We're in the Army Now - Basic Training Tips Part 1

Hello friends,

Many of my future blogs will detail all of the hard work I have put in to learn new tricks and commands, and I thought I should share with you some of the basics to start training your puppy. Part 1 is a brief overview of what your training sessions should be like.

First of all, always remember that training should be F.U.N! If it isn’t fun for you or puppy, then neither of you will learn anything. My mommy tells me that in school, Algebra was never F.U.N for her, so she doesn’t remember any of it now (which also explains why she had to take it 3 times before she passed it…ooops, I don’t think I was supposed to tell anyone that!)

Also keep your training sessions short. Three times a day for 10-15 minutes at a time is a good amount. If you feel yourself starting to get stressed or frustrated, or get that feeling from your pup, end the session immediately.

Always set your pup up for success. If you are teaching him to "stay" and after a few seconds feel that he is about to move, reward him right away before he moves. Helping him to be successful is a huge part of him enjoying working with his human.


Lastly, your training sessions should ALWAYS end on a high note. The last trick your puppy should do should be one he does correctly. So if you are teaching him a new trick, and he is having trouble but it is time to end the session, have him do a trick he already knows. Ending the session on a positive note will help your puppy want to do more training sessions.


In Part 2, I will tell you about clicker training, correctional sounds, why you shouldn't repeat a command over and over, treats, praise, and much more.

Puppy kisses,

Riley

We're in the Army Now - Basic Training Tips Part 2

Hello friends,

To continue on with my tips for basic training:

Correctional sound: We all know that all puppies are perfect and always behave just the way we want them to, right? But on the slim, very off-chance puppy does something wrong, you should have a sound to let him know he is not supposed to be doing whatever he is doing. (Who knew chewing on the living room rug was naughty??) This sound can be a loud beep type sound, or the sound my mommy uses with me is like “aut aut aut”. When I hear this sound, I know that I am being naughty. (The funny thing is I sometimes catch her using this sound now with cats, other dogs, and even children!)

Repeating a command: Here’s a little trick for you humans. Outloud, say “sit”. (Tell any humans around you that you are not talking to them!). Now, say “Sit,sit,sit,sit,sit,sit”. They sound like two different words don’t they? My point is, don’t keep repeating a command over and over and over and ..well, you get the idea. To a puppy, “sit” sounds very different from “sit, sit, sit, sit”. Just say the command once, then wait a few seconds. Sometimes it takes us puppies some time to work out in our heads what you want us to do. If he hasn’t done the command within 10 seconds or so, make your “correctional” sound, then say the command again. Also, you want puppy to learn that he has to do the command the first time.

Clicker training: Some humans choose to train their puppies without the clicker, but I think it makes it easier for the puppy to understand when they have done something correct. A clicker is a small, square box that makes a “click” sound when you push it. Every time your dog does a command correctly, you click then treat.

First thing you need to do is “load” the clicker. What this means is you are teaching your pup that every time he hears a “click” he gets a treat. So with your dog in front of you, have the clicker in one hand and a handful of treats in the other. It is best to hide the clicker behind your back so puppy doesn’t get too focused on it. Now start clicking and treating. Your puppy doesn’t have to do any tricks, you are just teaching him that the clicking sound is a good thing. Make sure you treat within one second of clicking. If you wait for even a few seconds, it will be hard for puppy to associate the click with a treat. Do this several times until puppy learns that a click means he gets a treat.

Once the clicker is loaded, you can start teaching your puppy new commands and tricks. As soon as he has done the trick, click and treat IMMEDIATELY. This way he learns what is expected of him.

Don’t worry, you will not need to carry a clicker around with you for the rest of your life. Eventually, you will be able to phase out the clicker, and then only use it, if needed, when teaching a new trick or command. My mommy only uses the clicker occasionally for me now.

Treats: It is best to use soft treats when training. You don’t want your dog to have to take time out to eat a large biscuit. And you can break the soft treats into small pieces…as long as puppy gets some kind of small treat, he will be happy. Yes, in the beginning stages of training, you will be giving pup A LOT of treats, but don’t worry, as he begins to learn new things, you will eventually be able to replace some of the treats with hugs and praise or a toy.

