Hi everyone! My name is Shereen. I've been stalking this board for about a week waiting for my account to be approved. I'm so excited to ask you all my dog training questions! I have never really had dogs before. This is my first one. I got a yellow lab named Izzy. She's a year old and already house trained and kind of crate trained when I got her. I knew I was going to be getting a dog so I have been reading the heck out of this website, especially because I realize the odds are stacked against me training wise since I have never owned a dog before! Now that I have her, their are still a few (well, a bunch really) questions I have (and some that I'm sure I will have in the future!) My first one is about groundwork. As per Ed's article about intruducing an adult dog into the house and establishing pack structure, we are doing the social isolation thing. She's pretty much been in the crate all the time since Friday. She came with her own crate when I got her and was use to it and goes to it without a problem and sleeps there. She just really started barking and whining on day 3 and 4 because I'm sure she was not at all use to spending THAT much time in there. (that's why I said kind of crate trained). I do take her on a long walk everyday. (sometimes in the day and the evening). I give her a kong with PB. She's not barking near as much yesterday and so far today she's not really barked at all. Just a little bit of whining. I haven't talked to her or acknowledged her barking or whining AT ALL even though I wanted to take her out of her crate soo bad! So, my question is -- for those that got an adult dog, how long did your social isolation last? I should get my pack structure and basic obediance video in the mail today or tomorrow so this might be covered in there -- but in case it's not -- what is the order that you do to train? By this I mean - do you teach hand touch game first? Then down, stay and all that? Then later play with toys? Ect.. I'm not sure if I was suppose to do this or not, but when we were walking from the crate to the outside she would dash outside. After a time or two of this I "set her up for failure" as Ed puts it, and pinned her head in the door. 2 times of that and now when I open the door she literally will back up to give me more room to get out before her! Please tell me I was OK in doing this already! I'm worried that I should have waited! Alright -- I think this post is long enough for now! Any training advice or encouragement would be really appreciated and I look forward to talking with everyone!

Hi Shereen, welcome and congrats on getting your first dog, reading up and making informed decisions on training your new pet.

When I get an adult dog (I'm a foster home, so they are usually adults when I get them) They are crated whenever I am not available to give them 100% attention. I take them out for exercise and potty breaks as well as to have them aroud the house with me so I can gauge their house manners. Whenever the dog is not in his crate he is ALWAYS on a leash. Always. He can accompany me in the house (ON LEASH) when I am doing something such as dishes or on my computer or watching TV. In this way he can learn to behave in the house, and NOT learn that running, dashing, jumping up and chewing inappropriate items are even options for him. He is in a new house and can definitely learn there are new rules to follow.

The isolation phase length depends on a number of factors, such as how much the dog seems to want to be the leader, or to integrate him with other dogs (which in your case does not apply). If he seems to understand that YOU set the rules, then it can be only a couple of days.

I recommend getting the "pack structure for the family pet" video as well as "the power of training dogs with markers" - these are two great DVDs that will show you how to develop a great bond with your new friend.

Edit: you can train new behaviours in any order you want. Hand touch is probably easiest but you could do sit first or whatever you like. Just remember to make it a fun game for the pup!

^^^^^ditto.

In crate when you know you can't keep an eye on the dog.
Tethered to you whenever you have the time to pay attention.
Actually, tethered to you anytime he leaves the crate at all.
i got Tucker at about 4 years old, his isolation was only about 3 days, but he stayed tethered to me for about a month after that, just to establish structure.
during the 3 days I didn't lavish him with much attention either when he was out of the crate. I didn't make a fuss over him and would only talk to him or praise him if he was lying quietly with me. Just a pat on the head & a good dog. It's hard to do because you want to fuss over the dog & have fun. But those first few days are crucial in establishing rank.