Locked: You must purchase this stream to view it Living with Your Puppy - Establishing Pack Structure
4 stars (9 reviews)
2 hr, 31 min
July 19, 2012
*For dogs older than 10 months see: Establishing Pack Structure with the Family Pet. Every new puppy owner has the same image of what they want their new dog to be like as an adult. First and foremost, everyone wants a great relationship with their dog but beyond that, those who plan on keeping their dog in their home want a calm, well-mannered, obedient house dog that minds and respects their family and friends. Those who plan on keeping their dog outside want a calm well-mannered dog that is respectful to the family and is quiet in the yard or kennel. They only want their dog to bark at strangers that come near the home. New dog owners think the road to success only involves obedience training and house training new puppies. Don't get me wrong--puppies need to be house trained and they need obedience training--but these are only two small parts of a much larger program needed to produce calm, obedient, well-mannered, respectful house dogs that have a good relationship with their owners. Let me give you a few facts to think about which will help make my point. We start with the misconception of "how obedience training leads to a well-mannered house dog." The best training system there is (which is operant conditioning or training with markers which we will talk about later) involves multiple short training sessions throughout the day. Training 4 or 5 times a day for 2 to 3 minutes in a session is much more effective than training one 20 minute session a day. Training 5 times a day for 3 minutes at a time is 15 minutes. What about the other 23 hours and 45 minutes in the day? What happens with those who happen to get a challenging puppy - one that bites, barks, is a little wild or a little too independent? Local obedience classes teach very specific behaviors: Sit Down Come Stay Walk on a leash The problem with young puppies is they cannot and should not be expected to perform a behavior (like a down stay) for long periods of time. With training we can expect compliance for up to 30 seconds but not much longer. We compare puppies to 2-year-old children. What do we expect in compliance from human babies? Not much. The same goes for our puppies. Many new dog owners totally miss this very valid point. What do we do when they misbehave? As professional dog trainers, we teach people that they cannot and should not administer corrections unless a dog refuses to perform a command that we are 100% sure the dog knows and understands. This translates into "we don't correct puppies" until there is no question that the puppy knows and understands a command but refuses to do it. That usually means after the dog is much older. This age is different for every dog and that's only assuming the owner has done a good job of training. The heart of the issue: how to manage your puppy all day? Neither you nor your puppy can or should train all day and leaving a pup or young dog to their own devices for long periods of time isn't realistic either. What should you do with all that time? This DVD will give you an understanding of how to effectively manage your puppy's time and turn natural instincts into acceptable behaviors. You will learn how to build a positive working relationship based on your puppy's natural desire to belong to a family group or "pack." We will show you how to redirect your pup's natural tendencies to bite and chase, how to create rules based on your expectations and how to set yourself up for success. Our dogs are valued members of our family and investing the time and energy into the foundation of rules and good behavior will help to create the family dog we all want.
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Living with Your Puppy - Establishing Pack Structure

Uploaded on July 19, 2012 • 2 hr, 31 min
*For dogs older than 10 months see: Establishing Pack Structure with the Family Pet.

Every new puppy owner has the same image of what they want their new dog to be like as an adult.

First and foremost, everyone wants a great relationship with their dog but beyond that, those who plan on keeping their dog in their home want a calm, well-mannered, obedient house dog that minds and respects their family and friends.

Those who plan on keeping their dog outside want a calm well-mannered dog that is respectful to the family and is quiet in the yard or kennel. They only want their dog to bark at strangers that come near the home.

New dog owners think the road to success only involves obedience training and house training new puppies.

Don't get me wrong--puppies need to be house trained and they need obedience training--but these are only two small parts of a much larger program needed to produce calm, obedient, well-mannered, respectful house dogs that have a good relationship with their owners.

Let me give you a few facts to think about which will help make my point.

We start with the misconception of "how obedience training leads to a well-mannered house dog."

The best training system there is (which is operant conditioning or training with markers which we will talk about later) involves multiple short training sessions throughout the day.

Training 4 or 5 times a day for 2 to 3 minutes in a session is much more effective than training one 20 minute session a day.

Training 5 times a day for 3 minutes at a time is 15 minutes. What about the other 23 hours and 45 minutes in the day? What happens with those who happen to get a challenging puppy - one that bites, barks, is a little wild or a little too independent?

