>>> Dog Training 101 <<<, share experiences successes and failures

[southflorida]

well here is a thread loooong overdue...

DOG TRAINING 101 :smartass:

please share your experiences successes and failures of training your dog -both sexually and non-sexually...

do you pen your dog
at what age did you start house breaking
what method did you use for house breaking
at what age did you start "touching" your dog to get him/her comfortable with you
how did you encourage oral licking
ect ect ect..... share anything that might be helpful to new and first time dog owners....

remember to share breed age and gender (both gender of human and dog)

[Horsedan]

Hi South, thanks for starting this thread :drinks: I know there are a lot of people way more qualified then me, but what the heck, here's my input:

Me: male, Dog: 1 Yr 2 Month old male Rott

1) Nope, never pen my dog and hopefully never have to. He's pretty much with me all the time.

2) The minute I brought him home I started housebreaking.

3) Didn't use the newspaper method, just watched him and looked for the signs he needed to go. If he didn't show any signs, I still took him outside every couple hours. If he went outside I gave him lots of praise, if he went inside I just gave him a stern dis-approving look :evil: Please, never hit your puppy/dog or rub his nose in it when he messes up. Thats the worst thing you can do. Took about a month before he was totally housebroke.

4) :thinking: It's a real good idea to "massage" the dog "Everywhere" from very young. Not in a sexual way and even if you never want to have sex. It's very good and reassuring for the dog and let's him trust and bond with you earlier.

5) Never had to :P The minute I got naked in front of him he's always snuck his snout right up there :rolleyes:

The best advise I can give is to just let nature take it's course. I never had to "train" my dog (and I kind of hate that term). Just let him or her do what they naturally want to do. Don't try to force them to do anything, because that will just make them not want to do it and may even make them not trust you.

Anyway, those are my thoughts. Hope they helped ;)

[leatherngt]

as for house breaking, as soon as the pups were weened and momma started taking them outside.
I would clean up any accidents with a paper towel and speak softly to the puppy to reasure them that this wasnt a negative thing, then i would take the paper towel out to the yard and place a rock on it. I would pet the puppy and let him sniff around "his spot" and I have seen this work as fast as one day.
Yes the puppies tear up the paper but the puppies also compeated to mark the spot.
I remember one pup in particular that watched me clean up his mess with great interest then follow me outside, he gave me a look like Hey great idea and imeadiatly piddled on his new place he never had an accident in the house again and gave me a lot of laughs as he looked so proud of His special spot under my birch tree which he defended from his litter mates.

[southflorida]

bump...

thanX to all who have contributed this far...

other questions to be answewred that i think might be helpful is when did you first collar your dog?

when did you first start using a leash?

everyone PLEASE feel free and answer questions - add questions - and just share experiences - I am in hopes this can become a very useful thread for many many members for a long long time :)

[Horsedan]

Again, used a collar and leash as soon as I brought him home. It's best to get him used to things from early on :)

I have a question: did you get "formal" training for your dog, or did you train him yourself. If you did formal training, how old was your dog and was the experience helpful? Same question if you trained him yourself.

For me: did a basic obedience class at 6 months. Helped a little but he needs a lot more work (15 Months now). He's pretty good at sitting, laying, staying ... that is until a dog or other diversion occurs LOL :lol: Looking to get him into another class.