ask everyone who meets your pup to wait for the pup to sit. Whenever your pup *does* sit instead of jumping up, acknowledge that, either through giving the pup a treat, praise, using a toy as a reward, some way to let you know you're proud of what she's done. You want to make "sitting for attention" a habit. One caveat here--it's easy to accidentally reward the pup for hopping once then sitting, or conversely, sitting then immediately hopping up. Timing is crucial. For a detailed video on teaching your dog to sit please see Dr. Sophia Yin's video at this link: http://drsophiayin.com/resources/video_full/teaching-a-dog-to-sit-politely-rather-than-jump . You don't have to tell the dog to sit at this point, you want to *get the behavior*. If your dog decides to do something else besides sit that's calm, such as standing or lying down, that is acceptable also. You want to reward appropriate greeting behavior. This takes some effort on you and your family's part because who can resist a cute little puppy jumping on you for attention? The problem comes in several months down the road when the pup's not so cute nor cuddly and the pup doesn't understand why jumping up no longer gets the same reaction.
Rule #5: Leash your dog to you for part of the day. This helps with bonding and with supervision. Your pup can't get into too much trouble because you are always with her. You can begin to work on getting her to follow you both on and off leash by using treats.
Rule #6: Make sure you leave your puppy alone in her crate for a brief time every day. This will help prevent separation anxiety. If they had their choice, dogs would be with you 24/7, but that isn't practical. Even if you work out of your home, you need to teach the pup that there are times when you aren't going to be around, what if you had to be gone for an extended period?
Get your puppy used to spending time alone in her crate. Put her in the crate with a toy and a Kong filled with some peanut butter or something else for her to nibble on . Put the peanut butter Kong in the freezer so it'll last longer. If you need more tips on what to put in a Kong (peanut butter is high calorie), we have a video discussing that on our Utube channel. Don't let her out as a reward for barking or whining but obviously if your pup is panicking, then this advice doesn't apply. There are ways to help your pup get used to being in a crate such as crate games. You can also get a product from your vet called DAP, a product containing a pheromone that may help calm the pup. As for how long a dog should be in a crate, a general rule of thumb for puppies is their age in months plus 1.
Rule #7: Expose your puppy to diversity. This means different people, different dogs, different places, different surfaces, children if you don't have any. Often people will adopt an older dog and say the dog "must have been abused" because the dog seems fearful of certain things. While this may be the case, it can also be that the dog just wasn't exposed to those things and as dogs get older, they fear what they don't know. Ian Dunbar( http://www.siriuspup.com/) says that your puppy should be exposed to 100 people by the time your pup is 3 months old. Many of us may not be able to make this deadline, but you should make an effort to expose your pup to as many people as you can.
Rule #8: Handle your puppy all over every day. For the rest of your dog's life, she will need to be handled and may need to be restrained at times. So, get her used to it now by touching her paws, looking in her mouth, grooming, etc. If she gets upset, just be matter-of-fact and don't get upset or worried, if you act calm she'll calm down. Don't start telling her it's ok, this makes it sound like you mean it is ok for her to be upset, plus it's not ok really, but it's not a big deal. Did your mother ever tell you to do something "because I said so?" You can take that attitude with your pup, she just has to do it because you said so, and if you act self-assured, she will. You can smear some canned squeeze cheese on her mouth or a little bit of peanut butter to help matters, but if you hold her and she squirms, and you're not hurting her, your release after she does calm down is also a reward. Once you've made your point and she has settled down, don't keep doing it over and over, this is best done no more than once or twice a day, over a period of time until it becomes routine, it's not something to drill on. For some people, if a pup resists, they seem to want to take it on with a "make my day" attitude. You're not Clint Eastwood and it's not necessary to make it into a battle, you want to establish trust, not fear. You want her to trust that you're asking her to do something that may seem scary,but you have a good reason, and it can help establish the tone of the relationship.
Rule #9: Eat this, not that. All puppies chew and mouth things-- they have to, they don't have hands.
Keep plenty of chew toys on hand and when your pup starts to chew on something she shouldn't, hand her something appropriate instead.
Rule #10: Train your puppy. Puppies can quickly learn to sit, lie down, begin leash walking, and to "settle." Teach coming when called through games and by using treats, and never call your dog to you and then punish it or yell at it.
Rule #11: Play with your puppy. By this time if you've stuck it out with these rules, having a puppy might seem like a job, not fun at all. Enjoy your puppy for what she is, another creature with a different life experience. Wonder at her new look at the world and how she lives in the present in a way we never can. Before you know it, her muzzle will turn gray and her steps will slow,
and it will be time for you to say good-bye.
There's lots of good information out there, and I hope these rules help get you started as well.
Ian Dunbar has a free puppy ebook that you can download from his website at http://www.dogstardaily.com/free-downloads .
Sophia Yin also has videos and books on her website, http://drsophiayin.com/ .
Susan Garrett's " It's Yer Choice Game" is invaluable for helping to teach puppies self control. You can find more information on her site at http://susangarrettdogagility.com/ .
My friend Susan Eldred also has a very good puppy book and she can be contacted at http://fascinatingscent.com/books/puppy-training-book .
For help with your new puppy, or any other questions, you may contact me through www.rosetreedogtraining.com
Wonderful article! The only only thing I would contest is the whole don't tell your puppy it is "ok" when he/she is worried since you don't want to assure them their behavior is appropriate. There are a ton of articles out there about fearful dogs etc. and the fact that you cannot reinforce fear. So if a puppy is afraid of being handled or afraid of the vacuum, being comforting isn't rewarding them and telling the pup you like them afraid. Being comforting either does nothing at all, or will help the pup/dog be confident in the situation and realize that in fact, the world is not ending. Here is a quick link by Patricia McConnell on the subject; http://www.thebark.com/content/reducing-fear-your-dog
ReplyDeleteGood point. I was actually thinking about what can happen when the owner gets anxious themselves and then it becomes a negative reciprocating cycle. I agree if a pup is truly scared, their fear will override everything else. I also like William Campbell's "jolly routine." When I was running with Hops over Christmas, one of the houses we went by had a moving Santa decoration that popped its head out of a package. Hops was so scared of it he nearly knocked me over. I didn't force him to go near it, but we stopped and I just walked near it, going through some of the routine. It didn't make him like it, but he at least was able to run by it finally without jumping in front of me.
DeleteThanks for clarifying!