Puppy Training

[Windyskies]

Our puppy turns 12 weeks on Friday! We started PetSmart training with her 2 weeks ago, so she knows how to sit but we are working on the other commands. We are dealing with the normal puppy behavior and need some tips!!! She is crated at night while she sleeps and is let out around 6:15/6:30am to potty/eat. She goes back to sleep for about an hour and we take her out again before work..... She is crated during the day until lunch time when I let her out to play/potty..She will be going back in her crate until 3:30ish when my husband gets home.. I am wondering if we are not giving her enough exercise? I am scheduling a playdate with another lab down the street (I sound like a mom). Can anyone suggest any toys she can play with outside? She seems get get bored a lot. We have kong toys that we put peanut butter in, rope toys, frisbee. Is she too young for a bullystick? I even put a wet rag in the freezer so she can chew on it (supervised of course) tonight because she loves to chew. She will chase a ball only 1 time. LOL .I am wondering if we are eventually going to have to pay for better obedience training....Thanks in advance!

[doubledip1]

You definitely should pay for better obedience training.

Puppies should have 5 minutes of exercise for every month they are old. So a 3 month old puppy should have 15 minutes (not all at once!), and unlimited free play on soft ground (like running in a grassy backyard), when the puppy gets to decide when they have had enough.

I would get elk antlers, raw marrow bones, etc. to chew on. Ice cubes worked wonders for our puppy.

Puppies are furry little land sharks with needle teeth. Patience is a virtue! Just get your puppy out and about, seeing all sorts of new people. Be careful with putting her on the ground in new places until she has her full set of shots, but you can carry her outside coffee shops, have her sit on your lap outside Dunkin Donuts, etc. so she gets to see all sorts of people coming and going.

[Lauranj]

Petsmart training is absolutely fine, no need to pay for "better" training, whatever that means. We are talking a puppy and puppy K is really about socialization and learning the very basic commands. It is supposed to be fun! I've done breed club training, all breed training classes, private classes with an obed judge and a few other obedience only training clubs along with petsmart puppyK and I have to say that there is really not any difference when it is a pup. If you wanted to do competitive obedience then in a couple months you would want to be looking for a serious trainer experienced in it. Most training success or failure comes down to the amount of time, consistency and training that the owner is doing with their dogYou should be cycling through all the basic commands. Besides sit, your class should be covering recall, down, walking nicely on lead, some tricks, etc. You are doing more than just sit in your class, right? I work pups probably 10 times a day, not always a formal training session but at various opportunities throughout the day for a couple/few minutes each time. Whenever I see energy level going up or they are doing a not desirable behavior I will take them outside run around with them and then make a game out of coming back to me and then from there practice the basic commands for a few minutes. Lots of praise and then more fun as the reward along with some treats. I really use every opportunity to train and mold the behavior I want. As far as getting bored outside, a pup or dog really won't amuse themselves very much by themselves. They want to interact with their people. Inside you can roll a ball down a hallway, but not too far and make sure to reward when she returns it. When you get it back, be all excited but don't roll it right back down the hallway. Get her excited about the ball before you roll it the second time so that she retrieves it.

[Woodrow_Woodchuck]

She will let you know if she has had enough exercise. If she crashes out when you get back from training or playing, that is great. If she comes back in and you get that "so, what are we going to do now?" look, not enough. Remember, a little lab puppy is trouble looking for a place to happen!

I don't want to cause trouble, but I feel puppy classes are more about teaching the owners how to train their puppies than the other way around. They give you the tools you need, you have to make sure to use them. If this is your first puppy, definatly take all the classes you can. If you have already raised one, you know what you would like out of your dog, so raise them to that goal.

[barry581]

At 12 weeks Bruce could sit, down, stay, here, wait, heel, without any distractions. He was also pretty good with leave it, drop it, waiting for his food, high five, roll over and crawl. I did 3-5 short training session per day, no forced leash walking outside the yard at that time.

Puppies are like sponges, they will soak up any training you give them. I did the Petsmart Puppy Class with Bruce, and he could do everything that was taught on the first day. I did it mainly for the distractions and socialization. I think Petsmart classes are good, but their trainers do vary as to their skill. Audit a class first to make sure you are good with that trainer. I'm doing a CGC class with Bruce now, he's 5.5 months old now and doing great.

I think the average Lab needs to be challenged and engaged. They bore very easily, and a bored Lab is a bad Lab. Trust me, they will find something to alleviate the boredom, and it won't be good.

[Moby and Barley's Mom]

At 12 weeks Bruce could sit, down, stay, here, wait, heel, without any distractions. He was also pretty good with leave it, drop it, waiting for his food, high five, roll over and crawl. I did 3-5 short training session per day, no forced leash walking outside the yard at that time.

