WHERE TO START - New Puppy Training

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Ops, just noticed that you have posted an earlier reply. Will take a look and respond shortly. 

[Adrienne Farricelli]

 

did so paws all fine

 

OK, that's great!

 

theres defintely no fleas - my house is all hard floors no carpets very little soft furninshings and the little we do have shes not allowed on, she just sits on our laps on the floor or in her bed in the crate (in the kitchen) , which is not the same bedding she had at puppy mamas, her fur very short and so very easy to see any fleas on her if she were to get them, same as her mom, the bedding I bought for her has been washed regularly since we got her like every few days i only use eco laundry liquids no harsh chemicals

 

Another way to examine for fleas is seeing the presence of "flea dirt" little specks that look like dirt or pepper in the coat. If you find anything that looks like flea dirt on the coat, place it on a wet paper towel. If it turns reddish, then that's flea dirt and not just debris. Also, passing a flea comb can help too. 

 

But let's assume that there are no fleas (in general you'll see also scratching and chewing at random areas). If the chewing persists, allergies are another possibility, although occasional chewing may a way to self-soothe or a displacement acitvity. 

 

I'm not vaccinating my puppy  https://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/why-i-dont-vaccinate-my-dogs-at-all/   and not a great one for going to the vets unless I need to - we dont have the money for constant vet visits! and I dont want most of the things they offer! like pharma drugs or vaccines. obviously if she really needs to see a vet I'll take her - I'm the same with Drs and my children are also unvaccinated just so you have context. My intention with the pup is to use homeopathinc nosodes  https://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/nosodes-can-they-replace-vaccines/    

 

Gotcha. I respect your choice, pointed out vaccines because several areas in the US are rampant for Parvo (like Arizona) and it's risky to walk puppies in areas where dogs congregate parvo is very common. I have seen puppies sadly die from it, it's awful and there's no clinical testing so far to prove the efficacy of alternatives to vaccines. So felt it's important to point this out.

 

We have lick mat and puupy kong so doing that, she doesnt like it if we leave her sight when shes in the crate if shes awake, havent got anywhere yet with leaving the room last night i left her in the crate while i went into adjacent room to get some books i kept talking the whole time so that she could hear me but she still whined and barked.

 

Many new puppy owners deal with this, you are not alone, here are more tips:

 

Avoid full intensity meltdowns. This may not be easy, but it's important preventing a puppy from getting in a super panicky state. The more a puppy experiences the trauma of being alone and acts panicky, the sooner the panic will set in next time. Fortunately, most puppies become more and independent once they mature (in general, with our help, things can get better in a few weeks once they reach their flight period).https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/flight-instinct-period-4-8-months/

Invest in calming aids. These aids can help lower a puppy's threshold so to instill calmer behaviors, below are some:

Dog appeasing pheromones: Adaptil offers a variety of products meant to help new puppies adapt to their new homes. Its products are made with synthetic pheromones which mimic the pheromones mother dogs produce to sooth their puppies when they're nursing.

Calming music for dogs. "Through a dog's ear" is music specifically crafted for dogs, but you can find hours of music for dogs for free on YouTube. 

Snuggle Puppy Behavior Aid This may seem like a simple stuffed animal, but it was purposely crafted for lonely pups. It emanates warmth and also mimics a heart beat to help sooth distressed puppies. 

Calming supplements: Alpha-casepine (Zylkene), L-theanine (Anxitane) Ask your vet about these options. 

Desensitize to you leaving. Practice repeatedly things like standing up and sitting down until your puppy no longer seems to pay attention to it. Then practice walking a few feet away from the crate and then sitting down. Then, progress to getting up from your chair, leaving the room, but never at a level that produces anxiety. Work at you pup's pace, if she struggles with any parts of this exercise, go a step back to where she was more comfortable and split the exercises further. If you must leave the room for good, have a helper watch him until you have progressed to leaving him a little longer.  

Learn your pup's threshold. If your puppy won't eat when you leave the room, consider that she is likely too overwhelmed. Split the exercises above into very easy steps and start introducing foods every time you take a few steps away. If she takes it, it's a sign she's growing her tolerance level. 

Try some peek-a- boo games: I like to play this with new puppies I foster or my client’s pups who seem to be a bit too clingy. I simply have the pup behind a baby gate or large box blocking the entrance to a room and hide behind the wall separating us. Every time before I hide, I toss a treat/kibble to the pup and hide while he/she is eating it. Once I hear he/she is done, I re-appear and keep doing this.

