Puppy Training

[pgathriller]

Hey Guys!! I bought a 4 month old german shepherd puppy about a week ago. I have never trained a dog before and I was wondering if anybody would be able to give me some advice on how to train her. Any help is appreciated. I just want to teach her the basics like Sit, Stay etc.

 

I also have one problem with her. Whenever she see me or my sisters she jumps up to us and starts barking and nipping us. She does it in a playful way but I need to break her of that habit. Any advice?

 

Thanks!

"Sariah" My New German Shepherd

[steel]

Sign up for a puppy training class at your local Petsmart or Petco.

I don't remember everything they taught us, but it helped a LOT.

 

BTW, you're dog is really cute.

[Chrissie]

Awwww!! She is too cute!!

 

I'd definitely go with the training class. Our Pup, Frankie, is now 1 years old and we trained him ourselves but hes not really that obedient lol. Remember to praise and reward her for all her good behaviour.

 

Frankie also jumps up on us but we find that when he jumps if we turn our backs and say no he tends to leave it.

 

Good luck with the training and let us know how you get on!

[Yellow Jacket]

Signing up for the puppy training class is a great idea. One important pointer that I can give is to always be consistent. If you do not want her to jump up on you, then never allow it (with you or anyone else). Push her down, say "NO" firmly (don't scream--just say it in a strong stern voice). When she assumes your desired posture, reward her with "good dog" and petting. She will probably then get excited and start jumping again. Repeat saying "NO" and pushing her down. Eventually she will "get it." You can always go back later and allow her to jump up in specific circumstances if you wish--train her to "give me a kiss" for example.

 

Always reward the behavior you desire. Never reward the behavior you do not want. Rewarding positive behavior is much more effective than punishing bad behavior.

[shesaidboom]

Definately sign up for a training class. If you can get a copy, Puppies for Dummies and Dog Training for Dummies are excellent. They use positive training methods and pretty much spell everything out for you.

 

The Ultimate Puppy Toolkit is also amazing, but it might not be as useful to you since your puppy is a little older. If you want to check it out you can find it here.. http://www.urbanpuppy.com/faq.html

 

If you use livejournal.com, there are several really great communities to help. This is my favourite.. http://community.livejournal.com/dogsintraining/ Even if you don't have a journal, most of the entries are public so it might be useful anyway.

 

There are some good training tips on these sites..

http://www.k9deb.com/nilif.htm

http://www.dogplay.com/

http://www.neilsnet.com/archives/list.shtml

http://www.shirleychong.com/index.html

 

Really, just try to read as much as you can and see what works best for you and your dog. Most importantly, be consistent! If you establish yourself at the top of the pack, you're going to have a lot less trouble! [Watch out for the 1 year mark because dogs will try to re-position themselves in your pack and you again have to make sure your dog knows that you are the boss. A good and easy way to do this from the beginning is to get your dog to sit before you put down their food bowl, let them outside, or give them a treat/toy..basically show them they have to work for things.] Personally, I'd also try to avoid anything by Ceasar Milan because I completely disagree with his methods, but I know some people swear by him.

 

As for the nipping, puppies mouth everything because they go through teething just like human babies. One method that works really well is every time your puppy tries to put any part of you in his mouth, yelp. If you do this every time, your puppy will get the point that it hurts you and he shouldn't do it. I know it might sound a little silly, but when puppies nip each other, this is how they tell each other that it hurts. It will also startle him into jumping off you, and you can then praise him for staying down. If he starts mouthing your furniture or chewing on your fingers, try freezing a wet rag and letting him chew on it. That often helps with the discomfort they get from teething. For the jumping up, I'd do what Chrissie recommended..completely ignore him and turn your back. That way he'll learn that jumping up wont get him what he wants, which is most likely attention.

 

To get your dog to sit, stand facing your dog with a treat in your hands. Put the treat infront of your dogs nose [but so he can't reach it], say 'sit' and bring the treat up over his head and back in a straight line until he is forced into a sitting position. He should look up at the treat as you are bringing it over his head and once you bring it far enough he'll be forced to sit down. Once he sits, give him the treat and say "GOOD SIT!" Try it a few times and depending on the dog [some take longer than others] you should be able to say 'sit' and have him do it without lifting the treat over his head. Training sessions should be short so the dog doesn't lose interest, so if he doesn't get it within a couple minutes let it go and try again later. Good luck!

 

If you have any more questions, feel free to PM me. I'm certainly no expert, but I've been researching puppy training and care for months because my family is getting a dog soon.