Puppies are like sponges, they will soak up any training you give them. I did the Petsmart Puppy Class with Bruce, and he could do everything that was taught on the first day. I did it mainly for the distractions and socialization. I think Petsmart classes are good, but their trainers do vary as to their skill. Audit a class first to make sure you are good with that trainer. I'm doing a CGC class with Bruce now, he's 5.5 months old now and doing great.

I think the average Lab needs to be challenged and engaged. They bore very easily, and a bored Lab is a bad Lab. Trust me, they will find something to alleviate the boredom, and it won't be good.

Wow! Can you come and train my 3 month old! He can sit, stay, come (most of the time) and will fetch and bring back the ball or toy. (He WILL NOT drop it no matter what I do. No down - and only leash walks on my very long driveway. First PetSmart class is the 30th. He has really only met three other dogs besides our 13 year old.

[Woodrow_Woodchuck]

I think the average Lab needs to be challenged and engaged. They bore very easily, and a bored Lab is a bad Lab. Trust me, they will find something to alleviate the boredom, and it won't be good.

LOL!!! I loved the phrase "they are trouble looking for a place to happen" If you are attentive to your pup, after a week, maybe two, of having them, you should be able to see the glimmer in their eyes. You will either get the "well, what's next?" l@@k or you will see them get up, look around and RUN off in a direction! Take heed, drop what you are doing and give them direction to a safe, fun activity.

[barry581]

Wow! Can you come and train my 3 month old! He can sit, stay, come (most of the time) and will fetch and bring back the ball or toy. (He WILL NOT drop it no matter what I do. No down - and only leash walks on my very long driveway. First PetSmart class is the 30th. He has really only met three other dogs besides our 13 year old.

I'd love a trip to Napa!!!!

Bruce has been an easy pup to train so far, although he is starting to show signs of heading into the teenage phase at the moment. I was doing our normal leave it session this morning where I put 3 or 4 things on the ground and we will heel past them, and put him in a sit/stay and call him across them. He normally does really well with this, but today he snatched the cover off of a magazine I was using and it was game on. He would not come or drop it for anything. So I just ignored him until he finally ate the small piece of paper, then he came to me when I called him. We spent the next ten minutes just working on leaving the magazine, which he did very well with.

I think you'll have a fun in Petsmart class. They will give you the tools, and it's just a matter of practicing on your own. Another thing you can do beside the daily sessions and the classes are trips to dog friendly places and do some training there. I go to Lowes, Petsmart and another local pet store a couple times a week. Greats places to work on the basics with distractions. We've been able to practice meeting strangers calmly (something most Labs struggle with!) for his upcoming CGC.

[boogie]

I watched a lot of Cesar Milan on TV. My dog, Izzy, is just around for companionship. I don't need her to learn tricks, I just didn't want her aggressive or annoying. Potty training was done with a tether for a whole week. Now I think she's the perfect dog.

[Woodrow_Woodchuck]

Yes, DEFINATELY bring him everywhere you can!! After all his shots that is. We are still working on public polite after 3 years!! Sunshine's CGC is a loooong way off, if ever.

And, don't worry about looking like an idiot or fool with an out of control dog either. Start slow, work up to going in stores, if that fails, go back to just being in the parking lot watching folks.

A story. Sunshine has a TON of energy. When she was a pup, she was out of control. We would go to the lake, spend 3 or 5 hours swimming and running in the woods, then go to Petsmart or the vets. I would have to squeeeeze out of the door, holding her back, or she would bolt. I'd grab her collar and make her sit... well... I held her from bolting anyway. Open the door and lots of 'Good Girl, Stay.' 'Stay, Good Girl'..... She would struggle and grunt the whole time!! Folks would walk past and I got some interesting l@@ks. 10 or so minutes later she would eventually sit for me. I leash her up and give the OK command. It took us until she was 1.5 years old before I did not have to restrain her from bolting!! I kid you not, it was HORRIBLE! Then one day, light flipping a light switch, I open the door and squeeze out. She sits in the passenger seat. I open the door slightly, ready to grab and restrain her. She sits. I call her over. She hops into the drivers seat and sits. I leash her up and slowly open the door, standing to the side. She sits there l@@king at me. I didn't know what to say! I said OK, she hopped out and it was the usual pandemonium. BUT!! We finally made a hurdle and she has been perfect at it since!

Every two weeks we go to the vets. She was two years old before I could get a sit stay while opening the door and gave her the Ok to go in. At almost 3 now, we can do that PLUS go sit in a chair and have her be mostly good while we practice 'waiting'.