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| "Could I please have that thing you're holding in your hand?" |
I started the training of Link from the first moment he entered my home. As a matter of fact all puppies are "trained" from the first moment they enter their new home, whether you intend to train it or not. It learns right away what it can and possibly cannot do, what you praise it for and what is rewarding in itself. Like all other animals the dog will do what is beneficial to itself. If for example, it finds and tears the trash bag open and eats the left over food that is inside. It has been rewarded for doing so in and of itself, it got something to eat. If on the other hand you have puppy-proofed the home before the puppy's arrival and all the food it gets comes through you, it gets a reward for keeping an eye on you, i.e. it gets food from you instead of finding food itself. It has learned that it is beneficial to keep an eye on you, which is what we want.
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| Link 9 weeks old, peeing outside. |
Same thing with potty training. Peeing is rewarding to the puppy, since it has to pee and relieving that need feels good. It will not stop peeing if you punish it for peeing inside, it will only get better at peeing in places you can't see. This, by the way, will not be in front of you when you take it outside to pee, so punishing the pup for peeing inside is only going to increase the time it takes to potty train it. Simply put, NEVER punish the pup for soiling inside.
But back to what to do instead of what not to do. To potty train the pup you just take it outside after eating, sleeping and playing. That means approximately once every 1-2 hours for a few weeks. It is a lot of work, and accidents will happen, but it is the quickest way to potty train a dog. When the pup does relieve itself outside, you praise and give the puppy a treat. You can also add a command, like "go potty" if you want, but it isn't necessary. As the pup grows and it starts to be able to control when and where it does its business, you can start increasing the time you wait to take it outside again. With Link I only had to go out every 1-2 hours the first 2 weeks, then every 3-4 hours. Accidents did happen, but now at 4,5 months of age, Link never soils inside, and hasn't done so for several weeks. So it worked and it worked fast and I never punished him or made a big deal about him soiling inside.
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| Link chewing on one of his toys. |
Then we have another issue that all puppies have to a greater or lesser extent. Chewing on things. Puppies chew because their teeth are growing out and that itches. They can also chew out of boredom or simply because they like it. Either way chewing will be rewarding in and of itself. You also have the case of dogs that learn that chewing on things will make their humans come chasing them, which is a lot more fun than humans that are just sitting still and watching TV. So chewing is fun, or can lead to fun things. It is not possible to make your pup stop chewing things, so the answer to the problem is simply giving the puppy lots of things he is allowed to chew on, and if necessary make the things that he isn't supposed to chew on taste badly. I bought a bitter spray and sprayed on thing that he wanted to chew on, that he wasn't allowed to chew on, like for example the legs of the dining room table and the sofa. Then I gave him dried pig's ears or chew toys instead of the things I didn't want him to chew on. The only thing I've ever been angry at him for chewing on is banana peals and plastic that he finds outside, both of which is potentially harmful to him. I only had to get angry a handful of times (raised voice and threatening body posture, no physical violence) and since then it has been enough that I say "a-ah" or "no", and he won't take it, or if he already has, he drops it. I have always rewarded him for dropping these things, so now when I say "a-ah", he comes running expecting a treat. Which is nice, cause I don't want him to be afraid of me when I say "a-ah", I only want him to stop what he is doing.
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| Link is very relaxed in his crate at work. |
Another thing that your dog will need to learn is to be able to be alone. Separation anxiety is not easily treated once it has become a problem, so it is better to be preventive. Start the first week you have the pup, not the first day maybe, the puppy must be given time to get acquainted with its new surroundings. But relatively soon you should start leaving the puppy while getting the mail or going out with the trash. If you let your pup sleep in an other room than the rest of the family, it will learn fairly quickly to be able to be alone, but I don't think that is nice to the puppy. It needs some reassuring during the first nights away from mom, so if you are not planning to have the puppy in the bedroom in the future, I suggest that you put a mattress on the floor by the pups bed and sleep there with it the first couple of nights. We had Link in our bed parts of the night the first 1-2 weeks, but he got too warm in the bed so he actually chose to sleep on the floor himself. I guess we were just really lucky... Anyway back to training the pup to be alone. Start increasing the time you are away from the puppy with only minutes at first. If the puppy gets anxious while you are away, reduce the time you are gone the next time or maybe even just walk outside of the door and back in again a couple of times before yet again increasing the time you are gone. The most important thing is to never make a fuss about going or coming back. If the dog knows that it will get a fantastic reward when you come back, it will wait for you by the door for however long you are gone and it will not be able to truly relax. What we want is a dog that feels relaxed about us leaving and who will sleep for most of the time we are gone. You can also give the dog something extra delicious just before you leave, since the dog will focus on the treat while you leave and eating makes the dog tired and relaxed so it will soon fall asleep. It that way, you leaving is a positive thing. Lastly it is also a good idea to make the dog mentally tired before leaving it, this does not mean physical exercise, which is likely to get the dog more alert rather than more relaxed, but mental exercise. You can train some basic obedience like "sit", "down", "heel" or "stay", or you can fill a toy with treats that the dog has to figure out how to get to. I've had Link with me to work since he was about 10 weeks old, and in the beginning I always made sure that all of his needs were taken care of, before leaving him in his crate. He was fed, had been outside to relieve himself and I had made him mentally tired. And so he slept during the time he was in the crate. He has only once or twice whined when in his crate and that has been when he has needed to go out to potty. Now I can even leave him in his crate without having to tire him out beforehand and he will almost always go straight to sleep. Being in the crate is now in his mind firmly connected to sleeping, so that is what he does. This is the connection you want the dog to have with you leaving too. When it comes to this I've been so lucky with Link, he has never shown any signs of being anxious about us leaving him.
These things are the things I believe that all dogs need to learn to be able to function in any normal home, i.e. (1)coming to you for things it wants instead of finding things itself, (2)only doing its business outside, (3)only chewing on things that are allowed and (4)being able to be alone in its crate or in your home. If your dog can do these things it will be a dream dog to have in your home, if it cannot do these things it can become a nightmare. If there is one more thing I'd like to add it is that you should have fun with the puppy, the relationship you establish with the dog now will last for the rest of the dog's life!
