New puppy: who should participate in training him?

Hi,

We are going to get a new 8-week old puppy soon. We are a family of five: wife, me, and three daughters; 8yo, 5yo and 1yo.

For now, we are interested in potty training and teaching basic commands.

In terms of who should train the puppy:
Should only one specific person do the training all the time? or
We can all train him (one person only per training session, of course)?

Is it advisable for the older girls to participate in training? or
Is it better for the adults to do it?

Thanks for your help

New puppies require constant supervision. It is best for everybody to agree on what methods are going to be used, and everybody share caring for the puppy. The 8 year old should be able to take much of the responsibility with the 5 year old having more limited responsibility.

I would start basic obedience at once, keeping sessions short, only a minute or 2. The foundation to obedience is housebreaking, command, behavior, reward.

Much of housebreaking is not training the puppy, but making it easier for your puppy, you, and your carpet while its body to catches up to its instincts. At around 8 weeks when the puppy goes to its new home, the time from when it realizes it has to go, and when it can't wait any longer is a matter of seconds. Only time will fix that. You can hardly be expected to be attentive enough to avoid all accidents. There is no sense punishing the puppy for your inattention. It is not fair to punish you either, but you still have to clean it up if you didn't have the puppy outside in time.

Housebreaking starts before you get home with the new puppy. If you don't have a crate, buy one. I prefer the more enclosed, den like plastic ones. Skip the bedding. At first it gets wet, and later it can be chewed into choking hazards. A wire grid in the bottom will help keep the puppy up out of accidents at first. They are available with the crates, but expensive and hard to find. A piece of closely spaced wire closet shelving from a home supply place is cheaper. I am now using a plastic vegetable bin with plenty of holes drilled in the bottom. It helps block off part of the crate for the smaller puppy. If you already have a metal crate, covering it may help. Just make sure you use something the puppy can't pull in and chew. Dogs that start out in crates as little puppies, accept them very well. Never leave an unattended puppy loose in the house. If nobody can watch it, put it in the crate. I suggest letting the dog have its crate all its life. A crate needs to be just big enough for a dog to stretch out in.

Choose a command and spot you want it to use. The less accessible to strays, the less chance of serious disease. If it is a female, choosing a non grassy spot will avoid brown spots later. When you bring it home, take it to the spot and give it the command in a firm, but friendly voice. Keep repeating the command and let the puppy sniff around. Sometimes you need to walk it around to stimulate its body to eliminate. If it does anything, praise it. Really let it know what a good dog it is and how much you love it, and maybe a treat. Note, being out there not only means you can praise it, but it also keeps it from being snatched by a hawk. If it doesn't go, take it inside and give it a drink and any meals scheduled. A young puppy will need to go out immediately afterward. Go to the spot and follow the above routine. Praising it if it goes is extremely important. If it doesn't go, take it back inside and put it in its crate and try again soon. Do not let it loose in the house until it does go.

At first it is your responsibility to know and take the puppy out when it needs to go. It needs to go out the first thing in the morning, after eating, drinking, and sleeping. If it quits playing, and starts running around sniffing, it is looking for a place to go. Take it out quickly. You will just have to be what I call puppy broke until it is a little older. How successful you are depends on how attentive you are.

By the time most dogs are about 3 months old, they have figured out that if they go to the door and stand, you will let them out. The praise slowly shifts to going to the door. Some people hang a bell there for the dog to paw. If your dog doesn't figure this out, try praising it and putting it out if it even gets near the door. When you catch it in the act, give it a sharp ''Ah, ah, ah!'' and take it out. Clean up accidents promptly. I mostly keep the little puppies out of the carpeted rooms. Still I need the can of carpet foam sometimes. First blot up all the urine you can with a dry towel. Keep moving it and stepping on it until a fresh area stays dry. A couple big putty knives work well on bowel movements. Just slide one under it while holding it with the other. This gets it up with a minimum of pushing it down into the carpet. This works with even relatively soft ones, vomit, dirt from over turned house plants, or anything else from solids to thick liquids. Finish up with a good shot of carpet foam. Note, do not let the puppy lick up the carpet foam. Once the dog is reliably housebroken, your carpet may need a good steam cleaning.

Many people strongly strongly push cleaning up all evidence of past accidents. I am slower to suggest that. Dogs will return to the same spot if they can find it. When you see one sniffing the spot, that is your clue to run it out.

Please Please,jorgeelizondom what ever else you do , do not follow the advice of !Labman" you will see as this thread goes on, I will not be the only one to tell you thins..the man has very outdated and cruel ways in training pups, putting puppies sin crates with wire mesh grilles for the pee to run through is not to be recommended.

I think the first thing you need to do is all sit down and set down rules, maybe make a chart (so the girls can understand better)

A crate is a good idea , but not in the way Labman advices it is a good tool to help with house training and it will also give your girls a little bolt hole to go to when the girl get a bit to much for him, and the other way round, because as pup grows they will also need a bit of rest from him and his teeth


It will also be a good way to teach your girls that when pup is in crate, they must leave him be!!


If you decide on a crate (need to knwo what breed you are getting, for size of crate) then get it ready before pup comes home... have it made up all comfy for him a nice blanket and a few toys.. while pup is very young you can make the nest at the back, leaving the front free (for now).. when you bring pup home he will be tired... remember first things first take him outside for a wee, he will need one... then allow him to explore his home, then put him in his crate to sleep...(remember this is the time the girls are to leave him alone) give him a little toy or biscuit to settle him in.