Praise: Anytime your pup does a new trick correctly, make sure to give him lots of praise and pets in addition to the treat. You can say “Yes” in an excited voice and tell him “good boy”. Praise means almost as much as treats in the dog world. And the more you praise, the harder we will work to get more. It’s like an addiction, like catnip is to kitties.

Expectations and patience: Have good expectations for your friend, but also have lots and lots of patience! English is not our first language, so there will be times that you will want to only use hand signals for a command in the beginning, then tie a word to the command. And we really do want to please you. If we are not doing a command, it isn’t because we are rebelling or trying to make you mad..we just might be tired or confused at what you want.

Classes: Puppy School classes are an excellent way for you and pup to bond while learning new things. Mommy took me to PetSmart where I took all 3 levels of training and graduated with honors thank you very much! Their class sizes are small and take place both in a seperate room and out in the store. I had the two best trainers in the world and mommy still takes me back to see them. They always recognize me and are happy to see me. But there are lots of places that offer classes, so do your research and choose the one that best fits for you and your little friend.

In my humble puppy opinion, all dogs should at least have the basic training. Research has shown that a dog that has some training is happier and gets disciplined less than a dog who hasn't. And our ancestors always had jobs to do (hunt, take care of pups, lead the pack, etc) so in this modern world, one of our jobs should be to "learn".

Puppy kisses,

Riley

Life's a Beach

Hi friends,

I just had to tell you about my exciting weekend. I got to go to the beach and meet up with my auntie Brenda. We went to a place called Cannon Beach. There were birds and kites and other puppies and smells and noises and sand to dig in! I had so much fun walking with mommy and auntie Brenda on the beach and running from smell to smell.

Me and my auntie Brenda!

Mommy even walked me up to the water, but I ran from it. I guess that she doesn't understand that if I don't like the water in the bathtub, I definitely wont like the water in a HUGE bathtub like the ocean!

After we walked on the beach for awhile and met all kinds of new puppy friends, we went out to eat. I got to eat at a restaurant for the first time, and I highly recommend it to all my puppy friends! We got to sit outside, and the waiter kept bringing me dog biscuits. And mommy even shared some of her lunch with me....BBQ chicken salad! It was yummy.

If you haven't been taken to the coast yet, I strongly recommend you ask your human to take you. It is the funnest thing ever next to the dog park! But it is also exhausting.

I had to take a nap in the car on the drive home.

It's Back to School Time!

Hello everyone,

I had my first class at Pupp-a-razzi last night. It's called Fun and Focus. I already have the "Fun" part down perfectly, but just need to work on the "Focus" part. I think I already do good focusing, like the huge fly that got into my house last night...I was VERY focused on that!

Or when I see kitties while out on my walk...I am VERY focused on them.

But I guess it's not the right kind of "focus". They want me to focus on my mommy more. That is easy when she has treats to give me.

I had fun my first night of class, even though I wasn't allowed to play with the other puppies there. The teacher said I did really well and called me a "smarty-pants". I think I did the best! But I already have homework! What kind of teacher gives homework on the first day of school?

So I'll start studying and keep everyone posted on my progress and how smart I keep getting!

Isn't it wonderful how dogs can win friends and influence people without ever reading a book.

Don't Be Naughty...Just Go Potty

Hello my friends,

I regularly have people and puppies asking me for tips on getting potty trained. Let me assure you my puppy friends, with some work and consistency, you too will be going outside to go potty in no time!

First, for my puppy friends, don't be too hard on yourself if you have accidents in the home. It happens to everyone. Even famous dogs like Benji and Eddie and Toto had accidents inside. For my human friends, have patience. After all, did you know the proper place to go potty when you were only 4 months old?? That's what I thought!

