Rachel's Guide to Puppies

I'm not quite ready to tackle a complete post on potty training...I might get to that this weekend. But here are a couple of quick potty training tips that have been on my mind this week. As we're looking into getting another puppy, this is what I fear the most! I'm hoping it will be 50 times easier the second time around.

• If your dog goes potty or poop in your house, it is your fault. NEVER scold the dog or yell at them. EVER!
• This one is so hard for new dog owners because most of us remember our parents shoving our dog's nose in their business to "teach them"
• This is NOT positive reinforcement. Dogs don't understand what you're doing because by the time you find their mess, they've already forgotten they've done it. This means your dog will only learn that you are a mean mean human if you do this.
•  Take the puppy out at least every hour until you are used to their elimination patterns. I think I read somewhere that they can hold it for 1 hour past their age in months. (3 month old can hold it for 4 hours)- I'm not sure I would trust this. If you're home, just take them out hourly & you'll avoid some messes.
• Exceptions:
• After they drink water, take them out 15-20 minutes later
• After they eat, take them out 15-20 minutes later
• Take treats out with you. When the dog eliminates act like they just won the freakin lottery! This is a huge deal going potty/poop outside! Reward them with a treat along with all the praise. 
• Make sure not to scare them with your praise!
• If you don't crate train, you should. It makes it so easy to contain messes they may make while you're away from home. 
• Pick a word for going outside to go to the bathroom. We started out with "potty" so I'd say, "Potty outside" every time we'd walk out the door to go to the bathroom. When he'd eliminate, I'd praise with "Good potty outside!" 
• As he got older & could tell the difference, we started differentiating between potty and poo, but puppies won't be ready for that yet.

House breaking is really just trying to predict when your dog is going to need to eliminate and getting them outside before they do it! It can be SO frustrating, but if you stick with it and continue to be consistent with the timing and praise, your dog will be housebroken in no time. You also have to remember to contain your initial anger when you see a mess. But just keep it in, grab the dog & head outside, then clean up the mess after they've eliminated in the correct place.

Well, that turned out to be more complete than I thought it would be, so if you have any questions about anything you think I've left out, let me know!

Good luck!

Taking your puppy on short trips to fun places is very important in the first few months. Since puppies usually require many trips to the vet, they will learn that the car is a bad thing that takes them to scary places if you don't show them the opposite.



Take them to the dog park or the pet store for a new toy. Even driving 5 minutes down the road then coming back home is better than nothing. Just make sure they are in a crate if they can't maintain their balance well and that your seats are covered with towels.


Also, don't forget to allow them to pee or poo before getting in the car! Happy travels :)

Everything is new to puppies; that also means that everything new could be scary to puppies. You will have to pay close attention to your dog to be able to tell when they fear something.

What signs tell you your dog fears something? Well I recently realized Koopa was afraid of some new additions to our house, so they are fresh in my mind:

• Slowly approaching something
• Tail tucked
• Stretching to reach something- puppies especially will do this
• Their neck will be stretched out while their back legs are as far away as possible so they can get away quick!
• Standing near something to watch it but not really going close 
• Ears flying back against their head
• Also pay attention to when they run away
• If you notice them running away repeatedly after you do a certain task or use a certain object, it's very possible that task or object is what they fear

The good news is most fears can be trained out of dogs very quickly! One thing you have to be careful with is not reinforcing the fear. For example, Koopa is afraid of his aluminum bowl. If I made him jump every time he went near it, I would be reinforcing his fear instead of helping him get over it.

So, how do you get your dog over their fears? It's really quite simple. For this, you'll need a bag of treats.

• First, sit down on the floor next to the feared object. For Koopa, this was his bowl
• If your dog is afraid of the noise it makes, tap on the object. If he's afraid of its movement, move the object
• Immediately after you tap on/move the object, give a treat. 
• If the dog won't come near, you can throw the treat to them
• The point here is that they need to associate the noise/movement of the object with something good- the treat
• It's most likely that the dog will start very far away from the object- that's not a bad thing. 
• Start by throwing treats to them
• As the dog starts to loosen up a bit and isn't as jumpy when the object is moved/tapped on, toss the treat closer to you and the object, drawing the dog in
• Continue drawing the dog closer, but ONLY as they get more comfortable. If they seem more anxious when you draw them closer, allow them to back off
• Once the dog is next to the object, tap/move it constantly while giving treats in a row
• You only need to do this for about 3 treats

By now, your dog should be more comfortable with the object. After one session of this, Koopa drank an entire bowl of water. Before, he'd just run up quickly, steal two quick drinks and retreat as quickly as he could.  Most dogs will probably need more than one of these training sessions to get over their fear.

Remember to be positive, but stay calm. Added excitement will only cause your dog to enter a more energized state which will add to their fear.

