How to Train My Dog Blog

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My girlfriend has about an 8-10 month old chiuaua. She got it after it was already 6 months or so, and it wasn’t “potty trained” and knows absolutely nothing (I’m not even convinced she knows her name). It gets into everything, messes on the carpet, causes problems, etc. She lives at home still, and her mom said she has to either get it trained or get rid of it soon. She’s considering putting it into obedience school. From my understanding, obedience school does more training along the lines of sit, stay, heel, etc. Does it help with potty training or basic behavioral things as well? On a side note, I’ve grown up with and raised dogs my whole life. However, none of my dogs ever required obedience school, and are very well-behaved. If I were to take the dog for a couple of weeks, and train it, would the training stick once she got back to my girlfriends house? She’s simply not firm enough with the dog.
While obedience school does concentrate mainly on things like sit, heel, stay etc. it still does have benefits. First of all, it teaches you how to teach your dog and how to communicate with it. Once you learn how to teach these exercises, and the dog learns how to learn, it’s easier to teach other things. Also, instructors will usually be more than happy to advise you on other issues you may be having. BUT, your GF needs to be willing to put in the work. If you train the dog, the dog will learn, but it will likely only listen to YOU. SHE needs to get the dog’s respect and attention, or it will continue to ignore her.

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I’m planning on taking my 3 mo. old pit bull for training classes at petsmart, but I’d like to be sure if it’s going to work out good for him
Yes, mostly because it teaches you how to train the dog effectively without driving both you and the dog nuts. You will be able to address any bad habits he may pick up later and you will be able to prove that your dog is trained. With things the way they are and everyone suspicious of Pitts, it’s good to be able to say he’s been to classes. You definately won’t be sorry. If you are, Petsmart guarantees satisfaction, so you will get your money back or more classes until you are satified, so there really is no down side. Good Luck

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how can you train your dog to do its buisness? first can you put them in a box and 2ndis to take them out is it true you have to take your puppy out everyyyyy morning at 6:00?
Here are some tips, use what helps. I use a crate* to potty train with, but only for potty training and then I break it down and store it. I put blankets and a small food and water dish in the crate. Dogs don’t potty where they eat and sleep. When they are first little, I only expect them to hold their potty for 4 hours, and then 6 hours, then 8 hours and so on. So when they are first little, I set a timer or alarm clock to wake myself up at night to take them *out. I only allow my puppy in the bedroom* or the living room, only one room at a time. They have to graduate to more space. If I allow them to have full run of the house, it will overwhelm them. I take them out the same door each time. I tie a dinner bell to the door handle. Do not use a jingle bell as they could get their toe caught in it. So when they are little, I ring the bell for them, and then open the door to go *outside to potty. When they get bigger, I take their paw and whack the bell and open the door to go potty. Eventually getting to the place where the puppy will ring the bell and let me know when they need to go potty. Dogs want to please you, so it is your job to let them know what behaviors please you and what doesn’t. So when my puppy goes potty, I give her a treat*, and clap, and make a fuss and praise her. So she learns that going potty outside makes me happy. If she has an accident, make a disgust sound like “tsst” and take her out right away. I never yell* or spank* my puppies. Take them out when they first wake up, after they eat or drink, before nap, finish romping, when their activities change, or when they are sniffing around. Some puppies go pee right away, but may not go poop until 10 minutes later, so wait for the poop. I have a little play time here, because sometimes I think they are done, and they are not. Puppies train at their own pace. While I may have a puppy that hasn’t had an accident in several weeks, I don’t let my guard down. I don’t expect my puppies to be “fully potty trained” until one-year-old. If they have a setback, shake it off, and start over. I only have my puppies in the crate when I am not watching them. When I am sleeping, cooking, ironing, doing chores, basically when I am not watching her. All other times, she is out of the crate practicing being a “big girl.” This is the time I train her how to behave in the house. So we are practicing “no barking”, ‘no biting”, “no jumping”, and “don’t eat the furniture.” I also have to practice “playing inside” so she doesn’t knock over things. You must keep the puppy in sight when they are little because they don’t know the difference between newspaper and carpet, and you don’t want them sneaking off and getting into trouble. Some puppies can sleep through the night around 3-months-old, but their bladder is grown around 6-months-old. REVISIONS: *I use a crate to train with. It is the method I prefer, compared to other methods I have tried. I noticed that if they are in the crate, while I am doing chores, they are o.k., because the crate allows them to see me and be re-assured. The crate can also be a comfort when stored in the basement for dogs who live in areas where thunderstorms and tornados are an issue. . However, use the method that works best for you…..a laundry basket, a cardboard box, a woof-woof house, x-pen, child gates, whatever works for you. *Outside, pee pad, litter box, whichever method you are using. When the puppy is first little, keep the pee pad, litter box near the food and water dish, so the puppy can eat and drink, and then go potty. You can move it away as they get older. The pee pad has a scent that smells and initiates potty. Sometimes a pee pad makes a sound that scares some puppies, so you might want to use a litter box if that happens. The pee pad allows a puppy to walk around, but a litter box keeps the puppy in one place. *Bedrooms, I use the bedroom and living room for training, because it works for me. Choose rooms that work for you, but watch for rooms that are damp, or drafty. While my puppies sleep in the bedroom during training, once they are trained, I let them sleep where they want to. They don’t have to sleep in the bedroom forever. *Treats. While I use treats for training, you don’t have to. I like Charlee Bears for training (a little cracker for a little mouth,) I use them for training, but once they are trained, I cut back on them. *Some puppies will go potty in the same spot each time. Some puppies have to be told to go potty. A command like “go out” for pee, or “go finish” for poop, might work for you, keep saying “go finish” until the puppy poops. This is a good thing to train if you travel with your dogs. By using commands, the puppy won’t get confused when you are visiting someone, on vacation with you, or when you get to a new home. The command will tell them what you want them to do in an unfamiliar place. You might also want to

