Before your puppy comes home it is important to be prepared. Puppy training basics during the first week the puppy is home is critical. It is obvious that you need certain physical items such as a dog bed or crate, food and water bowls, puppy chow, collar, leash, toys, etc. Equally as important, all family members must decide and agree on routine, responsibility and rules.

The first few days are extremely important. Enthusiasm and emotions are up. Everyone wants to feed the puppy, play with the puppy and hold the puppy. Pre-established rules are easily broken. Everyone agreed that puppy will sleep in her crate but as soon as she's home, someone melts and insists that puppy will sleep in bed. Everyone previously agreed not to let puppy jump up on them, but in the excitement, no one even notices that puppy is jumping up. No one sleeps the first night. Puppy wins and gets to sleep in bed. The next morning we find puppy has eliminated all over the bed. So the following night puppy is banned to her crate and screams all night. No one sleeps tonight either. Grouchiness sets in; enthusiasm is down. No one wants to get up at the pre-agreed upon early morning feeding time. How are we going to housetrain puppy? How are we going to sleep with her constant whining?

Your new puppy has just been taken away from her mom and littermates. She is vulnerable and impressionable. What she needs now is security and routine. Set up a small room to be her very own special haven for the next couple of months. Paper the entire floor and put her food/water bowls and bed in one corner. Scatter her toys everywhere.

Play with her quietly and gently. Don't flood her with attention and activity. If she looks like she wants to sleep, leave her alone. Puppies need lots of sleep.

Decide who is responsible for feeding and cleaning up after her. Don't deviate from the schedule. Routine is especially important for your puppy. Don't spend all your time with her. If she is going to be alone during the day or night, she needs to start getting used to it now. If she wakes up from a nap and whines, resist the urge to run in and comfort her.

Since puppies are so impressionable, it is important to begin explaining the rules right away. Don't give her special license to get away with anything just because she is a puppy. If you allow her to have her way about certain things now, she will only be confused later when you decide to change the rules. Puppies learn very quickly with proper instruction. Never hit your puppy or give harsh reprimands. They don't mean to misbehave - they are just doing whatever comes naturally. Instead, show your puppy what kind of behavior you want. Teach her to play with her toys. Make them fun and exciting. Let her know how happy you are and how good she is when she chews them. Then, when you see her chewing your furniture, firmly tell her, "Off!" and immediately show her one of her own toys. Encourage her to play with and chew on it. Praise her profusely when she does so. If you don't catch her in the act, anything you do will confuse her. The only way you can instruct your puppy is to be there. If you can't be there, don't allow her to have access to places where she can get into trouble.

Schedule an appointment with your veterinarian immediately. Discuss your puppy's vaccination schedule and when she will be allowed outside. Puppies are susceptible to many canine diseases until they are fully vaccinated; so don't take your puppy outside until your veterinarian says it is OK.

Your puppy's emotional and mental health is just as important as her physical health. When your schedule your puppy's first veterinary visit, also schedule her into a puppy socialization class. She may not be able to attend yet, but reserve your place now so you don't miss out. Puppy socialization classes give your puppy an opportunity to meet a variety of people and dogs in a controlled situation. If your puppy is to be a well-adjusted adult dog, she needs to learn how to act properly around other dogs and people. Dogs that are not socialized frequently grow up to be aggressive and excessively fearful.

Before your puppy comes home it is important to be prepared. Puppy training basics during the first week the puppy is home is critical. It is obvious that you need certain physical items such as a dog bed or crate, food and water bowls, puppy chow, collar, leash, toys, etc. Equally as important, all family members must decide and agree on routine, responsibility and rules.

The first few days are extremely important. Enthusiasm and emotions are up. Everyone wants to feed the puppy, play with the puppy and hold the puppy. Pre-established rules are easily broken. Everyone agreed that puppy will sleep in her crate but as soon as she's home, someone melts and insists that puppy will sleep in bed. Everyone previously agreed not to let puppy jump up on them, but in the excitement, no one even notices that puppy is jumping up. No one sleeps the first night. Puppy wins and gets to sleep in bed. The next morning we find puppy has eliminated all over the bed. So the following night puppy is banned to her crate and screams all night. No one sleeps tonight either. Grouchiness sets in; enthusiasm is down. No one wants to get up at the pre-agreed upon early morning feeding time. How are we going to housetrain puppy? How are we going to sleep with her constant whining?

