When Is A Good Age To Start Training?
 

Definitely start as early as possible. We got Ted at 8 weeks and
I had him sitting the first night in the home. I tried to work on one
new thing a day with him. It's fun for both of you and they also
get the idea of how pleasing you is pleasurable for them.

They love to learn
 

ESPECIALLY if you have TREATS! lolol Wosie will do whatever I want provided I have a treat in my hand! I have actually begun treating now only occasionally, and she never knows if she will get a treat or not so she still does what I want.

We began the day we got her at 8 weeks, too. Incidentally, one of my favorite tricks for her is to make sure she sits while I go out the door first, and then she doesn't come out until I say OK. That way, she never runs outside when the door opens. I do the same coming inside, too, just to enforce that she doesn't cross a threshold without permission. It's a safety thing.

Training can be a joy for both you and your pup! Have fun! :D

As far as training goes, start the day you bring the dog in to your house. Start on one command at a time and master it for a week. Then introduce the next command. Sit and stay are two of the most important commands to start with, sit being the first. Reward, reward, reward.

Petsmart has a great training program. You can do it with the group setting or individually (the latter which costs a bit more, but then you are one on one with the trainer and really getting the money's worth). I would try to get in there if you can.

I used to do dog training when I was married to my first husband. People used to drop their dogs off at my house for two weeks for the sit and stay and housebreaking training. Then I would train the owner to train the dog. That is the most important thing. I now know that that technique was wrong. :rolleyes: The dogs back then only listened to me. If you go the way of hiring a dog trainer, make sure it's one that trains YOU to train the dog. Cause otherwise, if he/she trains the dog, the dog learns to listen to them, not you. Just my nickle though.

Have fun with your training. It's great bonding time - more fun for the puppy than just cuddling.

Also, so far as great training treats go. You can buy a tub of Pup-per-roni at Petmart for like $10. What I do for training is pull out all the treat sticks (they come is long pencil shaped strips), and chop them up into really small bite sized pieces. Not too small that they don't get a good taste, but not to big that they are chewing for the next five minutes and loosing interest in the training session. Carry some of the chopped pieces with you in your pocket. Any time you give the command, you will have a treat on hand for rewarding as well as your petting. The hardest part about treat training is giving the treat the exact moment of command success. You have at most a two second window of the command being followed to give the treat for reward.

Also, with a puppy, their attention span for the training sessions only last for about ten to fifteen minutes per session. Then they will get bored or distracted. Don't force it. You want the sessions to be fun. Have two or three sessions a day if you can until they get older. Then they will be able to concentrate longer.

Again, I recommend Petsmart's training program for one-on-one sessions, unless you have trained a dog before. Just my nickle though. :)

Great advice!
 

Besides sit/stay, COME is very very important. It can save your pup's life.

Have fun! :D

This is exactly what I do! Works very well.... One stick goes a long way, and it's a lot cheaper than buying the "training bits" that my pet shop sells.

I got Joey at 10 weeks at started clicker training immediately. I don't think 8 weeks would be too early at all!

I first taught name recognition and "come". "Drop it" is another really important command and can be taught early. Sit, down, stay. Oh! Another good one to teach early is "Get your toy!" - very, very handy to use when you need to distract pup from inappropriate behavior.

"Bang! You're dead!" was another that I taught early, but only because my kids said that I couldn't! :rolleyes:

Self Training or Professional Training?
 

I am a bit concerned now that my 9 week old may have A.D.D! I can't imagine teaching her to sit or really anything right now, she is always bouncing!
Let me know how it goes and good luck

No, not at all. He's pretty young; he's needed some time to settle in. AND, I expect that you are training more than you realize! He's probably learning his name, household routines, and, as you say, potty-training.

I'm totally sold on training classes. It's fun! One note, though, be sure your little pup is completely vaccinated before you start taking him around other dogs.

We started teaching Chachi commands when he was 8 weeks old. He was real receptive to learning and learned many tricks.

I think a good age to start training a puppy is in the car on the way home when you first get him. (Joke!) Carol Jean

Training Classes
 

When Is A Good Age to Start Training
 

We started the day we brought Missy home at 8 weeks of age.

When we get ready to feed her, we put her in a SIT position until we put her food & water down on the floor. Once we put the food down, we tell her "OK".

We also put her in a SIT position to get a treat. No sit - no treat!

We've also put up bells on a string attached to the patio door. We rang the bells and told her "Out". She rings the bells when she has to go outside to go potty! She caught on to this immediately. This is nice as she isn't barking to go out!*!

The sooner you start training, the better it'll be for everyone.

Happy Holidays.

Yes! We did the same. I left that out!

