We are getting a puppy! I need some help in the training...ideas?

I am so thrilled to finally be getting a puppy. I just love dogs and I have not had one since I was in college. I am in my 50's now. We finally convinced my husband.

We picked him out last weekend from the litter and we get to pick him up on the 10th of October. He is a German Shorthaired Pointer. I have been reading up on potty training and bringing your new pup home.

One thing that was mentioned was on the first night, and nights there after, when the puppy whines or cries that he is alone and not with his mother and brothers and sisters, we are not supposed to go comfort him and pick him up. We are to not do anything because it says if you do it will show the puppy that all he needs to do is whine and cry and we will come running. My husband and I were all prepared to help him through the nights.

I thought I would sleep on the floor with him if need be. Well, I am reading this is a big no-no.
He will be crated and put in our bedroom until he gets older and is potty trained. He will have us near and maybe even have the lul of my husbands gentle snoring to keep him company.

What have all you dog owners done in this situation? The book says he will be alright in just a few nights. The book I am reading is "How to Raise the Perfect Dog." By Cesar Millan. I guess his show the Dog Whisperer is a big hit. I myself have never heard of it, nor seen it. But then again I do not watch a lot of T.V.

Any tips or suggestions on anything that has to do with a new puppy would be greatly appriciated. I am a huge dog lover so he will be loved I can tell you that!

Thanks everyone,

kimsmom

I'm happy for you!

But no help what so ever. I don't do puppies. LOL I rescue seniors who are already house trained and don't teeth! Does that show a certain laziness in me? Hubby and I are hopeless at crate training and housebreaking...we cave to the whining.....

I've had 1 puppy - she's now a happy healthy adult. I went and got books and read.

Housetraining - they go out when they wake up from a nap, after they eat and after they play. Be consistent and don't stretch it more than 2 hours at a time for the first week or two (you may have to get up in the night). I also used potty bells. You put a bell by the door and slap it every time you go out. Soon the dog learns that ringing bell = going outside and they will tell you when they have to go. Very helpful if your outside door is out of you line of sight.

Abby slept in a crate in my bedroom until she was fully potty trained. Then she slept in the room, where ever she wanted. If she did cry at night, we took her out. She usually had to go potty at least until she was 4 months.

Socialize the snot out of the pooch. Have them meet tons of other dogs, and people of all ages. Helps a lot (then you don't end up with problems like I have).

Teething - just make sure they have their things to chew on and try not to let them chew on you.

Take them out frequently and you'll be fine! I remember ours had a few accidents and I thought, oh no - but as long as she got out enough, that didn't happen often. As they get older, they can hold it longer and longer. I remember thinking my dog would never be able to tell me she needed to go, but eventually when she got to be a certain age, she'd just go stand at the door when she need to go out - that was nice when she reached that age. And now, she can hold it for the entire day practically - we literally have to make her go out sometimes! It's amazing how much they change as they get to be an adult. So hang in there if there are some accidents. :-)

We were lucky to have a room that our dog could sleep in at night - like a big laundry room, and she was fine with that. Now she has ended up sleeping in our room and she is so good - just sleeps right next to our bed all night long. We don't let her get on our bed because we'd have no room! It's amazing how they try to use their eyes to plead with you and try to get up on the bed though!

I had watched Caesar Milan often before we got our dog, and I thought I'd try to do all the things he said - not let her walk in front of me, etc. but I soon gave up on being that strict with things like that. What helped us SOOOO much with her was using a pinch collar for her because she pulled on the leash horribly - would literally choke herself she would pull so hard with a regular leash. The pinch (or prong) collar kind of pokes them if they pull, so they don't do it and it makes walking much more enjoyable. We learned at obedience class that it saves their throats from getting strained, etc. It looks kind of nasty, but it doesn't hurt them. We tried for so long to used a regular collar with a leash and just got very frustrated. We didn't get our dog until she was 7 months old though, so maybe if we'd had her from a puppy we could have taught her not to pull so much. Obedience class was fun.

Congratulations on your new puppy!

Awesome to get a pup. They are so much fun. They are so much work, but work put in while they are pups pays off big time when they mature.

I totally agree with heeler...get your pup to do all sorts of things and meet all types of people and animals.

Figure out now exactly how you want to train...and if you are crating or not. Dogs love having "caves" to sleep in so a comfortable crate can make them very comfy.

