FloofyTWW's BLOG: Puppy Training Instructions

I have three dogs. One is 13, one is 2, and the other is only 9 weeks old. It is because of him I am posting this post, since he is a little more high-maintanence than my 2 year-old and 13 year-old were when they were puppies. Below I have posted training instructions for puppy basics that include potty training, barking, nipping/chewing, and jumping. All of these rules I have learned from a great dog trainer whose name is David. He trained my female 2 year-old and he will be training my new male puppy. After the instructions I will post pictures of my three love bugs.

David’s Puppy Training Tips:

Potty training:

#1 MANAGE HIS WATER. Give him a drink every two hours when the weather is cool, every hour when the weather is hot, and water after a meal. Take him out within ten minutes of his drink. It is most likely he will need to pee multiple times per drink and will need to poop multiple times after each meal.

#2 IT’S OKAY TO USE TREATS. Most dogs actually won’t go pee just randomly for a treat. And since Remus is so food-motivated, rewarding his good potty behavior with treats would be helpful. If the puppy is more praise-motivated then use that as your main tactic with treats every now and then.

#3 USE A LEASH. Use a leash more than not when he has access to the house. That way you know where he is at all times and can get to him quicker when he starts to go potty. It can be tedious, but it is better overall…for you and the puppy. Plus, the puppy gets introduced to the leash early on.

#4 USE NEWSPAPERS IN GARAGE. It’s time to teach him not only to potty outside, but to potty in the garage on papers, so that when he is in his play pen he isn’t pooping and peeing wherever he wants to. (This post is specific to my living situation.)

Barking:

#1 IGNORE UNLESS FOR POTTY. If he barks and whines to let you know he needs to pee or

poo, that is great. But if he’s just whining because he isn’t getting his way or wants attention, ignoring him is the key. As soon as he is quiet, reward him with treats and pets. This is a similar tactic to prevent him from jumping up on you.

#2 WAIT HIM OUT. If he’s already gone potty and he’s relentless in his barking, you have the power to go longer ignoring him than he has the energy to bark. Again, as soon as he does let up, reward him.

#3 REWARD WITH TREATS. If he’s in the crate and is whining and you know he just went potty and he is likely whining for attention or because he doesn’t want to be in his crate, go ahead and reward him with a treat every time he is quiet by slipping the treat through the crate. Remember, treats do not need to be large. The smaller the puppy, the smaller the treat, and you can get pretty small and they’ll still be satisfied!

Nipping/chewing unwanted items—including fingers:

#1 YELP. That’s right, yelp like you would if you were a dog in pain. He will learn to equate this sound to the sound he were to make if he were in pain. When you yelp, you pull your finger or whatever it is he is biting on away from him. Do this each time.

#2 TAKE HIM AWAY, NOT THE OBJECT. We want him to learn that these objects are going to be around him, but he’s not allowed to chew them. So you play the “keep away game”…with him as the one you’re keeping away. If he is chewing on the carpet, pick him up and move him away from it, then let him go. If he immediately goes back to the carpet, repeat the process. You may have to do this 40-50 times, but eventually he will get tired of the game and give up.

#3 MAKE HIM WANT TO STOP CHEWING. Don’t turn to giving him another object to chew most of the time. Use this only when you are confident that the item you have is more desirable to him than what he was chewing on and that he won’t go back to what he wasn’t supposed to be chewing on once he gets bored of the replacement object. Why shouldn’t you replace the object? Because HE didn’t choose to go to the other object, you pushed it in his face. This method can work sometimes, but the keep-away game seems to have more of an effect because they get frustrated and choose to leave it alone instead of momentarily getting distracted by something else.

#4 THE LEASH IS YOUR BEST FRIEND. The leash will also help with chewing as you can catch him when he starts and immediately go over and start playing the “keep-away game.” I also give his leash a tug after tug after tug until he gets frustrated and gives up. But “keep-away” is still best.

#5 TIME-OUT. Put him in his crate with a chew treat you want him to chew on for a short time-out. Take him back out after about 10mins, if he isn’t barking/whining, and see what he does. If he goes back to the same thing he was chewing on before you put him in the crate, either try steps 1-4 or do the crate time again.

Jumping up on you/other people:

#1 IGNORE! Until puppy is old enough for his puppy obedience classes where he learns sit, for now when puppy jumps on you back away and ignore him. When he sits on his own or goes back to all fours and doesn’t jump up again, reward him with pets and/or treats. DO NOT PICK HIM UP WHEN HE JUMPS UP ON YOU NO MATTER HOW CUTE/TINY HE IS. Any attention given will encourage bad future behavior and once he gets bigger and is an adult and you have a 15-100+lb dog (depending on what breed you have) jumping up on a four year old, things won’t be so cute anymore.

I strongly encourage anyone who has a puppy to enroll him into puppy obedience classes as soon as he has had his three shots. Obedience class is extremely important no matter what size or breed of dog.

Manchu: pure bred Shih-tzu, male. Photo taken Christmas 2011.