Re: Dog Question
 

Walk him on a leash...both times it was when we were in the kitchen, he takes off around the corner and then pisses right in front of the TV. I usually grab him, point my finger and his head at the spot then take him outside, but by then he's already finished. So I just bring him back in and he watches me clean up the mess lol

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For your sake, it's almost a good thing if he picks a spot. When you seem him eying it up, that's the cue. The quicker you are the better. He need's to think you know everything bad he does.

If you can get him to associate going out with the leash, you may be able to have him walk over and pick it up [the leash] when he has to go. Don't underestimate how smart lab's are.

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Atleast I'm on the right path...that's a good start. If I can get him to pee outside and sleep through the night relatively soon I will be a HAPPY HAPPY man lol

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David, crate training is also a godsend with pups, especially labs.
You want to play with them and cuddle them constantly, but some time in the crate will do more good for the dog than many things. Crate at night, not too much room for him to move around. Dogs won't soil their crate, 99% of the time.
First thing in the morning, out the door. Serious good dogs and praise, maybe cookies if that is your style.
Play with pup a little bit...
Back in the crate. You want him in the crate when the urge starts to overtake him. 45 minutes later, or whatever interval he seems to dig, out of the crate and out the door.
Repeat as necessary.
It works for me, and not only do labs seem to "get" crate training, but they (hopefully) start treating the crate or travel kennel as a sanctuary, or Asylum, if you will. That is a good thing.

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A very hearty second or whatever to the Nylabones.
tough as hell, last a long time, dogs LOVE them. Both my shorthair and my lab chew them all the time, and we have 4 or 5 around the house. The shorthair rarely chews anything, the exception being if we are gone and leave some crate foam around. She will confetti-ize it in moments. The lab never chews on anything but her nylabones or dog toys.

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I agree with this part of Footbags guidance mostly (no "need" to yell at the dog though to effectively train him on this). Learn to identify the signals (they do give them) and get him outside as quickly as possible. Yelling at the dog isn't necessary, just get them outside. The dog is smart enough to figure it out soon enough with repetition and praise for going outside...

As a part 2 to this you may want to consider training him to "give" you the signals you need in order to let him out when he has to go (bell training or door relational positioning are some examples)



This is great advice. Crate training will save you and the dog a LOAD of confusion and frustration. The key to crate training (as put in bold) is to limit the puppy/dog to the amount of space you give him in his crate. As said above they will not soil the place they sleep in so make sure he only has enough room to turn around and lay down in, that's it. Put a piece of cardboard or other solid material in the crate to fill up the space you want him to not use while training him. As he grows you can adjust it if necessary but again, the dog WILL learn quickly if guided consistently.

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He's getting good about going out now at the end of day 1. He's gone out about 4x in a row, and I'm startin to pick up on his signals, and he's starting to go to the door when he needs to go. Not bad for only day 1. Would you guys crate him even when your home? When were home he usually follows us around the house. What would you guys suggest?

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Also would you guys pick his food up after a certain time even though there is food in the bowl still?

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yep.. nothing cuter and more irresistable than a lab pup, but try to crate him intermittently throughout the day so he is used to it, and will learn to be comfortable in it no matter the circumstance. Sounds like you are doing a great job so far!

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Self feeding vs. scheduled feedings are a personal choice, for you and the dog, when he gets older, some do very well, some don't, and get huuuuuge, in the wrong way.
With a puppy, I would schedule 3 or 4 feedings in a day, and pick it up when he slows eating. Like magic, he will need to go out within 10 or 15 minutes at the tops to take care of business.

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Thanks guys...It's puppy bedtime.

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Chew toys are your best bet. Dogs chew because they get bored, so give them a chew toy:D.

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First, dude, if you potty train your pup, you're my hero! I've only been able to house break them ;)

Seriously though, some really sound advise throughout this thread. A couple of other things that have worked well for me:

• If your pup turns out to be a serious chewer, take an old washcloth, soak it in water, tie it in a knot and freeze it. Chewing on the ice cold rag may soothes his teeth/gums.
• When the dog does his duty outside like he's supposed to, praise the living heck out of him. I mean to the extent that if your neighbors hear you they may think you're nuts.
• If you can catch him in the act of having an accident in the house (stern NO)and you rush him outside and he actually finishes his business there, praise him 5X more than the prior example...I'm talking your neighbors call the asylum :). Just a couple instances like this and he'll pick up on it really quick.

