Where Training Begins...
Housetraining
Housetraining of puppies is usually one of the first challenges a new puppy owner is faced with. If puppies are sold at the correct age (8 weeks), the breeder can already play an important role in getting the process started.
Puppies learn a substrate preference (surface preference), especially around 7 – 9 weeks of age. They associate the surface they are on with the act of relieving themselves. They don’t really know the difference between inside and outside – it’s all about association of the elimination act (which is self-reinforcing) with the surface or substrate.
Useful Tips:
Be prepared
Pups usually need to do their business after a sleep, a meal and a game. Be ready and have the puppy on the preferred surface in anticipation.
Reward good behavior
Ensure that your puppy is on the surface of your choice when it wants to go, and directly afterwards reward it with a tasty little treat (verbal praise is not enough). Keep lots of little treats handy in different places so that you can reward immediately.
Do not punish
Punishment only teaches the puppy not to do it in the presence of people and increases anxiety. Nose-rubbing, rolled up newspapers etc are not useful in housetraining. If the puppy does do it in the wrong place, keep quiet and clean up and watch better next time.
Clean up
When you clean up, preferably use biological soap and water, followed by any alcohol-containing product (e.g. spirits) and not something containing ammonia. This way, you will get rid of all the smells the puppy can smell and you can’t. The puppy will go back to a place it has previously used if there are still smells in that location.
Crate training
Crate training refers to keeping the puppy confined in a cage or enclosure while it cannot be supervised. This is a very useful tool in housetraining, as the puppy can be kept there safely while the owner is busy with other things. However, it must be used in the correct way: The crate should be associated with positive things for the puppy – treats, chew toys etc so that it becomes a place the puppy will automatically want to go to, to rest or relax (its den area). It can also be fed there. The puppy should enter it voluntarily and should not be left in it for long periods of time. This method must be used with responsibility and care – puppies cannot be confined for long periods of time simply because it is convenient for the owner. This will cause unnecessary anxiety as the puppy will be forced to eliminate in their “den”. Do not confine a small puppy in this way for longer than an hour to start with. Always start with it being a fun activity to go into the crate, e.g. throw a treat or toy inside the crate so that going in the crate becomes a game for the puppy. Do not confine the puppy in the crate until it enters the crate and lies down for short periods voluntarily.
Punishment is not an effective tool for teaching a dog good behaviour
Dogs usually associate punishment with the person administering the punishment, rather than with the dog’s own action that is being punished. If effective, punishment merely suppresses behaviour temporarily, so that it usually comes back later in an even worse form. Punishment also causes anxiety and inappropriate aggression in dogs.
Say for example your puppy has chewed your leather couch while you are out the house, punishing him on your return is pointless – all that you are teaching your dog is that humans are unpredictable, your puppy does NOT know why s/he is being punished.
People often misinterpret their dogs body language, a dog that slinks down low, tail in between his legs, when the owner returns home is NOT feeling guilty for chewing the pair of shoes which were left on the floor – all he is doing is trying to defuse the situation and avoid a nasty confrontation. The dog has learnt from previous experiences that when his owner comes home sometimes he is loving and other times he is abusive. This is why we strongly advise against punishment. If punishment is not done the second the behavior takes place it is too late! Punishment seldom works.
Excessive digging, barking and chewing in dogs are often the result of an under stimulating environment in which the dog experiences boredom and frustration. All of these behaviors are part of the normal behavioral repertoire of dogs – sometimes however, it becomes excessive and is no longer acceptable. There are measures that can be taken to prevent normal behavior from becoming problem behavior and also to deal with a problem that already exists.
Anxiety often also plays a role in problem behavior and will then require additional measures such as behavior modification and medication. This would necessitate a consultation with a professional behavior practitioner.
Oral stimulation
Chewing is a basic need of dogs. Provide a variety of toys - rawhide chews, cow hooves, Kong’s, Buster cubes, Rogz toys, rope toys. Always consider the quality and safety of a toy - rope toys must be removed before they become too stringy and the dog could ingest the individual strings.
Rotate toys on an unpredictable basis so that they retain their value to the dog. Ensure that kid’s toys and dog’s toys are kept separate (and keep socks and underwear out of the way!). Make dog toys really attractive with peanut butter or cheese spread. Don’t ever give old shoes to chew on – they simply learn that all shoes are chew toys.
