Puppy Tips Blog

He is a 9 week old pitbull puppy that will not stop barking at night when it is time for bed. Any suggestions to get him to stop?

Yep… play with him for 10-15 mins… outside to potty then into his crate for the night.. get a kong and put peanut butter inside of it=== give him his nubby and tell him nighty night and place a sheet or blanket over the crate to make it more den like so the light does not come in.

Works for me
Handler/Trainer 6 GSD's

I have a 4 month old puppy. She has never been hit or abused in anyway. However, I have noticed that she is very sensitive. She does not respond to me, if I correct her with a no in a deep voice. I do not always have treats handy to correct a behavior nor do I want her to only obey me when have treats. An example of her behavior is after I told her no, using a loud voice, when she was barking excessivly, she stopped looked me dead in the eyes, and barked. Another example is when I ignore a behavior she will correct it, but if I tell her no or i put my hand around her muzzle, like if she is puppy biting, she will continue the behavior. I do not find her to be an aggressive dog, but I do think she is a defensive dog. How should I proceed with training her. I do not want to ruin this dog. I have a trainer coming to the house in 2 weeks, but need suggestions for now. She does not need alpha rolling, as it will make her more defensive, so please any other thoughts?
she does understand no. she sits and stays and walks well on leash. still working on the potty training though.
she is a very smart girl, but I can see already she is stubborn, and will try to out think me. I have to stop this now when she is young.
I can see such potential in my dog. If I can figure out what method she will respond to the sky is the limit for her. I hope someone will answer my question.
sorry for any confusion. It is not just barking or puppy biting. It is for any behavior that is typically negative in most households. She does not respond to reprimand only to treats and praise, but some situations require an immediate response to no or stop everytime not just treats and praise.
so how do you train a defensive dog without just treats and praise

Good for you that you have engaged a trainer! It brings great learning and bonding for both of you!

In the meantime, there are a couple of simple things to try. If she is being habitually challenging, not listening to you, before you are yelling try the ostracism trick. No food, no treat, no recognition, no acknowldgement until she does somethign to please you. For example, ocassionally ask her to sit. If she doesn't ignore her and walk away. Do not address her for 30 minutes. I had a tough Jindo to train. It took two days of this consistant treatment until he realized I was in charge and all good things come from me, and only when he is a model citizen. This will establish your role as alpha without the need to get physical.

As for the other stuff:
using her teeth:
feed about half her daily kibble by hand during training. Use gloves and give to her by keeping most of your hand on the kibble. Don't release until she takes it gently. Once she gets the idea consistantly, you can remove the gloves. Always pull the treat away if she grabs. Make a huge OW! sound and walk away if she touches you with her teeth.

General training (barking, etc):
when she won't listen to the command "leave it" or whatever, give her a timeout. (I try to avoid too much "no," in my trinaing). This is a place she does not like or that is isolated. Don't leave her for long, 30-60 sec is usually enough. If barking wait for 30-60 sec of silence.

With all training be consistent. And check out websites of respected organizations. some guides from SPCA are listed below. Enjoy your new friend!

I have an 18 week old Shih Tzu puppy that I just got a week ago. He was already 100% potty-pad trained before I took him home. I would like to break that habit by taking him outside the house to potty instead. I've been reading a lot of information on it and I've come to learn that it is best to use a crate during potty training during times when a puppy is unsupervised. My question is if it would be just as effective to leave him confined in a small area (more or less about 3×3 feet) with a baby gate to keep him in instead of a crate? Would that work just as well?

Any suggestions on how to make the transition from pad-training to going outside the house? I would really appreciate any help. A million of thanks in advance.

Crate training is really the best way to go. Many people consider a crate cruel. Dogs are denning animals. A crate makes them feel safer. There is only one entrance for them to protect. Think of it this way…how often have you found your dog laying on the floor in the knee hole of your desk? Or if you lean back in the recliner and put the footrest up - the dog heads for that spot under the footrest every time. Crate training not only helps with potty issues but chewing as well. Not everybody can be with their dog 24/7, and puppies will chew. My dogs were all crate trained. They are older now, they are house-trained and they are past the destructive stage. (This can vary by breed.) But, they panic if I remove their crates. So we still have the crates - just without doors.

What is the best way and the fastest and most effective to potty train a puppy. He is a boxer puppy and is soon to be 3 months old. I need to potty train him now, should have before but…..And dont suggest puppy pads cause he will not use them all the time and just drags em around. Thanks!!

