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| 10 BASIC TRAINING RULES FOR NEW PUPPY PARENTS!! |
Rule #1 - Never give attention to puppy when crying. The idea is to get them to go through their
separation anxiety as soon as you bring your puppy home. All puppies go through this, some have it
worse than others, but you must try to only give attention while the puppy is quiet. Commonly they
will howl and cry or bark when you put them in their pen and you need to just let them. No matter how
crazy it makes you. What you do is over and over and over, only give attention while quiet, ignore
while crying or making sounds. Once the puppy settles, take the puppy out for play times.
Rule #2 - Never leave ex-pen door open. The idea for this ex-pen is to be the time-out pen. You
should have a crate inside the ex-pen, with the crate door left open for the first month or two, so it
isn't forced to have potty accidents in its crate. Your puppy will step out of the crate into the ex-pen
area to go potty, when you are not around for them to notify. Once you see that your puppy doesn't
have accidents in the middle of the night, for 2 weeks straight, ok to start closing the crate door on
the puppy overnight for more crate training. Once you see that your puppies accidents have stopped
when you leave the house, you can crate for those time periods also. And, once you know your
puppy is old enough, and can actually hold it for long periods of time, then this is when you can get
rid of your ex-pen set up all together and only have the puppies crate for containment.
Rule #3 - Never give attention to your puppy in the ex-pen, pen is not for play, it's for containment
only. Playtime should be once puppy has settled, then take puppy out in house for play time. You
want to get your puppy used to being in the pen with no attention. If you constantly play with your
puppy over the top of the ex-pen, or leave the door open to it so they can wander around the house,
it is not teaching your puppy to be ok by itself in the pen.
Rule #4 - Only have your puppy out around the house if your eye is 100% on the puppy. The second
you take your eye off the puppy they go potty somewhere. Trust me. To minimize accidents around
the house, Timers should be set when playing with the puppy, sometimes they have to go again
every 15 minutes when playing. So, set your timer for 15 min intervals, take out for potty, then come
back in and set timer again! If you see 15 minutes they dont have to go, just monitor how often they
are going when playing and set timer for that time or a few minutes under that time to take them
outside. Also, when you take your puppy out for potty a good thing to do is keep your puppy on a
leash. This way you are leading the puppy to the potty area and keeping them in the direction you
want them to be. Once they go, back inside. If they are off leash and you want them to go potty they
will likely play with everything in the yard, eat the leaves, grass, the twigs, rocks, etc., so it's also a
good way to keep their nose off the ground :)
Rule #5 - Never ever leave collar on puppy while left alone in house inside the ex-pen. (Once they
have grown out of their puppy stage shouldn't be a problem). Because they are very excited quite
often while they are puppies you don't want them to get their collar stuck on the cage or crate while
left alone, or it could be the end of your puppy.
Rule #6 - Toys - leave only strong toys in the pen with the puppy. Check toys daily to make sure no
seams have been broken, once a seam is broken, throw away the toy and purchase ones that are a
little stronger than the ones your puppy just chewed up. Chewies are ok left with the puppy only if
you know the puppy can't finish it while you are gone. (don't want them to choke on the small piece
left).
Rule #7 - Overnight - Some people get up every few hours to take their puppy outside (backyard) for
potty. These people are trying to minimize the accidents in the pen overnight. Some people want
their sleep! So the basics for puppy pen overnight is: Take your puppy out for its last potty of the
evening the latest you possibly can - right before you put yourself to bed. If the puppy has accidents
overnight, it's just an accident, it won't be the end of the training-world. Good idea is to monitor what
time your puppy is waking up in the mornings. If you can figure out what time they normally get up,
then set your alarm for 10-15 mins before that time each morning and wake up the puppy to take it
outside for potty. This could minimize the accidents they have right when they wake up in the
morning. Normally, once you hear your puppy crying in the mornings, it's likely it's already too late,
they have probably already had that morning accident.
Rule #8 - Other potty breaks - basically your puppy will have to pee each time it wakes up from a
nap, and after each meal. Take your puppy out always for these instances.
Rule #9 - Spray bottles / Leash dragging / Basic training commands - Spray bottles can be used
quite often when you have a puppy. Make sure it is on stream, not spray. You want it to be a bit of a
shock to the puppy. You can spray your puppy if necessary if it is barking at a certain thing, or
performing unwanted behavior. Leash dragging is quite often a must - when puppies get out of
control you can catch them easily and if they jump off, as you say "off" you step on the leash so they
cannot jump on you. Good training methods. As soon as you take your puppy home, you are ready
to teach it the basic training commands. They are NOT too young for this. They do have short
attention spans so limit your training sessions to 10-15 minutes or so. First thing they can learn is
SIT. Other commands are going to be down (for lie down), wait, stay, and any other fun tricks you
want to teach them.
Rule #10 - Finally. Reward your puppy quite often for good behavior. Carrots are a healthy little
snack just make sure they aren't too big to get stuck in their throat. They won't make your doggie fat
either. Most dogs do like carrots. Reward each time your puppy goes potty outside. Reward each
time it does something right, even if you didn't ask it to. If your puppy just sat in front of you - "good
sit". Keep positive with your puppy. Once your puppy is aloud to go out for walks (after 16 weeks of
age, the final set of shots), you want to keep your dog on a 4-6 foot leash. Don't let the dog walk
ahead of you, it should be at your side the whole way. Let the dog sniff the grasses, only when you
want it to, not when it tries to every time. At each corner before you cross the street have your dog
sit before you cross. Just remember the structured walks will do your doggie (and yourself) much
good.
Good Luck!
