# Where to start?



## mojosmum (May 20, 2005)

Wow Tracy. All I can suggest to you is to read some of the other posts that the "puppy people" have written. There's been some excellent advise dispensed. Try to also keep calm when you're with the puppy. Maybe you should call the breeder/previous owner to see if they have any advise.


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## finn1217 (May 3, 2005)

Welcome! How old is your puppy? I believe I read 2 months old? He will feel very out of control for you for a while! I have a 5 month old who gave us a run for our money, but now he is completely potty trained, which I must add he didnt even look like he was progressing at all then one day he decided it was time to go outside, he is well behaved-doesnt jump, bark or chew. Just be patient, let him be a puppy, he will nip a little, he will chew a little, he wont listen and he'll jump. As long as the behavior isnt promoted, he will settle down eventually and you will love him to death!!! Get him enrolled in puppy classes so they can teach you how to teach him, great investment! Good luck! :wavey:


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## timberwolfe (Apr 15, 2005)

This is why I was taught that you get the behaviour you want, then you introduce the command. You got him to come. Great. But instead of saying come you should just praise the heck out of him. Only when you know he will do it do you give the command. What you have accidently done is trained him that it is OK to ignore your command, so now you have to correct a bad behaviour.



This going outside and jumping and nipping is normal. But you do need to control it. What we did was when he started getting excited we would try to get him to sit. He learned that one very early and was reliable. He jumps and nips, we ask for a sit, he sits, we praise and pat. We redirected his bad behaviour for a good one. But you need a reiable sit. Work on his basic obedience. Sit, Stay, Down. From a distance and for extended periods of time. Get it down, practice every day several times a day. It helps a lot. If he gets out of control and turning your back and ignoring him doesn't work, give him a time out. I used to pick Clancy up, bring him inside and shut him in his room just to give me time to stop seeing red. It is time consuming and requires patience.




You mention it is only the second day. There you have it. It is only the second day. This will take months. Only at 2 years of age did I finally see it all coming together in Clancy. Sure he was a good dog before that, but he hadn't matured yet so he could still be unpredictable. Nothing you have mentioned yet leads me to believe he is anything but a normal Golden. I had scars on my arms and torn cloths too.


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## Tracy (May 15, 2005)

finn1217: I'm thinking of enrolling him to puppy class when he's 10 weeks old at Petsmart. We'll need that for sure, we, as in my puppy and me, have a lot to learn. 

timberwolfe: What can I do to correct this behavior of him thinking it's ok to ignore commands? I've tried teaching him sit with a treat in hand and putting it over his head, but that didn't work and I also tried the putting one hand on his chest and telling her to sit and then push the hand up and back while using the other hand to tuck her hips under. 

What are some tips to get your puppy use to a leash, we try to put a leash on him but he just ends up chewing it and playing with it like a chew toy.


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## molmotta (May 22, 2005)

hold a delicious treat in your hand. Call his name, when he comes, praise him like there is no tomorrow and treat. The most important command is that your pup must know his name. Sit, Stay, Down, everything else can come later. He's ignoring you because you are not interesting. That gremlin on the wall is much more interesting. :bowl: 

Puppy biting, nipping and scratching is something all owners must experience! They are just playing with you!! Many ways and many theories to teach the puppy what is acceptable play and what is not. I sometimes hold the pup by the muzzle and firmly say NO. Let go. Repeat if necessary. When it gets really bad, I'd roll the pup over and bite him (not too hard). That's the way his dog mom will teach him anyway.

It only been two days. Dont fret. Takes a while to get it like Timberwolfe said. My Davidson, at 10 months, still mouth me occassionally. We've all had our battle scars...


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## monomer (Apr 21, 2005)

First of all, let me say this... it sounds like you have a very NORMAL puppy... but remember he is a puppy with no self-control, he is purely driven by instinct at this point... that's perfectly normal behavior. He will bite and jump and go crazy a lot more over the next couple of months before the self-control begins to 'kick in' and at that point you can begin some real training. Until then you must exercise a lot of patience. Yes, do something about the biting now but do NOT expect any major improvements for at least a month and a half... see the thread entitled "biting" for more details. I might also recommend you use a crate for 'time-outs'. There are times when any corrections on your part will only seem to feed his craziness or you get so frustrated with his wild behavior you just want to shake him or smack him... DON'T, this is when a 'time-out' is needed... for the both of you. Simply pick him up and put him in the crate and do NOT let him out until he has been quiet and calm for AT LEAST 5 MINUTES... in 'puppy time' that will seem like forever but it is necessary otherwise he will just rev right back up again. And you'll find a little exercise will do wonders... walk him or play with him to the point where HE wants to quit and then stop and let him rest/sleep. You may find yourself doing this 5 or 6 times a day at first. Little puppies have little capacity for all things... lots of meals (3 to 4 a day), lots of poops (take outside first thing in the morning, last thing at night, right after every nap, right after every meal, and at all other times approximately every hour), lots of little exercise periods (these may only last 15 or 20 minutes at first). Don't let anyone with a different breed of dog tell you what is normal puppy behavior or development... Golden's are different! They simply take longer... but, like a fine wine, they really are worth the wait.

