Four month old puppy training?
Question by cut3iswh4tw34imfor: Four month old puppy training?
I recently got a four month old puppy, and I’m having trouble training her.
I did purchase a puppy training book, but apparently they don’t like to be very detailed.
I need to know;
-leash training (She’s HORRIBLE at it. She chokes herself and bites at the leash and gets caught around things.)
-house training (She’s been okay about this, but I’d really like to break her of accidents when we don’t get her out as soon as she needs to go)
-sit
-lay down
-drop (or not to bite people/chew things)
-down (or not to jump on people/furniture)
Any personal tips, or websites will be appreciated!
Thanks so much! (:
Best answer:
Answer by Mike
Start to watch “The Dog Whisperer,” Cesar Milan is the real deal. Buy his books, too, and if you’re still having trouble, hire a good trainer. Regarding accidents, you need to kennel her when not home and then take her out the second you get home. Praise her when she goes outside. If she messes up, do NOT rub her nose in it or hit her, merely scold her, clean it up in front of her, and take the mess outside. Put it on the ground and tell her “good girl.” If you catch her in the act, tell her “No!” and take her right outside to finish. She will figure it out very quickly, especially if she is partially house trained already.
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It is a good idea to teach with treats.The leash thing it wil get tired of being chocked and will do better in time and the potty training thing I would get pupppy pads they help alot good luck
You can go on YouTube and search these tricks you want your dog to know. There are actually good videos that show you how to train your dog.
Ill just give you answers based on my own experience with my own cheeky puppy. Things which have worked.
Leash Training.
I had my Pug at 4 months too. My pug is 7 months now and Ive tried numerous things but in the end i tried this method –
Before you leave the house make your puppy sit and wait. Open the door. if they get out of the sit/stay then close the door and repeat. With consistency this can be a breeze and your dog will naturally know what to do. If it manages to sit and stay by your left side with the door open (which it will with repetition) then you can say ‘Good girl’ and walk through the door with your puppy beside or behind you waiting until you command it to walk. Of course, its a puppy so they can be ever so playful so with time theyll get the idea. Do the same thing for a gate. Hold the handle of the leash in your right hand and the rest of the lead in your left hand with the dog on your left at all times. When you’re walking and your puppy either pulls or barks at something turn the opposite direction saying ‘Let’s go!’. Repeat if this happens again. They soon understand. It took just two walks for my pug to learn not to bark at children on walks. He walks loosely by my left at all times. He still has the occasional chew on the lead. So i stop and say ‘Leave!’ and gently pull the leash from his mouth. Remember to carry treats with you to praise.
I also go to Puppy classes and a method the trainer suggested is that when your puppy pulls just stop and stand still. Place the handle of the lead on your fingers and wiggle the lead so it sends an irritating vibration down the lead and to the puppy. Itll eventually look back at you and come to you to find out what is going on. When it does praise.
Also, when youre crossing the road your puppy must sit and wait.
House Training
Accidents happen – Try to set a schedule for your puppy so that it knows roughly when it is next going to be taken out. Thus reducing accidents because if it doesnt have a schedule it wont be sure when or if itll be let out which will make the puppy just pee. Maybe every two hours. Increase the time a little when it gets older.
Take it outside and stay with it. When it Pees associate a word like ‘Go pee’ and praise when it has finished. Same with poo, but with ‘Go poo’. Always praise when it goes outside. If you spot a mess on the floor dont tell your puppy off, chances are it wont have a clue what youre talking about even if you point at the pee.
Sit
Very simple trick. Get a treat and raise it over your puppys head slightly. Itll naturally sit down. As soon as its bottom touches the ground associate a command ‘Sit’. Eventually itll do it without a lure and the treat will become a reward rather than the lure.
Lay down
Get your puppy into a Sit. Hold the treat by the puppys nose and slowly bring it down to the floor to lure your puppy into a down. Some puppies catch on quickly some struggle. Keep trying! Try it more slowly if theyre having a hard time. As with the previous tricks say ‘Down’ as soon as the puppy lays on the floor. A puppy may be reluctant to lie on a cold floor, if so teach it on a carpet!
