Raising A Canine
House-breaking:
We will start with controlling elimination. The number one reason for success in controlling elimination with the average pup is due to handler anticipation. Lets start out with an eight week old pup. Key times to anticipate elimination are after the pup wakes up, even if it has only been asleep for five minutes, after eating or drinking; within fifteen to twenty minutes, max, anytime the pup gets very stimulated mostly during and after play, and anytime the pup disappears from the main room in which it is being stimulated, go find that pup quickly! Taking all of these times into consideration, keep in mind that the average eight week old pup will eliminate possibly five to fifteen times per day. Please make sure that the pup is receiving the proper amount of food. Food does not take long to get from one end to the other! When a person feeds more than the necessary quantity that will add to the problem. You cannot take the pup outside too much, the more the pup goes potty outside, the more it will want to go potty outside. Up to four months of age, I recommend feeding three times per day. Over four months of age, I suggest feeding twice per day, dividing the portions equally. When the pup goes out to go potty give praise and say “potty” every time he or she goes, if you do this your pup will go potty on command, in the future. It is helpful down the road. A handler certainly has enough times to practice this command. Just from saying “potty” each time the pup eliminates.
Using the Crate:
I do use a crate to aid in potty training and house manners. I recommend purchasing a crate that the pup will fit into when fully grown. We only want enough room in the crate for the pup to stand up and lie down to go to sleep. Block off any extra area with a solid object until the pup grows big enough to need that space that has been blocked off. Purchase an enclosed kennel, like the vari-kennel. Enclosed crates are recommended over the complete wire crates. We want the crate to be a place of security. The wire crates leave the pup exposed and feeling vulnerable, not to mention that they are difficult to clean. For travel the wire crates can be more convenient because they are often collapsible. There are plenty of dogs that will do just fine with wire crates but to play it safe, the enclosed crate is the way to go. Also, place the crate in the room where the dog will be permanently sleeping. I only place the pup in the crate when nobody will be home (Working dogs would be an exception to this due to the nature of their life they need to be highly portable and be able to go in a crate anywheres anytime). If the owner wants to teach the dog to sleep in the crate at night that is acceptable. The crate is only used in a positive sense, never as a form of punishment. The crate is used to teach the pup to sleep while the family is away. It is also used to teach the pup to control elimination, and to teach the pup not be destructive. I usually start to trust the pup in small doses outside of the crate at six months of age, or until the pup has rectified all of its problems that I relate to crate training. Yes, there are some dogs that can never be trusted, but most can be trusted in time. Food and water should never be in the crate at anytime. This encourages elimination and a real big mess! Toys and a sturdy, safe, absorbent blanket should be in the crate at all times. Toys that I recommend putting in the crate are: ropes, any Kong products, and real sterilized bones. The bones should be thick ones that do not splinter. Do make sure that the condition of the rope is good and not frayed. The pup should have access to water at all times other then when it is in the crate. Sometimes having a radio or television on a low volume or a fan on helps to relax the pup and muffle any noises he or she might here, which would upset the confined pup. The pup should be weaned from the crate gradually, roughly over a month’s time. If the pup regresses due to certain undesired behaviors, then place the pup back in the crate for several days before attempting to trust the pup again. This is not done projecting a punitive attitude. Lessons can often be learned by subtracting the freedom, while you go back to targeting the problems the best that you can. During the time that someone is home, the crate door should be left open so that the dog can go in and out as it pleases. Often the dog views the crate as a den. At times when the home environment gets hectic due to a function, the dog can often be found in its crate. The crate should be available to the dog throughout its entire life.
Exercise:
Exercise is a very important thing for every canine to have from puppy hood through adulthood. Do some research on the type of breed your dog is and see how much exercise is recommended. A lack of physical exercise can lead to a lack of mental exercise as well. If there is only one dog in your household, then see if there are dogs in the neighborhood to set up play-dates. When the workday is done, go out in the backyard and throw a toy for a half hour. Take the dog for a ten plus minute walk a few times a day. Do a formal obedience session with the dog for ten to twenty minutes. Try to make some or all of these activities part of the dog’s daily routine.