As for the leash... we started baby Sidney as soon as we got him (at 7-1/2 weeks). Start getting him use to a collar. Put one on him for successively longer periods of time... then begin to attach the leash and let him drag it around for awhile. The next step is up to some discussion... you could have someone in front of him providing enticement, but I've had better luck in simply taking all the slack out of the leash and waiting until he finally decides to move in your direction to release the pressure off the collar (be sure to give lots of praise immediately when this occurs). Practice this 'leash walking' 4 or 5 times a day, for 10-15 minutes per session, in your backyard (trust me, you won't be going very far). Well within two weeks you should have him leash trained... now you two can go for real walks around the block... again 4 or 5 times a day. And as far as the recall... only call him when you know he will come, such as for dinner, and also use treats at this stage to elicit a 'come'. The training for a formal (command) recall will have to wait until he is a little older... at least 4 months. Until then... puppy-hood is a trying time for both of you, try to make the best of it and exercise all the patience you can muster... viewing the 'larger picture', it is really a very short span of time that strangely enough you'll probably find you miss after its gone.


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## Tracy (May 15, 2005)

I read that i shouldn't use his crate as a time out because he will then see the crate as a time out and won't want to go in and sleep. He's only had a few accidents but that's because on the first night he had one and whenever we start to see him sniff a lot we bring him outside, however he ends up playing for a while before going. Which I think has lead him to think by going outside he can play until he feels like going potty then once he's potty he plays for a little while then we bring him in. 

I'm trying to change this thought of his, like today he was sniffing and almost went pee, he did very little like a drop on the floor and i took him outside to where I want him to potty but then he just ended up running around and playing and chewing on his toys. Then he started playing rough with me so i ignored him and walk inside while watching him through the window, then he stayed by the door staring for less then a minute and left and went running around again, not too long he pooped. But for the past few days he's been pooing wherever he wants outside. I'd like to change it to one spot everytime, any suggestions on how to do this?

One more thing, how can i make myself more interesting so my puppy would want to play with me more and spend more time with me then just with his toys?


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## monomer (Apr 21, 2005)

Time-outs are not punishment... its quiet time... a place with few outside stimulations (we cover all sides, except the front, with a blanket), it inspires calm and maybe a nap. We've used a crate on our last two pups mainly for housebreaking and to teach good habits. 

The housebreaking is essentially done by making the crate so small (use a wooden slat to reduce the den size appropriately) the pup cannot resist his natural instinct to NOT defecate in the place he also sleeps... and thus will whine to get out... that is your cue to immediately take him to the place you want him to 'go'. It's important you get to him immediately because he physically can't hold it for very long... and if you take too long he will have no choice but to do it in the crate... once he gets comfortable with doing that, good luck in trying to housebreak him then. 

How the crate is use to teach good habits... The Rule is: you NEVER let him out of the crate unless you can watch and interact with him 100% of the time... if you have to take your eyes off of him for even a minute, back into the crate he goes until you are free to watch and interact with him again (doesn't have to be YOU per se but it does have to be somebody). The way you prevent bad behavior (and later bad habits) is to catch it just as it happens and correct it. One Example: the moment he begins to chew the coffee table leg, you immediately say "NO!" and put one of his chew toys into his mouth, then praise and pet puppy. If you do this EVERY single time he tries to chew anything that's not his... he will grow-up to distinguish between what's yours and what's his. This 'ever vigilant' approach can apply to housebreaking, jumping on people, coffee table surfing which then leads to counter-surfing, etc. ...in other words, by preventing a bad behavior from ever happening the first time you will not have a bad habit to correct later... the crate allows you to do this.

I believe, when used properly, the crate can be a wonderful training tool. With both of our last two dogs, they could be trusted with full run of the house by the time they were 16 weeks old... at which time the crate was retired. (You can also ease the transition by partially opening the house up in sections by the use of baby gates.) 

I believe the key for us with both our puppies was spending anywhere from 70-90% of puppy's waking hours, watching/interacting and guiding behavior... if you just use the crate to keep an inconvenient puppy out of the way for hours on end, then it becomes a jail cell and can come to represent punishment and not really a place of peace and quiet... yes, then your puppy will surely want to avoid the crate.

The advice I am giving you is what worked for us but you must realize that I'm a teacher (think... summers off) and my wife works part-time (<20 hours a week) AND we timed our puppies for the summer when we CAN devote a lot of time and energy into starting puppy out right. We believe by putting in a great deal of effort during a dog's first year there is a huge pay-off for everyone for the remainder of his life... so far, I think we've been right.


