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When Should I Begin Dog Training?

We all worry about trying to do too much too soon with the puppy we bring home. Likewise, there's a worry of trying to unsuccessfully train a dog at an older age. Some of the more common questions that I get are, "At what age should I begin training my puppy?", and "Is my dog too old to train?" Let's start with the first question.

At what age should I begin training my puppy? Regardless of your puppy's age, you can begin training. As soon as I bring a puppy home, I immediately begin working on crate and potty training. These are both areas that you want your dog well versed in for its entire life. The earlier you start this, the easier both you and your puppy's lives will be. *For information on how to crate and potty train your puppy click here.

Is my dog too old to train? I'm sure you've heard that saying, "You can't teach an old dog new tricks." This is a myth. In fact, it's actually an excuse. It doesn't matter how old your dog is, it is capable of learning. We have worked with several dogs 6 years and older, the oldest being 13 years old. This old guy came to me a year ago with separation anxiety and dog aggression. With his owner's help through continued training and support, even at 14, he continues to improve. He is now trustworthy to enough that his owner can tell him "no" when he looks at another dog and he completely ignores it. His separation anxiety has also improved drastically. No more drooling and no more trying tearing up crate trays.

Here's the truth behind dog ownership and training. As long as you are interacting with your dog, you are training. In all the things you require from your dog, allow your dog to do, and refuse your dog to do, your dog is learning.

Our programs are set up to help you with your beginning at 12 weeks old with no maximum age. Click here for more information about each of our training programs.

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Puppy Fear Stage and Socialization

From the time you bring your puppy home (about 8 weeks of age) until about 16 weeks of age, you can expect it to go through its first fear stage. There is no way to tell at which age it will begin or end or how long it will last for each individual puppy, but it will occur at some point between these ages of life. During this stage, your puppy is being deeply programmed to understand the difference between things are will hurt them and things that are safe. The impressions that are made at this time are very difficult to change later in life.

As an owner, it is important to make sure that there is no confusion in this area. If introduced to people, other dogs, animals, etc., in the wrong way, it can lead to a dog that is aggressive later in life. If not introduced to certain objects, noises, and circumstances at all, it can lead to a fearful adult dog. This is where the term “socialization” comes it – and it is not what you think. (I like the term “exposure” better.) It is important to expose your puppy to the outside world while they are young, but they don’t necessarily need to “meet” anybody in it. Socializing at this age is all about giving the puppy positive exposure to the things they may encounter in the future. When “introducing” your puppy to other people, children, babies, etc. the goal is not to encourage touching at all. It is to encourage coexistence.

When I first began learning this concept, I was the owner of a 10 week old German Shepherd puppy. I thought I would take her to a high school football game to expose her to all the noise and people. I encouraged as many people as wanted to to hold and pet her, not really paying attention to her reaction. I thought I was doing the right thing by socializing her. Fast forward a year, and I had a full grown German Shepherd who barked, growled, and ran away from anybody who came into the house .Thankfully I was able to work with her over the years, and the problem is almost completely gone. Lesson learned. Now when I have puppies, I may take the to high school football games, but when somebody asks if they can pet my puppy, my response is, “It’s up to him/her. If they don’t want to be pet, then you’ll have to wait until later.” The puppy is allowed to walk or move away from the person who wants to meet him/her, and if he/she does, the meeting is over – and nobody is ever allowed to hold the puppy. This has been very successful for me.

The same is true for introducing a puppy at this age to other dogs and puppies. If I do not know the other animal, there is no meeting. I want all meetings with other animals to be 100% positive. I do not want to create a belief in my new puppy that all dogs and other animals are dangerous.

The rule of thumb for all puppies up to 16 weeks of age is positive experience after positive experience. If you can provide this with hundred of different situations, you will be well on your way to a confident, balanced, well-adjusted dog.

You can find hundreds of training tips, videos, and how-to’s on my YouTube page https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMwZQ9Caz-jo9GyIkojEuug… or on my website www.okayladyk9training.com

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Benson – Day 8

I did a quick run through with Benson to see how well he would listen, and now have a plan of action to get him on track. We are going to be heavily focusing on three areas – the recall, threshold work, and working around other dogs.

While Benson has a decent recall, I want it to be spot on. I want the kind of recall from him that when he is in drive, I can call him and he turns and immediately runs to me.

He is also doing pretty good with thresholds, but I want him to be perfect. The front and back doors are going to be areas where he absolutely cannot pass without permission. I will begin working on this from greater distances on the other side of that threshold so that he knows that regardless of whether somebody is there to hold him accountable or not, he still may not pass.