I then progress to tossing several kibble/treats at once and therefore spend more time hiding behind the wall, always listening until the pup is done to re-appear and repeat. Afterward, I can practice the same game going out the door. You can then aim to do some fun hide and seek games and more independence exercises that are outlined here:

Exercises to prevent separation anxiety in puppies: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/exercises-to-prevent-separation-anxiety-in-puppies/

 

My last dog that was a lurcher was trained off the lead and collar completely she never ever wore one I had her from puppy till 11 years old, I have friends with lurchers also that dont wear leads and are completely fine off the lead, my concerns about her trying to escape are just because she is so young and untrained as yet.

 

That's great! Kudos to you for being able to train her to that level of reliability!

Got only vague memories of how i did it it all feels a lot harder this time!

 

I hear you! Things always seem easier when they belong to the past, or we may stumble on some pups who need more training or display issues that we have never encountered before.

 

So as mentioned,  I would skip the long line for now and stick to the leash.

We have been since you mentioned it

With a long line, we firstly need to make safety our top priority, and with a young pup as such, full or energy, we may want to use it only once she's better under control without the risk of her getting a leg caught in a loop and we want it attached to a harness rather than a collar. 

With the leash training, this takes some time to master and the main problem in your situation is that, without a fence and with a young puppy,

My yard is entirely fenced what i dont have is the resources to fence off any more areas within my yard to keep her from getting into my vegetable beds for example or any other areas that I dont want her getting into

you have this extra pressure to take her out on leash to potty every time, and on top of that, she gets the zoomies once out, which is rather normal in as breed who loves to run and needs to stretch their legs, so we may need to take take a multi-faceted approach consisting of the following:

-Finding ways to drain energy and prevent the zoomies

every time she is awake my routine is 1st take her out for potty then bring her in to play tug and fetch to use up some of her energy

-Finding ways to keep her focused on you

chicken!

-Training to get her used to the collar and leash as much as possible hoping that it gradually generalizes to the yard.

Did walking with her on leash around kitchen yesterday with bits of chicken in my hand she followed this with her nose stuck to my hand she leapt a few times too using command walk heel  and keeping her in the reward zone (was already using reward zone just didnt know it had a name!)

in an earlier post or mesage I forget which one ,you had mentioned trying to make it boring for them until they have done potty and then let them play... I try to make it boring by standing still keeping her on a very short leash and saying our potty word (dont think she totatlly understand this yet,still rewarding pees and poos with kibble or treat).

I've taken her out everytime she has asked and she has just laid down every time I've taken her out this morning apart from her 1st pee & poo I, or started ripping my grass up , so I've taken her back in after a few minutes of this and not being able to get her to walk around, and I've been doing this inning and outing constantly for the last three hours, she finally took a pee in my kitchen which was really annoying cos every time I took her out she wouldnt walk around the yard with me, wouldnt come to her name and here which we were working on yesterday, so couldnt get her to walk as she wouldnt give in to the pressure on the leash. I'm feeling really frustrated and shes not so happy either.

I've just never kept a dog so controlled before, - houseline on whenever she not in crate, not free to just run around my yard, she gets to run around my kitchen where she is safely contained, but I dont have her behavoiurs well enough on the lead yet. My daughter is away for the week so I'm here alone I cant go out anywhere or into any shops cos I cant leave the puppy at home on her own in the create yet, it all feels a bit bleak today and my daughter only just left yesterday and not back till next week... I'm starting to feel despairing! I did some walk heel and recall with her this morning in the yard with chicken, she'll do anything for that it seems but not for anything else it feels! (sorry but its been a VERY long morning!)
these are the other trainers whose videos I've watched quite a bit of thats why we started using a houseline, so that we can easily redirect her and prevent her rehearsing unwanted behaviours like jumping, nipping, biting clothes or feet (she seems to like doing these things to my daughter the most!) Feel free to delete the video link I've shared with you its just so you can see the other stuff we came across before we found you, they advice never letting puppy bite or nip at all from day 1 which is not the same as your advice, (we are following your advice)

This is a difficult situation because you are trying to combine leash training in a pup who reacts strongly to it with the need for frequent potty breaks, which you cannot think about when she has to urgently potty!

Any chance that you can temporarily fence off a little patch of the yard nearby the home so that your dog has a designated spot to potty without having to go on leash? This way, any time she's on leash it's mostly for training time, brief, fun and upbeat sessions. Over time, as she gets to form positive associations and reliably gives into leash pressure, you can then give more length and provide sniffing time or even organize fun treasure hunts in the yard. 

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/elementary/the-treasure-hunt/

For nipping behaviors, jumping etc we want to prevent as much as possible rehearsing the behaviors so we need to use management and training. Here are methods I use to prevent biting:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/bite-inhibition-games/

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/exercises-to-teach-puppies-to-tolerate-touch/