Puppy training advice

[Justso]

Very cute! My neighbor just got one earlier this year, he is a fine pup.
I suggest you get the book "You and your puppy"
It's dated but has a lot of good information for owning young puppies, something a lot of books are lacking.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Thank you all for all your advice! I will look into the videos and take a trip to the library! I’m so excited for this new little fellow! Here’s the only picture I have thus far. Will Post more when he arrives in 10 days (and counting!!!)View attachment 2222906

He’s sooooo cute!!! Congrats!!

 

[ShrekDawg]

Crate training is hit and miss too. Some dogs just cannot tolerate it at all.
That malamute pup here.....yeah....NO. She sounds like she has been run over...and because there is the VERY SLIGHT chance she has a toe caught a check is a must which unfortunately reinforces that screaming brings the human.

very true!! Some dogs can’t handle it and some don’t need it lol

 

[ShrekDawg]

He doesn’t look like he wants to be a show dog

 

[EverythingDucks]

Crate training is hit and miss too. Some dogs just cannot tolerate it at all.
That malamute pup here.....yeah....NO. She sounds like she has been run over...and because there is the VERY SLIGHT chance she has a toe caught a check is a must which unfortunately reinforces that screaming brings the human.

Teddy loved his kennel. It was a safe place for him to snooze all day. He now has a four poster canopied bed which he loves. After he was about a year and a half old we just let him roam about. He's never gotten into anything and he just sleeps all day lol
Rosie used to hate it. Being a Yorkie she always wanted to be with us. We would put her in the playpen when we couldn't give her full attention and the poor baby would cry the whole time. Now though she'll go right to sleep when we put her up at night and she likes long belly rubs in the morning. Now she even sleeps in. She used to get up at 5am every morning.

 

[user581227]

Yes! This too! Mental stimulation is soooo important, especially with smart, active dogs. Too many people neglect this and end up with an extremely fit, energetic dog that they can’t tire out LOL also teaching and rewarding calm behaviors is wonderful too. Teaching a place or settle or similar command. And an “off switch.” And stuff like that. It helps hugely teaching them early on how to be calm and that not every moment is play or work time lol crate training can help with that too. Just putting them in there sometimes to chill haha

The main thing here is selecting a dog with medium drive. I have 4 adult German shepherds and currently 11 small pups that were whelped a week ago. 2 of my dogs are high drive, they require more mental and physical stimulation. And the other 2 are medium drive, which is great. All the drive to train and none of the extra nonsense that causes “boredom chewing” and destructiveness. This is why personality is so important when picking a pup. Don’t just go for a pup that is attractive physically, find the one that sticks to himself and strays from the pack. Ask lots of questions about the parents’ temperaments. Long story short, just do your research. Don’t just trust one person or rely heavily on tactics that work for them.. get a broad range of knowledge so you’ll be ready for anything and you will be just fine

 

[Viksceeks]

I have a border collie with a very strong herding instinct. She will herd anything and everything, but she is absolutely not allowed in the garden/chicken coop area unless I invite her in. She can't be fired up or she has to go out. Setting up boundaries really put my mind at ease.
We just got a doodle we're picking up Saturday, and she will have the same boundaries

 

[BigBlueHen53]

The book you mentioned by the Monks of New Skete is excellent, as are any of the books by Richard A. Wolters: Pet Dog probably being the best for your needs. He also wrote Bird Dog and Gun Dog, Family Do, Duck Dogs and possibly others, unless my memory fails me. Good luck with your little buddy! Oh, the most important thing about having a good or even great dog is not which book or method you choose. It's picking one and sticking with it. Dogs learn amazingly quickly. All they require is fairness and consistency. If you are not careful, your dog will train you!

 

[ShrekDawg]

The main thing here is selecting a dog with medium drive. I have 4 adult German shepherds and currently 11 small pups that were whelped a week ago. 2 of my dogs are high drive, they require more mental and physical stimulation. And the other 2 are medium drive, which is great. All the drive to train and none of the extra nonsense that causes “boredom chewing” and destructiveness. This is why personality is so important when picking a pup. Don’t just go for a pup that is attractive physically, find the one that sticks to himself and strays from the pack. Ask lots of questions about the parents’ temperaments. Long story short, just do your research. Don’t just trust one person or rely heavily on tactics that work for them.. get a broad range of knowledge so you’ll be ready for anything and you will be just fine

Oh yes these are all good points too!

Personally I like the idea of having a breeder pick for since I figure they know them best and might have a better idea of which ones might be good for sports and stuff like that. But picking your own is great too and we did that with our last dog, although he was a mix and there were only two left haha but still.

 

[EverythingDucks]

The main thing here is selecting a dog with medium drive. I have 4 adult German shepherds and currently 11 small pups that were whelped a week ago. 2 of my dogs are high drive, they require more mental and physical stimulation. And the other 2 are medium drive, which is great. All the drive to train and none of the extra nonsense that causes “boredom chewing” and destructiveness. This is why personality is so important when picking a pup. Don’t just go for a pup that is attractive physically, find the one that sticks to himself and strays from the pack. Ask lots of questions about the parents’ temperaments. Long story short, just do your research. Don’t just trust one person or rely heavily on tactics that work for them.. get a broad range of knowledge so you’ll be ready for anything and you will be just fine

Oh yeah, I was going to mention that! Zak George talks a lot about that in his videos too. When we got Rosie she was all sleepy and calm. After about a day she was bouncing off the walls though xD . Her brother (the only one that hadn't been picked up yet) was pretty crazy when we were at the breeders house though. I wonder if he is crazier then Rosie? I wasn't sure that was possible, but Rosie is much much calmer now. Still moves every 10 seconds but she'll snooze on the couch with us and take morning naps. She used to be ready to try to do laps around the house as soon as she woke up but now she'll sleep in and get belly rubs for 5 mins before coming out just to sleep again lol. Teddy was pretty chill when we got him and he still is. I can't really remember a whole lot when we got him (I was like 7years old) but most of the time he was calm when he wasn't acting like a crazy puppy when he was excited lol