Potty Training
 

Man oh man. It doesn't seem like I'm making much headway on potty training Giovanni on puppy pads. When I first got him he would go on the pad, that was a week ago. Now he looks at the pad, walks away from it and pees or poops somewhere else. I take him to the pad everytime as soon as he wakes up, after we play, 30 minutes or so after he eats and still no go. I'm beginning to get very frustrated w/ myself. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. :confused:

Puppy Ringing Bells To Go Out
 

Are you home all the time?

Why don't you try using the "Bell ringing method"? It's working well for us.

You can teach even very young puppies a smart way to let us know they "have to go" by hanging several jingle bells on a cord, then place them nose-high for the puppy or dog on the door knob of the door we routinely go out with the dog for potty time.

As you approach the door, ring the bells and say "out" OR "let's go potty" OR "let's go outside." Put a little peanut butter on one of the bells, so when the puppy or dog licks it off, the bells will ring. Let the puppy or dog outside, saying "let's go potty" or "let's go outside."

Before long, the puppy or dog will be ringing the bell by themselves. Sometimes it will mean "I need to potty" ... sometimes it will mean "I just want to go play and run." But ALWAYS acknowledge the ring. They learn this practical trick in a short period of time.

When you have company and the bell rings, you can say "excuse me, my dog is ringing her bell to go outside." People will think you are the smartest dog parent.

Good luck.

Sounds like your baby knows he is supposed to go there but looking at it, walking away, and going somewhere else almost sounds like he is trying to establish some dominance. Almost like having a three year old child know how to go potty but absolutely refuse because she wants the control - woah... sounds like my three year old daughter who is potty trained but refuses to go potty in the potty because it's a control issue. Matthias is now housebroken - he knows to go to the back door and ask to go out. He even knows where in the back yard he is supposed to go. Yesterday was a bad day for him though. Now, either he could have been too stressed out as there was a lot of chaos yesterday with all the kids. Or it could be that he was being defiant. Either way, I continued to take him outside regardless of him going on the floor. If he didn't eliminate, no cookie. One thing I did to get him to understand where to go that was appropriate - as soon as he started peeing, immediately I offered him a treat. AFter a few days, I offered the treat after he was was finished peeing. Then the treat was offered when we were going back inside and were stopped at the door. Now he gets his treat after he comes inside, has his paw wiped off, and sits down. He knows he will get a treat. It's reinforcing good behavior. Some dogs it may take longer with the treats and each step of treat giving.

And I'm sure you know this and have been told - don't punish your dog. Of course, if you catch him IN the act, say NO firmly and remove him from the situation. But never punish.

This is just my experience with my dogs, and with training methods I have used and taught others to use. Hope he starts going for you soon!

GREAT idea Muffie's Mom! I have heard of that method but have never tried it myself. I think I'll try that too. Awsome!

The same this is happening to me too! Izzy will not go on the pad...i think it makes noise and it scares her so we have been "playing" a little on clean pads so she gets used to the noise...i feel she doesn't go potty enough cause she will squat dribble a little i put her on the pad and she won't go! it is frustrating!

Hmmm.....power struggle! Go to google.com and type in "How to be Alpha Dog".

Do you show him that YOU are the Alpha dog? That means you eat first, you go out the door first, you come inside first, etc., etc., etc. Maybe he's doing it because you're leaving him during the day. Can you turn your puppy upside down and place your hand on his throat (lightly, please) and hold him there until he's submissive? Never let them get the upper hand or they'll rule your life.

ok guys, so i tried the bells on the door last night, scared the crap out of Izzy...we are doing paper training as well since it is cold out, but i watned to get her used to them, now she won't go to the door that the bells are on...any other suggestions? also, she has been going CRAZY at night when we try and sleep...i can't take it much longer..we put a clock in there and everything...i think tonight her kennel is going to be put into another room, any other suggestions?

Alpha Mommy
 

Izzy has been awesome at going on the pad...she is 2 months today and we have had her for two weeks...she goes on there 75% of the time! we make sure we treat her RIGHT away after she does that...it was as if she woke up one morning (after a week of having her) and decided that she would go on the pads! she does have a hard time pooping on it though...she might start on it, but then she wiggles her butt so it drops right next to it...

I got Prince at 7 weeks and I started training him the first night. In I believe 3 weeks he knew like 4 or 5 commands!

Wow, this isn't even my thread and I've learned a lot of great ideas and techniques for when I bring my pup home in a few weeks. I am so excited

We brought Sully home at 9 weeks old and started IMMEDIATELY with training, both housebreaking (crate training) and within the next week he could already sit, shake, lay down and play dead!!! :p

OK today was the first official day of training. The first thing that we worked on was sit and I used bits of pup=peroni as the treats. Giovanni took it very well. It seemed as if he was having fun learning! We also worked on come, he already knew how to come before training, but I wanted to use the treats to reinforce it. Overall today was a good day,both me and Giovanni had fun learning to sit and come. :aimeeyork