Chelle Rohde – Designer Doggies
separation anxiety as soon as you bring your puppy home. All puppies go through this, some have it
worse than others, but you must try to only give attention while the puppy is quiet. Commonly they
will howl and cry or bark when you put them in their pen and you need to just let them. No matter how
crazy it makes you. What you do is over and over and over, only give attention while quiet, ignore
while crying or making sounds. Once the puppy settles, take the puppy out for play times.
Rule #2 - Never leave ex-pen door open. The idea for this ex-pen is to be the time-out pen. You
should have a crate inside the ex-pen, with the crate door left open for the first month or two, so it
isn't forced to have potty accidents in its crate. Your puppy will step out of the crate into the ex-pen
area to go potty, when you are not around for them to notify. Once you see that your puppy doesn't
have accidents in the middle of the night, for 2 weeks straight, ok to start closing the crate door on
the puppy overnight for more crate training. Once you see that your puppies accidents have stopped
when you leave the house, you can crate for those time periods also. And, once you know your
puppy is old enough, and can actually hold it for long periods of time, then this is when you can get
rid of your ex-pen set up all together and only have the puppies crate for containment.
Rule #3 - Never give attention to your puppy in the ex-pen, pen is not for play, it's for containment
only. Playtime should be once puppy has settled, then take puppy out in house for play time. You
want to get your puppy used to being in the pen with no attention. If you constantly play with your
puppy over the top of the ex-pen, or leave the door open to it so they can wander around the house,
it is not teaching your puppy to be ok by itself in the pen.
Rule #4 - Only have your puppy out around the house if your eye is 100% on the puppy. The second
you take your eye off the puppy they go potty somewhere. Trust me. To minimize accidents around
the house, Timers should be set when playing with the puppy, sometimes they have to go again
every 15 minutes when playing. So, set your timer for 15 min intervals, take out for potty, then come
back in and set timer again! If you see 15 minutes they dont have to go, just monitor how often they
are going when playing and set timer for that time or a few minutes under that time to take them
outside. Also, when you take your puppy out for potty a good thing to do is keep your puppy on a
leash. This way you are leading the puppy to the potty area and keeping them in the direction you
want them to be. Once they go, back inside. If they are off leash and you want them to go potty they
will likely play with everything in the yard, eat the leaves, grass, the twigs, rocks, etc., so it's also a
good way to keep their nose off the ground :)
Rule #5 - Never ever leave collar on puppy while left alone in house inside the ex-pen. (Once they
have grown out of their puppy stage shouldn't be a problem). Because they are very excited quite
often while they are puppies you don't want them to get their collar stuck on the cage or crate while
left alone, or it could be the end of your puppy.
Rule #6 - Toys - leave only strong toys in the pen with the puppy. Check toys daily to make sure no
seams have been broken, once a seam is broken, throw away the toy and purchase ones that are a
little stronger than the ones your puppy just chewed up. Chewies are ok left with the puppy only if
you know the puppy can't finish it while you are gone. (don't want them to choke on the small piece
left).
Rule #7 - Overnight - Some people get up every few hours to take their puppy outside (backyard) for
potty. These people are trying to minimize the accidents in the pen overnight. Some people want
their sleep! So the basics for puppy pen overnight is: Take your puppy out for its last potty of the
evening the latest you possibly can - right before you put yourself to bed. If the puppy has accidents
overnight, it's just an accident, it won't be the end of the training-world. Good idea is to monitor what
time your puppy is waking up in the mornings. If you can figure out what time they normally get up,
then set your alarm for 10-15 mins before that time each morning and wake up the puppy to take it
outside for potty. This could minimize the accidents they have right when they wake up in the
morning. Normally, once you hear your puppy crying in the mornings, it's likely it's already too late,
they have probably already had that morning accident.
Rule #8 - Other potty breaks - basically your puppy will have to pee each time it wakes up from a
nap, and after each meal. Take your puppy out always for these instances.
Rule #9 - Spray bottles / Leash dragging / Basic training commands - Spray bottles can be used
quite often when you have a puppy. Make sure it is on stream, not spray. You want it to be a bit of a
shock to the puppy. You can spray your puppy if necessary if it is barking at a certain thing, or
performing unwanted behavior. Leash dragging is quite often a must - when puppies get out of
control you can catch them easily and if they jump off, as you say "off" you step on the leash so they
cannot jump on you. Good training methods. As soon as you take your puppy home, you are ready
to teach it the basic training commands. They are NOT too young for this. They do have short
attention spans so limit your training sessions to 10-15 minutes or so. First thing they can learn is
SIT. Other commands are going to be down (for lie down), wait, stay, and any other fun tricks you
want to teach them.
Rule #10 - Finally. Reward your puppy quite often for good behavior. Carrots are a healthy little
snack just make sure they aren't too big to get stuck in their throat. They won't make your doggie fat
either. Most dogs do like carrots. Reward each time your puppy goes potty outside. Reward each
time it does something right, even if you didn't ask it to. If your puppy just sat in front of you - "good
sit". Keep positive with your puppy. Once your puppy is aloud to go out for walks (after 16 weeks of
age, the final set of shots), you want to keep your dog on a 4-6 foot leash. Don't let the dog walk
ahead of you, it should be at your side the whole way. Let the dog sniff the grasses, only when you
want it to, not when it tries to every time. At each corner before you cross the street have your dog
sit before you cross. Just remember the structured walks will do your doggie (and yourself) much
good.
Good Luck!
Chelle Rohde – Designer Doggies
| Many people don't know where to start with how to best settle their new puppy into their family, So I've put this list together for you to set you up for Success with your new puppy. The feedback I have had is very positive, very happy people. Let me know how this works for you!! |
| 415.999.4114 chelle@designerdoggies.com |