Socialization and Desensitization:
Socialization and desensitization are always commonly talked about topics. My approach is determined by the age of the dog. I will take a mature dog that has never been socialized and teach that dog some basic obedience and respect for the handler prior to exposing this unruly dog to distractions that very well could induce undesired behaviors. A puppy two to four months old, on the other hand, is one in which I make sure that the only thing that is done while socializing it is to reinforce the concepts of manners using the no command when it applys. To properly socialize the pup, we want to gradually introduce the stimuli in accordance with how well the pup is adapting. To ensure a positive experience with a stimulus, the handler must introduce only controlled stimuli in a controlled environment. The handler must know what the behavior and/or actions will or will not be in relation to interacting with the canine. No variables can be in the environment; this creates the possibility of having a negative experience with a stimulus. The pup should be exposed to people of all shapes, sizes, ages, personalities, professions, and as many ethnicities as possible. Canines should be exposed to other canines outside of the family. Noises of any kind also require the owner’s attention. It is wise to expose the pup to other animals that it might come across in its’ life. Having the dog see as many objects as possible helps as well. Exposure to various people in an array of professions is extremely valuable; desk workers, butchers and everything else in between! A person’s occupation tells the canine where and what the person does. These people might upset a canine depending on how they smell! Again the handler needs to be selective with the people that will be used, because we are emphasizing strictly positive interaction among the canine using controlled variables. As the socialization and desensitization process occurs the handler can observe and take note of any fears or dislikes that the canine exhibits towards anything it is introduced to. This process helps identify problems that the handler must tend to so as to insure that these issues do not become dangerous situations. Canines on a whole do not like change, so it’s important to expose them to as many variables of the human world as possible in order to find what might trigger undesirable behaviors in the individual canine so that we can work on eliminating any undesirable behaviors. I feel that it is imperative that socialization occurs not only at eight weeks of age, but throughout a dog’s development. My personal opinion is that the dog should be aggressively socialized and desensitized up until the age of two. At this point, I believe that the canine’s mind is fairly solidified with the concepts of socialization and desensitization that we prefer. If an eight-week-old pup is exposed to a stimulus and displays a desired reaction it does not necessarily mean that 8 months or two years from then it will respond in the same fashion. Ideally, the canine should consistently and routinely be exposed to stimuli up until the age of two. After the dog reaches the age of two, if the handler periodically exposes the dog to these stimuli it should suffice. I do believe that up until two years of age it is necessary to aggressively socialize the dog so we, as handlers, know the likely reactions of our canines. Socialization and desensitization helps to ensure safety and everlasting desired behaviors.
To ensure leaving a positive impression with your pup, I recommend that obedience not be used during socialization and desensitization prior to four months of age, if so then this might be the only time that utilizing food reward would be acceptable in my eyes. The puppy is in a euphoric state of mind, and any reinforcement with something the puppy does not want to do, while interacting with another animal or person could be construed as a negative experience. When “negative” moments occur certainly separate the canine from the stimulus. In the future avoid this particular stimulus until we have done some obedience with the canine. Once the canine has respect for the handler (and therefore some degree of trust in the handler) and an education to fall back on, then we will go back to the dog’s problem area(s).
From the time one gets a pup, the taking away and giving of toys should be done randomly on a regular basis to help prevent and /or identify any aggressive possession issues. The same goes for food. Stroking the pup and placing a hand in the food bowl is important to associate eating as a team effort, as opposed to a greedy, selfish moment. Toys and food are very common problem areas within the house and it is worth the time to make sure the pup acts safely and respectfully toward its’ peers. Food aggression nowadays doesn’t freak me out like it use to because it’s near 100% manageable by feeding the dog only in its crate.
Raising a Canine
Key Points
- The number one key to housebreaking is anticipation.
- An eight week old pup will eliminate as much as fifteen times or more per day. You cannot take a puppy outside too much.
- Feed appropriate quantities; it does not take long for food to go from one end to the other end. Feed a pup three times per day up to four months of age, then twice a day after four months old.
- Say “potty” or a word of your choice anytime the pup eliminates to teach the pup to eliminate on command in the future.
- The crate teaches a dog to sleep and not be destructive while the owner is away. The dog should only be placed in the crate when nobody is home and at night, if preferred. Purchase a crate for the pup that they will fit in once grown.
- Enclosed crates are best.
- Place crate in a quiet, comfortable room.
- No food or water in the crate. Only non-edible toys in the crate.
- After about four months of crate training, the owner can start to gradually wean the pup out of the crate while away from home.
- Exercise is very important mentally and physically. A lack of exercise can result in an increase of bad behavior. Multiple walks each day and/ or obedience session can emotionally center a dog.
- In dog training, socialization and desensitization are interchangeable.
- A pup two to four months old should learn its daily routine and what home is all about in— receiving abundant attention and love, in addition to appropriate manner encouragement.
- A pup should be exposed to new experiences in a very controlled sense to ensure a positive experience.
- A person’s occupation can tell a great deal about the person to the dog (their smell). The socializing and desensitizing process allows an owner to see any discomforts that the dog might have.
- Dogs do not like change. Dogs should be aggressively socialized and desensitized up to two years of age.
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