Training Tips

QUICK CRATE TRAINING TIPS:

*Reframe any image you may have of a crate being a jail cell. A crate is a place of safety, refuge and comfort for a dog. Introduced and trained properly, a crate keeps a puppy and dog safe, provides a place of comfort for them to sleep and utilizes their denning instinct for good!

*The crate should ALWAYS be a POSITIVE place for your puppy or dog. Never, ever force or punish your dog with the crate. Use treats, filled Kongs or safe indestructible toys or chews that are ONLY used in the crate to make it a high value treat experience! If the puppy knows, "Oh, when I go into my crate... that's when I get BOILED CHICKEN, or SPECIAL TREATS, or KONGS!! This is how your puppy will love going in the crate! Play games with the crate door open during the day where you toss their kibble in the crate for them to go after and eat. Feed them in the crate to also associate it with positive experiences.

*Be sure you have always prepped your puppy for crate time. They need to have gone to the bathroom and played enough that they are tired and more likely to be relaxed in the crate. A puppy who is ready to play and interact is not going to be ready to be crated. And a puppy who needs to go to the bathroom may be forced to use the crate because he/she has no other options.

*Always let the puppy go into the crate on their own. Do not just place the puppy in the crate. The puppy walking in on their own for a treat helps instill in their little minds that this is a place they are choosing and it is positive.

*Use a training word when the puppy enters the crate on their own and attach to an excited "yes!" For example, "Yes crate", or "Good crate!"

*Start with short durations of time in the crate with the door closed in the beginning. Throw a high value treat into the crate, let the puppy enter, then close the door for only 3 or 4 minutes. Then gradually over time work up to 5, 10, 15 minutes.

*In training, a crate should only be big enough for your puppy/dog to stand up, turn around and lay back down. To much space and the puppy could see part of the crate as a place to potty & then move to another spot in the crate to sleep. A comfortable small space will teach the puppy to hold it until they are let out to go to the bathroom. All in appropriate time for their age of development of course.

*A blanket or piece of fabric that smells like mom and litter mates can be very helpful and comforting for a puppy learning to sleep in the crate on their own. If the puppy starts shredding the fabric or using it to go to the bathroom then they are either being left in the crate to long, or you just need to remove the fabric until they are old enough to leave it alone.

*If the puppy seems too  easily distracted or disturbed, you can put a piece of wood or cardboard over the crate that extends roughly 2-3 inches and then drape a sheet, towel or blanket over the crate to make it feel more den like. The wood/cardboard will keep the puppy from getting hold of the blanket and chewing it or pulling it into the crate.

*Basic crate times:

9-10 weeks old 30 to 60 min. following positive introduction for a few days.

11-14 weeks old 1-3 hours

15-16 weeks old 3-4 hours

17 weeks or more 4 hours

QUICK POTTY TRAINING TIPS:

*When you bring your new puppy home for the first time, take them outside to your yard first off so they can get familiar with where they will be going potty and maybe they'll even go pee before they enter the house!

Once inside do not let them have access to the entire house. Use a play pen or have a gate to designate a small area where they can play and sleep and you can see them and monitor them well. Be watchful and notice the body language for needing to go to the bathroom. 

Body language:

*pacing, sniffing with head down, hurried urgent walk, squatting, circling.

*At the first sign of any of these body language signals, pick up your puppy and carry them outside and place them where you want them to go potty. In the beginning, carrying your puppy out to a designated area helps prevent an accident on the way out, teaches them they do not go in the house and teaches them where they go outside. Once you and your puppy have gotten to know each other better and you have a better feel for how badly they need to go at any given time, you can begin having them walk beside you to the door where they will go out to go to the bathroom.

*Use a training word. Go potty, go poo poo, go pee, hurry up... there are many words you can use to communicate to your puppy that we are out here for you to go to the bathroom.

*Get super excited and praise with a "Yes!" attached to your training word, to reward your puppy for going to the bathroom where they should. Make it a big happy deal. This is a significant reward for your puppy because they love to please you!

*Do not play or talk to much with your puppy when they are supposed to go to the bathroom. You are there to do business and it is not play time.

*Leaving a little bit of bowel movement in the area where you want them to go to the bathroom can help with communicating that this is what you do here. The smell with help them know, "Oh, it's time to go to the bathroom and this is where I do it."

*Be knowledgeable that puppies go potty after they eat, after they play, after they sleep, after they eat, and after they drink. Monitor these key functions and just take your puppy outside to the potty spot immediately after each of these to preempt any accidents.

*No scolding or putting your puppy's nose in an accident is appropriate. You're puppy doesn't understand this. They are learning. Just clean up the mess well to eliminate odor so they will not be tempted to go there again.

(Nature's Miracle is a wonderful brand of product for this purpose. It can be purchased on Amazon or any pet store or Walmart)