Visual stimulation
Enable the dog to see human and other activity – a good view through palisade fencing is more interesting than walls all round (provided passersby do not tease the dog through the fence). Visual access to activity within the home is also stimulating. An easily bored dog between four walls would really appreciate a jungle gym on which to climb in order to survey the happenings outside!
Olfactory (smell) stimulation
Dogs enjoy exploring smells far more than we can imagine. The easiest way to provide this is the traditional daily walk. This enables the dog to pick up all the smells left by other living beings. You could even hide interesting-smelling objects in your garden to keep your dog’s olfactory needs stimulated.
Physical stimulation
Dogs have lots of energy to use up – it’s up to you to channel this in a positive direction! Play games with your dog, but don’t allow rough play and don’t allow mouthing of human body parts – play with a toy. Some dogs have more energy than their owners and need to be allowed to run off lead. Do this only in a very safe environment and once you are very sure that your dog’s response to the recall is consistent.
Digging
Many dogs dig because they are genetically programmed to do so. Dogs also often dig for thermal regulation – in the heat the soil provides a cooling effect and in the cold it warms them up. Consider providing an attractive sandpit. Make other areas inaccessible with thorny branches, aluminium foil, citronella oil or temporary fencing until the dog has become conditioned to digging only in the designated area.
General Tips
Dogs need consistency! Decide on the rules of the house and make sure every member of the house follows them consistently.
For example: Jack allows ‘Buddy’ on his bed. Jacks sister Sally does not want ‘Buddy’ on her bed. When ‘Buddy’ climbs onto Sally’s bed he gets reprimanded. ‘Buddy’ ends up being extremely confused from this situation and learns that people are unpredictable and can’t be trusted.
Jumping up: Only greet your puppy when all four paws are on the ground. If you pay any attention to your puppy while he is jumping up, you are reinforcing this behavior. When your puppy starts jumping up, stand still, fold your arms and look away avoiding any eye contact. Once your puppy is calm reward him by tossing him a treat or by giving him some attention.
If you push him away when he is jumping up your puppy think that it is a game and what you are then doing is unwittingly reinforcing the negative behavior.
Remember anything that your puppy does now which is reinforced by you, he will more than likely repeat the behavior as an adult dog. So if you do not want your dog to: jump up, climb on furniture, sit on your lap while you drive, etc.... Do not reinforce the behavior now.
Spend time with your puppy and make a commitment to do some training every day.
Short training sessions, more often are more effective than long training sessions.
Never train your puppy if you are not in the mood – your puppy will pick on this and will loose interest.
Always end on a good note. Give the puppy a signal when the session has ended eg: All done or Free.
Reward positive behavior with a treat, IGNORE negative behavior. Any attention is good attention! Punishment does not work.
Leave bowls of treats around the house (out of your puppy’s reach!) When you see him doing something you like reward him with a treat. Distract him if he is doing something you don’t like, redirect his attention to a positive behavior.
Always vary the level of exercises in your training sessions eg: go from a new difficult exercise to a really easy one. Keep your puppy interested and always set him up to succeed!
Puppies/dogs and children under the age of 13 years old should NEVER be left together unsupervised. (Most dog bites occur when a child is under the age of 13 years old.)
If a dog is feeling threatened he or she will try to avoid a confrontation, their first line of defense is to flee, if that is not an option and they are cornered they will give several warning signals to say ‘stay away’: growling, flattening ears, raising tail or cowering with its tail between its legs, avoiding eye contact, licking lips, bearing teeth and finally if none of these have worked the last resort will be to bite.
A child may not be able to read these warning signals and may push the dog into a situation where the last resort is to bite the child.
Never reprimand your puppy for growling as this is his/her way of telling us that s/he is not happy with what is happening, rather take a step back and see what the situation is and how you can change the negative scenario into a positive one. If you punish your puppy for growling the next time s/he may think twice about growling and may go straight for the bite.
A good relationship between you and your puppy will be built on love and trust. It takes time and patience to build a working partnership, what you put in now will pay off in the long run.
Train and play with your puppy as often as possible, short stints are better than long training sessions. Eg: three five minute sessions is far better than one half hour session.
