Training tips?
 

Hey guys. I went to petsmart to see if I can take her to those classes but the lady there lost me when she said bill jac is better than wellness... or any other brand (including nature's logic, science diet, etc)... Someone whose that misinformed or purposely distributing false information for the betterment of a company is certainly not one I would trust to help improve a dog...

So I was hoping someone knew of a step by step guide that has indepth description, explanations and how to about how to potty train a dog, and teach it the basics.. The proper way.

My mom taught her dog, but she said she forgot just only remembers how to crate train.

Any tips and advice would be appreciated.

The best food is honestly an opinion so she was just giving you her. You can just say thanks and more on to other stuff. Just because their opinion on food is different then yours doesn't mean they are a bad trainer. I think for regular obedience training pets smart is actually good. I did the puppy class with Callie their almost 10 years ago a loved it.

Eh it's not just an opinion. Haven't they found horrible stuff on bil jacs? I've read plenty of articles in the past about those cheapo brands and how bad they are.

lol I was polite to her. It comes natural to me to be extra polite (for the most part) to strangers. I just wasn't convinced on her as a trainer. I have to see. I want her to learn to potty outside(only outside), to go into her crate when needed, to tolerate other dogs and kids(I heard you can work on that)--- though the kid part I don't really care much about it's just a precaution..

To sit, stay, stop, drop it, leave it, etc. The essentials. I don't really care if the dog is taught to be some performance actor as what I want is a companion, not an actor (a joke if you will).

Just enough to be good in public, to walk by me calmly, to be polite and not harass or be harassed by other dogs(though the latter I'd step in).

It really is just an opinion in most cases. Bil jack is made local and is a good food minus the fact they put BHA in it and that has cause for concern that it may cause cancer. I think basic OB is a good place to start but or course you can do it all on your own their are videos and books and everything else out there. I would stick to positive reinforcement training. When she goes potty outside get really excited and give her a treat. I have always said go to bed and given them a treat when they go into their crate. Brittany on here her user name is Brister she is like awesome at training. It takes time though and don't train for over 15 minutes at a time or it can be to much.

How long does it take for a dog to be able to be fully potty trained? I want her to be in my room (a fully carpeted room-- brand new carpets) without having "accidents".

Sasha may have her faults at time, but she never does anything inside-- except that one time my sibling was being and getting her all excited and she excited tinkled... but that was once. She hasn't had any accidents other than that (and that was a little bit) since like.... 3-4 years ago (maybe longer)... She has however thrown up inside a few times (Because of sensitive stomach- but sucks since I don't know how you can clean up vomit from the carpet and keeping it fresh and sanitized).


I honestly don't think I could last over 15minutes either. I uhh I admit I have a small attention span....

I got annoyed now because I just walked her around the whole friggin' neighborhood for like an hour and a half... she did not do nothing and she hadn't done anything since 5-6pm (I took her out at 8:10pm got home by 9:45-9:50pm)

She doesn't accept food I give to her by hand (she did once but never since).. I have to drop the food infront of her. She does however lick my hands, arms, etc.. ( dont understand her sometimes lol).


She's in her crate now and has to wait till tomorrow because I feel sick from being outside all this time(plus its going to rain soon with thunder)... there's a ton of pollen out now.

It depends on the dog but at least a few months. Is she possibly used to going potty on pads? With puppies they need to go out like every hour not sure how long it should be for adult dogs.

Have you visited the Housebreaking Bible site? I found it to be a useful read. The site itself isn't very intuitive. But here are a few useful pages to get you started...

The Ten Commandments of Housebreaking - The Housebreaking Bible
Indoor Potty Training - Papers, Pee Pads, Turf Pads, Litter Boxes and more - Free Dog Training Tips from The Housebreaking Bible
How to Potty Train a Puppy | The Housebreaking Bible

As for dog training - I found clicker training to be highly effective. I took Scottie to a training class (rated the best in Vancouver) and the only thing I learned was "touch" (i.e. you hold out two fingers and get them to touch your fingers with their nose). With the "touch" command, you can effectively use it as a tool for other training commands. Other than that, I learned everything else on Youtube. So for me, the training class wasn't that useful. There are A LOT of training videos available on Youtube, but my favourite one is Kikopup: https://www.youtube.com/user/kikopup

Thanks this helps. If a training class doesnt work-- I'd want a refund... I mean dropping 200-400 dollars for training classes and the dog only learns 1 thing from their methods.... That's idk

That's exspenxive. I have never gone over $200. They normally don't give you your money back at most places. Make sure you read the small print.

Pet smart said it was 190 for individual courses (beginner, inter, advanced) and that the two courses (beginner and inter) is like 200 (a deal or something) ... still going with the other trainer as the vet recommended it and while petsmart trainer said money back guarantee... I don't trust peoples words or "guarantees" unless it's explicitly written in a form that they can't loophole themselves out... or something...

So if I am to go with a place that doesn't give money back, I'd rather itd be from the word of my mom's trusted vet. She's been going to him for years now(she went through different vets until she found him) and swears by him.

I have an awesome training guide I can email you (it's a pdf), if you want to PM me your email addy. :)

Ok I sent it. I appreciate it.

Also, her biting is beginning to translate onto people. She playbites me sometimes but I worry about her biting more frail family members.. even if she's small- anything with teeth can do some harm if they chose to bite-- even if its playfully.

Wanting to get rid of that. Anytime she does it to me I just make that shhht sound (a quick, random, a tad loud) and it startles her a bit(catches her off guard for whatever reason) and she stops doing it. I also heard that if and when you are being bitten by them you should say ouch in a convincing pained way, or yelp-- and it sends them a message that they're being too rough and potentially hurting you. Not sure about the authenticity of the last one. Just remember my brother telling me a while back.