Here's a video of Koopa working on the fear of his bowl. Notice how I throw the treats a little further away when I start to notice him getting nervous. I could tell he was nervous because he started to act more energized as he got closer. Dogs should remain just as calm as they were when they started the exercise. If you notice their energy level increasing, allow them to back off. Make sure you distinguish between excitement for getting a treat thrown at them and nervousness about being close to their feared object. Feel free to give them praise at the end of the exercise, but make sure not to startle them!

 Koopa and I visited the dog park tonight. We hadn't been in quite a while, so we (read: he) was VERY excited. When we got out there, there were just a few dogs surprisingly. We had gone pretty late so that it could cool down just a bit, but with an hour of sunlight left, I expected more people.

Anyway, there were a couple of Chihuahuas, a couple of Boxers and an Aussie. Koopa loves Boxers because they match his energy level when he wants to play. So I was thrilled that there were at least a couple of dogs he could play with. Of the two Boxers, one was a puppy and the other was probably a little older than Koopa. Koopa went straight into play mode as I expected- chasing and then trying to be chased. He would nip at the younger one's cheeks and then run away. Typical puppy play behavior. All of a sudden, both the puppies owners were up and trying to block Koopa from their dog. Then they told him it was "time to go home." I just stood there, completely shocked. He hadn't even gotten really riled up. This was TAME puppy play. Probably the calmest and gentlest I've seen Koopa be with a puppy. I had just been thinking how proud I was that he was going slow with her. So I spoke up and said, "They're just playing. That's how they play. If they were really playing hard, they'd have a hold of each others cheeks and be swinging each other around by them." They just responded saying their two just boxed like Boxers do.

But I'm not rude, and I don't want to upset anyone, so I just took Koopa away. Guess what happened? Baby Boxer comes bounding after Koopa wanting to play more. Surprise, surprise. So that got me thinking that a lot of people baby their puppies and do not let them set their own limits. Dogs WILL set their own limits. If they feel victimized or scared they will squeal or whimper. Other dogs have learned to back off at this point and most will, assuming they've had adequate puppy play experience. If you never let your dogs play, they won't learn their limits or when to back off when they reach other dog's limits.

Aggression is very easy to see. I've included a video of my dog and his best bud going at it and then a clip of a dog fight. Pay attention to the difference in body language in each clip. I can tell you that both my dog and Cassie (the other dog) were bleeding after their play date, but they never showed any aggression toward the other. Dogs play hard, that's a fact of life. You need to learn to be ok with it and not step in when you think things get too rough. After watching these videos you will know when it's a dog fight. Then you can step in.

If you step in during normal dog play and scoop up your dog, he will learn to fear other dogs. This can lead to them becoming unnecessarily aggressive or scared around other dogs.

The best place for your puppy to learn their limits and to learn how to play is a puppy play time. The Petco in Lawrence (and I'm sure Petco and Petsmart in OP) have puppy play times for puppies under 6 months old to come and learn how to play. The one in Lawrence is on Sundays at 2pm. These sessions are FREE....did you read that? FREE SOCIALIZATION!...and are completely necessary for your puppy AND for you to figure out how they play. Go to these sessions and go often.

Here is Koopa and Cassie PLAYING (make sure to watch the whole thing for pointers):

• Things to pay attention to:
• Tails wagging
• "Smiles" on their faces (mouth open, tongues hanging to the side)
• Relaxed bodies
• No raised hackles (the hair down the center of their back)

Now here is the dog fight. What cues should you be looking for here?

• First you have one obviously nervous dog that is whimpering. This raises the energy level of the other dogs and is never good. Socializing your dog usually minimizes this. 
• When the boxer comes over neither one smells the others butt, they also pause for a second without really looking at each other
• Right after the pause, you can hear the growling. That is a very distinctive sound to listen for- quick barking growls. That tells you they are fighting
• If you focus on their mouths you can see their lips are raised, baring their teeth
• Some dogs do this when they're playing. When the sounds are paired with it, you know it is NOT playing
• You can also see their body language is very stiff. Even after they stop fighting at first, you can tell more is about to happen
• Their hackles are also raised
• Another good indicator that it is a fight and not play is if they are both standing up on their back feet, biting and growling at each other
• The owner of the Boxer (Lexi) does the absolute wrong thing- she starts SCREAMING her dog's name. If your dog gets into a fight, do exactly what the owner of the black dog does- speak in a very calm voice and ask your dog to come and sit.

Can you see the difference?

You should start on this soon after you've chosen a name for your dog. It's important for two reasons. First, your dog needs to know his name so he knows you are talking to him. Second, teaching your dog his name this way will help when you are trying to get his attention in the future.

You'll need treats for this first technique. I would recommend getting very small treats- no bigger than your dog's food. There are also low fat ones available so your pup doesn't end up with diarrhea from too many treats! We use the multi-colored ones from the "make your own treat bag" section and Petco. Koopa will do anything for those.

