I am trying to figure out what I need to to first. I have pretty much read the Happy Puppy Handbook from cover to cover. It is brilliant and very comprehensive. I have established that I need to:- Get pup sleeping through the night and happy in her crate Housetrained; and Socialised I have also figured out that I would like her to sit to say please, walk to heel and have a good recall. Obviously I need to do the first 3 things straight away, but I wondered about sitting, heel and recall. Will it be information overload if I start this with her straight away? Do you give her a few days to settle in or just see how she is?! I guess i'm looking for some other experiences as to how these first few weeks may go. I am hoping to get her Friday. We were due to get her Monday but delayed due to fog.
Hi, I haven't got an answer as I am in a similar situation and was thinking about asking the same question. We are getting our puppy on Friday too. It's so exciting but scary as well. For the past few weeks I have been reading books and articles, it all makes sense but part of me is panicking, thinking how am I going to put it all into practice? good luck.
Tell me about it. At least we can muddle through together. How old is your pup? Ours was 8 weeks last Monday (when we were supposed to collect her) x
The first point of training any dog is to get them to listen to you and await your command the easiest way to do this is when you feed them get them to sit stay until you tell them to get it . Start with counting 5 in your head and increase to 10 etc everyday. I recommend feeding them a cereal in milk every morning ie weetabix or equivalent which starts the days training off on the right footing good luck
I'd say, suck it and see. She's having her whole world turned upside-down, so give her a bit of time to settle in. How long this takes will depend on her and how confident she is. I would say there's no harm in charging the clicker over the first couple of days, as this is just a fun game of association. Then, start with really, really short games, just around a minute long to start off with, several times a day.
Ahh so you get your pup tomorrow? How exciting for you! You sound very well prepared, and are armed already with the best puppy book to get you started. All pups are a bit different, some sleep well straight off,others don't. Some are good with crate work or toilet training, some are a real struggle to get even a few hours sleep at night. What is true for all pups as they do need an initial period of adjustment, everything is strange and scary! Keep things calm, let the puppy out for a wee as soon as you get home, let him explore a little, then show him his crate with a few treats and toys.
Tomorrow! Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!! I usually leave it aday or two before I start 'formal' training with the pups, except toilet training, which starts the moment they come in the door! Then, after two days, I teach 'sit' 'lie' and waiting for the whistle for food. VERY short training sessions of 3-5 minutes. Then, a day or two after that, recall from room to room and into/out of the garden. This is when I start carrying them outside, two or three times a day. Crate/pen training also starts immediately but I have a crate upstairs, by me, in case they are scared the first few nights. So far, all four pups have been fine at night, so I haven't needed the bedside crate - touch wood for the next one! (who may, I say may be a German Shepherd potential stud dog. Excited, who me??) ...
How do you achieve this, Mags? My two never left my side long enough to be in a different room to recall them to! Ooooh, that is exciting! So, for stud dogs, do they actually become a GD before being put to stud?
1. I get someone to keep them busy while I sneak out. 2. No - brood bitches and stud dogs are marked out from birth as PBB or PSD (the P meaning 'possible' pending behaviour and health tests) ...
Ah, the helper method. Pesky helpers, never around when you want them. Then, when you don't, two come along at once. Or is that buses? That's what I thought , with regards to the stud dogs. I assume at your stage, training is remarkably similar, though?
For Friday puppy people - congratulations!!!! I hope you have a wonderful first weekend (and then a wonderful first week, and second weekend...)! My two favourite things to start on are "puppy pushups" (luring into sit then down, then sit) and "watch me". If I can get them watching me on cue (eventually - first off just getting praised for any eye contact) I figure I can get their attention to teach the rest. I also always try to teach the command for "go potty" but have never succeeded. It's my training mark of shame, lol. Having said that, it's been over 5 years now since I had a new foster dog or puppy, so I'm definitely rusty! I'm planning on delving into the Happy Puppy Handbook, too. Er...just need to sort out finding the puppy first.
Mmmm....well, I'll just say that it was my goal to make my grand decision on breed before I closed out my summer in Germany and headed for Italy for the autumn... which I do on Tuesday. And despite the fact that this weekend is one last hurrah of breed research (it's GIANT SCHNAUZER weekend,yee-hah!), I do feel pretty confident that I've already met my summer goal. I'll remain semi-cagey at the moment, but suffice it to say, I think I'll be here on the forum asking lots of questions about..."stuff".
To teach weeing on command use the cue as they wee for at least 3 weeks. Then just before they wee for another three or four. Then ask them to wee when you know for sure they are VERY full, for another few weeks. After that you will have a dog who will squeeze one out any time. (Poos not so easy, but - if you are sure they need one, they will do that on cue too - we use the same cue. Today I didn't realise Bruce had taken himself out and done a wee, so I took him and used the cue word 'busy busy'. _ he looked at me as if to say 'no thanks'. But I insisted and, bless him, he did an unscheduled poo xx ) ...
LOL, you aren't the only one to suggest that! I think friends are running bets behind my back. Here were the other contenders, lest you think I "only" looked at Rotties and Labs: German Shepherd/Malinois/Beauceron/German Short Hair (all too high energy for me) Greater Swiss Mountain Dog (ooo, I loved these, but even the females too large for an assistance dog) Spinone Italiano (not for me even though they are starting to be used as assistance dogs in the US) Giant Schnauzer (similar working background to Rottie - doing a couple visits this weekend) All of which meant: 2 national all breed 2 day each dog shows 1 regional all retriever show 1 Swiss Sennenhund (Swiss Mountain Dog) show 1 Pinscher show (includes Schnauzer) 3 Labrador breeder visits 4 Rottweiler breeder visits 1 Spinone breeder visit 2 Giant Schnauzer breeder visits (upcoming) 1 Greater Swiss Mountain Dog breeder visit It was a busy 10 weeks (or rather 10 weekends)!
Thank you! I will try (yet again) when I get a new pup. I didn't do the "just before they wee" step. Maybe that will be the magic formula! Both my boys finally did wee on command as adults, but it was not from me trying to teach them as puppies. More just me telling them "go potty" around an appropriate area and them making the connection. It's a VERY useful command, so glad they essentially taught themselves!
