Best Puppy Training TIPS Needed

[lowie]

Please give me your best tips! my new min pin is a little doll, he's so sweet and cute! a few problems we're having are...
1. i'm sleeping on the couch with him on my chest or he'll cry and keep us awake (yes, i know i'm a sucker!)
2. pottying, he'll go pee and poo outside IF my timing is right.

any other tips are greatly appreciated, after years of only haivng cats i'm a little lost!

 

[NMAmy]

Good heavens, I keep hitting the wrong button and losing my post.

One more time. Do you have a crate? When our golden was a puppy, we kept a crate in our room. She could still hear us but had a wam, safe, enclosed place to sleep. We don't use the crate anymore at night but she still likes to push her bed halfway under our bed and sleep with her head under there.

Potty training--take him outside ALL the time. Before they're potty trained, we take our puppies outside AT LEAST every half hour. It feels like a full-time job at first but they catch on pretty quick. Praise, praise, praise when they go to the bathroom outside. Use a word to signal it's time to go to the bathroom--not playtime. DH is still annoyed that our word is "Go Potty now." She will go on command, though.

 

[disneyaggie]

First of all, congrats on the new fur baby!

He is in a new home and needs security. That's why he loves sleeping on your chest. I have a small little chihuahua that still sleeps on my chest at times and I have had her for over 2 years! But after she sleeps there for a while, I wake her up and she goes to her bed by the foot of my bed and there she stays snuggled down for the rest of the night.

You may want to take a shirt or towel and rub it alot across your bare body. That will pick up your scent. Then put the item in his little bed close to you so he can smell you. That may help, too.

As far as potty training is concerned, patience and praise are the best keys for you to hold. I also learned this trick when I was trying to train my yorkie (many years ago). Male dogs must pee on something. So a girl at my office taught me to lay some paper (or a peedle pad) down. Take a piece of paper and wad it up in a ball. Lay the wadded up ball in the center of the paper/pad. That gives the male some thing to pee on. I kept my eye open for my yorkie to peedle and sure enough, when he did, I danced around like I just won a lifetime pass to WDW!

He got so excited that he "pleased his mommy" that anytime I would lay a fresh ball of paper down, he would immediately run over and pee on it, waiting for his additional hug and praise. I also gave him a small treat. He loved that part, too. And I loved the part that he was paper trained shortly after.

Of course, all of my dogs were rescued from bad situations so I get them well after they are puppies. But I still go through the puppy stage since they came to me with little to no formal potty training. Again, patience and lots of love are the keys.

Congrats again, and good luck!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

We got 2 puppies a year and a half ago.

I suppose the best advice is to have the pup earn space. We leashed our dogs to us and made them follow us. They were not allowed free roam for 3 months & it was limited.
Of course we have 2 and they are bigger so it is 'double trouble".

Our pups are still not allowed upstairs. We used to have a blocker but now they are trained not to go upstairs.

Boundaries in the house really puts it in the dog's mind that he is a follower in the house. People are the boss.

We can invite them upstairs, on the couch, etc....but at the same time if we don't want them on the couch or somewhere else they will listen.

As an example my MIL is here for a visit and she is knitting "ON THEIR COUCH"...
Well we have told them no a couple times and they respect the fact that she has taken over their space....because it isn't THEIRS it is ours.

Anyway...as a recent dog owner I find boundary setting to be a very helpful tool.

 

[Saffron]

My best house breaking tips:

Keep him in a confined space, do not give him the run of the house. Make sure he is with you and always in your sight. The first sign of looking around and sniffing ... whoooooosh ... outside he goes. A confined space means a room, not a little bitty piece of the room.

Only take him out to poop and pee. Don't take him outside to play until he learns there's a difference between inside and outside. Right now inside is for playing, eating and sleeping, outside is for pooping and peeing. Sometimes puppies think playing is for outside, therefore inside must be for pooping and peeing. They get confused.

Always make sure that when you take him outside, he pees or poops or whatever it is you want him to do before you go back in. When he's done, praise, praise, praise, pet and jump for joy! Never take him out and get impatient, then bring him back in before he does what he's supposed to do. That will confuse him too.

When he wakes up from a nap, he goes outside immediately. After about an hour of hard play, he goes outside before anything else. Before he goes down for a nap, if there's been any down time between the last time he was outside, he needs to go outside.

Never scold him for peeing or pooping inside other than to say a sharp, quick, loud "NO!", just pick him up mid stream or mid poop and take him outside and praise, praise, praise outside! That's why you need to keep him in a confined space with you until he's been trained for a while. You need to be able to catch him before, or during if you have to.

About his sleeping arrangements, that's totally up to you. You either have to get used to him sleeping on your chest, or you have to get used to him crying until he gets over not sleeping on your chest, there's no other way around that. The breeder for my lab suggested a stuffed animal and hot water bottle for my puppy to snuggle up to, but I never did that, I just put him in bed with me. Now I pay the price with a big old lug sound asleep and snoring next to me. But he is house broken.

 

[disneyaggie]

Boundaries in the house really puts it in the dog's mind that he is a follower in the house. People are the boss.

Oh please don't let my fur babies read this part. They would shut off my computer and ban me from ever going near the Dis Board again!

 

[clarabelle]

We have had some success with clicker training. www.clickertraining.com

 

[lowie]

thanks everyone!!
we do have a crate, he's only in it when nobody is playing with or holding him. right now he has a blanket, water bottle (for drinks, not warmth) toys and a pee pad. are these things ok? or should i remove the pee pad so he doesn't think he should pee in there?
we've been taking him out a lot, he gets to stay on the grass for potty time and on the sidewalk for walks.
as for sleeping... well, i wouldn't mind if he wanted to sleep with me. but right now he's so darn tiny i don't want to squash him! i'm not sure about giving him a piece of my clothing, just because i don't want him to think that clothes are for playing with.