Puppy Basics February 8, 2008

I was two days old when I met my first dog. I’ve always had dogs. I have rescued and basic obedience trained every personality of dog. Some of the rescues were aggressive and dominant, some were very timid. I’ve had dogs with high energy levels, and lazy ones. And not all Danes, either. So this page is what I do and recommend, a compilation of 30 some years of living with  dogs. I AM NOT A PROFESSIONAL TRAINER. I’ve just had lots of amatuer experience. 

I’m a firm believer in the Dog Whisperer’s principles! But I also use positive reward training. I use what works for me, and if something doesn’t work, I try another method. The point is to get results when you have a problem, right? But I have found that the principles the Dog Whisperer uses are very effective and most importantly, simple.

Ceasar Milan’s mantra is EXERCISE, DISCIPLINE, and AFFECTION. In that order. A typical canine pack structure has a clear leader, and everyone else follows. This is how a pack remains stable and balanced, meaning well behaved.

EXERCISE: every dog needs to run, play, and go places. Many dogs are very high energy, and many humans are not. Ceasar uses a treadmill to burn off the excess energy, before he walks his dogs. A lot of people think they just take their dog to the dog park and let them run wild. Many a fight was started by a dog who was too wound up to follow the “dog rules” of pack behavior. So exercise your dog before you go places. Use a bike, roller blades, swimming pool, or a treadmill.

I am always careful about how much running a puppy gets. Their bones and joints are easy to damage, especially before 12 month old. Swimming is a great exercise for Danes: it builds their muscles without making the joints bear weight. NEVER teach your Dane to jump up for  toys and such until at least 2 years old. These giants put tremendous stress on their bones when jumping and can get hurt. If you jumped up and down alot, your knees would hurt too.

Walking a Dane doesn’t mean he pulls, wanders, or ignores you. It means he is at your side, trucking along in follower mode until YOU decide to stop and let him do some sniffing. When YOU decide it is time to move on, you move on, and he follows. YOU decide if he is allowed to piddle somewhere. DON’T LET A MALE MARK. This is very bad manners, and a sign of emerging dominance.

Walk your puppy for at least 30 minutes twice a day. And have every member of your household walk him this way. That is how he knows he is at the bottom of the pack, and is to obey everyone else.

If you have physical limitations, like I do, you can walk for shorter periods but do it more often. Be creative, and you’ll find a way to exercise your pup without ruining your own health! Grown dogs might need a romp on a treadmill before walking, to be calm enough to walk easily.

DISCIPLINE: The word has negative connotations these days. It doesn’t mean punishing! Discipline is merely the enforcing of rules you have decided on, with a calm and confident attitude. If you are tense, frustrated, or irritated, calm down before you correct your pup’s misbehavior. A calm leader is both trusted and followed. Your emotions affect the pup more than your words.

Everything in a dog’s world has rules, from how to play to how to be introduced to strangers. You have taken a puppy from his mother and their pack, so you now have to be the teaching, disciplining, and need filling figure for your new puppy. He or she will have to learn his manners from you, and be socialized by you. Puppies aren’t born knowing how to behave, anymore than human babies are. And a dog that is not given rules and discipline becomes anxious and ill behaved.

First, the puppy has to be housebroken. This requires patience and attention! After he or she eats, take them outside to a place you designate for relieving themselves. Give them affection when they potty where you want. When the puppy wakes up from a nap, take them outside to their potty spot and wait until they go.  

When the pup is loose in the house, watch them carefully. If you see the nose sniffing away at the carpet, take them outside. If the puppy goes on the floor, grab them up in the middle of it, rather sternly, and take them outside. Let them finish going, and give lots of happy (not excited, but pleased) affection.

There is no point in scolding the puppy if they have gone on the carpet and you just now found it. The pup won’t remember doing it, and won’t understand why you are unhappy. It shouldn’t take too long to housebreak if you are vigilant. Another good site for potty training info is http://www.training-dogs.com/potty-training-dogs/index.html

Crate training is a popular way to contain a dog. Mostly I use it to keep a puppy from pottying somewhere or getting into things while I am asleep or gone. Make the crate homey, with a soft bed and favorite toys. They won’t urinate or defecate in a confined space, with the notable exception of puppies from the pound.

The crate crying is best handled by calmly ignoring it–if you get upset, talk to them, let them out, you make it worse. Just let them cry, howl, scratch, kick, bark, whatever and pay it no mind. Yelling, hitting the crate, etc are all counterproductive. They’ll quit if the fussing is ignored like it wasn’t even happening, and it is not cruel!

