Tips For New Puppy Owners... this page is still under construction...;->
Now I have you... what do I do with you?
So you have a new puppy... either from me or someone else... and now you aren't sure how to do all the things you have to do besides love and cherish... always... "even if I poo in your shoe."
In this article, I am attempting to list good books to read.... internet sites to go to, ideas that I have had and used successfully and some stories about what has happened to me while raising a puppy. Fortunately... in time... they grow up.... puppyhood is not forever... so thats my first piece of advice.
*Potty Training: This website "The Housebreaking Bible" (click to go there) has a lot of really good reading. It is an advertisement for products... so don't get sucked in... I have never bought any of their products... but their ideas are pretty sound and easy to read.
For me, I took my pups out every hour during the day,,, then every 1&1/2 hrs... then every 2... providing we hit each time frame with out an accident. They were never out of their crates unsupervised. Out time could be follow by play time... then back in the crate. If it was mealtime... outside... feed.... outside... play... outside... crate.
I use the term "Get Busy" while waiting for them to go potty.. I always went to the same spot in the yard... I followed by lots of praise and love before returning them to the crate.
*Come: Teaching your puppy to come is the first focus outside of potty training. The sooner you start the better. This video is off of UTUBE and you have to sit through a Target commercial first, but it is short and gives you a place to start. "Watch Me!"
*Stay: If your dog has learned to come, it is the first step towards you being in control. Combined with STAY you can literally save your dogs life. Say you are playing in an open area that is not fenced in and you throw the ball too hard and it rolls into a street. Saying STAY can make him stop... then saying COME will bring him back. Forget the ball... the dog didn't go in the street!
This next video is just stay.... but really you need to have sit and down before stay is a good idea. (This time I had to watch a Lowes ad... but the video again is helpful and quick to watch.) "Watch Me"
*Sit... Down... Stay: This video contains SIT... DOWN... and STAY. (the ad is short!) "Watch Me" Combining the 3 may be too much for a young pup the first few weeks.... I would recommend one at a time. Then when a new command is added... run them in repertoire... but change the order around each time.
Leave It: Another truly lifesaving command is Leave It. Like children, puppies put everything in their mouths.... and it is down their throats in seconds. You may keep your own yard and home free of such items... but other people are not doing that for you in the rest of the world. And... you may miss that lego or $100 pair of Soccer shoes and need to use this command at home. I use it in my command voice for instant results and I use it calmly to encourage my dogs to walk past things they really want to go over to while walking or playing outside. "Watch Me" I chose this video because it introduces the clicker method which I used with my pups.
*Books and Videos: I have done a little research for you on books. While you are looking or waiting for your puppy, reading lots of articles about puppyhood and puppy training is very helpful for you to begin formulating ideas so you have a plan of action from the moment your little one comes home. This page... "See Me"...will show you 5 of the top selling training books according to Dogs.com.
I have just purchased a new book from Amazon called "Puppy Training: Owners Week by Week Training Guide" ... I haven't read it yet, but it gives you a thing to work on each week and how to go about it which I thought would be helpful... not just for the puppy, but for the new owner who is overwhelmed with all the new tasks ahead.
In the past I have read: How to Be Your Dogs Best Friend by the Monks of New Skete, The Art of Raising Puppy by the same authors, Good Owners, Great Dogs by Brian Kilcommons and Sarah Wilson and I also just ordered a couple of Dog Whisper videos... one by Paul Williams. The other doesn't have an actual writer listed... but they were offered together.
There is A LOT of information out there. It is not all the same. Read and learn and pick methods and techniques that you feel will fit your household and yourself.
In this article, I am attempting to list good books to read.... internet sites to go to, ideas that I have had and used successfully and some stories about what has happened to me while raising a puppy. Fortunately... in time... they grow up.... puppyhood is not forever... so thats my first piece of advice.
*Potty Training: This website "The Housebreaking Bible" (click to go there) has a lot of really good reading. It is an advertisement for products... so don't get sucked in... I have never bought any of their products... but their ideas are pretty sound and easy to read.
For me, I took my pups out every hour during the day,,, then every 1&1/2 hrs... then every 2... providing we hit each time frame with out an accident. They were never out of their crates unsupervised. Out time could be follow by play time... then back in the crate. If it was mealtime... outside... feed.... outside... play... outside... crate.
I use the term "Get Busy" while waiting for them to go potty.. I always went to the same spot in the yard... I followed by lots of praise and love before returning them to the crate.
*Come: Teaching your puppy to come is the first focus outside of potty training. The sooner you start the better. This video is off of UTUBE and you have to sit through a Target commercial first, but it is short and gives you a place to start. "Watch Me!"
*Stay: If your dog has learned to come, it is the first step towards you being in control. Combined with STAY you can literally save your dogs life. Say you are playing in an open area that is not fenced in and you throw the ball too hard and it rolls into a street. Saying STAY can make him stop... then saying COME will bring him back. Forget the ball... the dog didn't go in the street!
This next video is just stay.... but really you need to have sit and down before stay is a good idea. (This time I had to watch a Lowes ad... but the video again is helpful and quick to watch.) "Watch Me"
*Sit... Down... Stay: This video contains SIT... DOWN... and STAY. (the ad is short!) "Watch Me" Combining the 3 may be too much for a young pup the first few weeks.... I would recommend one at a time. Then when a new command is added... run them in repertoire... but change the order around each time.
Leave It: Another truly lifesaving command is Leave It. Like children, puppies put everything in their mouths.... and it is down their throats in seconds. You may keep your own yard and home free of such items... but other people are not doing that for you in the rest of the world. And... you may miss that lego or $100 pair of Soccer shoes and need to use this command at home. I use it in my command voice for instant results and I use it calmly to encourage my dogs to walk past things they really want to go over to while walking or playing outside. "Watch Me" I chose this video because it introduces the clicker method which I used with my pups.
*Books and Videos: I have done a little research for you on books. While you are looking or waiting for your puppy, reading lots of articles about puppyhood and puppy training is very helpful for you to begin formulating ideas so you have a plan of action from the moment your little one comes home. This page... "See Me"...will show you 5 of the top selling training books according to Dogs.com.
I have just purchased a new book from Amazon called "Puppy Training: Owners Week by Week Training Guide" ... I haven't read it yet, but it gives you a thing to work on each week and how to go about it which I thought would be helpful... not just for the puppy, but for the new owner who is overwhelmed with all the new tasks ahead.
In the past I have read: How to Be Your Dogs Best Friend by the Monks of New Skete, The Art of Raising Puppy by the same authors, Good Owners, Great Dogs by Brian Kilcommons and Sarah Wilson and I also just ordered a couple of Dog Whisper videos... one by Paul Williams. The other doesn't have an actual writer listed... but they were offered together.
There is A LOT of information out there. It is not all the same. Read and learn and pick methods and techniques that you feel will fit your household and yourself.