Practical Dog Training Tips

Early Training - Setting the ground rules!

Getting off on the right foot!

With a new puppy you're going to be busy with house-training. Incidentally, the amount of time spent house-cleaning varies inversely with the amount of time spent house-training.
But there are other things you should begin teaching your puppy right away as well.

No teeth!

Puppies love to use their teeth. It's how they of investigate new objects in their environment. Also, play-fighting is their primary method of interacting with their litter-mates, so your new puppy will likely try to chew your hands when you try to pet him, or your shoe laces if your fingers aren't handy.

This behavior should be nipped in the bud. I have known misguided souls who thought otherwise, some even going so far as putting on a pair of heavy gloves and encouraging the puppy to bite and play tug of war. Nothing good will come of allowing a puppy to put his teeth on you, even in play, and it will quite possibly develop into a major problem down the road. Even if the dog were to be trained for bite-work later on, it's a mistake to allow him to put his teeth on you. It's also a mistake to play tug of war with him using a sack or rope.

When he attempts to mouth your hands, tell him "No teeth!" and grasp him around the muzzle, holding his jaws closed long enough for him to dislike it. Do this until he gets the idea. If, after a day or so, he still wants to mouth, squeeze his muzzle just enough to cause a little discomfort. Careful! You don't want to make the puppy afraid of you. With some tough little puppies, even squeezing the muzzle may not be sufficient deterrent. If you have one of those, you may have to use two fingers to rap him across the nose. Do whatever it takes to teach him. Just be sure you use only sufficient force to get the job done and no more.

A note about correcting your puppy

All corrections should be given in a calm, matter-of-fact, way. Losing your temper and taking him to the cleaners a time or two is a sure-fire way of destroying your dogs' confidence. You should control your dog so that he can't avoid the correction. Don't slap him and let him run off, or even worse, aim a kick at him in a fit of temper. Corrections are a means of teaching the dog, not an outlet for your frustrations.

Leave it! (The most important command of all)

When a puppy chews your fingers use the command "No teeth!". When he gets into anything else that he shouldn't, the command is "Leave it!". This is the one command that you must have absolute obedience to. This is the command that will stop a dog that is charging a little old lady with a cane. It's the command that will keep him from attacking the neighbors' Toy Poodle. It will keep him from eating things that could be poisonous. It can prevent mistakes that could put your dogs life in danger.

"No!" is not a substitute for the "Leave it!" command. "No!" means "You made a mistake". "Leave it!" means "Whatever you're focused on, you'd better get away from it right now." I begin instilling obedience to this command from the time puppies are old enough to learn. Whenever they grab something they are not supposed to have, get into the garbage, or start to chew the legs of my favorite chair, I tell them to "Leave it!" and then make sure I break their focus. In the early stages it is generally enough to restrain them or just turn them around and get them focused on something else (generally me). As they get older and get into situations where their focus is harder to break, I may have to resort to more strenuous methods to break their focus, but, whatever it takes, I insist the dogs focus be broken. In case you're wondering, 'more strenuous methods' generally refers to setting the dog up and using a leash correction. It does not involve axe handles.

If your dog chases the neighbors cat, it's nice to be able to stop him in his tracks. If he chases a kid on a bicycle, stopping him might prevent a nasty accident and an even nastier law-suit. You can't rely on your dog to always make the right decision, and unless you and your dog live alone, miles from civilization, absolute obedience to the "Leave it!" command could save his life. Even there, if he makes a rush at a porcupine crossing in front of your cabin, it's nice to be able to stop him.

Good luck with your training.

Neil

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