Puppies need to go to the bathroom after they play, chew, drink, eat or sleep.
Start by putting them on a leash and tethering them to you. That way you can be aware of them when they start sniffing the ground (usually a cue the puppy needs to go potty). Pick them up and carry them outside.
When they go potty, tell them "good potty" and give a cookie as a reward. Do not let your puppy off leash until they have finished going so they get into the habit of going potty, then playing. Many puppies will want to go outside just to play if you let them off leash first.
What if my puppy has an accident?He will. Do not punish your puppy though. If you catch your puppy in the act then clap your hands or pick them up - this will make your puppy stop going. Get him outside FAST and let him finish up out there. Reward him for going outside. Clean up the mess with petzorb (or some other odor removing cleaner) which will remove the odor completely.
Do NOT rub their nose in it, swat them with a newspaper, or isolate your puppy. It will only teach them to not go in front of you.
If your puppy is going frequently in the house you are probably not supervising them enough. Watch and learn their cues. If you feel you are watching and your puppy isn't getting it you can always have them checked for a Urinary tract infection.
If your puppy piddles when you greet them, this could be submissive urination. This would be a problem that is usually cured by ignoring the behavior and letting your puppy calm down before touching them when you first see them.
This article not only applies to puppies, but shows how to potty train a dog of any age. If you can't supervise your dog, please put them in a crate to help curb accidents. Remember, dogs go where they go most!
This can be a trying time, so have patience and you will get through it.
How to potty train a dog that is older
Training an older dog can actually be more difficult because the behavior has been learned. The best advice I can offer is to treat them like a puppy. Start from square one. Keep the dog on a strict schedule and reward heavily for going potty outside. If they have an accident, clean it up appropriately and make sure you don't punish the dog. After all they haven't clearly learned not to go in the house. Always ask yourself if you missed some cues.
You can try hanging a bell on the door and teach the dog to ring the bell. Hold it just in front of their nose, and let them out when the bell rings. Beware of dogs wanting to just go out to be out instead of going to the bathroom.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Puppy Training Part 2
1. Teach the puppy his name.
Use it a lot, and say "Yes" whenever he responds by looking at you. Give the puppy a big hug and lots of smiles as his "treat" following the "Yes." We want to establish several primary reinforcers as early as possible, so that he doesn't become dependent on food. We'll save food treats for more formal training. Make sure that your "Yes" sounds different from your everyday, conversational "Yes." Make it a bright-sounding utterance.
2. Build really strong eye contact.
Make eye contact his permission-seeking behavior for anything he wants: getting out of the crate, going out the door (you can wait for the puppy to sit and give you eye contact at the door), eating a meal, etc. No verbal cues. Just put yourself in a position where he can easily make eye contact (like kneeling in front of the puppy), and then reinforce the eye contact with a "Yes") – and then give the puppy the primary reinforcer which is whatever he wants at that moment (e.g., getting out of the crate, going out the door, eating, etc.)
3. Condition the meaning of the clicker by doing a few very short sessions of freebies every day: click, treat, click, treat, and so on. All you're teaching the puppy at this point is that the click predicts the treat (the primary reinforcer). Later, he'll learn that his own behavior can make you click, and that's when the operant conditioning begins. After a few days of conditioning the clicker, you can start to alternate the click with the "Yes" to work on name and eye contact.
4. Work on housetraining.
If you are absolutely religious about this, you can get the bulk (so to speak!) of it done within just a couple of weeks. After that, expect occasional "accidents" until his bladder and sphincter control improve (i.e., till he's about 6 months old). Figure out the most likely times when he'll need to eliminate – basically, after anything he does (eat, wake up, play, etc.). The rule of thumb is that an 8 week old puppy can hold for 1 hour (while he's awake). After that, add 1 hour for each month of age. So, at 12 weeks/3 months, he can hold for 2 hours while awake.
I don't use clicker training for housetraining. I do try to teach a cue, and here's how to do that. Just as he's starting to squat, say your cue quietly (so as not to startle the puppy). You are classically conditioning the cue. Before he's finished eliminating, give the puppy a few quiet praise words.
He should be able to get through a 6-7 hour night within a week or so, especially if you're careful to make clear to the puppy when we go to sleep at night. And, of course, make sure he's empty at that time (withhold water after about 7 p.m. to help the puppy).
When you're not watching the puppy, he should be confined to a crate or x-pen, so that he can't make a mistake. You might also feed the puppy in his crate – partly to establish the crate as a wonderful place, and partly to protect your other dogs (and their food, which the puppy might think he can eat!) and to give them a little peace and quiet occasionally. I would also have the puppy ride crated in the car – mostly for safety and also to prevent carsickness.