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I have received a handful of emails and comments on this video from a few colleagues within the dog training community who have been critical of this method. This has always been controversial among fellow trainers. Allow me to explain why I am more firm on teaching “stay” than any other command. When I first began training dogs, I noticed that training “stay” using the text book clicker method was effective. However, it soon became apparent that about 1-2% of dogs in my classes were being hit by cars. That is when I decided to vary my method. I made up my mind to do my part in making sure that owners knew how to get a real world stay at home or at the park with their dog. In this video I deliberately confuse Supernova by tempting him to go after the hot dogs. Why? To increase the likelihood that a dog will stay on command in a real life distracting situation one must not wait for the real life situation to occur in order to train this. What I am conveying by introducing this confusion is “Yes, Supernova, I know your instinct and will is telling you to go after the distraction, but I can override that instinct at all times by telling you to stay and you must listen without exception. End of story” This does not confuse the dog long term. It is nothing more than an effective training exercise. I instituted a policy that no dog would pass my class unless they stayed with heavy distractions at the end of my course. I am proud to say that every single dog did stay and passed this test. I stand by this method 100% as the results speak for themselves. I have never known a dog or a human to be harmed when executing this properly. That being said, if your dog is in the fraction of the minority of domestic dogs and is naturally vicious, or abnormally nervous, then this method should be modified accordingly. Thank you. Zak George How to clicker train your dog: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnRSeuHD_fg

Duration : 0:6:26

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Alas, author Turid Rugaas provides a simple way to teach your dog to walk on a leash without pulling your arm out of its socket! Learn quick and easy methods to train any age, size or breed of dog to walk calmly and quietly on a loose leash. The approach is humane and based on a solid understanding of why dogshow to work with the dog’s nature and the environment to overcome the problem. You’ll learn how dogs develop pulling problems and simple steps to retraining even a vigorous puller. No special equipment needed. You’ll need one dog, one person, harness or soft collar, leash and treats. ( 2005, Paperback, 60 pages)

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This video shows me how far I’ve got to go to learn how to train my dog to do what I want him to do.  At this point, I’m pretty happy if my dog sits and stays when I tell him to and if he sits patiently while I’m waiting to give him his food I’m ecstatic.

I came accross this video while reading a post about an interesting contest on chazhound.com Dog Forums.  The contest was to shoot a video of you having your dog fetch a hot dog and bring it back to you without eating it.

Amazingly this wasn’t the only dog to pass the muster (not mustard) in this contest.  The poster of this video says his dog did it the first time with no additional special training.

This video gives me reason for optimism, but also shows me how far I have to go.  Can your dog do this?  If so, feel free to imbed a video in comments.  If you have any tips for how to train my dog to fetch the hot dog without eating it, please share.  Enjoy the short video.

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