Quote: barbara schuler

... I'm sure you could find folks experienced with any and every breed of dog who would say hard corrections on puppies is okay when they are "giving you a hard time" (aka not understanding, being afraid, being a puppy, etc...). There are ignorant, ill- informed and mean people in all walks of life. ...

Yes. There is zero logic in harsh punishment administered to an untrained puppy (or adult). That is not "correcting."


Hard to top this comment from a top trainer (his SchH III being just one of his looooong list of titles and awards):

 Quote: Bob Scott

Leadership has nothing to do with power. It's about out-thinking the dog.

 Quote:

Leadership has nothing to do with power. It's about out-thinking the dog.

I am soooooooo screwed

 Quote: Dennis Jones

 Quote:

Leadership has nothing to do with power. It's about out-thinking the dog.

I am soooooooo screwed

Your power is only as good as your influence.

As I have read, translated, read an re-read Eds articles I really would like to point out that the article about teaching puppies the meaning of NO is a very old article. In the "Theory of corrections in dog training Ed writes:

"15 years ago when I was breeding some very hard puppies I wrote an article titled “Teaching Your Puppy the Meaning of the Word NO.” In it I recommended grabbing the pup (when it was biting you or a family member) by the nape of the neck and shaking until it squealed like a pig. Well that advice was wrong. It worked for my pups because they were hard pups and recovered quickly from a correction (and handler mistakes). Soft puppies could have some serious problems with this treatment.

Today I recommend that we can get the point across with most (not all) pups by simply grabbing a pup firmly by the scruff of both cheeks and firmly holding them as we stare into their eyes and firmly warn them to “KNOCK IT OFF”. You could even growl at them until they submit (just as their mother did).

Shaking them until they squeal like a pig only scares them and does nothing to build the relationship."

I think this is a very important addition and unfortunately can be overlooked if one only reads the puppy article and not the theory of corrections.

Thank you, Jaana; I have been looking for this retraction of that old "shaking" suggestion for three days now. I'm in your debt!

I have these articles translated into estonian and have this part added to the puppy article as a comment so for me it was just a matter of taking a peek

Hey Michael,

i've read through all the posts here and didn't see this question asked...

What schedule do you have your guy on for getting him house broken?
And have their been any recent peeing "accidents" as you are taking him to the door?

I think everyone has given excellent advice on the other questions you asked in your original post, so im just going to chime in about the housebreaking.

Michael,
For my money, just give up on the scruff of the neck business.
What you want is to engage the dog, not make him an adversary.
In the end it may come down to a test of wills, but doing so with such a young dog isn't imho the way to start the relationship.




If my dog isn't learning, I'm doing something wrong.
Randy

Thanks Jaana. I don't know how I could have missed that since I've read that article and really enjoyed it. Looks like I'll have to read it again.

Wendy, his schedule is this. At 8am we go outside. At 9am he eats and we go out at 11am again. Eats again at 1 pm. Out at 4 and eats again at 530. Water is taken away at 730pm. Out at 9 pm and 12 am (well, just before midnight since that's his bedtime). I still have to get up early, around 630 am to get him out. This is approximate timing since I try not to disturb his sleeping, sometimes I can't be around at the exact time and we generally have 3 exercise periods throughout the day and he always gets to go out after exercise, and sleeps for quite a while after.

There hasn't really been any mistakes for a while except for today. I let him out just before 8, went to take a shower and when I came out he had peed in his crate, which I thought was weird. But he may have needed a little more time outside I guess. My adult dog I had trained for the most part in 4 days. I think this pup is harder to train because of so much travel time where he was messing his crate, and I think the breeder left him in the crate for long periods and wouldve messed in the crate there.