Good luck bro. Cute dog.

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If he goes and you witness it, don't call him over to you and then tell him "NO". This will just confuse him. As you catch him in the act, walk over to him, tell him "NO", wipe it up with a towel or what ever you want to use. Bring your puppy, and soiled towel outside leashed. Set the towel down and he will smell the towel (they always do, I don't know why), then say "go potty" or "Do your Business" or what ever you choose to call the act. Crate training is great. Just make sure the crate is small enough. He should only have enough room to stand up and turn around. This will deter him from "going" where he sleeps. He will have to do his business about every two hours or so depending on consumption. So, clear your schedule.

Make sure you take his food and water away a few hours before bed time and make sure you take him out before you bed down for the night.

A trick I do and no one will believe me, but here goes. I have a belt that has bells on it and a loop at the end which hangs from the back door (where I take him out to "GO"). When he was a puppy, everytime I took him out to do his business I would shake the bells and say, "let's go do your business". We would then go out (leashed). I would take him to the same spot everytime and I would repeat "Do your business". Once he did, I would take him directly inside, no playing etc. That way he would relate the bell with doing his business. This has worked GREAT!! My Boxer is three years old and to this day, when he has to "go", he rings the bells with his nose. Give it a shot my friend and good luck. Sorry so long.

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:tpd:

Yep, this is the bell trick I was mentioning before. Works great for every dog I've ever had/trained so far...

Great advice here Wayne!:tu

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Well that was an interesting night. At first we just decided to throw him in and see what happens. I believe he reaction was "oh hell no!!!" he was barking and whining like crazy. So I took him out, calmed him down and then placed a treat inside the crate. He went in and I praised him. When he would walk out I would just pick him up and walk him back in the crate. Finally he would ly down and would leave the door open so he would see I'm not trying to punish him. When he would fall asleep I would shut the door. Worked really well all night. First time it went about 30-40 minutes...he would wake up and cry. So we got him out and took him out to potty. Brought him right back in the cage and went through the routine. By the end of the night he was sleeping for about 2-2 1/2 hours straight. He's doing good with the potty stuff too. He's beginning to run to the back door when he has to go. We're a little tired, but we both expected to not get any sleep for a while. Let me know what you guys think about this method

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I'm on my 3rd Lab (see my pics in the other thread). Almost all the info in this thread is GOLDEN. Our Labs are well trained and with each one we've used different methods of training, so there is proof that there are many different ways to go about teaching your pup. A couple things will remain constant with Labs (specifically Retrievers).

First, they instinctively chew and eat everything in sight. You can do your best with sprays and potions, yelling and/or scolding - fact is, only time and patience will see your dog cease its destructive ways. As others have said, keep him happy with LOTS of toys. You'll soon realize Labs can digest every thing known to man. :D

Second, Labs are crazy sensitive about food. They are amongst the easiest and best dogs in the world to train (duh, only a few dogs are trusted enough to lead the blind!). Food is their big motivator. But food is also their biggest enemy. I can't count how many times I've seen FAT Labs. Use food as a motivator to teach and you will be rewarded, but be disciplined with it.

With respect to crate training, I agree 100% with the others. It will pay back in spades if you put up with the relentless crying. The whining every night won't last long. Stick with it!!! I promise it will pay off and you'll be so happy pup is comfortable in there.

You've got a gorgeous pup there. He will soon be your best smoking buddy.

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Sounds pretty good to me. Remember to not treat the crate as punishment. He should like the crate and feel comfortable sleeping in it. If he cries, take him out to go, but not to play. You don't want him to think you are taking him out to play because he is crying.
You'll only lose sleep for a few days, and then he'll be fine in there.

The bell trick that was mentioned above is a great idea. Just start ringing the bell when you go out every time.

Remember, were training you to be consistent in your behavior. If you are consistent, he learns.

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Yeah that's why I left the door open to the crate to make him feel a little better. He drags his chew toys in there so I'd say it's pretty safe to say he doesn't hate it in there lol.

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Personally I want to train him to use the toilet :ss

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Casar Millan ( the dog whisperer )could prob do that.

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Well last night we just decided to ride it out and throw him in the crate....boy that was hard. But once we got about 5-10 minutes in he quit and we had a good nights sleep. Got up once at 1, 2:30, and then he slept till 7:00, but it was hard to let him cry and whine like that.