Feed him all his meal in there , any treats put them in their along with toys.

Put the crate where he can see you all.. he needs to be with you .

With such young children about, I would recommend using one.

House Training, this is the hard bit not really its just consistency..


When you bring pup home he will be on 4 meals a day.. e
so the first thing is as soon as he eats he will need to go out to toilet.

Young pups can t hold their bladder .bowels for very long so you need to get into a routine.. the more you help pup the quicker he will learn, and the older he gets he will have more control.

Don't use puppy pads.. they only teach pup its OK to use the house as a toilet.

When pup wakes up in the morning, first job is toilet, after food= toilet, when he wakes up = toilet, after play= toilet.. and every half hr in between,

Pup will show you he needs to go, so you have to watch for signs. he will turn round in circles, sniff the floor, as soon as you see this, pick him up and take him outside.. using the word "toilet " or such like, I always use "go pee"

You will need to remember this pup will need to be let out through the night too.. he cant hold it that long.

I think it's important to involve ALL the family in his training, but you must all use the same commands (that s where a chart might help) with your girls..

Put up words that you are going to use.. like "potty time, go pee, or anything you like.. it will help them remember what they have to do.

Make sure they learn not to ge exacted round pup, what to do if he jumps up, how to deal with and stop his rough play (it will happen, so you have to educate them in what to do)


Put on your chart.. pups feeding times..

Lets say.. 7, 11, 3. 7 something like that.. what after food take pup out to toilet...but no play, till he does something..how to praise when he goes... things like that. it will involve them in his up bring.

Consistency and routine will help you all, if the children know the rules and you can help them stick to them, you will have a much easier time of it.

After all pup is joining the family.. so its important the family all take responsibility..

obviously your girls are young one to young yet to really help, but the other two can do their bit... with guidance.



P.S if you use a crate remeber its not a prison, is there to help you and give a retreat to pup.. pup should spend more time out of it than in it.

short answer
everyone

longer answer
kids shouldnt be unsupervised with any dog but they can help with the training
you all have to agree on the methods you are going to use and the command words
i would never punish a dog but if that is the type of training you do then the childern should never be responsible for punishing the pup

for toilet training if you miss seeing when the pup needs out then its not the pups fault if they go in the house, dont comment on it or punish them this may make them hide from you next time

children can accidently make recal training more difficult by overusing the puppys name and recal word so the pup gets used to ignoring both words
i would suggest you get the kids to use a nickname in calling him 'puppup' is a nice happy name. then they only use the puppies name and the recal command in formal training time

Jezzz, just read through my post again, cant edit it , to late.
Sorry hope you can understand it, a few spelling mistakes (was a bit early for me, had not had my coffee ) and this bit in particular

I meant pup mind you can lock your girls in there to if you want... if they get a bit OTT

Yes, listen to those with far less experience and training than I have. Those that let a few easy dogs think they are great trainers. Stick to the methods of the 50's

i think all family members should be envolved intraining so that the pup will respect every member of the family .my sons love training my dogs (supervised of course ) .as for house training all you need to do is take puppy outside as often as you can and wait for pup to do business and reward with a treat or a fuss and dont make a big deal when it does it in the house .it will soon learn that peeing and pooping out side is a good idea and will want to please you .good luck i bet your all so excited

OOoo what breed of little pupydom are you getting?

I'd say get everybody involved! We got paul's young sisters to do bits of training with our pup when they visited, they are now very well respected and loved by her, well, all my dogs! (as a three year old, Carrie could make Keisha, rather a large Akita by 6 months sit, lie down and gently take treats - all under supervision each time of course).

Please, please set strict guidelines for your kids and any of their visiting friends around the pup and watch they are being followed...the most tolerant of pups can have enough, then the trust is lost forever.

Wow, thank you all for your very thorough and comments. I am planning on using the (modern) crate potty training method. I will set an excercise pen in the kitchen with the crate inside to prevent the puppy from making mistakes as recommended by the breeder. She also suggested installing a dog door which we will.

The puppy will be partially poty trained by using a pad with pine wood chips on it. The breeder will provide this wood chips to continue with this method.

I have a question on this method though:

Should the pad be placed outside the house from the beggining so the pup will exit through the door and do its thing there? or

Should the pad be placed inside the play pen (as far away as possible from the crate) at the beginning stages of training and wait for LATER to transition and move the pad outside so the pup can use the door to go outside?

Thank you again

How very presumptions of you to assume you know better than the many knowledgeable members here Labman .You are the last person I would take advice from when it comes to puppy care, I would not trust you with a stuffed toy.
Why?
No one else on Dogsey other than yourself has ever suggested shutting a 7 week old puppy in a crate for 16 hours the day with only wire mesh to lay on ,
..or depriving a puppy of water in the mistaken belief that it will pass less urine when confined to a crate,
..or holding a puppy up by its middle until it stop wriggling to teach it to be submissive,
..or using a mouse trap to stop a puppy jumping up.

Apologies Jorgeelizondom I don't normally post in disagreement with other members but in the case of Labman I make an exception.