5. Teach the puppy to play.
My preference is that all play is interactive with humans. I do not leave a million toys lying around but just one chew toy (like a Nylabone). The chew toy is not an interactive toy but just something to teach the puppy to chew on something approved (rather than the furniture). It will also be helpful when he starts teething, at about 4 months. Play can be with interactive toys (tug, fetch games – as long as you get the toy back – and so on) and also gentle body games ("Gotcha!", push-pull games, etc.)
6. Teach the puppy to relinquish a toy by doing exchanges, like this: Give the puppy a toy (holding on to it if necessary to prevent his running off with it). Then show the puppy a wonderful treat in your other hand (close to his face, so that he can't miss it!). The instant he opens his mouth to give up the toy, say "Yes" and give the puppy the treat (hiding the toy behind your back). Do a few of these exchanges each time. After a few days, you'll be able to add a cue like "Give" (which will also be his Retrieve cue to relinquish the dumbbell). Say "Give" as he's opening his mouth, then say "Yes," and then give the treat. Pretty soon, you won't need to present the treat, once he knows the verbal cue. At that point, continue the "Yes" and treat (from behind your back), and then start building distance. This whole process will take about a week or so, though it won't be absolute – especially when the thing in his mouth is just toooooo reinforcing in itself!
7. Socialize the puppy like crazy! He'll need exposure to all kinds of things, people, and places. You can carry the puppy in places that are not yet safe for the puppy to touch the ground in (where other dogs have been). He also needs time with you alone, without your other dogs present, so that he bonds more strongly with you than with them.
8. What To Do About Unwanted BehaviorRemember that your puppy is just doing what comes naturally – even if it's not what you want! There are three important principles to follow with these unwanted behaviors: prevention, distraction, and interruption.
Prevention: Do everything possible to make unwanted behavior impossible! For example, make sure there are no tempting electric cords in full view.
Distraction : When the puppy is doing something you don't want, divert his attention away from it to something more interesting. For example, when the puppy starts to move towards your shoes, wiggle a toy in front of his nose and playfully draw the puppy away.
Interruption: When your puppy is doing something you don't like and you can't distract the puppy easily or quickly enough, interrupt the behavior with a loud sound (hand clap, or slap on hard surface). When he responds to the sound by startling, immediately ask the puppy to do something you like that he knows how to do, and, when he does it, c/t.
Dani Weinberg
Albuquerque, New Mexico
daniw@earthlink.net.
http://www.dogtrainersearch.com/
Use it a lot, and say "Yes" whenever he responds by looking at you. Give the puppy a big hug and lots of smiles as his "treat" following the "Yes." We want to establish several primary reinforcers as early as possible, so that he doesn't become dependent on food. We'll save food treats for more formal training. Make sure that your "Yes" sounds different from your everyday, conversational "Yes." Make it a bright-sounding utterance.
2. Build really strong eye contact.
Make eye contact his permission-seeking behavior for anything he wants: getting out of the crate, going out the door (you can wait for the puppy to sit and give you eye contact at the door), eating a meal, etc. No verbal cues. Just put yourself in a position where he can easily make eye contact (like kneeling in front of the puppy), and then reinforce the eye contact with a "Yes") – and then give the puppy the primary reinforcer which is whatever he wants at that moment (e.g., getting out of the crate, going out the door, eating, etc.)
3. Condition the meaning of the clicker by doing a few very short sessions of freebies every day: click, treat, click, treat, and so on. All you're teaching the puppy at this point is that the click predicts the treat (the primary reinforcer). Later, he'll learn that his own behavior can make you click, and that's when the operant conditioning begins. After a few days of conditioning the clicker, you can start to alternate the click with the "Yes" to work on name and eye contact.
4. Work on housetraining.
If you are absolutely religious about this, you can get the bulk (so to speak!) of it done within just a couple of weeks. After that, expect occasional "accidents" until his bladder and sphincter control improve (i.e., till he's about 6 months old). Figure out the most likely times when he'll need to eliminate – basically, after anything he does (eat, wake up, play, etc.). The rule of thumb is that an 8 week old puppy can hold for 1 hour (while he's awake). After that, add 1 hour for each month of age. So, at 12 weeks/3 months, he can hold for 2 hours while awake.
I don't use clicker training for housetraining. I do try to teach a cue, and here's how to do that. Just as he's starting to squat, say your cue quietly (so as not to startle the puppy). You are classically conditioning the cue. Before he's finished eliminating, give the puppy a few quiet praise words.