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Soundl like he and you guys are doing well. As has been hinted at, treat the crate as his sanctuary. Keep it as a place that he can retreat to when he wants to get away. That being said, make sure that when you discipline him, it is done away from the crate. Good luck with that handsome puppy.

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A lot of great advice in this thread, so I don't have much to add except having a puppy is like having a new baby, until you get them on a schedule, everyone will be a little tired. Labs are about the easiest dogs to train so positive reinforcement with treats and praise will do the trick. Never call a dog to you to do something bad, but go to the dog instead. I believe in discouraging bad behavior with words like off and no and then redirecting to something you can praise.

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We've been doing a combo of both...NO to the bad stuff and redirect his attention to something else then praising him for that.

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any suggestions on helping me walk him...he'll walk when both of us go, but he won't go anywhere when it's just Katie or just me

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Sounds like he doesn't want to leave his pack. Can you take him for a walk if only one of you is at home? My first suggestion would be to drive him to a field or park and just let him sniff around and build on that. If you have a friend with a dog, have them come over and see if he will follow the other dog. He has to learn to associate walks and car rides with good things happening to him. It will take time and you need to be patient with him. Have Katie meet you halfway through the walk if you get him out.

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Just an update:

He's only had ONE accident in the house this past week. He goes to the back door when he has to go, barks when he has to #2

We've taught him to sit :D

He sleeps through the night....almost ;)

He actually likes his crate

With the walks he still struggles, but he eventually gets the hang of if it and comes along. We have to coax him with treats lol

Now if we can get him to stop the nipping, life would be great :D

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It sounds like you have a pro teaching that dog... you aren't getting professional help, are you?

:lv WOOF!

I'm glad to hear it is going well, and I bet you are proud of the pup too. You chould probably post another pic or two, damn... Lab puppies are cute.

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No pros...couldn't justify spending the money on something that we can do ourselves, ya know. He goes in for his second round of shots on Monday, then he will be 10 weeks old. I'll get some new pics up later this afternoon :tu

The funny thing is, is that right after I posted the last post he pee'd inside lol :hn

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Congrats on the new family member bro. We have an 8 yr old female chocolate lab and couldn't be happier. They are easy to train compaired to other pups, but still take some work. Consistancy with you AND everyone else in the house will make it go much faster. They don't really grow out of the puppy stage for at least 2 years, but then they do turn into the perfect porch dogs. They are intelligent! We taught ours to ring the doorbell when she wants to come back inside instead of barking at the door.

Here is our Bailey right behind the most rotten/loving boxer you've ever meet.

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Love the Alpenzeller dogs. My cousin has a GSMD in Switzerland.

As for the question posted:

-Don't buy a puppy
-Live with it
-Hope they don't chew it
-Work the dog until he's too tired to chew
-Keep the dog out of the room unless you are watching him

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uh.... psssst.......




He already got a puppy.......



(goes back to reading the content of the thread)

:r

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Our friends in Germany have an Entlebucher which is the smallest of the Swiss Mountain dogs. Nice dog, but very stubborn and doesn't take to strangers well. She's not aggressive, but reminds me of a Ridgeback in that it knows it's family and doesn't really want to know anybody else.

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Here's the most recent picture, which was last Tuesday:

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c1...d/IMG_1233.jpg

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Create a pattern or habit. 20 minutes after you feed or water a pup they poop and pee. You can set your watch to it. Take him out after you feed or water him. Give lots of encouragement for a "job well done." Create training was very successful for us as well.

As far as the chewing goes, just rub some Gurkha's all over your stuff. He'll never touch it.

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haha that with the combo of Apple Bitter were golden :r

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Got an odd problem....Dante is starting to eat the carpet. Any suggestions, because he's starting to eat it up in spots.

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Just found this thread. Have been in your position twice in the past 3 years. Golden and a Yellow Lab. Sounds like you're doing great! Be consistent and have a boatload of patience. I'm sure you have posted a pic. Can you PM me the link?

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the dorky reply is "find something he likes to chew on more than carpet."
and uh.. the normal reply?
Did you get a Nylabone or two?

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Check your PM's in a few minutes

Pup's got a few bones and a few other toys to chew on. Just thought it was weird to see him chew up the carpet like that

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I raised my lab on pieces of 2x4. If I gave him plenty of wood he was allowed to chew on he left everything else alone.
His mother ate all the pickets off the back porch. She's the one thqat taught me that labs need to chew on wood. Period.
Oh yeah, His mom ate a whole roll of linoleum, too. Ruined it before it even got put down. :D