Never comfort a whining dog or you will just teach it that whining gets their needs met.

I like making my dogs work for everything, even affection...so I'll make them do something before they get anything, even cuddles. So, something like sit, or "touch" or "up".

I follow basic rules such as feeding them on command, and keep them in line for the most part. I find treating them like dogs and not like children helps them in the long run.

I do break rules...my dogs sleep on the bed, but there are no dominance with these two rescues. If there were, I would not have them on the bed.

Get the whole family on board before the pup arrives. My wife and I are very different in how we deal with the dogs and it just confuses the poor things.

Check in with us often, as quite a few of us have successfully raised pups.

I'm excited for you.

OHHHHHH...and I have dealt with major seperation isues with dogs, so I suggest never making a big deal of leaving and I ignore the pups when I first get home so they don't make a big deal of being left alone.

Congratulations on your new puppy! yay!!!
Who doesn't love a little puppy with a sweet breath, tiny teeth and a fat paws, falling over itself,
so soft and helpless, awwwww... lolol

I also highly recommend Cesar Millan.

One note on Cesar though - he specializes in very, very aggressive dogs,
dogs who other professionals wrote off as irreformable.

So, please don't be put off by some of Milan's harsh methods, as he doesn't use them to every single dog
- on the contrary, he takes the individual approach to every dog as per his (or her) needs is.
and anyway, the "kicking" and poking only looks so bad, in fact it is only strong enough to throw the dog's
focus off, not to cause a bodily harm.
Also, one might skip this part entirely - this particular physical correction, everything else will still have a helluva lot of point.

Cesar Millan wrote a few books that you may find valuable and helpful while bringing up your new puppy,
I even recommend to buy them not borrow as you will find yourself using it quite frequently.
Cesar Millan has his own site, too if you want quick tips:
http://www.cesarsway.com/articles/Cesar%27s%20Tips/657?cat=2

Another book that is a must for every dog owner is by Stanley Coren and is called
How to Speak Dog:

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it is also a must, as you will not only raise you new puppy now,
but also approach adult dogs while on walks, plus you need to know what to expect from them.
Plus, your new puppy will be an adult, too in a year so,....

good luck with your puppy, and can we have a piccies, please, pretty please, aroooo ??? woof woof??

Risa

Oh, I do have one important piece of advice. Take their food dish away from them frequently when they're eating so that they don't get aggressive with their food or their food bowl. I'm sure Milo and Heeler know the best methods for doing this, but it is SO important.

I will try to find a pic of my last puppy, Lilly. Nothing cuter in the world, seriously, than a baby basset hound. I think they even beat out baby otters....

Victoria Stillwell from the show "It's me or the dog." is a genius. She has a book out and I LOVE her training advice. She has some things in common withe Ceasar Milan. But she is VERY against any kind of physical interference. It is about rewarding the right behavior and ignoring or distracting the bad behavior. It has been wonderful for our dog. He is a rescue and a special needs pup. Between our fabulous vet who is a behavior specialist and what I have learned from "It;s me or the dog". He has improved immeasurably. (I like her a lot better than Ceasar!).

Good luck and have fun.

Mary Anne

her biggest advice is to keep your dog active and his/her mind busy. She does a lot of work with dog exercise and interesting games to keep dogs interested. I can't say much about her potty training advice, my dog was well past that stage when I found her.

. It is about rewarding the right behavior and ignoring or distracting the bad behavior.

This is what Millan prefers, too.
He just deals harshly with severely aggressive dogs.

If you observe carefully, you'll see that he hardly ever uses neck poking and butt "kicking" techniques with dogs who aren't aggressive at all.

I know Millan can be quite disturbing to watch at first - I was troubled in the beginning, too
but after seeying more and more of his shows I started noticing that there is more than to what meets the eye, literally.
He truly is a great dog psychologist and behaviorist, and that is why he can establish a connection with practically every dog he meets that everyone else is deathly afraid to even come up to behind a metal bars.
And definitely, his approach is 'custom cut'.


Risa

How exciting for you Pam!

I have had dogs most of my adult life, and before that. Any time you need advice, you can e mail me. One of my best friends who I go doggy walking with lots is part owner of a dog training school here, so I can always ask her too!

The one thing I have always find that works when the puppy is crying at night is to put him/her in a big box or crate next to your bed until they get used to living with you and you shouldn't have trouble with it whining.

Yes, I would love to see a photo too!

We've had dogs all my life.