He should be able to get through a 6-7 hour night within a week or so, especially if you're careful to make clear to the puppy when we go to sleep at night. And, of course, make sure he's empty at that time (withhold water after about 7 p.m. to help the puppy).
When you're not watching the puppy, he should be confined to a crate or x-pen, so that he can't make a mistake. You might also feed the puppy in his crate – partly to establish the crate as a wonderful place, and partly to protect your other dogs (and their food, which the puppy might think he can eat!) and to give them a little peace and quiet occasionally. I would also have the puppy ride crated in the car – mostly for safety and also to prevent carsickness.
5. Teach the puppy to play.
My preference is that all play is interactive with humans. I do not leave a million toys lying around but just one chew toy (like a Nylabone). The chew toy is not an interactive toy but just something to teach the puppy to chew on something approved (rather than the furniture). It will also be helpful when he starts teething, at about 4 months. Play can be with interactive toys (tug, fetch games – as long as you get the toy back – and so on) and also gentle body games ("Gotcha!", push-pull games, etc.)
6. Teach the puppy to relinquish a toy by doing exchanges, like this: Give the puppy a toy (holding on to it if necessary to prevent his running off with it). Then show the puppy a wonderful treat in your other hand (close to his face, so that he can't miss it!). The instant he opens his mouth to give up the toy, say "Yes" and give the puppy the treat (hiding the toy behind your back). Do a few of these exchanges each time. After a few days, you'll be able to add a cue like "Give" (which will also be his Retrieve cue to relinquish the dumbbell). Say "Give" as he's opening his mouth, then say "Yes," and then give the treat. Pretty soon, you won't need to present the treat, once he knows the verbal cue. At that point, continue the "Yes" and treat (from behind your back), and then start building distance. This whole process will take about a week or so, though it won't be absolute – especially when the thing in his mouth is just toooooo reinforcing in itself!
7. Socialize the puppy like crazy! He'll need exposure to all kinds of things, people, and places. You can carry the puppy in places that are not yet safe for the puppy to touch the ground in (where other dogs have been). He also needs time with you alone, without your other dogs present, so that he bonds more strongly with you than with them.
8. What To Do About Unwanted BehaviorRemember that your puppy is just doing what comes naturally – even if it's not what you want! There are three important principles to follow with these unwanted behaviors: prevention, distraction, and interruption.
Prevention: Do everything possible to make unwanted behavior impossible! For example, make sure there are no tempting electric cords in full view.
Distraction : When the puppy is doing something you don't want, divert his attention away from it to something more interesting. For example, when the puppy starts to move towards your shoes, wiggle a toy in front of his nose and playfully draw the puppy away.
Interruption: When your puppy is doing something you don't like and you can't distract the puppy easily or quickly enough, interrupt the behavior with a loud sound (hand clap, or slap on hard surface). When he responds to the sound by startling, immediately ask the puppy to do something you like that he knows how to do, and, when he does it, c/t.
Dani Weinberg
Albuquerque, New Mexico
daniw@earthlink.net.
http://www.dogtrainersearch.com/
How to train your dog to stay..
A dog that will respond immediately to the "stay" command is a dog that is easy to live with. Furthermore this could even save it's life some day.
- It is important when you are training that you pick an optimium place and time. Your dog should be moderately hungry and the place you are training should be free from distractions. Get your dog leashed.
- Put the dog on a sit or a stand command
- Place your hand directly in front of the dogs face, with the palm of your hand facing the dog and firmly command "stay!"
- In your other hand, hold the leash slightly taut, ready to correct the dog if he should break the stay.
- Remove your hand away from the dog's face and wait a few seconds, then give the dog a treat and/or praise for staying.
- If the dog should "break the stay" before you have praised him, immediately place him physically back into the position, and repeat the "stay" command.
- Then release the dog with the words "ok!" and give verbal praise. The BIGGEST MISTAKE people make in training the stay is that they do not release the dog , they simply continue repeating "stay" and the dog makes no "connection" to the idea of remaining in one place.
- Repeat this sequence up to five times, then stop completely and later in the day practice this again.
Tips & Warning
- Remember that EVERY "stay" command should be accompanied with a "release" command.
- If you are not wanting the dog to "stay" until you release him, then use the word "wait" or "stop" instead.
- ONLY repeat the word "stay" if the dog breaks his stay and you need to physically return him to the position.
