Puppyhood questions

13 years ago

We just adopted a 9mo ? puppy. He came out of a Miami kill shelter and has been bounced around quite a bit. He's crate trained and quite gentle and laid back.

He's only been with us since Wed. evening. As of yet he's not responding to being called by his name. I know it will come.

I've never raised a puppy. We've only rescued adult dogs before this one. I've been to obedience training with our Pitbull when she was 2. I assume training a puppy is the same but I'm not sure when is a good time to start training him and what should I start with?

TIA

Marion

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Comments (5)

homebodymom
13 years ago
I recently raised a guide dog puppy for Southeastern Guide Dogs in Florida. In addition to the guide dog manual the school gave me to follow, my group leader suggested a wonderful book. It is called The Loved Dog by Tamar Geller. It is a great book for a first time puppy owner, and for anyone who wants to work with, or learn more about their dog! I highly recommend it.
Congrats on your new family member :)
carmen_grower_2007
13 years ago
Before any sort of training, you have to bond with him and have him trust you. He has been bounced around and is very vulnerable right now. He wants to trust you but he has been stung before and that is what he knows. Give him some time before you start training/disciplining him. Right now, he just needs lots of love.
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It's all very typical puppy behaviour, and your existing dogs will growl to teach the pup when he has crossed the line by getting close to their food or biting their legs etc and lakota will learn from that. "Lakota is ADHD we think as he can't seem to focus on one toy at a time." just about all pups act as if they have adhd :), puppies have a short attention span and they are energetic but you dont want lakota to learn to entertain himself because that often leads to chewing things or digging holes or other problematic behaviour. Dakota is a baby, and you need to engage with him and keep him occupied, and exercise and games are a great way to get a pup to burn off energy in a positive way, and a more tired lakota will not pester the older dogs so much as well. I think all he needs is regular walks, throw a ball or toy for him and play with him so he doesnt get bored or have too much pent up energy. My dogs are 2 and 3 years old and they still have energy to burn so I play with them everyday and take them for walks to tire them out. puppies are a lot of work and lakota is just being a pup. He will outgrow some of the biting behaviour as he gets older but pups bite and chew all the time. when my pup bit me on the hands I yelped and it didnt work with her but she did mostly outgrow it and learned to bite more gently instead of painfully.
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I remember when we took Pinky to her obedience class. There were three or four labs in the class and the instructor said we really should have classes for just labs. Smiles. Those whose labs matured by age two are somewhat the exception. Three or four is really more normal. Now don't get me wrong, I can't walk much and taught Pinky to be my personal assistant dog, and she was smart as a whip and learned well and young. I have a high energy dog now [pitbull] and of course I can walk even less than I could fifteen years ago with Pinky. I do a lot of obedience work with him in the house. I do things like what I call doggie calisthenics.. sit, down, stand, sit, stand, down, etc. I also with both Pinky and Jessie did a lot of fetch in the house. I just keep the middle of room clear and use things like those string bones to throw. A bit easier if I overthrow. A hallway works for some people. Smiles. As far as keeping her from bothering the other dog[s], do as I've done to keep Jessie from bugging the cats, keep her on a leash in the house. I use several leashes hooked together and one end tethered near me on a super heavy table or one end wrapped around my arm. I'm so used to it I don't even notice it but if he gets out of line it's fast and easy for me to give him a correction. He doesn't try to hurt them, but he wants to play with them too rough. It really helps when they do something you don't want them to, to be able to follow up the no with a quick jerk if they don't comply or if they keep it up, to reel them back to you, or out of the way of the other animal. He's learned with this pretty good and now leaves them alone, even taking naps on the bed with the upstairs cats on there too. Hope this helps. I don't know why you can't walk your dog, but as Mazer said they love a job, so perhaps you could work on training her to do something to help you. I taught Pinky to pick things up for me and give them to me. Eventually she'd find any little scrap of paper on the floor and bring it to me. At times I was bed ridden and she would even bring a sandwich to me upstairs, in a baggie then in a plastic grocery bag. She was so proud to do those things.
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kim_okla
13 years ago
I have to ask, you are sure he can hear? He responds to whistles, or clapping? Through all the bouncing his name may have been changed several times. When I got mine at the shelter his name was Larry. Larry? It took me at least a week to name him Bogie (Bo). I called him all kinds of names, he was probably very confused.

He'll come around. Congratulations on the new dude. What does he look like?
cindyb_va
13 years ago
Start training him immediately. Having a pack leader provides a puppy a feeling of security, which is exactly what he needs right now. IMHO most dogs want to be told what to do and unless they are quite young (under 3 months), training is the best thing you can do to help form the dog/owner bond.

To teach him his name, try this method. Take a handful of small tasty treats, like pieces of cooked chicken, and go to a room in the house with few distractions (no TV, other pets or humans, etc.). Say his name in a strong, but calm voice and when he looks at you, give him a treat. Repeat this until you have finished the treats. If you do this exercise 2 or 3 times a day, he should start responding to his name in no time.

Remember that his name should only be associated with positive things. Never yell a dog's name at him when he has made a mistake.

I hope this helps!
User
13 years ago
9 months is plenty old enough - it's a teenaged dog, not a puppy any more.

Start with the basic leash training, heeling when walking, sit, and stay.

Use the name a lot ... precede every command with the name, every praise should include the name. And the bribe method Cindy described works really well.

Puppyhood questions

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homebodymom

carmen_grower_2007

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