A couple things help when you first bring the puppy home. An old clock that makes the tick-tock sound is soothing for them, sometimes a radio helps too--it imitates the mother's heartbeat and the sounds of the other littermates. This is helpful if you will be gone during the day too.

An old blanket, t-shirt or something with your smell on it is also comforting for them to sleep with.

I agree with the socializing--the more the better. And it's so fun to watch them playing with others when they're small.

I woke every couple of hours to take our puppies outside and while out with them, tell them to "go potty". As they get older and their bladders and bodies grow this spreads out and you're able to allow more hours between. Our dogs are good at coming and "asking" to go out when they need to. When we're outside, I tell them to "go potty" and they take care of their business and then are able to go about with playing, sniffing and snooping. The "go potty" command is helpful when you work and have only a short lunch hour to let them out for a potty break.

Risa,

I think Caesar is a genius. It is amazing how he can get a dog to trust him and change so readily. It is all very interesting. Have you ever seen "It's me or the dog."? It is interesting how different her technique is, but some of her methods are similar. I think she is incredible and her techniques have been really helpful with my crazy, abused, chronic pain dog.

I actually watched her "Puppy" episode yesterday. She was potty training two dogs from two families. It was interesting. The fist dog was living in a crate that was much to small and only being taken out 3 times a day. The first thing she did was get it a much bigger crate and make a list for the family about when to feed the dog and when to take it out. I think the schedule had the dog going out to potty 8 or 9 times a day. Two or three of those times included a big walk for exercise. She says that you can never leave a puppy unsupervised unless it is in it's crate or a safe area (like a playpen or laundry room) until the dog is trained. She was also very adamant that the dog not use his mouth on the family when it is playtime. The dog had some nipping problems. She substituted toys everytime the dog got mouthy. It worked very well.

Kimsmom,
I am so jealous that you get a puppy! they are so soft and warm and snuggly. Enjoy and good luck! Post lots of photos!

Unfortunately, none of the channels I have transmit Victoria Stillwell but I've heard of her a lot, that she's good.
I wish I could watch her, too.

I am very upset with the fact, though how widely accepted the crates became.
I think they are evil, and will never agree with them.
It's sad to see how easily the behaviorist gave in to these, and how many dogs are now suffering in these too small crates most of the time.
Before the crates, so many dogs did so well, and so did their owners. They just had to work harder.

But what can I do?

Risa

WOW, you all are great at giving me some good advise on raising our new puppy. Lots of good information. I have written down the other two books that I feel are a must for me to read. Its me or the Dog by Victoria Stillwell (thanks Maryann!) and How to speak Dog by Stanley Coren ( thanks Risa!) I love to read so I will look forward to reading them.

I enjoy learning about the dogs and I have learned some interesting tid bits from Cesars book. Did you know that dogs are born not only blind but deaf? They only have their noses that work 100% and their sucking reflexes when they are first born. It says they start to hear around the 2nd week.

Also I learned that an English Bulldog has to deliver her pup or pups C-section.

I wanted to thank everyone for all your wonderful information. I will get my daughter to change my avitar to Jakes picture after we get him home and organized.

kimsmom

I can't wait !

Posting pictures here is also very easy - just use one of the two the icons above- 15th and 16th in a row from the left (double pictures or single),
that says Host an Image or Image, depending on which one you set your cursor.

If you have a website that host your images an Image suffice, if you don't you need to use Host and Image.
It's a bit more complicated but also very easy, just requires a bit of practice.

Good luck!

Risa

I can't wait to see pictures....Congratulations on your new addition!
My husband has been a dog trainer for years and years. He is/was amazing with our puppies. I learned SO much!
He trains working dogs and has done agility, Mondio ring, Protection Sports America, and now French ring competitions. Dogs are his passion.
I've always been a dog-owner and lover, but have learned SO much from him over the years, about dog behavior, etc...

Someone we have trained with in LA, a very well-respected trainer, OJ, is a dear friend of my hubby's. OJ has been close friends with Caesar Milan for years and comes from a similar training ethic. I believe OJ was on several episodes of the Dog Whisperer...

Feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions you'd like answers on...there are many types of training, and I don't claim that my hubby knows it all, but I know he'd love to help!

Of course our expert Migraine dog-experts have said some fantastic recommendations above!

Once again, congratulations, mazel tov, and can't wait to see those puppy pix!
xo
T