Research crate training. It works wonders. Yes you should have done it before, but it's not too late now… don't worry! If you started him on puppy pads it will be harder to potty train him outside. Once you start the crate training, hang some bells on the door you go through to take him out. Hang them low enough to reach his nose. Make him ring them (use a treat for a while) before you take him out. Soon he wil learn that bells = open door = outside = potty. Sounds complicated, but it's not. Our Chow Mix learned it in a week, and my pug finally rang to go potty every time today after 3 weeks. It may or may not be fast. Potty training can take time. Good luck. Be consistant and it will work faster!

I have a female pitbull five week old puppy.
I need tips like; trainning, feeding, and health issues that pitbulls have.

5 weeks ?it should stil be with its mother — idealy till its 8 weeks old -

We have a two month old daschund puppy. We have had him for around 3 weeks. We were letting him sleep on the bed, but that was too much trouble and now we're trying to crate train him at night and while we're gone in order to housebreak him. The only problem is he barks like crazy when he's in the crate. We put him in there at 10:30 last night and he barked at least until 2 am. At least, that's when I finally fell asleep. Any ideas on how to keep him from barking so much when he goes in the crate?

You can try things like chews or Kongs to keep your pup occupied. Also you can make sure that he is really tired before he goes in there.
I have fostered a lot of puppies and all of mine I have been able to crate train without too much trouble. First you need to work out whether he is distressed or just annoyed (it is very easy with pups to think they are really upset when actually they are just vocal because they are angry) as this will alter how you deal with it.
If your pup is distressed then go slow, lots of treats and great associations with the crate. If they are just annoyed it is still important to make it a nice place but there can also be an element of 'well you need to get used to it'. This may seem a bit mean but it will teach your pup to deal with frustration (possibly one of the most important things they can learn). He will eventually learn that it isn't the end of the world, he will get out but he certainly won't get out while he's barking.

Ok, I have a German Shepherd puppy, and he is very "independent", I mean, yeah he comes to us when he's hungry, and even though we didn't train him to, he knows it's bad to pee/poo inside the house and I know that they're very intelligent dogs, but he doesn't really seem to bond with anyone in the family. I guess he likes us more than strangers, but all the other puppies we've had have all been very attached to us, but he is more independent, is this general G.Shep. behavior? He also likes to put his paw on other dogs and on us sometimes, I know this can be a sign of dominance, what do you think? He doesn't always come when we call him either.
idk, I guess he's about 8-10 weeks??
We've had him for about 3 weeks
No, we've had him for about a month, and are German Sheperds very protective over their family(us)?

To me it sounds like you got a control freak on your hands. LOL good luck. I have had 2 dogs with this type of behavior. And I never have figured out how to change it or fix it and yet I have had other puppies that are totally normal and don't act like that, so i don't think it is me, I think it is just the individual dog, not the breed either.

I have 3 months Rajapalayam puppy, How do I train my puppy?. Give some tricks for Dog training. Can I train my puppy myself?, or I need to approch a Dog trainer or Dog training school. How much will it cost?. Please give some list of dog trainner or school in chennai. Thanks in advance.

haha. Dude. Those are so cute!
I wish I had access to one.

Start with potty training.
Pee pads may help if he doesn't eat them.
Remove any accidents and place them outside and bring your puppy to this spot, then praise him.
Don't scold.

When you teach him to sit, either press firmly on his bottom while you say "Sit." strongly, then treat him with praise or a biscuit.
If that doesn't work, back him up into a wall and say "Sit." while still coming towards him. Since there's a w all there, he has nothing else to do but sit.

You can also teach your dog to get back from something.
My dogs try to slip out the door when you leave. This is how I taught them "Back."
Walk up to an area with him near you, not leashed. Turn to him and say "Back." and stomp your foot towards him.
Do this enough times and he'll get the hint.

You can teach him to "Go lay down" using the same concept as "Back" but pointing in the direction of his bed.

That's usually enough for my dogs, but if you'd like more you can always consult a trainer.

Well, we pushed his face down in the mess he made and said "bad dog" etc. and then took him out. Then he knows what he did wrong. Now he always goes to the door and make a sound if he has to go out.

So im new to owning my own puppy his name is Rupert and hes an 8week old yorkiepoo my family owns a 7yr old shitzu but i was like 14 when we got him so i dont remeber him being a puppy! I just need alot of tips on my new baby..im so stressed out with everything and what i should do! I know hes just a baby and he will grow out of this stage but any help and tips would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks guys!

The most difficult thing is getting up all night long to let them go outside to do their "business". Other than that, all they need is love while you train them to come when you call them, etc…
Let them out every couple of hours to go to the bathroom, and when they do it, give them all of the praise you can handle. The same for any training.