- As mentioned earlier, the "STAY" can only be learned by the dog when it is accompanied with the release command. Tell the dog to "STAY" once, then release the dog after he has remained in the one position long enough to meet the standard you have previously set (amount of time for that day.)
- NEVER give the "stay" command if you are not planning to give the release also. In other words, if you only want the dog to "wait" such as when you are leaving the house and he is standing at the door when you are trying to leave, then use the word "wait" or tell him "I'll be right back". It is a common mistake to tell the dog to "stay" when you will not be able to release the dog from the stay and therefore it is often a behavior that the dog just never manages to accomplish, since you have trained him wrong.
Source : http://www.ehow.com/
How to train your dog..
The key to proper training is positive reinforcement using treats and unlimited praise. Be patient and avoid harsh punishment, andyou and your dog will both benefit.
Follow these few steps to effectively train your pooch.
Follow these few steps to effectively train your pooch.
- Enroll your dog in a basic obedience class to learn the 'Heel,' 'Sit' and 'Stay' commands.
- When your dog is learning a command, say 'Good' the instant she exhibits proper behavior, and then follow up quickly with a reward of treats and more praise.
- Begin increasing your expectations very slowly. For example, lengthen by a few seconds the time your dog must sit before you shower praise.
- Reward even the slightest sign of effort your dog is making to meet your increasing expectations
- Move on to other commands once your dog is comfortable with 'Heel,' 'Sit' and 'Stay,' and with training in general.
- Train throughout the day, when you have free time, in a quiet area free from distractions. Limit each session to 5 to 10 minutes.
- Train in a busier environment only after your dog understands the command entirely, but realize that you may need to start from scratch because dogs are situational learners
- Reduce food rewards gradually, but always give an abundance of praise.
Source: www.ehow.com
How to make a tasty treat for your dog...
- First cut open the package of Turkey franks. I say use Turkey because they are healthier for your dog. You can of course use the traditional hot dog... Out of the package, take out 3 or 4 dogs.
- Slice them up into little slices. Lay them out flat on your microwaveable plate or throw in a bowl.
- Put the bowl in the microwave for 5 to 6 mins. When they come out, they will be stiff. Let them cool down a bit, and when they are cool, they should feel like a little chip.
- At this point, go ahead and put them in your plastic baggy. I guarantee your dog will love them as a treat. They are great for training, or just in general as a treat.
source: www.ehow.com
NST - Heated up over deadly dog virus
JOHOR BARU: A warning has been issued to dog owners about the spread of a deadly viral disease.
Puppies have a higher risk of contracting parvovirus, or parvo, which kills the dividing cells in a dog's body, causing bloody diarrhoea, lethargy and loss of appetite.Johor Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals chairman Dr Edwin Singam told New Straits Times yesterday there had been a recent flare up of the disease, partly because of the hot weather."In the 1980s, the disease was always fatal but now there is a chance of recovery if the dog is given early treatment". Dr Singam, a veterinarian, said as with the common cold in humans, there is no direct medication for parvo.
"An infected puppy has to be quarantined to prevent the spread of the disease to other canines," Dr Singam said, adding that he had just visited an animal shelter where 34 puppies were diagnosed with the disease.The Companion Animal Rescue Effort Society (CARES), an animal shelter in Lima Kedai near here, is one of several in the city which have found the disease in its dogs.CARES founder Joseph Chia said about 30 per cent of the 300 rescued dogs at the shelter had been stricken."Parvo normally spreads after a wet weather spell, followed by days of intense heat," he said.
By NST - Chuah Bee Kim
Puppies have a higher risk of contracting parvovirus, or parvo, which kills the dividing cells in a dog's body, causing bloody diarrhoea, lethargy and loss of appetite.Johor Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals chairman Dr Edwin Singam told New Straits Times yesterday there had been a recent flare up of the disease, partly because of the hot weather."In the 1980s, the disease was always fatal but now there is a chance of recovery if the dog is given early treatment". Dr Singam, a veterinarian, said as with the common cold in humans, there is no direct medication for parvo.
"An infected puppy has to be quarantined to prevent the spread of the disease to other canines," Dr Singam said, adding that he had just visited an animal shelter where 34 puppies were diagnosed with the disease.The Companion Animal Rescue Effort Society (CARES), an animal shelter in Lima Kedai near here, is one of several in the city which have found the disease in its dogs.CARES founder Joseph Chia said about 30 per cent of the 300 rescued dogs at the shelter had been stricken."Parvo normally spreads after a wet weather spell, followed by days of intense heat," he said.
By NST - Chuah Bee Kim
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