New member with new puppy

[RodKinkaid]

My new puppy is now 3 months old. His father is a poodle and the mother is an Australian Shepard. He appears to be quite intelligent, very loving and somewhat strong willed. He took to the crate quickly and goes in sometimes during the day and always willingly at night and sleeps all night without fussing. My biggest problems are 1) getting him to come after going out in the yard to potty, 2) He does not like the leash so I hardly ever use it, 3) He is very good about peeing in the yard but not so good about pooping and often does it in the house. He also has super sharp claws and I want to get started off correctly in trimming so any advise you can provide for the correct way would be appreciated. (He came from a family that treated him well until we got him at 10 weeks)

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Hello and welcome to the forums!

I will try answering all your questions in order.

 

1) When you send your puppy out to potty it would be helpful to let your puppy spend some time in the yard before coming back inside. The reasons are several. Firstly, being outside is a life reward, something that your puppy is naturally drawn to and enjoys. Secondly, you can use spending some time in the yard to your advantage as a reward for going potty. If we let the puppy out to potty only to immediately call him to come back inside that may be perceived by your puppy as punishment and therefore it can be a big recall killer. Imagine the yard like Disney World to a child. You let your child visit Disney World only to let him use the latrines and then expect him to leave. Most children would rebel to this.

 

It may therefore help if after going potty you let your puppy explore and spend some time in the fresh air so to stretch his legs a bit and sniff around. Once your puppy seems to be getting a bit bored, then that would be a good time to call him always making sure that we offer some nice reward keeping in mind how special the outdoors is to puppies. I like to call dogs inside and then let a rainfall of kibble/treats fall to the ground once inside so the dog can spend some time going on a treasure hunt. I also like it to make it a routine of letting puppies out in the morning and then calling them only to deliver their meals once inside.

 

Now with puppies that are 3 months old, we must remember how big the world is to them. They get easily distracted so if we call them from a distance they may stop along the way. It helps to call them when they're near the door and entice them to follow us inside providing a memorable reward once they are inside.

 

If for some reason you cannot allow your pup to spend some time outside, it may be better taking him out on the leash and then returning inside with you rather than risking burning a recall due to the puppy wanting to spend more time outdoors and feeling trapped inside. With young puppies who haven't learned a strong recall yet, you may need to find other ways to have them come back inside such as attracting them and letting them chase you inside in a fun game and then giving them some toys to play with or getting a flirt pole and letting them chase it and once inside letting them play with it. The main point in all of this being: always make it fun and rewarding to come back inside so that you can build the foundation for a good recall.

 

The recall is one of the most important cues dogs learn so we want to always make it super fun and rewarding. It's an investment for that day we really need to call our dogs as in the case of an emergency. Start first in areas with little distractions such as the home and gradually build from there. You may need to practice more indoors before asking a recall from the yard inside. You can find tips for recalls here:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/recall/

 

2) With young puppies who aren't used to the leash yet and react strongly to tension, we may need to first condition them to accept the leash.

 

For young pups who were never used to wearing a leash before, the initial resistance of the leash may be an odd sensation and it turns on their "opposition reflex. "The opposition reflex, as its name implies, is a phenomenon where an animal pulls in the opposite direction. There is belief that there is some biological reason behind the opposition reflex as it's triggered by the dog's fight, flight and freeze response. Pulling back (or tugging) on the leash will make the dog pull more forward (forging ahead), while pulling the dog forward will make the dog pull back (balking, with feet planted on the ground).

 

So the objective in the case of your pup is to condition him slowly to this odd sensation. We therefore need to help these wee ones out a little so they don't go in panic mode. The goal is to gently teach your pup to give in to slight leash pressure.

 

Practice in a room with little distractions going on. You want to be the most interesting feature of the room. Have some high-value treats and sit on the couch. No leash is on at this point. Make a smacking sound like you’re kissing the air with your mouth, then toss your dog a treat straight after. Repeat this simple exercise several times until your dog learns to associate the smacking sound with treats. You’ll know this is the case when, the moment you make the sound, your pup looks for his treat! Once you have a solid response, you can put on the leash.

 

Now, practice the same exercise on the leash repeating. At some point, stop making the smacking sound. Your pup will likely lose interest and will try to walk away. As soon as minimal tension builds on the leash, make your smacking sound and deliver the treat. Repeat the same exercise several times. You want your pup to learn that giving in to leash pressure is rewarding so it prevents the pup from resisting it. You can then try this exercise while walking in a quiet room, any time your pup is lagging a bit behind or walking in front creating leash tension, stop, make your smacking sound and reward for loosening up the leash and coming to you for the treat. You puppy should eventually learn that the sweet spot next to you is extra rewarding, the leash is loosened up and he is rewarded. A win-win!

 

Of course, it's important to work at the pup's pace. If at any part of this exercise you notice your pup is going a bit in panic mode, you need to take a step back and evaluate how to make the exercise a bit easier such as by using lighter pressure, or working in an area that is less distracting, or using higher value treats, or making sessions shorter, etc.

 

3) Pooping in the house, there are several possibilities. Here are some tips/ideas.

-Take your puppy out first thing in the morning and at several intervals throughout the day. Don't forget to take him outside after eating considering that puppies have a gastro-colic reflex (meaning they tend to poop shortly after they eat)

-Feed your puppy on a schedule. What is fed at a certain time is likely to predictably come out as well at a specific time.

-Don't allow your pup the full run of the house. For a small puppy, your whole home is like mansion and it will be challenging for him to find his way to the door or his designated potty area.

-When you can't supervise your puppy, make sure he goes potty first and then keep him in a crate, but not for longer than he can hold it. If you need to leave for longer than he can hold it, keep your puppy in a longer-confinement area such as inside an exercise pen with pee pads on one side and his bed/opened crate in the opposite side.

-Remove odors of feces in soiled areas with an effective product that neutralizes odors such as Nature's Miracle. Olfactory traces of previous accidents may cause puppies to soil the -same areas over and over.

-If your puppy poops in the same area, despite cleaning the area well, consider blocking access to the area by placing furniture or other bulky things on top.

-Avoid using punishment-based techniques when your puppy has an accident. This may lead to puppies afraid to potty in your presence.

-Reinforce outdoor elimination with praise and tasty treats and some time in the yard.

-Teach your puppy to pee and poop on command. This can help expedite the potty training process and can come handy when your pup is an adult. You can find how here:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/potty-on-command/

 

4) For creating positive associations with nail trims I use what's known as "clipper training."

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/train-dog-love-nail-trims/

 

Hope this helps!

Best,

Adrienne