You should also replace your hand with a chew toy.

If the dog doesn't learn it's not the fault of the school / trainer, it's the fault of the owner. Training schools are meant to show owners how to train their dog. If you are at the school and not using the training method YOU were taught the week before, the trainer will correct YOU. You take the training knowledge home and work with your dog everyday, several times a day until the dog knows how to do the commands you are teaching it. If you do not work everyday, several times a day the dog will not learn and that would be the fault of the owner, NOT the school / trainer.

That assuming that the owner isnt doing his part. what if he does and is consistent, yet the dog learns little to nothing? even if he followed the trainers orders constantly? there were things we tried teaching sasha , yet she never caught on... for her it was just the jumping at people all the time. begging for food when we eat- and no one here feeds her when we are eating or soon after... I mean we dont care as much now... but yeah... we got her as a pup and started training asap... she did ace house breaking though it took her about 1.5 to 2 years to be able to be fully trusted full free range. we are and were always consistent with a schedule.

we got her some but she doesnt touch em. shes picky. maybe ill let her pick one out. Id try the bones they sell but idk if its safe.. like is it a choke hazard?

If you are taking a dog to obedience school to stop the jumping on ppl the trainer SHOWS YOU how to stop the dog from jumping, it is then up to YOU the OWNER to use that method at home and work with the dog. Some ppl think working with the dog twice a day is sufficient, it is not. When I was training Cody I would stop what ever I was doing and work 5/ 7 / 10 minutes numerous times through out the day, until he learned the commands, I taught verbal and hand commands. When we were up to 6 commands it was a mere 10 minutes of training throughout the day. Every night, 8PM is treat time, I go through all his commands before he gets that one little treat, and it's 3 years and I will continue this so he always remembers ALL commands that are not used on him on a daily basis. There is no such thing as a dog failing training, it's the owner that fails, not the dog. Patience, consistency, praise and reward are major factors in training.

As far as dog begging for table food.

Cody has been trained he is not allowed in the kitchen when I am preparing food for me or for him. When I first got him he would be between my legs while I was preparing food, causing me to stumble or if something dropped on the floor he would "try" to snatch it up, so he was banned from the kitchen. When I am eating he stays in the living room, because he was trained that way. You have not trained your mothers dog to stay out of the kitchen while you eat.

You failed at training, not the dog.

Again I say, there is no such thing as a dog failing being taught, it is the owner that failed because they did not take the time that was needed to properly train their dog. Ppl loose patience and just give up.

That's assuming we only did it 2x a day.... She learned everything else properly... I know it's not the dogs fault. I just dont really know.

Every thing is not always black and white. There are some dogs who train differently or can't be trained. You don't want to tire them out by making them train like a circus dog at the most you would do it two times a day for 15 minutes any more and its to much. You can also ad it in to daily routines. I have taken three different classes with Joey. The thing about trainers is they know more then one way to train a command encase one doesn't work. You have to be open with them. Most trainers don't offer your money back. Training is an awesome way to bond you and your dog. You can also find out what your dog is good at like Joey did basic OB but he is a bit hyper for that so we decided to try a tricks class and that is more his thing. A lot of places offer different types of fun classes so try to have fun also not just work.

Lol I was going to get a little sand box (the ones that are made by little tykes that has a lid on it- its shaped like a turtle) and put clean sand in there, and in the sand I could add big treats or toys so that she has an energy outlet(asides from the walks, and other forms of play). Since she's part doxxie, and part chi (Both of which have tendencies to dig-- mostly the doxxie as thats what they were bred for) I was thinking of using those to my advantage. She sometimes tries to dig in certain areas in the garden. I feel like she probably finds nests of voles, or moles, or other little critters hidden in the dirt and somehow she finds them(it's what I think) because the places she tries to dig at, are places where we have found little critters in the past years (we re-mulch I think once a year, or twice-- not sure and sometimes we find nests- which we don't bother to trap/kill the mice, moles, etc as we generally don't care-- as long as its not inside our house lil "mickey" can keep his home).


She also has what I believe to be a high prey drive as whenever she sees small animals scampering she sometimes tries to chase after them-- and doesn't stop. Thankfully she's always on leash out doors. I've seen her try to climb chain link fences... she's fast at it... So we're going to change the fences over there to something that doesn't allow climbing.


We were also thinking of making a kennel run so that in winter we could have a place to take her out and not be piled up with snow, or when it rains. We were thinking of adding a big roof to the kennel run to keep the snow from falling in. Though perhaps that wont do much if the snow/rain is falling sideways a bit. The floor could be cemented and on top of that added some sort of pet safe turf(you know to prevent actual digging). It's not to be used to leave the dogs alone in there; it's just a kind of shelter for them to do their business.

Would love to teach her funny little tricks. She definitely needs to learn to not jump off or onto things, maybe climb but not jump off because I am not so sure her back is able to handle that much strain constantly.

I've been training Loki using videos on YouTube. I also found that using his commands when playing helps. Fetch is great because you can get a few commands in. "go get it", "come here", "drop it", "sit" "stay" etc. Loki doesn't train well if it is just a training session but he learns well when it is incorporated while he's doing "fun" things.

Totally! All training sessions should be about fun! I always try to incorporate new things when we're playing. It's a great way to keep them mentally stimulated.

I really love Zak George on youtube. He has tons of easy to follow training from pups to older dogs to breaking habits or forming good ones. It is all positive reinforcement based which I love and seems to get fantastic results. I know he has all the basics you are looking for and tons of extra. I will leave a link for the "leash training a puppy" video just to get you there or you could just search Zak George Dog Training Revolution on you tube. https://youtu.be/2RjysDKW528 Goodluck!