Already, Benson is offering his best in and around the house with other dogs, but I have a feeling this will be very different away from the house. So, Benson and I will be taking several walks in areas where I know there is heavy dog traffic.

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Annie: Day Two

I woke up at 4:21 this morning to a single bark. I seriously thought about lying in bed and waiting to see if I heard it again, but I knew I should get up and investigate. Very quietly, so that the barking dog would not hear me, I opened the bedroom door. At that point I heard the clicking of toenails on the living room. Either that was a very large mouse, or it was a dog. It was very unlikely that it could be Cosmo (my board and train). He has been doing an excellent job in his crate day and night for over a week now. As soon as she heard me, she growled and took off.

I turned on the light and found two turds on the floor just in front of the baby gate (a gate we keep up to keep dogs from going into the back of the house). I went back into the dog room and found Annie sitting in the farthest corner of the couch just waiting to see what would happen. I looked at the crate to see what damage had been done.

There was no damage done to the crate itself. She had somehow managed to get the front panel to fall down inward as is intended when folded up. This amazes me only because her previous owner had told me how things above her head seemed to frighten her. When told that, my thought was of how something falling on her could frighten her. Apparently it didn’t bother her too much.

I put the crate back together, grabbed the leash and attached it to her collar, and took her to her crate. Annie hesitated, so I bent over and pushed her bottom until she was back in the crate. No real struggle – just hesitation. I was honestly too tired to think or care about her reaction to this, but she didn’t offer to cause any trouble.

As I passed the kitchen to pick up the turds, I noticed a little puddle in the floor. And as I went by to clean that up, I found a larger puddle by the front door. (At least the place she chose to potty wasn’t carpeted.) I couldn’t hardly blame her. Each time I took her out to potty yesterday had been on-leash, and she had refused to potty. I’m sure a lot of it had to do with the pressure of being on leash. After cleaning it all up, I went back to bed.

By the time I had made it back into the room to feed Annie (6:00 a.m.), she already had one corner of the crate pulled in again. I took the time to reinforce it with zip ties, and fed her.

After breakfast, Annie started making a little bit of a ruckus. There was whining and I could hear the crate rattling a little bit. I quickly grabbed my bonker and very quietly sneaked closer to the room. I waited for her to get wound up again, firmly said no as I entered the room, and threw the bonker at her crate. There was really no reaction. I gave her a quick spray with the pet convincer just to make sure she understood, and walked away. (Video below)

After her breakfast this morning, I did a clicker conditioning lesson with Annie. I wasn’t sure what to expect. She hadn’t accepted the best treats I had yesterday, and I wasn’t sure what she would think of the clicker. The lesson went wonderfully! I was able to lure into both a sit and a down, and by the end of it, I was rewarding her for making eye contact. (Video below)

We have continued working on thresholds as I take her in and out to potty. She is catching on. She finally pottied on-leash. (whew!) Since the correction this morning, Annie has also gone back to being quiet and calm in her crate.

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What to Expect from your Trainer

Each person has his/her own expectation when it comes to dog trainers. Too many people don’t expect enough. Is extremely important to do your research on whichever trainer you are looking to hire.

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Clear Cut Rules

Having clear cut and well defined rules makes life easier not only on the owner, but on the dog too. The unsure and timid dog becomes confident when he knows what is expected and what is off limits. The bossy dog is relieved knowing that she doesn’t have to be the one to make the rules. The bratty dog gets to be more carefree and playful when his owner isn’t constantly upset with his choices. of course, the owner is happier because the dog is obedient. Having clear cut rules is a win-win.

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Positive Reinforcement, Positive Training, & Punishment

What is Positive Reinforcement? When should you use it?

Many owners are rewarding their dog’s unwanted behavior without even knowing. How is that possible? In many cases, they believe they are soothing their dogs; when, in reality, they are giving their dog positive reinforcement.

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Guiding an Unsure Dog Vs Correcting a Brat

When working with a confused dog, corrections should be light and given with the intention of guiding your dog. However, there are some bratty, pushy dogs that just refuse to do what they are asked. These corrections are more stern. In this video, Kaiba gives an example of both instances. In the beginning, Kaiba isn’t really sure how he is going to position himself on the tree stump that I have given him to perform “Place,” but with a little guidance he figures it out pretty quickly. Later in the video, after proving to me several that he understands that the rock is his “Place,” he flat out refuses to obey the command. This requires a higher level correction. See if you can see the difference in his communication to me in these instances.