losing patience with puppy..... anyone have puppy training expertise?

[made4more]

i wrote up a whole long post about the issues 9typical pup stuff) that we are having and I'm not used to this laptop and i keep hitting some button or combinationo f buttons that is erasing entire posts.. ACK. sooooo I'll just say

"has any dog lovers successfully gotten through the puppy phase (9 weeks) and can you PLEASE talk to me??" i didbn't know i couldnt get her into a puppy class til 12 weeks. that's too looonnnnngggg!

[kiloyd]

It's been a long time since I've had a puppy.

Keep her crated when you are not watching her. If you consistently take her outside for the bathroom after waking, shortly after eating, pretty much every couple hours and pour on the praise. And if , and only if, you catch her her peeing or pooping inside, say "no!" and take her outside and if she finishes outside, lots and lots of praise.

An old friend highly recommended The Art of Raising Puppies. I never read it but she was a great dog trainer. See if your library has it.

I have a gentle training website I'll find for you too.

Keep the puppy either with you or in her crate. Also, the crate should be in your room or living room, somewhere that she is not isolated.

And kudos to you for signing up for puppy class! Puppies are HARD work! If you put LOTS and LOTS of traning into her the first year, you will get a very well trained dog.

[Indigo]

Good advice above. And make sure she gets plenty of exercise, several times a day to wear her out. A tired dog is a good dog! Also, give her lots of appropriate things to chew on to curb that urge & save your house.

[kiloyd]

www.dogstardaily.com The site a dog training friend recommends.

http://www.dogstardaily.com/files/BE...ur%20Puppy.pdf Before you get your puppy and what to expect

http://www.dogstardaily.com/files/AF...ur%20Puppy.pdf after you get puppy

[Johns_Gal]

Take her leash, and thread her collar through the handle. The clip you'd usually clip to her collar, clip to your belt.

Puppies just cannot be left unsupervised and uncrated. You have to be right on top of them to cement housebreaking/teach them house manners. At her age, it is so important. If it's a pain now, if you don't stay on top of it, she'll be an adolescent with all these problems, then and adult. No fun at all.

Wearing her out is a great suggestion too.

What's the main problem/what's making you craziest? Housebreaking, barking, nipping, chewing?

[made4more]

Oh, the only time maggie is out of my sight is when she's in her crate. The only room I have let her have access to is the kitchen gated off when I'm in there. i don't even let the kids in because of the jumping up/nipping. that and they use what i call 'crazy feet' and can't seem to wanna slow down. this of course makes maggie all hyper and playful lol. and the little ones just don't get 'go to her with a toy, not your hand' they want to pet her all the time and she's thinking "ooh, a friend to bite at like my littermates!"

We are taking her out every hour now or more if she seems to need to go or I know she didn't go enough after drinking. She's such a good pup.

my main prob, the onet hat i deal with at least 13x a day is this: when she wants my attention she runs at me and jumps up and almost hangs by my pants. pants have holes in them becasue sometimes i can't catch her int ime and she bites too. all I'm doing now is holding her leash about a foot above her head and holding my arm straight out so that she kindof ends up hanging mid-air for a few seconds. I know this has got to be wrong. I ws going to meet with this trainer lady today but my mom is drunk. (b abysitter) ARRRGH. I'm not taking 5 kids, under 9 to a dog training session. i'd learn zilch methinks.

okay- that's it for now. I have a book called my smart puppy and will look into the other one. I am watching a lot of youtube vids too.

[Johns_Gal]

Oh, the charge-and-pounce. LOL... funny, but annoying.

Try this: when you see her coming, say "No" firmly and turn your back on her. Ignore her until she settles down a bit.

With bigger, older pups, I've wound up doing the knee-in-the-chest bit to push them away, but with little ones, shunning seems to work. Once I turn, they usually stop, confused, and just stand there. Then, they get lavished with praise.

[made4more]

good idea! I tried walking into her space as she charged at me and it seemed to work. she had that tilted head "what is going on" type of look LOL she backed down and sat down and then i praised her

Hey how long do you let pup hang out outside without pottying? she's gotten to where she wants to sniff and eat grass and roll around and eat sticks rather than actually pottying. I think I'm going to shorten her session to 3-5 mins and not let her play around. I've taught her (possibly) to play around for a while THEN pee when she feles like it. she needs to get on mamas schedule.

[Johns_Gal]

I leash them and make them walk around, and make a point to walk by their favorite potty spots. I also teach them a word that means "go now if you're going!". Usually it's "outside"... so we can be tsanding in the lawn, I can tell goofy dog to go "outside!" he pees, and back in we go. Helps when they get older too, as you can ask them "outside?" and they either start to dance or ignore me entirely.

A small pup, if she doesn't go, I'd bring her in, watch her like nobody's business for any sniffing/circling, and immediately scoop her up and run her out, saying whatever word you choose to mean potty.

Lots of praise for going outside, and bits of treat for the foundling lab puppy who could care less about praise, but FOOD, well now...

[kiloyd]

sounds like you are doing well.

You could start teaching her to sit and have her sit and praise/treat instead of the jumping.

you could look into clicker training too. I love clicker training but never quite got the timing well.

[crunchymum]

She's a pug mix, right? You might want to find info on specifically training little dogs- they have different issues than bigger dogs (dominance is a big one).


Big hugs! Puppies are hard!

[Amber]

For potty training, I take them out on a leash and only let them walk around me in a circle, telling them "go potty". I will not scour the yard for the "just right" pottying space. After they go potty, then I will let them off leash to explore the yard. That way we have taken care of the business end of things before they go off chasing bugs.

For the charging/nipping I would teach her sit. She isn't too young to learn it and if you have a yummy treat she will pick up on it really quickly. Then every time she wants your attention have her sit, and pet her only when her bottom in on the ground. She will learn pretty quickly to sit down when wants your attention.

Remember, at this stage the thing that is going to keep your sanity it to wear that puppy out. A tired puppy is a good puppy.

[made4more]

thanks everyone!

Maggie knows how to sit and is getting better. today I clapped my hands and said no. it worked. she hasn't pounced/bitten me again. it wasn't very "gentle" but it worked. I needed to do something that worked. she's getting much quicker about pottying and yeah- I didn't make it super fun. I do the standing and letting her walk in circles around me thing. she's gotten almost to where she goes on command now!!!!

any food recommendations? I have purina puppy chow i bought on accident. had dd put it in the van to return it but she left the door and the coons got it so it's ours now lol. I'm thinking about switching her from her ol'roy puppy chow to the purina puppy chow - she seems to like it so much better. but then there is purina brnad and lots of healthier stuff like science diet etc. whattyall think?

[Amber]

I wouldn't recommend Purina Puppy Chow or Old Roy to anyone Both of those brands on high on fillers and grains. Your dog will actually have to eat more of them than they would of a better food...and since it isn't highly digestible that means there will be more poop to clean up.

When I am looking for at dog food I try to make sure that there are no grains listed as the top 4 or 5 ingredients and that real meat is the first ingredient. I also try to avoid corn completely.

[made4more]

aw, my poor puppy is eating crap. I want good stuff for her!!! i was just looking that it said "dha" and thought that meant it was good. so wh at sorta brands are we talking about??? they would also eat less of it right? I mean you pay more but they eat less and poo less?

---------- Post added at 07:19 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:12 PM ----------

this is about the best i could find..... whattya think?

http://www.petsmart.com/product/inde...gfood_testshop