Note: Dont confused your puppy by saying Down if you want a puppy to get off of a sofa. Use Off instead.
Drop
Get your puppy to play with a toy or a chew and get a treat and show it to the puppy it should drop. Associate ‘Drop’ with the command. In time a puppy should drop whatever it has when your hand approaches because itll think you have a treat to exchange for it.
Down/Off – (As mentioned in the down command, use the word ‘Off’) When your puppy is on a sofa, get a treat and lure it to jump off when it does say ‘Off’ and treat. You can wean a puppy off these treats as lures and only as rewards with practice. When a puppy jumps up at somebody tell them to turn their body quickly. The puppy will have nothing to have its paws against so it will naturally fall back into a sit or stand and wont bother to jump up at people if people are consistent with this.
Good luck with your pup!
Lure/reward pet dog training techniques are Efficient, Effective, Easy, Efficacious, Enjoyable, and Expedient.
These sites have helpful information.
http://dogtime.com/dog-training-food-lure-reward-dunbar.html
http://dogtime.com/housetraining-for-puppies.html
http://dogtime.com/good-leash-behavior-aspca.html
http://dogtime.com/basic-commands-obedience.html
I can’t type-explain it all, but here’s a try at some of it.
We fool ourselves, thinking that our dogs are like us, or think like us,.. they are almost unimaginably different in their thinking.
It’s hard to believe, but your puppy’s biggest goal in life is to please you, you are #1 in that dog’s priorities… for example, dogs are known to die for their loved ones.
Leash training – only use the leash when the dog is being trained, then it comes off & is put away, beyond her reach, made to be a very special thing that is more yours than hers. Keep her training positive, happy shiney fun or give it up until you can figure out how to do that. Negative reinforcement is rarely useful, only very briefly, pain-free… if the dog even THINKs she’s displeased you, that is all the punishment that is needed. So keeping the training fun, stopping any time is doesn’t work, she will LIKE to be trained & she will LIKE her leash,.. she will WANT you to use the leash & take her outside & give her attention & all.
Start by teaching her “no”. When you say “no” to her, you will gain her attention, she will stop or pause anything she’s doing & pay attention to you. That is what you want, reward that. Make the “no” training as simple as you can, perhaps even put a plate of left-over food on the floor to tempt her, attract her, when she approaches it, tell her “no” & physically take her gently into full attention, full contact, just you 2, then you’ve taught the goal so reward her immediately & abundantly. Keep it as simple as you can, fast “no” (stop action, get her undivided attention) then fast “good” & reward, like tiny cut-up pieces of baloney or hot dog or something (the size of the treat doesn’t matter, for lots of training, smaller is better so she doesn’t get too full. All that really matters to her is that she pleased you). So you see, keep it very fast, easy, fun & stop the minute it gets awkward or isn’t working. Don’t try to force it, it’s not worth it. Just give it a break a try the positive reinforcement as soon as you feel like it again. Don’t give up until she understands “no” means stop anything & pay full attention to you.
Then, sort of trick her into sitting & say “sit” (or any word & I suggest gesture also that you prefer, like maybe point 1 index finger at the ground where – when you want her to sit while you say “sit”). Like the way I usually do it is to say “sit” then very quickly & unexpectedly sort of gently over-power her rump & plant her rump on the ground, then instantly reward her abundantly, perhaps even lift her & dance for joy with her. Then put her on the ground, say ‘sit’, plant her rump again & reward her abundantly again. She’ll figure it out, she’ll learn what you like.
The rest we can go over some other time but the theory is all the same, sort of trick her into doing the command then let her know that pleases you.
It’s similar with leash but hard to explain. Keep the collar loose, comfortable, tugging only very briefly, very quickly, never a tug of war or constant pull, only use the leash as a guide, a communicative tool, keep the no – good lessons fast fast fast quick, like 1 sharp pull on the leash with “no”.
Don’t be mad that she learns slowly.
As soon as you teach her how to please you, as you both begin to learn how the training works, that it’s pleasant & fun & active, you’ll be amazed how quickly she learns then.
This is all for now.
Good luck & God bless you two.