Some things I find to be invaluable to have around the house while training a puppy:
* Bitter Apple Spray. Nasty spray that tastes like bitter apples. Safe to put on skin, furniture, carpets, anything and when the dog bites/chews on it, he gets a tangy, gross taste and usually does not chew on the item again. After a while he learns that chewing on, say table legs, is a bad thing to do.
* Wee Wee pads (or something similiar). Depending on how old your puppy is, these are good to keep around in case he can't make it to the outside during the period of housetraining. Good to keep near the door he goes out from.
* A good cleaner like Natures Miracle that gets out puppy accident odors.
* LOTS of good, solid chew toys. Kong and other hard rubber toys work best for serious chewers. I learned the hard way with Monty, that toys made of any other material just don't last more than a few minutes w/ my dogs.
* Clickers and training treats. Some dogs respond better to the click training method than others, but it basically works on Pavlovs principle of a sound being associated with something good. I keep a pocketful of training treats broken into even smaller peices on me, as well as the clickers. When I see my dogs doing something I want to encourage (such as just sitting quietly, or laying down) I click the clicker and give them a peice. They catch on pretty fast. I've only had Dodger for 2 weeks, and he already knows sit, down and stay because of this.
* People with children already usually have these but....those covers you can put into electrical outlets not in use. Prevents dogs from poking around in them.
* Several spray bottles full of lukewarm water. When puppy does bad, like head over towards a wire he may chew, spray him with the water. Most dogs, even dogs who LIKE water, hate to be squirted with it. We used this to get Monty to stop going near wires.
Sheri
. As long as our home visit goes well on Saturday , I will be adopting Cosmo (see siggy) on 2/26. It has been so long since I've had a puppy, (my other dog Angel is going on 9) that I've forgot all the training tricks. Thanks for telling us all what works for you.