Housetraining of puppies is usually one of the first challenges a new puppy owner is faced with. If puppies are sold at the correct age (8 weeks), the breeder can already play an important role in getting the process started.
Puppies learn a substrate preference (surface preference), especially around 7 – 9 weeks of age. They associate the surface they are on with the act of relieving themselves. They don’t really know the difference between inside and outside – it’s all about association of the elimination act (which is self-reinforcing) with the surface or substrate.
Useful Tips:
Be prepared
Pups usually need to do their business after a sleep, a meal and a game. Be ready and have the puppy on the preferred surface in anticipation.
Reward good behavior
Ensure that your puppy is on the surface of your choice when it wants to go, and directly afterwards reward it with a tasty little treat (verbal praise is not enough). Keep lots of little treats handy in different places so that you can reward immediately.
Do not punish
Punishment only teaches the puppy not to do it in the presence of people and increases anxiety. Nose-rubbing, rolled up newspapers etc are not useful in housetraining. If the puppy does do it in the wrong place, keep quiet and clean up and watch better next time.
Clean up
When you clean up, preferably use biological soap and water, followed by any alcohol-containing product (e.g. spirits) and not something containing ammonia. This way, you will get rid of all the smells the puppy can smell and you can’t. The puppy will go back to a place it has previously used if there are still smells in that location.
Crate training
Crate training refers to keeping the puppy confined in a cage or enclosure while it cannot be supervised. This is a very useful tool in housetraining, as the puppy can be kept there safely while the owner is busy with other things. However, it must be used in the correct way: The crate should be associated with positive things for the puppy – treats, chew toys etc so that it becomes a place the puppy will automatically want to go to, to rest or relax (its den area). It can also be fed there. The puppy should enter it voluntarily and should not be left in it for long periods of time. This method must be used with responsibility and care – puppies cannot be confined for long periods of time simply because it is convenient for the owner. This will cause unnecessary anxiety as the puppy will be forced to eliminate in their “den”. Do not confine a small puppy in this way for longer than an hour to start with. Always start with it being a fun activity to go into the crate, e.g. throw a treat or toy inside the crate so that going in the crate becomes a game for the puppy. Do not confine the puppy in the crate until it enters the crate and lies down for short periods voluntarily.
Punishment is not an effective tool for teaching a dog good behaviour
Dogs usually associate punishment with the person administering the punishment, rather than with the dog’s own action that is being punished. If effective, punishment merely suppresses behaviour temporarily, so that it usually comes back later in an even worse form. Punishment also causes anxiety and inappropriate aggression in dogs.
Say for example your puppy has chewed your leather couch while you are out the house, punishing him on your return is pointless – all that you are teaching your dog is that humans are unpredictable, your puppy does NOT know why s/he is being punished.
People often misinterpret their dogs body language, a dog that slinks down low, tail in between his legs, when the owner returns home is NOT feeling guilty for chewing the pair of shoes which were left on the floor – all he is doing is trying to defuse the situation and avoid a nasty confrontation. The dog has learnt from previous experiences that when his owner comes home sometimes he is loving and other times he is abusive. This is why we strongly advise against punishment. If punishment is not done the second the behavior takes place it is too late! Punishment seldom works.
Excessive digging, barking and chewing in dogs are often the result of an under stimulating environment in which the dog experiences boredom and frustration. All of these behaviors are part of the normal behavioral repertoire of dogs – sometimes however, it becomes excessive and is no longer acceptable. There are measures that can be taken to prevent normal behavior from becoming problem behavior and also to deal with a problem that already exists.
Anxiety often also plays a role in problem behavior and will then require additional measures such as behavior modification and medication. This would necessitate a consultation with a professional behavior practitioner.
Oral stimulation
Chewing is a basic need of dogs. Provide a variety of toys - rawhide chews, cow hooves, Kong’s, Buster cubes, Rogz toys, rope toys. Always consider the quality and safety of a toy - rope toys must be removed before they become too stringy and the dog could ingest the individual strings.
Rotate toys on an unpredictable basis so that they retain their value to the dog. Ensure that kid’s toys and dog’s toys are kept separate (and keep socks and underwear out of the way!). Make dog toys really attractive with peanut butter or cheese spread. Don’t ever give old shoes to chew on – they simply learn that all shoes are chew toys.