Local obedience classes teach very specific behaviors:
Sit
Down
Come
Stay
Walk on a leash

The problem with young puppies is they cannot and should not be expected to perform a behavior (like a down stay) for long periods of time. With training we can expect compliance for up to 30 seconds but not much longer.

We compare puppies to 2-year-old children. What do we expect in compliance from human babies? Not much. The same goes for our puppies.

Many new dog owners totally miss this very valid point.

What do we do when they misbehave?
As professional dog trainers, we teach people that they cannot and should not administer corrections unless a dog refuses to perform a command that we are 100% sure the dog knows and understands.

This translates into "we don't correct puppies" until there is no question that the puppy knows and understands a command but refuses to do it. That usually means after the dog is much older. This age is different for every dog and that's only assuming the owner has done a good job of training.

The heart of the issue: how to manage your puppy all day?
Neither you nor your puppy can or should train all day and leaving a pup or young dog to their own devices for long periods of time isn't realistic either. What should you do with all that time? This DVD will give you an understanding of how to effectively manage your puppy's time and turn natural instincts into acceptable behaviors. You will learn how to build a positive working relationship based on your puppy's natural desire to belong to a family group or "pack." We will show you how to redirect your pup's natural tendencies to bite and chase, how to create rules based on your expectations and how to set yourself up for success. Our dogs are valued members of our family and investing the time and energy into the foundation of rules and good behavior will help to create the family dog we all want.

Comments

Average rating:
4 star rating
4.2 stars (161 ratings)
Your rating:
markoj87
March 16, 2018
Content was informative but delivered too slowly and lacking hands on show and tell. Depth of knowledge is unquestionable but we can talk theory all day and get to the first dog and get stumped. More practical demonstrations are needed with voiceover rather than an audio tape almost
malkiat
April 16, 2017
The video didn't give any practical advice or demonstration. It is very very long video with topics that are repeated so many times. The entire content of the video can be condensed into a 1-2 minutes video yet, it is dragged over more than 2 hours talk. The video may appeal to someone who learns very slow and needs to hear the same thing multiple times, then again and again and over and over. I am disappointed with the content of the video, my expectation was to get useful tips and a plan to follow, yet the video refers to other multiple videos. I have purchased 2 other videos but the content in them was also very similar, slow, dragging and just talk on concepts without practical steps to follow. I could write a long list that how the techniques discussed doesn't work on my dog.
RickyBarnaby
March 20, 2017
A downloadable version of this lower resolution video would be appreciated. Difficult and cumbersome to get this on to my iPhone for off network viewing. I sat my family down to watch this in bite size increments before we decided on getting Puppy. It served its purpose and i am thankful. I will consider more videos but hope for examples as well as dialogue. Good Video. Download option please. 4th star missing ONLY due to download missing.
Libbysbeans
November 19, 2016
This is a good starter for anybody introducing a pup to their home. At times the video is a bit repetitive, however the information is important. The information on x-pen use in the home was the most helpful. ALL my family have benefited from this strategy. Would never start a pup/dog in our home without it. When we haven't used an x-pen my family could become tired of 'puppy antics'. Having this space allowed us all down time (including our pup). That information and how to use it seems counter intuitive but really gave us the perfect beginning.
eigenstein
June 14, 2016
This is a great video covering a wide variety of topics that I had seen bits and pieces of in the various free videos. No one video is going to give me a complete picture of the training program because there are so many aspects to it. I've purchased two other videos, including the Power of Training Dogs With Food, and watched that prior to this one. When my pup is a little older, I'll purchase the Power of Training With Markers. I would recommend any video with Ed and/or Michael Ellis - I've learned a tremendous amount. Thanks for all the information, Leerburg!
miguelart
July 16, 2015
After watching more I updated my review. I would still like more video clips, but there is some good info about what the topic of the DVD is...
Prochargerchaz
June 27, 2015
Terrible!
bossei
January 24, 2015
I'm on the fence on these videos. I think they are ok but I would really like to see more demonstration of the topics. I realize some of the topics don't need demonstration but some could use more and less talking. I think the price/value isn't balanced; price could be lower. If not then please have the trainer give us some demonstrations. I also like that you all finally went to higher quality videos.
lawhyno
December 29, 2013
I've watched quite of few of your DVDs. Though I like all your videos, I'm very impressed with this style of video. Very well put together compared to some of the older vids. You took it up a notch in production value. Very informative too. Exactly what I was looking for. Thanks.
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