Dog Training

[city-faithful]

Hi all,

I have recently invested in a young puppy, a Husky dog aged 2 months. Whilst my girlfriend knows a little about dog training I am completely clueless on the subject. I was wondering if anybody had any advice RE housebreaking and training of a dog this age!

Cheers,

CF

 

[bocadillo]

Hi all,

I have recently invested in a young puppy, a Husky dog aged 2 months. Whilst my girlfriend knows a little about dog training I am completely clueless on the subject. I was wondering if anybody had any advice RE housebreaking and training of a dog this age!

Cheers,

CF

At 8 weeks a pup is going to have to go 6 or 8 or more times a day. First thing in the morning (and I do mean first thing), last thing at night, every time it eats or drinks, immediately after every nap. Might also get a sudden urge to go is playing excitedly.

Take the puppy out and stand with it where you want it to go. Do not play with it or give any real attention. When it starts to sniff or circle, tell it to pee or poo (or whatever you want to use as your command). When it pees or poos, say "good boy/girl". Quite soon you will be able to initiate the sequence by telling it to poo or pee.

If you see the pup peeing or pooing in the house or making the sniffing/circling preparations to do so, immediately say "No - outside", grab the pup and take it outside. You do not have time to find your shoes, so keep some slip-ons near the door.

If the pup has already peed or pooed, don't tell it off. If you do, it will associate your unhappiness not with the fact that it has peed or pooed, but with the pee or poo itself - the pup only knows what is happening now and not what happened two minutes ago. This might well lead the pup to try to hide the poo, picking it up in its mouth and dropping it elsewhere - or, worse still, to eat it. Either way, don't let the little bugger kiss you until its cleaned its teeth. Again, just scoop the puppy up and take him outside - there is a chance that you interrupted the pee/poo and there is still more to come.

You might also want to put paper down near an outside door and train him/her that the paper is an OK place to go in an emergency. If you see the pup making preparations and there is not enough time to get outside (perhaps you are not dressed)), get him/her to the paper and go through the good boy/girl routine when he/she performs.

You're going to have to be with the pup constantly for at least 6 weeks or more while it gets full control. If there are short (and I mean very short) periods when the pup is going to have to be on its own, you should confine it to as small a place as possible. In the US they would cage a pup at such times, but I think confining it to a kitchen or other room with a vinyl floor-covering is sufficient.

Best of luck!

 

[Cate Fox]

At 8 weeks a pup is going to have to go 6 or 8 or more times a day. First thing in the morning (and I do mean first thing), last thing at night, every time it eats or drinks, immediately after every nap. Might also get a sudden urge to go is playing excitedly.

Take the puppy out and stand with it where you want it to go. Do not play with it or give any real attention. When it starts to sniff or circle, tell it to pee or poo (or whatever you want to use as your command). When it pees or poos, say "good boy/girl". Quite soon you will be able to initiate the sequence by telling it to poo or pee.

If you see the pup peeing or pooing in the house or making the sniffing/circling preparations to do so, immediately say "No - outside", grab the pup and take it outside. You do not have time to find your shoes, so keep some slip-ons near the door.

If the pup has already peed or pooed, don't tell it off. If you do, it will associate your unhappiness not with the fact that it has peed or pooed, but with the pee or poo itself - the pup only knows what is happening now and not what happened two minutes ago. This might well lead the pup to try to hide the poo, picking it up in its mouth and dropping it elsewhere - or, worse still, to eat it. Either way, don't let the little bugger kiss you until its cleaned its teeth. Again, just scoop the puppy up and take him outside - there is a chance that you interrupted the pee/poo and there is still more to come.

You might also want to put paper down near an outside door and train him/her that the paper is an OK place to go in an emergency. If you see the pup making preparations and there is not enough time to get outside (perhaps you are not dressed)), get him/her to the paper and go through the good boy/girl routine when he/she performs.

You're going to have to be with the pup constantly for at least 6 weeks or more while it gets full control. If there are short (and I mean very short) periods when the pup is going to have to be on its own, you should confine it to as small a place as possible. In the US they would cage a pup at such times, but I think confining it to a kitchen or other room with a vinyl floor-covering is sufficient.

Best of luck!

My sister is going through that with her pup... he's almost there now, but still has the odd accident in the house. He gets a little treat every time he gets it right though

 

[Mawsley]

Either way, don't let the little bugger kiss you until its cleaned its teeth.

Peeeerlease!

Kiss?

Clean teeth or not, it's a dog and not Michaela Strachen.

 

[city-faithful]

it's a dog and not Michaela Strachen.

Quite right, Michaela Strachen is clearly a horse.

 

[city-faithful]

Oh, and thanks for the advice Bob, I'll certainly be using it. We've already got a spot established for it to pee outside. Luckily it came with a knowledge of peeing/pooping on newspapers, the shop gave it some basic training...it's still had some accidents though.

I'm just looking forward to when it's able to fetch the paper.....it can pick up a few tins too, whilst it's down the shop.

 

[Matt_B]

Hi all,

I have recently invested in a young puppy, a Husky dog aged 2 months. Whilst my girlfriend knows a little about dog training I am completely clueless on the subject. I was wondering if anybody had any advice RE housebreaking and training of a dog this age!

Cheers,

CF

A husky? Get ready to walk the length OG England to exercise it.

Dogs are the spawn of the underworld anyway.

 

[bocadillo]

Ah - you bought your dog from a shop. That explains why you didn't get any advice on training with the pup. My advice (for the future) would be to always buy from a breeder and to see the mother (and father, if possible). A good breeder would tell you about toilet training and about anything that might be specific to the breed.

 

[bocadillo]

Dogs are the spawn of the underworld anyway.

Relatively few of them smoke pot outside their front door though.

 

[Motown Fox]

The odd smoking dog about though

 

[Mawsley]

Relatively few of them smoke pot outside their front door though.

Mine will kiss you outside your front door for just a few treats

 

[Evan]

Training a puppy isn't as easy as people think. It takes so much patience. When I got my dog she tore up everything!! She tore up my carpet, my couch; every time I came home garbage was everywhere. She had accidents on the floor every now and then until she was about 8 months old. After 2 years however she settled down and has been a perfect pup ever since!