• Say your dog's name in a high-pitched voice that gets their attention
• When your dog gives you eye contact, give them a treat and say, "Good ____ (their name)"
• If saying their name isn't getting their attention, you can make interesting noises (anything that gets their attention), say their name excitedly as soon as they make eye contact, and then reward them with the treat
• Key points:
• Never say their name with an angry tone or they will associate their name with punishment
• This is VERY bad and the opposite of what you're trying to achieve. You want your dog to want to give you their full attention when you say their name
• Make sure that you aren't rewarding half attention. You want your dog to make full eye contact with you after you say their name. If they don't make full eye contact, try again. 
• This is best done in an environment with no other distractions- no loud noises, children playing, etc

The second technique is done without treats. All it involves is saying their name excitedly and giving them praise ANY time they look at you. They do still have to make eye contact. One point about this technique: puppies are somewhat like babies when they're young- they don't really focus on much of anything. This can be very frustrating at first because it seems like they're never paying attention you, but just stick with it. They will randomly look at you, and if you reward them by saying their name happily and praising them, they'll start looking at you more and more.

In the future when your dog is running away from you and you yell their name, chances are (if you trained them on this well enough) that they will turn around and look at you. Let me know which technique works best for you.

Bite inhibition is very important. Dogs, no matter how trained, will get excited when they're in play mode. From a very early age you need to make sure they know that under no circumstance are they allowed to bite you hard.

The great thing is that this is so easy to teach! Dogs usually learn bite inhibition from their litter mates or other dogs they play with- but don't assume they already have or will learn it from other dogs!

Here's what to do:

• Stick your finger in their mouth and let them chew on it
• With young puppies this will probably hurt because they won't know how softly to chew/bite
• Even if the puppy is not hurting you, whimper loudly- try to imitate a puppy "yipe" or yell "ow" loudly
• They should instinctively spit your finger out
• If not, take your finger out quickly like you've been hurt and turn away from the dog
• Do it again; this time the dog should at least be a little weary to take your finger in its mouth
• Repeat this until the dog can chew SOFTLY on your finger without hurting you
• This is important because if it only hurts a little and you allow it, the dog will think biting you that hard is ok

You'll need to practice this quite often to remind the puppy. I also liked to teach it after I had gotten Koopa really riled up so he could learn that he has to use bite inhibition even in high energy situations like that.

Here's a short (and slightly embarrassing) video of what a dog who has learned bite inhibition should do.

Before I begin, I need to write a sort of disclaimer. First, I do not have a perfect dog. He is a puppy and no matter how much time I spend training him, he'll still be a puppy. He'll still probably chew up the rug, pee in the house every once in a while, go psycho when he greets another dog, and pull on the leash sometimes. But he's a puppy. I also am only writing this based on what I've learned with my dog & what I can remember/fit into each post. So what I'm trying to say is that even after reading these posts and trying things with your dog, he still may misbehave. I do not claim to be a professional trainer or to be able to "fix" your dog. This blog is here to help you better understand your dog and to have a better relationship with them. Also, I'll probably say "he" or "him" because my dog is a boy. Deal! :P

There are a few things you need to know before you get started training your dog.

• Socialization is KEY!
• There are so many things that can go wrong if your dog is not socialized. Socialization teaches your dog a few things:
• How to play correctly
• How to use bite inhibition
• Where they lie as far as dominate/submissive goes
• How to greet dogs
• How to be brave!
• How to share nicely
• It also teaches you a few things:
• Dog calming signals
• How dogs play (so you don't get worried & think they're fighting)
• How to recognize levels of aggression
• What could go wrong if you don't socialize your dog:
• Attacking dogs it's not used to
• Marking when other animals come near or marking where he smells other dogs
• This gets SO annoying because you end up having to stop at every tree on walks so your dog can cover up other dog's smells
• Being possessive of food
• Your puppy will turn into a dog, and those things that may have been cute as a puppy will NOT be cute as an adult
• Biting
• Grabbing the leash on a walk
• Jumping up
• Barking
• The dog needs to understand that your are the leader, and they need to follow
• If not, they will never listen to you
• Your emotions transfer to your dog
• If there's loud thunder and you act afraid (or even happy-excited), your dog will learn to be afraid of thunderstorms
• If there's a lawn mower outside and you act excited, your dog will act excited (read: BARK!) every time a lawn mower comes by
• This is even true of you saying, "It's ok!" in a very excited voice
• When you want to convey calm to your dog, make sure your voice is even-toned, almost monotone, or you will excite your dog which is hardly ever a good thing
• Before you start training, you need to make sure you have time for it each and every day
• Consistency is key:
• Set up a time every day that you can take 30 minutes to train your dog
• Make sure every member of your family agrees on training techniques:
• Hand signals
• Voice cues
• Goal of the command
• If there is ANYTHING on the floor (or even a few feet up) that you don't want destroyed, put it somewhere the puppy isn't allowed
• Even if things aren't off the floor, the puppy can still destroy things
• Koopa ate through a wall (that can be patched) and ripped up some carpet (which will have to be replaced)
• It's not just shoes that puppies eat! They'll eat anything!

Leave me comments if you have questions! I will be going further into many of the topics I brought up in the coming days/weeks. If there's anything you'd like to learn about, let me know and I'll write about it.