It typically takes 4-6 months for a puppy to be fully house trained, but some puppies may take up to a year. Size can be a predictor. For instance, smaller breeds have smaller bladders and higher metabolisms and require more frequent trips outside. Your puppy's previous living conditions are another predictor. You may find that you need to help your puppy break old habits in order to establish more desirable ones.
Ultimately finding the right obedience training solution for you and your dog involves weighing out what you need, what you can afford and how your dog will react to a specific training solution. If you are unsure how to address your dogs training needs because they are a newer addition to your family, ask your vet for their advice. Often your vet will be able to assess just what your dog needs based on their experience with other dogs with similar behavior patterns.
By far the most dangerous symptom of dog anxiety is aggression. This aggression can be targeted directly or indirectly, depending on the situation. Direct aggression occurs when a dog acts aggressively toward people or other animals. Indirect aggression can be equally dangerous, and often happens when a person comes between the dog and the source of the dog’s aggression, such as another dog. Even if a dog is prevented from harming others, aggressive behaviors such as growling or barking can lead to dangerous situations for humans and dogs, alike.
Submissive urination is a normal way for your puppy to demonstrate submissive behavior. Even a dog that is otherwise housetrained may leave dribbles and puddles of urine at your feet when greeting you. Excitement urination with a puppy is usually caused by lack of bladder control. The puppy is not aware that he is urinating; he's just excited and any punishment will only confuse him.
I appreciate your concern, but I do not agree with your analysis. Whenever Sally has her leash on her she is EXTREMELY excited and ready to go on our next adventure outside. She works hard for me when I give her commands and she wants so badly to please me. For this video, we were in the basement because the weather wasn’t nice outside. This drove her bonkers because she knows that if the leash goes on, we’re going outside! She was working extra hard for me when I filmed this video and I know how difficult that was for her. She’s such a good girl.
Desensitization and counterconditioning are complex and can be tricky to carry out. Fear must be avoided or the procedure will backfire and the dog will get more frightened. Because treatment must progress and change according to the pet’s reactions, and because these reactions can be difficult to read and interpret, desensitization and counterconditioning require the guidance of a trained and experienced professional. For help designing and carrying out a desensitization and counterconditioning plan, consult a Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist (CAAB or ACAAB) or a board-certified veterinary behaviorist (Dip ACVB). If you can’t find a behaviorist, you can seek help from a Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT), but be sure that the trainer is qualified to help you. Determine whether she or he has education and experience in treating fear with desensitization and counterconditioning, since this kind of expertise isn’t required for CPDT certification. Please see our article, Finding Professional Behavior Help, to locate one of these experts in your area.
It's important to know what type of issues you're looking to avoid so that you can teach your dog good habits right from the start. Some pet parents hope to ward off excessive barking, while others are worried about their dog chewing on non-food items (like dangerous house plants or their shoes). Digging, begging, biting, stealing food and urinating in the home are other issues pet parents look to avoid.
Understand the value of the “stand” command. The value of the "sit" and "wait" seem obvious, but you may not understand at first why the "stand" is an important skill to teach your dog. You won't use the "stand" every day, but you'll need it throughout the dog's life. For example, a dog who can stay calmly in a "stand" is the ideal patient at a vet clinic or client at a groomer's.
You must judge when your dog is able to tolerate an increase in the length of separation. Each dog reacts differently, so there are no standard timelines. Deciding when to increase the time that your dog is alone can be very difficult, and many pet parents make errors. They want treatment to progress quickly, so they expose their dogs to durations that are too long, which provokes anxiety and worsens the problem. To prevent this kind of mistake, watch for signs of stress in your dog. These signs might include dilated pupils, panting, yawning, salivating, trembling, pacing and exuberant greeting. If you detect stress, you should back up and shorten the length of your departures to a point where your dog can relax again. Then start again at that level and progress more slowly.
I found that looking for alternative ways to connect with Sally outside of food, such as play, life rewards, and affection, deepened our relationship. I also found that thinking about Sally’s behavior and our quality of life more holistically, outside of simple obedience cues, helped me address some overwhelming issues that I wasn’t sure how to tackle at first, such as getting and keeping her attention in distracting situations.
