Zelda’s babies are not even 6 weeks old, but they have manners.  There is no excuse for a puppy to be indulged to the point where they rule the home and create unrest.  Watch this video and see what simply positive reinforcement of desired behaviors can teach a 5 week old puppy.

If you watched the first half of the video you saw me taking each puppy, one by one, out to the grass (sorry for the shaky camera, I was using my phone) instead of grabbing several pups and just tossing them out the door.  I do this for a few reasons.  First, I want them to know where to go potty and tossing them right out the door leads to pee on the patio.  No good.  Second, I want each puppy to develop patience.  It is an excellent way for them to learn just because I am gone for a moment, doesn’t mean I am gone forever and have forgotten about them.

Raising a puppy is so very similar to raising kids.  Here are the three things I do with both my kids and dogs.

1.  Pay attention.  You can’t reward something good if you are not paying attention and watching for the good to happen.  It is mentally draining to keep a close eye on a puppy watching for the exact moments to reward, but in the long run it will pay off 1000 fold.  You are building a system of communication, you are building trust, you are building a strong bond.  Put in the time over the first couple of months, and treat this puppy like a new baby.  Focus as much time as you can into this puppy, and you will have a lifelong friend and companion who will make you proud.  This is why I suggest tether training a puppy instead of only crate training (See Below for more information).

2.  Act on the good behavior as soon as you see it.  If you want your dog to sit quietly while you work on the computer, you need to spend time heavily rewarding sitting quietly until it becomes habit for the dog.  Instead I see people interacting with their dog when it barks, paws, knocks something over.  Negative attention is attention, and in the minds of kids and dogs much better than being ignored.  As soon as I removed Zelda’s influence, i.e. going to the pups when they would cry, I was able to curb the crying behavior in less than a week.  Only one puppy, Numma, is stubbornly refusing to stop the crying.  I’m sure she will figure it out soon, though some dogs are just talkers, like Mocha and my old boy Merlot.

3.  Ignore unwanted behavior.  There is a time and a place to correct an older puppy and dog.  There is no way to correct a baby puppy that will not produce a negative result without a LOT of experience and knowledge.  Example: Puppy is crying in the crate, you go fuss at the puppy, you just came over and showed your face to the puppy or talked to the puppy!  They are happy to see/hear you, that is what they wanted!  Your best method of dealing with a baby puppy’s ‘hangups’ is to ignore the unwanted and pay close attention so you can immediately reward ANY small good behavior.  Example: Puppy stops barking and is almost silent (maybe a small whimper) for 5 seconds.  Run quickly to the crate saying ‘good puppy, good quiet’, go get that puppy and make the biggest fuss in the world about how smart and quiet they are.  I would probably put the puppy on the tether and see at what distance the puppy hit ‘cry’ mode, then teach the puppy quiet by rewarding calm silence by stepping back enough to make the puppy uncomfortable, but only enough that they whine a bit so you can go ‘shhhhh’ in a calm soothing voice.  When they stop to listen you can say “Good quiet” and teach them what quiet means, which can be transitioned to crate training.  In addition, I always suggest crating the puppy in your bedroom at night when you first bring the puppy home.  You can reward quiet by murmuring and sticking your fingers in the crate for the puppy to nuzzle and nibble on for comfort, you can react to even a small stirring instead of waiting for a full blown crying panic attack to wake you from deep sleep.  You tell them what a good puppy they are, they learn they are safe near you and that it isn’t scary in this new home.  If you do not want your puppy sleeping in your room… well you will have a much harder time of it and might cause some unwanted training issues long term.  Once the puppy is feeling safe in your home, you can move the crate out of your room, into a public room / area / child’s bedroom.  This can happen as early as the first week, but it should only be done once the puppy is sleeping through the night soundly with no fuss.

As I mentioned above, I’m going to tell each and every one of you who get a puppy from me to tether train your new puppy in addition to crate training.  What is this?  I did several blogs last year on the subject.  You can see both with videos here:

My blog with information and a video on Tether Training. 

My second blog with video example of Tether Training.

Your puppy is a blank slate with no concept of human language and rules.  You are the teacher and how you teach will show in this new puppy.  How would you want to learn if you were dropped into a new culture / society where you didn’t speak the language and had no idea of the code of conduct?  Would you like it if they smacked you on the nose each time you did something wrong, or would you prefer they took the time to teach you the correct way first, giving you time to learn the culture before punishing you for mistakes?  With any creature, there is a difference between one who doesn’t know the right way to do something and one who refuses to do it the right way for whatever reason.   A baby puppy has no idea what is right and what is wrong.

If you are not an observant person paying attention, rewarding desired behavior and ignoring unwanted behaviors might be very difficult for you to master.  However, if you can dedicate yourself to this for just a few months, you will see results long term.  Things will be so much easier when your puppy turns into a crazy teenager if you set a foundation of firm but fair rules that are easy to understand, taught with love, kindness, and authority.

~Becky