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## GOODTIMN (May 30, 2005)

The first thing I teach all my pups is their"name" I ask nothing of them but to listen to what I'm saying, which is their name, then after a few days of them recognizing the tone of their name then I work with them to come to me, and to stand when coming/returning to me.. I had shown conformation for sooooo many years that the stand command is one of the hardest for a dog to learn after learning everything else, so I incorporated the stand command right from the beginning, (heck you never know if you may show our dog or not whether it be in conformation or obed. and the stand/stay command is one that is important to teach)

From there I teach them loose leash walking, and to "LISTEN" to me,I carry on an endless conversation with all my pups/dogs and they do "LISTEN" the conversation may be boring but as long as I keep my voice tone up and happy the are more than willing to "FOCUS" on my and then my end result soooon, is to have no leash on at all. If they only "LISTEN" when the leash is on then what good is it when its not on them??

The sit command is one I don"t teach, that is automatic for a dog to do, so I don't ask for it and when the time comes later in teaching then praise when the sit is done by the dog!

These are just basic beginning commands for a pup!!!

As far as your pup jumping and nipping, just ""IGNORE"" and turn the other way, and when you do your pup will be ""FOCUSED"" on you for wanting your attention and if your pup insists on jumping and nipping then just "CALMLY" say no "OFF" and "NO BITE" and keep walking and when your pup is walking with you/around you, "THEN" stop and bend down and physically praise with a "CALM" pet and a verbal "GOOD KID" and then go and get a ball or toy and play...this is "REWARD" teaching!!

It doesn't happen overnite, it is consistancy in teaching that works!!!!

But no matter what you do, make it "FUN" and make a "GAME" out of it, pups/dogs learn my repetition and by ""NON-FORCED" teaching, that is what makes for a happy pup/dog!!


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## timberwolfe (Apr 15, 2005)

You are getting lots of great advice. I agree with most of it. Some I don't. One of the things you will have to decide is which training method you want to use. Did you shop around for puppy class? I've heard some negative things about classes in the chain stores. I highly recommend going to several trainers and talking to them. Ask what methods they use. Some insist of using choke collars, other use positive Only methods. 

Also, we din't go to school until Clancy was 5 months. Early puppy class, in my opinion, wasn't worth it for us. But only because I worked him at home and had friends and family with dogs and was able to socialize him, which is what a big part of puppy school is. At 12 weeks you can't expect to keep a pups attention for very long.

We chose Clicker Training to train Clancy. 

But getting to your problem, I don't think you need to correct any behaviour yet. He is just a baby still, but now is the time to instill good habits, and not just for the pup but for you and your family. You need to be consistant and everybody needs to follow the rules. If your rule is that he is not allowed on the furniture, then don't break it.

Another rule we followed is "Nothing In Life Is Free". Meaning anytime you give your pup his meal or a treat, you ask for something, like sit.

To get a sit, you mention you tried putting the treat over his head. That usually works. Are you holding the treat so he can see it in front of him at first, then slowly bringing it towards his nose then slowly over his head? His nose should follow and if you keep it close to his head, not to high above him, it should force his butt to the ground. Maybe doing it with his back to the wall. What we would then do is as soon as his butt touches the ground, we would Click (a noise made with a small toylike thing) which marks the behaviour you are after, and treat him and praise him. You repeat and repeat, always marking the moment he does what you want, and when you know he is getting it, you introduce the command.

I could continue typing away here, but the sun is out and I need to get going, which is good since I feel I have typed too much as it is. LOL


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## Jude's Mom (May 19, 2005)

Tracy
My dog is a few weeks older than yours and we seem to be having the same problems. Jude is constantly biting us and our other dog. When "NO" very loudly does not work (and sometimes it does) I put him into time out in his crate. This also is working. I agree with the other posts that he needs the time out to settle down, and frankly I need the time to also settle down.

As far as the sit, lay down, ect commands I got good advice from my stepdad who is a retired K9 cop. He told me to start early and when ever I see Jude sitting to tell him "sit" and then praise him. This way he associates the bahavior with the word. At this point he sometimes will sit when he is told, but I am continuing with this method.

I am also looking into obedience school. Just another suggestion for a school I noticed that the local community college has dog training classes that are 5 or 6 weeks long. I have not made up my mind yet which I will do, I still have about 10 days before the first one starts.

I am trying just about everything written on this site with Jude. Some work with him and some don't. Every dog is different. I just really appreciate the advise.


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## Tracy (May 15, 2005)

Thanks for the advice Timberwolfe, Rocky's been getting a lot better with the nipping. I'm thinking of enrolling him into a class with petsmart, just to get him started and socializing as well as teach myself how to work with a puppy. I would never enroll him in any classes that uses choke chains or any sort of cruel method, I believe more in the treat method. I read about clicker training you wrote in another forum and thought it was a pretty good idea, so i'm still doing more research about this method.

Jude's mom about the sitting part do you mean when you see him seated that you say sit then praise or when you she/he's about to sit then you say sit and praise?


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## Jude's Mom (May 19, 2005)

When I see him sitting I say "sit". Actually I also say "lay down" when I see him laying down. This way he will associate the behavior with the action. Then everyonce in a while I will say sit. If he sits then I praise him. Sometimes he sits sometimes he doesn't.


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