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All pets need to be trained - socialized in living with people. They aren't born knowing what to do; you have to teach them to do what you want. To get your dog to behave the way you want, you have to understand why they behave the way they do. Books like The Koehler Method of Dog Training by William Koehler (Howell Book House, 1962), When Good Dogs Do Bad Things by Mordechi Siegal and Matthew Margolis (Little, Brown & Co, 1986), or Solving Your Dog Problems by Michael Tucker (Howell Book House, 1987) should be helpful to the novice trainer or new dog owner. If you want to know more about training for AKC events you can go to the section on showing your dog. Your dog's instinct is to please you - after all you are the source of all food, toys and leadership. Improper behavior is frequently caused by poor training, boredom or anxiety. The key to training is consistency. Be consistent in your demands. Don't approve of behavior at one time and disapprove at another. If you don't want your dog jumping on people, you can't let it jump on you because "it's so cute." Your dog needs to know clearly what is you want and what you don't want. Be consistent in your corrections. Use a sharp "No!" when the dog does something wrong. Don't punish him when he has stopped the unwanted behavior - this can make him fearful of you. Reward the proper behavior when it occurs. Make a fuss over him and let him clearly know that you are happy with what he's doing (you do want him to go outside, don't you?). As mentioned above under housebreaking, don't punish your dog for something he did when you weren't there. He won't know why he's being punished and you can't tell him (pushing his face in feces won't work. If someone did that to you, all you would learn is to avoid that person). Punishment works when it occurs at the time of or immediately after the unwanted behavior. Be consistent in your attitude. Don't get upset with your dog and never hit him. A stern tone of voice and a sharp "No!" are enough to let him know your displeasure. Never call your dog and then punish him or do something he doesn't like, for example cutting his nails. If you're going to do something unpleasant, go to him or play with him for a while after he comes to you. He should associate coming to you with enjoyable things or he'll never learn to come properly. If you call your dog to come to you and administer punishment, your dog will learn not to come when called. If he doesn't come quickly, put him on a leash and call him, pulling the leash towards you. When he comes praise him lavishly. Never punish him for finally arriving or he'll associate getting to you with punishment. Be consistent in you reinforcement. Repeat corrections in the same way each time to make learning easier. Destructive chewing, barking or whining are often caused by boredom or anxiety. You can reduce boredom by ensuring that your dog gets plenty of attention when you are home and has several kinds of toys to play with when you are away. You can get your dog used to being alone for prolonged periods without becoming anxious. To do this, you should not make a big deal about leaving. Pay attention to your dog before you go out and leave on a happy note, but without fanfare. Try to leave your pet where the potential for getting into trouble is less - don't put him alone in your room full of delicate antiques. Many people don't like to paper train their dogs. They like to read the Sunday paper and it's hard to do if it's soggy. If your schedule permits, it is better to train your dog to go outside. Paper training in the house is telling your dog that it is alright to go inside. That's not really what you want, so it is best, if you can, to eliminate that step. If you do paper train, choose a spot in his room where you want the puppy to relieve himself until he is housebroken and put down a thick layer of newspapers. Your puppy's aim is not precise, so cover a fairly large area to give him a chance to do what you want. Don't cover the room with paper or he won't be able to figure out where you want him to go. Most puppies will then choose a favorite spot and use the same area most of the time. You can try to teach him where to go by leaving a sheet of soiled paper on top of the clean paper. Some puppies will insist on using some other spot in the same or another room. Watch the puppy and place him on the correct spot until he uses it consistently. There are many enzymatic scent destroyers available - all clean floors and effectively remove the smell of waste. Your breeder will tell you how well trained your puppy is for his age, but it's best to assume mistakes will happen. By the age most breeders sell dogs, the dog either will try to get outside or use newspapers if he is in the room and can see them. He may not reliably make it from one room to another when he needs to go. His aim is good, but not perfect - sometimes when the front feet are on the paper, his back feet aren't. At this age, he still goes immediately after he wakes up - even if he's only had a nap. He goes shortly after eating - sometimes before he finishes eating - but each time he eats. He will sometimes stop in the middle of vigorous playing and go. Since puppy behavior is relatively consistent in the regard, it is fairly easy to housebreak and/or paper train him in your house. There are three principles that make paper training and housebreaking easy: dogs don't want to soil their beds (or rooms) any more than we want them to if they have another option. they have to go at predictable times.they want to please you. Your puppy is old enough to learn to go outside at eight weeks, but will have to be taken out much more frequently than an adult. Depending on the time of year, it may be too cold to housebreak your puppy quickly. A young puppy cannot take extreme temperatures like a mature dog can. Therefore, his time outside in the winter and summer must be shorter than desirable to get quick results. Given their napping and eating cycles, small puppies may have to go outside 8-10 times a day to have no errors. Housebreaking is relatively simple. Pick your dog up and take him outside when you know he will want to go. This means immediately on waking up in the morning - put on your coat and bring the leash to him and put it on before you pick him up. If you walk him to the door or take him to the door and put him down to attach the leash or get your coat, he will inevitably mess on the way or as you put the collar on him. Choose a spot for him to use (sometimes, despite your best efforts, he will choose his own spot) and then take him to the same spot consistently when you housebreak him. Praise him as soon as he uses the correct spot. Be sure that the place is secure and cannot be used or infected by neighborhood dogs. Puppies are potentially at danger of infectious diseases until they have received their full series of shots. Even if other dogs don't walk on your property, heavy rains can wash viruses onto your property, causing potential health problems. Once outside, he should go immediately and you should praise him. Reach down and pet him and get very excited about his success (after all, you are happy, aren't you?). Many dogs move their bowels two or more times on a morning walk, so don't rush him back inside (and don't let him rush you back inside either). Feed him when you get back and take him out within about a half hour of his finishing eating. Praise him each time he goes outside throughout the day. If you work, confine him to a puppy-proof room during the day. He should use newspapers predictably. Remember that urine can soak a lot of paper, so layer it well. At least for the first week or so, confine him to a crate at night. If you walk him after 11:30 P.M., and can walk him before 7:00 A.M. the next morning, he should be able to get through the night without accidents. You won't have to worry about sleeping late; he'll wake you up. If you do oversleep, you may have a mess to clean up. While you are housebreaking him, he should not be allowed to roam unsupervised through the house - he'll not only soil the house, but your training will be less effective since you will be giving him a chance to make mistakes without correction. It will usually be O.K. to let him roam for about 2-3 hours after you walk him since he shouldn't have to go. If you watch him closely, and you're fast, you should be able to catch him before he has an accident - he'll start sniffing, acting agitated and walking fast, often in a circle. You should pick him up quickly and put him on the paper or take him out. If you're not quite fast enough and you catch him in the act, say "no" firmly, pick him up - even if he's still going - and take him to the proper place, where you should praise him for finishing in the right place. Never hit him or punish him for a crime you see - or smell - him commit in the house. You want to encourage your dog to let you know when he has to go, even if there are some accidents. You should correct his behavior when he misbehaves in your presence to let him know what he should be doing. Remember, you are correcting behavior, not punishing. If you come upon an accident after the fact, there's not much you can do but clean up. Even though you know what he did wrong, the puppy cannot make the connection between your anger at what you just stepped in and what he did several minutes or hours before. Punishment won't accomplish anything positive. The last thing you want is your dog thinking that he should find some place to go where you won't notice to avoid punishment. Cleaning up under your bed or in a closet isn't your goal. By the time he's six months old, three walks a day should suffice. Use your own judgment when its safe to stop leaving papers on the floor. Some dogs do fine on two walks a day - you will have to judge yourself whether your dog can get by on two a day. |
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