Visual stimulation
Enable the dog to see human and other activity – a good view through palisade fencing is more interesting than walls all round (provided passersby do not tease the dog through the fence). Visual access to activity within the home is also stimulating. An easily bored dog between four walls would really appreciate a jungle gym on which to climb in order to survey the happenings outside!
Olfactory (smell) stimulation
Dogs enjoy exploring smells far more than we can imagine. The easiest way to provide this is the traditional daily walk. This enables the dog to pick up all the smells left by other living beings. You could even hide interesting-smelling objects in your garden to keep your dog’s olfactory needs stimulated.
Physical stimulation
Dogs have lots of energy to use up – it’s up to you to channel this in a positive direction! Play games with your dog, but don’t allow rough play and don’t allow mouthing of human body parts – play with a toy. Some dogs have more energy than their owners and need to be allowed to run off lead. Do this only in a very safe environment and once you are very sure that your dog’s response to the recall is consistent.
Digging
Many dogs dig because they are genetically programmed to do so. Dogs also often dig for thermal regulation – in the heat the soil provides a cooling effect and in the cold it warms them up. Consider providing an attractive sandpit. Make other areas inaccessible with thorny branches, aluminium foil, citronella oil or temporary fencing until the dog has become conditioned to digging only in the designated area.
General Tips
Dogs need consistency! Decide on the rules of the house and make sure every member of the house follows them consistently.
For example: Jack allows ‘Buddy’ on his bed. Jacks sister Sally does not want ‘Buddy’ on her bed. When ‘Buddy’ climbs onto Sally’s bed he gets reprimanded. ‘Buddy’ ends up being extremely confused from this situation and learns that people are unpredictable and can’t be trusted.
Jumping up: Only greet your puppy when all four paws are on the ground. If you pay any attention to your puppy while he is jumping up, you are reinforcing this behavior. When your puppy starts jumping up, stand still, fold your arms and look away avoiding any eye contact. Once your puppy is calm reward him by tossing him a treat or by giving him some attention.
If you push him away when he is jumping up your puppy think that it is a game and what you are then doing is unwittingly reinforcing the negative behavior.
Remember anything that your puppy does now which is reinforced by you, he will more than likely repeat the behavior as an adult dog. So if you do not want your dog to: jump up, climb on furniture, sit on your lap while you drive, etc.... Do not reinforce the behavior now.
Spend time with your puppy and make a commitment to do some training every day.
Short training sessions, more often are more effective than long training sessions.
Never train your puppy if you are not in the mood – your puppy will pick on this and will loose interest.
Always end on a good note. Give the puppy a signal when the session has ended eg: All done or Free.
Reward positive behavior with a treat, IGNORE negative behavior. Any attention is good attention! Punishment does not work.
Leave bowls of treats around the house (out of your puppy’s reach!) When you see him doing something you like reward him with a treat. Distract him if he is doing something you don’t like, redirect his attention to a positive behavior.
Always vary the level of exercises in your training sessions eg: go from a new difficult exercise to a really easy one. Keep your puppy interested and always set him up to succeed!
Puppies/dogs and children under the age of 13 years old should NEVER be left together unsupervised. (Most dog bites occur when a child is under the age of 13 years old.)
If a dog is feeling threatened he or she will try to avoid a confrontation, their first line of defense is to flee, if that is not an option and they are cornered they will give several warning signals to say ‘stay away’: growling, flattening ears, raising tail or cowering with its tail between its legs, avoiding eye contact, licking lips, bearing teeth and finally if none of these have worked the last resort will be to bite.
A child may not be able to read these warning signals and may push the dog into a situation where the last resort is to bite the child.
Never reprimand your puppy for growling as this is his/her way of telling us that s/he is not happy with what is happening, rather take a step back and see what the situation is and how you can change the negative scenario into a positive one. If you punish your puppy for growling the next time s/he may think twice about growling and may go straight for the bite.
A good relationship between you and your puppy will be built on love and trust. It takes time and patience to build a working partnership, what you put in now will pay off in the long run.
Train and play with your puppy as often as possible, short stints are better than long training sessions. Eg: three five minute sessions is far better than one half hour session.