They have to adjust to your lifestyle and schedule, and they will adjust. That’s part of providing a stable structure to your pups’ life: you set the rules. If they get to make you rearrange your life to suit them, they are suddenly in charge of your house. Not so good for either of you. So resist the urge to hit the easy button, and deal with a few nights of not sleeping well. It takes a toll on my FMS/CFIDS, but the less I respond, the sooner it is over. 

Once my boys were old enough not to go on the floor or get into things, I didn’t use the crate anymore. That’s the plan for Kenai, too. This is how I use them, but there are lots of opinons about it. How you use them is up to you.

Chewing is another issue for puppies. It is simple to teach your pup to leave things alone. Some houseplants are poisonous, a torn up couch is frustrating, and piles of once clean and folded laundry all over the place is not nice. So “claim” everything your puppy shows interest in. If he his nibbling on the chair leg, correct it with a stern poke, a frown, and a NO. 

Sometimes you have to tap his nose to get his teeth off of things. You stand up, put yourself between the pup and the object, and use a calm but firm attitude directed towards the pup. He might try moving around you, so just block him from reaching it with your body. When he gives up and backs away, then give him a bone or chew toy.

Do this with everything: your bed, his toys, his food, your couch, his bed, the laundry, the cat…whatever. The pack rules are that you own everything! He can play with only the things you approve, when you approve of them.

That also applies to your hands and face–no biting, chewing, mouthing or otherwise using their teeth on your body. Some pups just need a ‘no” and and a tap, with another chew toy offered. Others are more determined about it. I’ve got a big hand chewer right now, and I’ve started using hand cream on my hands–he licks instead of chews, and I can remove my hand and redirect easier.

Leash training is vital! As soon as your puppy is home and settled in, introduce him to his leash. I pick a time when the puppy is peacefully chewing a bone, or quietly lounging. I let him smell it, but not chew or play with it, because it is not a toy. I will stroke his body with it, lay it over his back, and encourage him to ignore it.

Once he’s not interested in it, I hook it up and walk a few steps. If he isn’t following me, I’ll call his name and give a little tug, then let the leash go slack.  Some puppies will fight the new restraint, pulling, rolling, and chewing at it. Wait for the fit to be over, then give a little tug again. Some folks use treats to get him moving forward.

The trick is to go a short distance, then take off the leash and let him go. Do this several times a day, for very short walks around the living room. Soon your pup will follow without fuss, and he’ll be ready for the distractions and smells of the outdoor walk.

Greeting new people  has a set of hardwired canine rules. Most puppies will be all over a new friend. But they have to learn to be calm and polite FROM YOU. So ask a friend or a family member to come to the door. When your puppy rushes to it, correct them and make them stay back a few feet. Use your body to block them, and if you need to, frown and poke the puppy, staying there and maintaining your displeasure until he steps back a bit.

I use my emotion like an imaginary force field, because it is your emotion or “energy” that affects the puppy. If he comes right back when you turn around, block and make him move back again. Repeat this as long as it takes for your pup to “get” that this your space and he is not allowed to invade it.

Once the friend is in, you’ll have to correct the puppy again to keep them from jumping on and harrassing the person. Ask your friend to ignore the puppy, (no touch, not talk, no eye contact) until they are politely waiting to be called over. Do this ALOT, with lots of different people. 

If this sounds mean, then remember that this is how a new dog in a pack is treated. And a puppy’s mother will not hesitate to growl or nip a puppy who is overly rambunctious. It isn’t mean to a dog, it’s normal. 

Being a pack leader isn’t about physical strength, it is about mental and emotional strength. If you are calm and confident, the puppy will easily recognize you as his leader. Anger, hesitant uncertainty, frustration, fear, timidity are all “unstable” states of mind, and a dog will not respect you. They will love you, but not follow you. So stay calm, and patient. Your pup is just a baby and has to learn what you want from him.

AFFECTION: This is the best part for us humans! But you notice it comes last in the “big three” of dog needs. Love is always present in a pack, but a puppy that is misbehaving is not given affection from his natural mother, he is disciplined. Affection is only given when the pup is calm, and obeying the rules you have decided upon.

I personally don’t like the excited, high pitched approach to affection or reward. I don’t want an excitable Great Dane, because a butt that is three feet from the head can swing around and drop a grown man…not good. So my affectionate rewards are quiet and involve petting, massaging, and an occational treat.

A puppy knows you love him, and he knows when you are pleased with him. His little nose can smell your emotions, and his eyes recognize your body language. They are keenly aware of us, more perhaps than we imagine. So gentle and loving touches when he has done something good is plenty of a reward. They want us, more than they want treats. And they need us to patiently teach them.