What NOT to do!

Zwingli · Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2008 11:55 am Post subject: What NOT to do!

I have a confession about my stupidity with respect to training. Jonah went to the emergency animal hospital after we had him only a day. It was pneumonia.....he is fine now.
While I was there i read a magazine. In it was an article about training a puppy. It was the worst advice I have ever EVER heard and I am an absolute IDIOT for following it without checking other sources. The author, whose name fortunately escapes me, suggested virtually no training for the first six months!! Because I was obviously mentally challenged at that moment, I swollowed the BS hook, line and sinker!!
So we waited to start Jonah on any kind of training til he was six months old. It is not a pretty sight at our place!! It has been a pretty painful experience, mostly for us, i might add.

I have learned so much here. I want to thank you all for the depth of your wisdom and experience and your willingness to share it with the rest of us.
We are into week two of a hardcore reality check for Jonah. I think he must think his parent were kidnapped and replaced with Storm Troopers!!

He now knows "sit" "give" and "off" just a little. We are numbing him to visitors and our arrivals by coming in and out ten times in a row!! Gentle Leader for walking, nothing "off leash" in view for a loooooong time. The only mistake I haven't made is with the recall. We have almost never used any word to try to get him to come to us, (cause we knew he wouldn't!) I use a unique whistle to signal that it is time to come inside when he is in the back yard. It works pretty well but is definitely not a recall. The best thing that has worked so far is NILIF. He's getting it but barely. Any advice for such an idiot late bloomer like me would really help. Jumping on us and play biting that is way too hard are our main concerns. We see only marginal improvement in the last few weeks. I have given up on any kind of bite sensitivity training. I am going to opt for no open mouth contact at all.

I hope I have not ruined my chances to have a well behaved dog.

DukesMom · Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2008 12:15 pm Post subject:

Well 6 months old is definitely not too late for training! So there is hope. I started training my puppies from day one. By training I mean teaching them things like "no biting" and "leave it" even more so than the "sit" and "come" type things. I don't let anyone play rough with them to the point of letting them bite! Flat out they are not allowed to bite anyone, the furniture etc etc! Duke was a wild biting maniac at first and now he doesn't bite anything (at 6 months old). He is getting much better about jumping too. Gracie still tries to bite but is sternly scolded for it (at 3 months old). She definitely knows what "no" means and is usually pretty good at listening. She knows "sit" "lay down" "stand up" and is learning "stay". Now when I say she knows these things I mean she does it every time. There are lots of other things that she does sometimes and we are working on. Duke knows everything as far as basic obedience goes and we are always training him to do new things. Weims are smart little buggers and they learn fast! I use treats and praise to teach. Gracie at 3 months only responds to treats and Duke at 6 months is learning to love being praised. I think the magazine was probably referring to more extensive training and not basic obedience and manners. Get to work! You have lots of catching up to do! Train train train! I usually do 5 or 6 10 minute or so training sessions every day. Do this and he will learn fast! For biting (Duke was out of control and would not stop!) so I finally reverted to a squirt bottle filled with water and he got it right in the face every time he bit. It only took a couple of days for him to stop. And I mean completely stop! Gracie is not so determined and I grab her by the scruff of the neck and give her a stern "no biting" which works well. They are all different so you have to figure out what works with your dog. Duke is much more hard headed and stubborn but is as smart as a whip and learns really really fast. Gracie is sweeter and much more easy going than Duke but she's also off in her own little world half the time and doesn't pay attention.

kamfam · Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2008 12:30 pm Post subject:

HA!!! Maybe that ridiculous article was written by the "WIEM" guy Rolling Eyes

!!

Cathy · Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2008 12:38 pm Post subject:

Start obedience classes. Jonah and you will enjoy them, and it will make a tremendous difference. You'll learn the correct ways to teach and enforce commands. Don't worry about what you missed, just concentrate on what you can do from now on. Best of luck.