[Vekoma Fan Boy]

1. Tip on my behalf, watch "It's Me Or the Dog" on animal planet, I'm not sure what time it comes on, but check your T.V. Guide. The woman trains some BAD dogs (Not saying yours is bad, I'm just emphasizing how well her techniques work) and makes them act like a TV pet! That show is a miracle in dog training.

 

2. One of Victoria Stillwell's (Host of it's me or the dog) technique as SOON as the dog jumps up on your sister, get over there and go "AH, AH" Reason being it's short and distracts them. And as SOON as the dog get off praise her for getting off, and if ah, ah stops working, clang two pan lids together. (With this technique NEVER look your dog in the eyes when it looks over to you to investigate the noise, soon she would start associating the fear of the noise with the fear of you.) And that is about it as far as I remember.

[Louise]

One important pointer that I can give is to always be consistent.

 

This is the MOST important thing, IMO, above all else. We had problems training our last dog until we realised it was because of sheer lack of communication within our family: I'd punish her for something my dad would reward, etc etc. Make sure everybody who has that kind of contact with the puppy is on the same page and have set rules for what you punish and what you reward. Otherwise the dog will either get confused and struggle to distinguish right from wrong, or else will be a complete nightmare in that she'll figure out how to run rings around you all. As Yellow Jacket mentioned, make sure if you're going to punish her for, for example, jumping on the bed, you ALWAYS punish this, and never say "oh, go on, just this once", because the dog ain't gonna understand that.

 

Good luck with her, she's adorable!

[pgathriller]

Thanks everybody for your feedback. I decided to call Petsmart and they said it only cost $99 for 8 weeks of classes. I'm gonna give this shot because Sariah is just to hyper and has way too short attention span for myself to train her. Hopefully that works.

 

Thanks again!

[shesaidboom]

^ You'll still have to train her at home while you're going to classes and pretty much for the rest of her life. Puppy classes will help you teach her some of the basics and will help you socialize her, but training a dog is an ongoing process.

[SonOfBeastSucks]

Sariah is just to hyper and has way too short attention span for myself to train her.

She is a puppy. Puppies are hyper, happy, and fun. If you want her to have no energy and lay around doing nothing all day, you should have gotten an older dog. You can teach her to sit and stay on command, but as far as being hyper...that is just part of being a puppy.

[darklingscribe]

Just a couple tips.

 

Intermittent rewards work best. Always praise her when she does something right, but don't always give her a treat, give her treats as rewards randomly. There is science to backing up this method, for some reason random intermittent rewards work better than giving your dog a treat every time. This applies to humans as well, it is why gambling can be so addictive.

 

Also you need to establish now that you are the boss of your house. Every dog that I have had I did this with: When feeding her set down her food bowl wait ten seconds and then grab it and pick back up. If she growls at you wait a couple of hours before giving it back to her, if she doesn't display any signs of aggression set it back down and let her eat. I also do this to my dogs when I give them a bone. Do this about once a month (but once a week when they were puppies).

 

Another tip, if your family eats regular meals at home where the entire family sits down to have dinner at a regular time make sure you feed your dog after you are done, and completely ignore any begging they might do at the table.

[steel]

BTW, someone said to say "NO" firmly. I remember this at least from our class. That's a big mistake. The word "no" comes up ALL the time in conversation, which will be confusing to your dog. Also, firm sound work better than words. Make a noise like a honking truck or something. We say "Ah Ah" to my dog.

[christianscoasters]

IDK if this has been mentioned yet, but if she bites, just gently hold her mouth shut and say no bite. you only have to hold it for about three seconds.

[Golfie]

Although this might seem mean, trust me - we just got through training our third puppy and he definitely does not jump up on us anymore. When your pupster jumps up on you, put your leg out (don't be afraid to do it a little forcefully, just what he needs to be pushed off) and sternly say "Off!" Be extremely persistent when she does this. Also, if she bites, hold her mouth closed and say "No" very strictly. If you aren't a pushover, your pupster will listen!

 

 

BTW, someone said to say "NO" firmly. I remember this at least from our class. That's a big mistake.

 

Did you ever try it? Our dogs never got confused when we said "no" in our conversations, and I'm sure other dogs wouldn't because of the tone that is used and that the "No" is being directed at them. Dogs are quite intelligent.

[steel]

Did you ever try it? Our dogs never got confused when we said "no" in our conversations, and I'm sure other dogs wouldn't because of the tone that is used and that the "No" is being directed at them. Dogs are quite intelligent.

Yes, we did that for about a month before we started training and it did not work well at all. Dogs respond a lot better to distinct and severe sounds than to words. They said that very specifically at our training class.

But every dog is different, so if it works for you, go ahead.