In 1935, the American Kennel Club began obedience trials, and in the following years popular magazines raised public awareness of the benefits of having a trained pet dog, and of the recreational possibilities of dog training as a hobby.[17] After WWII, the increasing complexities of suburban living demanded that for a pet dog's own protection and its owner's convenience, the dog should be obedient. William Koehler had served as principal trainer at the War Dog Training Center, in California, and after the war became chief trainer for the Orange Empire Dog Club—at the time, the largest dog club in the United States—instructor for a number of breed clubs, and a dog trainer for the Walt Disney Studios.[18] In 1962 Koehler published The Koehler Method of Dog Training, in which he is highly critical of what he calls "tid-bit training techniques" based in "the prattle of 'dog psychologists'".[17] Amongst the training innovations attributed to Koehler is the use of a long line in conjunction with a complete absence of oral communication as a way of instilling attentiveness prior to any leash training. Koehler insisted that participants in his training classes used "emphatic corrections", including leash jerks and throw chains, explaining that tentative, nagging corrections were cruel in that they caused emotional disturbance to the dog.[19] Vicki Hearne, a disciple of Koehler's, commented on the widespread criticism of his corrections, with the explanation that it was the emotionally loaded language used in the book that led to a number of court cases, and to the book being banned in Arizona for a time.[20] Despite the controversy, his basic method forms the core of many contemporary training systems.[21]
Great article, Kimberly. Thanks so much. I’ve been looking for info on no food training. I’ve had 5 dogs over the past 20 years, all rescues, all adults. The only one who has been food motivated is the one we got as a young puppy. I started training her right away w/ treats, which worked great for a couple months but I’ve noticed her responsiveness is decreasing as I decrease the use of treats w/ training (and we do a ton of training- adv obedience, tricks, agility and find it) so I’ve been looking for guidance on how to make the transition go more smoothly. Thanks again. Great info! Sally looks like a happy well loved dog.
Pull on the leash? Ignore your commands? Act aggressively to dogs or people? Bark all the time? Jump on you and guests? Steal things from the counters? Chew things it is not supposed to? Not come when called? Get way too excited? Act afraid or fearful? Have separation anxiety? Only listen when you have a treat? Have previous training but can't focus with distractions? Continue to be turned away or kicked out of other dog training programs?
However, before giving your dog anti-anxiety pills or any kind of medication, make sure you understand the side effects to look out for. Also, only give your pet the recommended anti-anxiety medication dosage from your veterinarian. Extra dosages can result in harm to your pet. Each dog responds differently to anti-anxiety medication due to the rate of absorption and other potential health conditions that may affect how well it works.
I appreciate it when you said that I can enroll in a dog obedience class so that I will know how to train my dog or I can just hire a professional to do it for me. I think the latter will work better with my schedule. There are always so many things for me to do after all. Aside from this, I do not think it will be easy for me to train my little Rio since I do not have the patience to do it.
While keeping with the desensitize program and very close monitory from his vet, Sully (Neuroti-Dog) takes Xanax and Clomicalm. He used to take Clomipramine but the expense went through the roof the last few months so we changed it. When he was first put on medications our hope was to use the meds to calm him enough for him to respond to the desensitizing. It worked. Until he found new triggers to cause him anxiety. No sooner do we desensitize him from one trigger and he finds another. I walk around my house with my car keys in hand, my coat and shoes on more often than not. I use his buzz words without action on my part other than to give him his favorite treat and we won’t even get into what I have to do when the dry cleaner bag comes out! I never stop using this program, if I lax even one day, he goes back to his original triggers of anxiety. Needless to say, Sully requires constant monitory for not only his medications but his anxiety through desensitization. Oh, BTW, he ate his Thundershirt. :-/
Every dog needs to learn to walk on a leash. Besides the fact that most areas have leash laws, there will be times when keeping your dog on a leash is for his own safety. Learn how to introduce your dog or puppy to the leash, then teach him how to walk properly on the leash. A loose leash walk teaches your dog not to pull or lunge when on the leash, making the experience more enjoyable for both you and your dog.
