House-training should prove no problem if you’re quick and alert to your puppy’s needs. He will need to pay frequent visits to his spot in the garden: after each meal, after a sleep and any time you think about it in between. Always pick him up and carry him to the spot. Give him a command. I use the words ‘busy dog‘. Don’t dump him and retreat back to the house and close the door. He hasn’t a clue what he’s been put in the garden for. You must stay with him, repeating your commands over and over again. Whether it’s hailing, blowing a gale or a snowstorm’s on, you must persevere. As soon as he’s been a ‘busy dog‘, give him lots of praise, tell him how clever he is, pick him up and return him to the house. If you are diligent and watch your puppy closely, you will know when he needs to go out. A sure sign will be when he puts his nose to the ground, his tail up in the air and runs round in circles. That is your cue to move speedily with him into the garden. (more…)
Puppy Pet Socialization
Part of the secret of having a well-trained puppy is the ability on your part to think ahead. You won’t be able to take him for a walk outside until he’s completed his injections, at about fourteen to sixteen weeks. This is far too late to introduce your puppy to a collar and lead and the outside world. The socialization of your puppy at an early age is essential if you require a well-adjusted adult dog. I discovered this, to my cost, with Bracken, my first puppy. I never thought of taking him out on to the streets until he was sixteen weeks old. At home, he was perfectly behaved and afraid of nothing and walked well in the garden on a collar and lead. You can imagine my surprise at our first day’s outing. The moment we stepped out of the gate, Bracken flattened himself to the pavement with terror at the sound and sights of traffic. (more…)
Puppy Pet Sit
The first lesson you wish your puppy to learn is Sit. When you’re in possession of his toy, push your puppy gently down into the Sit position. With your right hand cupped around the puppy’s chest, place your left hand on his back near the tail. With your right hand, push gently backwards, while you are easing down with your left. Give a firm, but not loud, command. Never shout at your puppy. It will only lead him to flatten his ears against the noise and ignore you. It’s much better to talk quietly, then he has to make the effort of listening to you. As soon as his bottom is on the floor in the correct position, throw his toy. Repeat this over and over again in your games, which can take place as often and for as long as puppy is keen to play. He’ll have a marvelous time with you. As far as puppy is concerned, he’s not learning anything, for the Sit position is part of the fun. (more…)
With the puppy sitting on your left-hand side, give a quiet, but firm, Wait command. Do not use puppy’s name. Puppy should always associate his name with coming to you and we do not wish him to do that on this occasion. Take one small pace to your right, count one second and return to your dog and praise him. He shouldn’t have had time to move. If he has, just patiently put him back into the Sit position and try again. You are only expecting puppy to wait there for one second. Extend your puppy’s waiting time very gradually. If you rush it, puppy will want to come to you and you have achieved nothing.
Many puppies lose their confidence if they think their owner is leaving them. It’s not a bad thing that your puppy wants to be with you constantly, so you must build his confidence up. (more…)
It is important for you to remember that your puppy does not understand English. It is essential to show him exactly what the words mean. Most dog owners don’t realise that they have actually taught the puppy to do the wrong thing by not using action and words together. A good example of this is a puppy who tries to climb on the furniture. Just think of it for a moment. You’re the puppy, you have two paws on the settee and your owner is sitting reading the paper in an armchair. ‘Get off!’ your owner will shout.
But he can’t be bothered to put the paper down, come across to you and physically show you what he means. So, what are you to think, after he’s stayed sitting for quite some time, telling you to get off? If you are a reasonably intelligent puppy, as most puppies are, you will associate the words ‘Get off’ with having your front two paws on the furniture. (more…)
Some good reasons for teaching the Send-Away
A dog who is taught the Send-Away exercise correctly will drop into a Down position when he’s running away from his owner. You may find yourself in a situation where you need to be in total control of your dog once he’s off the lead and a recall would be dangerous. For example, you are in a field in the country, your dog is running free and out of nowhere appears a flock of sheep. A farmer has the right to shoot any dog he sees running near his livestock. The farmer may not have seen you, or know that your dog is under control. A recall, in this situation, could give him the impression that the dog is running after livestock and not back to his owner. The fastest and safest way to protect your dog’s life is to drop him on the spot into a Down position. You can then walk up to him and put him on the lead. (more…)
The Down position is the one exercise most dogs hate doing. In the wild, a canine lying down denotes submission and this instinct is still very strong in our pet dogs. The exception to this rule is the working collie, who will drop at a whistle when herding sheep. But if you watch the collie at work very carefully, you will realise that his hunting instinct is to the fore, and down he may be but every muscle in his body is alert, ready for the spring. When using and training working dogs, we are only channelling their basic instinct. The guide-dog is a good example of this, for all a guide-dog is learning is self-preservation, but he is extending his own body range, taller and wider, to encompass his human being. (more…)
Don’t fall into the trap of many dog owners of forgetting the fun element in your training. If life with your dog has become a drudgery and the time you take to train him basic commands is full of harassment, fraught with anxiety, stop, you have got it all wrong. Dogs, like children, should be a pleasure to us. I see all types of human beings coming along to my training classes with their dogs and I can instantly tell you which ones will fall into the ‘failed owners‘ category. They’re the ones who won’t listen, who won’t try, who think they will make a fool of themselves talking to their dog and putting enthusiasm into their voices. Many of them refuse point-blank to sit on the ground with their dogs and think it childish and stupid to play with them. In my training classes I try and make most of the exercises a game so that the human beings forget their self-consciousness and before they realise it they are having as much fun as their dogs. It is very rewarding to train along with other people and their dogs, as it gives incentive to the owners to come out best. If you train with other people or go along to a training club perhaps some of these ideas will help you and if you’re the stiff and starchy conservative type maybe it will give you enthusiasm to change your dog’s training and have fun. (more…)
