What ONE thing do you know now, that you wished you'd known then....

So what is your single biggest learning tip about dog training that you wish you knew when you brought your first puppy home?

Mine is that my dog needed to learn impulse control around other dogs a great deal more than he needed to socialise with other dogs. I'll spend the rest of his life getting him not to rush over to say hi to every other dog on the planet, I reckon.....

 

Don't do anything with 7Kg puppy that you don't want to do with a 27Kg dog!!

Oh, and this petwear wash bag. I love love love it - no more Lab hairs all over our clothes! http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002Q57JN8?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage

(I know that's two, and the second one is not about training - but I'm a natural rule-breaker )

 

I suppose one of my biggest challenges has been down to not exposing them to unseasonal things at a young age. I thought I was giving them great socialisation; we met all sorts of animals and people, went to different places and experienced all sorts of different things. When we brought Shadow home (at 14 weeks, we had Willow at 8 weeks), he was very scared of large vehicles and people doing strange loud things (dragging skis and poles along the tarmac, for example), so I spent lots of time working on that. Willow was scared of people in hoods and ski boots, but we got over that as the winter went on. I eventually thought we had two puppies that were fairly bullet-proof. But then, spring/summer arrived, and with it, a whole load more challenges. Instead of going into bars (very important socialisation, you understand!), we were sitting outside cafes and restaurants, meaning lots of children running around. It turns out, they're not well socialised with children and bark at them. Argh. They saw their first umbrella and it freaked them out completely. Motorbikes on the road are few and far between in the winter, but now there are far more of them and they didn't like those, either - although that passed quickly. And mountain bikes, zooming past them on walks.

I'm not sure there was much I could have done about lots of these things (people don't use umbrellas when it's snowing and where am I going to find someone willing to dust off their mountain bike when there's a few feet of snow on the ground?), but I wish I had been more prepared for it to be an issue and set up scenarios where they could meet these scary things in a calm environment first.

I do very much wish I'd exposed them to more children. I don't "do" kids and so we don't socialise with any. I do have friends who would have helped out, though, and I'm sure that would have made it easier on us now. As it is, it's a work in progress and we have good days and bad days.

 

For sure, the impulse control one, and Mags' one about 'don't encourage with a puppy what you wouldn't want from a full grown dog' (mentioning no particular husbands !!).

My big one is heelwork. I just wouldn't be in a hurry to actually 'go' places before I'd got some semblance of order with attention and loose-lead-walking. And I'd be much more proactive about rewarding attention and staying close off lead on walks from the start. Those two have been hard to back-track from.

Maybe just not being in a hurry with training generally!!

 

Would have spent a lot more time training my 12 pound puppy then NOT to jump up on people and kids....now he is 79 pounds and I still have problems with him jumping on people and licking their faces! My fault for not keeping at it. Would have been much easier then.....still working on it, though.

 

Its more of a general regret for me . Sam wasn't my first puppy or even my first Lab puppy but he is my first working bred one . I wished that, given my age when I had him ( which was 64 ) that I had researched more into what was involved to keep him happy . I never ever regret having my big lad , I adore him but there was a time that I worried I wasn't enough for him, that he deserved better than me . I found it hard to understand this serious solemn puppy who wanted to work , and frankly I hadn't a clue back then , oh yes I knew dogs but not a passionate retriever like he has always been . This forum has taught me a lot, as did my gundog trainer, more about training me than Sam and so it has worked out just fine but I did have more than one wobble along the way x

 

To make training fun, to relax myself.

 

To remember it gets better..

 

This.

Also, just do a few repetitions of something, and move on to something else while you're ahead. Quit an exercise while your dog still wants more.

 

I wish I'd taught Mabel to wee on command. Eightish hours on the M5 today trying to get back from Cornwall. (Good job she loves the car). She went for a wee at the beach shack we rented at 8 o'clock this morning and then wouldn't go again until 6.30 when we got home. We did stop 3 times as she moaned a little in the car. I know she needed to a wee. Out of the car she forgot all about going to the toilet too much sniffing to do.

 

Mine would be... Don't chase him, not even one time.

Ugh there are so many more, too many to list.

 

Oh blimey....mainly that I didn't do the 3 years of reading,talking and researching that I've done now before I got him!
I regret that I didn't get on a plane and pick him up at 8 weeks and have that puppy time with him .....taking delivery of him at 5 months left me with a huge gap in knowledge of him and looking back now it took me a very long time to understand him properly ......

 

Max was my first puppy and my first own dog. I spent months infact over a year researching what breed of dog i wanted and researching training methods and after using this forum Mac and i have accomplished a lot but every day is a day learning something new with him. Looking back I think more socialisation is the main regret i have, we took him to all the classes and he met lots of people and kids at the dog park but clearly not enough as now he has nervous issues especially with men which is odd because looking back he used to jump all over them, whivh thankfully we nipped in the bud quickly.
To add more heelwork but with his halti his an absolute jem and after a walk he doesnt need it.

NAIL CUTTING! Max absolutely hates his nails being done but as a pup we didnt ever need to trim them

Thats 3 regrets of mine which i hope others will learn from i know i have.

 

I would spend a lot more time on heal work and not pulling on the lead. I'd also be much more careful with chew toys, as his teeth are quite worn.

 

Great answers, all.

The reason I started this thread is because of another lesson - the importance of early learning. Everyone says don't be in a rush with training, it's not a race etc. This is true, but only in a way. I think the things a dog learns well - good things, or bad things - when very young are very powerful later.

 

Oh yes! I am on my third puppy now and we started at day one with this one - everything she does involves learning, every ounce of play and interaction - get it right between eight and twenty weeks and you have firm foundations to build on.

 

I love this post and I'm making a mental note of everything said! JulieT you've really made me think about the impulse control with Ella. She's 16 weeks and I've been doing everything possible to socialise her. I have noticed that she is excited and very confident when playing with other dogs (all shapes, sizes and ages) which I did think was great but I might start bringing in a little more control and structure to the play sessions. Thanks! X

 

Thanks! I am definitely getting one of these! ☺

 

I can relate to all of these! But I think my biggie would be: enjoy the puppy weeks and months, take lots of photos and get lots of cuddles.... they grow up so incredibly fast!

 

I think there is also a lesson in the various replies - you need to consider the personality of the dog you have.

My dog was very well socialised by his breeder. He came with an outgoing personality and a natural instinct to love everything, everybody, and every other dog.

I read Ian Dunbar on socialising dogs, took it to heart and went all out to socialise a dog that, really, needed very little additional socialising. I ended up with a completely over socialised dog, addicted to jumping on anything new, saying hi to every other dog and person.

So, there are some good things about this. He later went through so very many difficult vet procedures, so in a way his over confidence was "money in the bank", and I was grateful for that.

Still, I wish I had done as much impulse control as socialisation. This wouldn't be the same for all dogs though with different personalities.