Humans need to understand that a puppy can usually only hold their bladder for as many hours as months they are old. In other words, if puppy is 4 months old, he can usually hold it for up to 4 hours, 5 months = 5 hours, etc. A puppy's bladder is not fully developed until at least 8-9 months old. So with this in mind, make sure you give your buddy lots and lots of potty breaks. Everytime he goes potty outside, give him treats and lots of praise, as though he has just done the best trick you have ever seen.

If he does start to have an accident in the house, DO NOT yell at him. This will only cause him to fear you. And do not rub his nose in it. Again, this will cause him to fear you, and thus make him hide it if he has an accident in the house. Next thing you know, you will be wondering where that smell is coming from, and then find a surprise when you look behind the potted plant.

Instead, when you catch puppy beginning to go potty, slam your hand against a counter or a wall. This loud sound will startle puppy into stopping what he is doing. Next, take him outside, and when he does go potty, praise him excessively.

This could take anywhere from 1-2 weeks (it took me 10 days thank you very much!), but might take longer depending on the puppy.

Once puppy is getting used to going outside to go potty, you could hang a bell on the door for him to ring when he needs to do out. First, start by ringing the bell yourself everytime you open the door. This will help him associate a ringing bell with going outside. Do this several times. Next, put a little butter (or some other yummy treat like peanut butter) on the bell, then when puppy licks the butter off and makes the bell ring, open the door and praise him excessively. Again, do this for several days. Soon your puppy will learn to ring the bell to go outside and go potty.

On a side note, you can even train your puppy to go potty on command. Once he has been potty trained, try to catch him before he starts doing his business outside. Point to the grass and tell him "Go potty" and once he goes, give him a treat and lots of praise. Pretty soon you can just point to your yard at the end of the night, say "go potty" and your puppy will know what to do. What a great "potty" trick!

For those of you without a yard, believe it or not they even make doggie litter boxes! They have grass in them so your puppy can feel like he is going outside. I have not ever needed to use one, but they look fabulous!

Puppy kisses,

Riley

A New Beginnning

Hi everyone,

My name is Riley. I am a Manchester Terrier Mix and am just over 1 1/2 years old. My auntie Mary told my mommy she should start a blog with dog and cat tips and stories, but my mommy told her she is not very good at writing. When my mommy told me about it, I literally jumped (which I am not supposed to do) at the idea and told mommy I would do it and and write the blogs all by myself. So here I go....

For those of you who don't know, I adopted my mommy in April of 2010. I was at a very nice shelter in Long Beach, Washington (I don't know why they call it Long Beach because I couldn't see any beach from my kennel) after being rescued from a mean and nasty shelter in California where I was hours away from something really bad happening to me. I don't remember a whole lot about my life before I came to the good shelter, but I do remember the first time I saw my mommy. I had been sitting, patiently waiting for just the right human that I could adopt and love, and in walked my mommy. She even had a toy for me! It was a small, purple stuffed puppy...I say "was" because it looked so good I tore it up within a few weeks.

This was my first picture!

Mommy and I went outside to get to know each other, and she insisted on running "tests" on me to see what my personality was like. She dropped her keys when my back was turned to see how I reacted, and I just turned and went to see if they would taste good. Then she called out to me (did I tell you my name was Rocket back then? It must have been someone at the bad shelter that named me that!) and I turned and ran to her. Finally, she picked me up and put me in her lap (I was much smaller then) and kissed me on my nose to see what I would do. I finally decided to seal the deal with her and kissed her back. I knew then that I had her wrapped around my little puppy paw.

She couldn't take me home right away, so left the toy with me to keep me company. I missed her right away and started crying. But she came back a few days later with my auntie Sharon and they drove me to my new forever-home. It was a LONG drive, but I got to sit in the back seat right up against my mommy and take a nap.

Since then I have tried to be very good about training my mommy the right way. I got her to take me to classes at PetSmart so she could learn how to be a good mommy, and I encourage her to take me to the dog park every weekend. We really have fun together.

So this blog will contain many of my thoughts on life, puppy training tips and tricks, and keep you up-to-date on my activities and busy social life. I hope you enjoy this blog, and if you really enjoy it, comment on it and tell my mommy to give me some treats. A puppy can never have too many treats you know!