I also don't think aggressive corrections are needed either.

My Golden (as an example as he roams the house, but this also applies to all our dogs who are crated a lot) was house and crate trained and asking to go out of the door by 8 weeks. I never "shook the snot" out of him, or anything near that. I was just VERY consistant with when I let him out and when I let him have food or water.. and I was also consitant with the amount of prasie he got for pottying outside. He never had an accident from being 6 wks old. I never ventured far enough away from my house in the first few months in case I could not get back in time for "potty". I stayed up late at night, got up early in the morning.

Its what ya gotta do!

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by the nape of the neck and shake the snot out of him while giving him your correction word.(Mine being phooey.)

Arghhhhhhh. I am sorry to sound so frustrated, but really...why do people ever feel compelled to "shake the snot" out of a puppy!!!!? Maybe this coming on the heels of alpha rolling litters of puppies (in another thread) has gotten my goat, but for pete's sake!

If you catch a puppy peeing in an undesireable place, a quick NO, while simply picking the puppy up in the middle of its business and depositing it outside is generally sufficient.

When that is all said and done, you go back inside, find a newspaper, roll it up, and whack YOURSELF on the head with it three times.

As for the original poster. Take your puppy out on leash *before* you settle down for dinner, and wait until he urinates. I find that the single biggest problem with training puppies is the owner's patience and level of consistency. Wait that puppy out, and praise him to high heaven when he goes. Yes, this requires that you are WITH him and closely OBSERVING him.

Then you can pop him in his crate with a cookie or marrow bone and eat your dinner in peace.

C'mon folks...these are puppies, not hounds from hell plotting schemes against you....seriously!

Tracy

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Its what ya gotta do!

Thank you, Sammy, for restoring my sanity and faith! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
T

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C'mon folks...these are puppies, not hounds from hell plotting schemes against you....seriously!

YEAH! That doesn't come until they're older!! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

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Its what ya gotta do!

...Thank you, Sammy, for restoring my sanity and faith! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />...T

Thank you both, Sammy and Tracy! And Patrick is giving wise advice about UTIs, which would certainly not be helped by having the puppy sit in his wet crate.

This from Tracy says it all, IMO: "As for the original poster. Take your puppy out on leash *before* you settle down for dinner, and wait until he urinates. I find that the single biggest problem with training puppies is the owner's patience and level of consistency. Wait that puppy out, and praise him to high heaven when he goes. Yes, this requires that you are WITH him and closely OBSERVING him."

I'm a pet dog trainer only (new to working dogs), but I still know enough to say that puppy housebreaking failures (health issues aside) are, in my experience, the result of inconsistent training on the part of the owner.

There are some excellent and clear articles on the web about this very issue, and I'll PM you the URLs.

It will all work out when you're consistent and quick enough with the praise and the "no" -- both of which need to be done IMMEDIATELY. (I.e., it does zero good to scold or correct for an accident when you find it........you have to catch him in the act, do the firm "NO," and swoop him outside to pee, at which point you praise like heck.)

Just MHO. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Paul, after he drinks, outside, after he eats, outside, etc. Also try putting him up an hour before dinner, " shaking the snot" out of a 3 mo.old pup is bad advice. If i shook a 3mo. old dog till snot came out of it's nose, it would probably be dead when i finished. Be patient and take the dog out alot, good luck, AL

Also i meant to add that i didn't know that gsds got to be 150lbs. My oldest male is 90 lbs. and i thought he was big, AL

Do you have to crate him when you eat? Why can't you just let him lie in the floor in the kitchen/dining room while you eat and just ignore him if he tries to beg or get your attention. That's what I do with Jack, and he doesn't even bother us when we eat now. He goes over in front of the dishwasher and lies on the rug.

"To give you and idea is father is 150lbs."

Sorry, I'm having a real hard time believing that statement.
I think maybe you need to actually weight that dog, because there's no such thing as a 150 lb. GSD, unless the dog is morbidly obese.

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Why can't you just let him lie in the floor in the kitchen/dining room while you eat and just ignore him if he tries to beg or get your attention.

This reminds me.....
People tell you all the time not to feed the dog from the table. The key to success in my house is that I DO feed my dogs from the table. It's a simple matter of reinforcing the behavior you want. A plate full of human food is a powerful training tool. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I don't get mugged and the dogs don't beg. They all just lay there, because they know that laying down and being quiet is how they get what they want...my food! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

If you don't want them in a circle around you staring, you simply give food only to the dog who is furthest away and ignoring you. Pretty simple actually, and makes for a nice peaceful dinner time.

I have three dogs, and mealtime is about the only time that I have total peace in the house, because I feed them from the table. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

T