Your new puppy has just been taken away from her mom and littermates. She is vulnerable and impressionable. What she needs now is security and routine. Set up a small room to be her very own special haven for the next couple of months. Paper the entire floor and put her food/water bowls and bed in one corner. Scatter her toys everywhere.

Play with her quietly and gently. Don't flood her with attention and activity. If she looks like she wants to sleep, leave her alone. Puppies need lots of sleep.

Decide who is responsible for feeding and cleaning up after her. Don't deviate from the schedule. Routine is especially important for your puppy. Don't spend all your time with her. If she is going to be alone during the day or night, she needs to start getting used to it now. If she wakes up from a nap and whines, resist the urge to run in and comfort her.

Since puppies are so impressionable, it is important to begin explaining the rules right away. Don't give her special license to get away with anything just because she is a puppy. If you allow her to have her way about certain things now, she will only be confused later when you decide to change the rules. Puppies learn very quickly with proper instruction. Never hit your puppy or give harsh reprimands. They don't mean to misbehave - they are just doing whatever comes naturally. Instead, show your puppy what kind of behavior you want. Teach her to play with her toys. Make them fun and exciting. Let her know how happy you are and how good she is when she chews them. Then, when you see her chewing your furniture, firmly tell her, "Off!" and immediately show her one of her own toys. Encourage her to play with and chew on it. Praise her profusely when she does so. If you don't catch her in the act, anything you do will confuse her. The only way you can instruct your puppy is to be there. If you can't be there, don't allow her to have access to places where she can get into trouble.

Schedule an appointment with your veterinarian immediately. Discuss your puppy's vaccination schedule and when she will be allowed outside. Puppies are susceptible to many canine diseases until they are fully vaccinated; so don't take your puppy outside until your veterinarian says it is OK.

Your puppy's emotional and mental health is just as important as her physical health. When your schedule your puppy's first veterinary visit, also schedule her into a puppy socialization class. She may not be able to attend yet, but reserve your place now so you don't miss out. Puppy socialization classes give your puppy an opportunity to meet a variety of people and dogs in a controlled situation. If your puppy is to be a well-adjusted adult dog, she needs to learn how to act properly around other dogs and people. Dogs that are not socialized frequently grow up to be aggressive and excessively fearful.

Dog and Puppy Biting, Mouthing, Teething

Biting and mouthing is common in young puppies and dogs especially in play and while teething. It's up to you to teach your puppy or dog what is acceptable and what is not. Biting dogs are generally loving, sweet, adorable, affectionate and wonderful 99% of the time. Only 1% of the time does something specific happen that makes the dog bite. This article will discuss the causes of biting and what you can do to prevent your dog from biting.

Inhibit Biting
First of all, dogs must learn to inhibit their bite before they are 4 months old. Normally, they would learn this from their mother, their littermates and other members of the pack. But, because we take them away from this environment before this learning is completed, we must take over the training.

Socialization Prevents Biting
By allowing your puppy to socialize with other puppies and socialized dogs, they can pick up where they left off. Puppies need to roll, tumble and play with each other. When they play, they bite each other everywhere and anywhere. This is where they learn to inhibit their biting. This is where they learn to control themselves. If they are too rough or rambunctious, they will find out because of how the other dogs and puppies react and interact with them. This is something that happens naturally and it is something we cannot accomplish. It can only be learned from trial and error. There is nothing you can say or do to educate them in this realm. They must learn from their own experience. Another major advantage of dog to dog socialization besides the fact that it will help your dog to grow up not being fearful of other dogs is that they can vent their energy in an acceptable manner. Puppies that have other puppies to play with do not need to treat you like littermates. So the amount of play biting on you and your family should dramatically decrease. Puppies that do not play with other puppies are generally much more hyperactive and destructive in the home as well.

Lack of Socialization Causes Biting
A major cause of biting is lack of socialization. Lack of socialization often results in fearful or aggressive behavior. The two major reactions a dog has to something it is afraid of, are to avoid it or to act aggressive in an attempt to make it go away. This is the most common cause of children being bitten. Dogs that are not socialized with children often end up biting them. The optimum time to socialize is before the dog reaches 4 months. With large breed dogs, 4 months may be too late, simply because at this age the puppy may already be too large for most mothers of young children to feel comfortable around. For most owners, the larger the dog is, the more difficult it is to control, especially around children. If there is anything you do not want your dog to be afraid of or aggressive towards, you must begin to socialize your puppy with them before it is 4 months old.

Trust and Respect Inhibits Biting
There are many other reasons your dog will bite and you will have to take an active role in teaching them. However, before you can teach your dog anything, there are two prerequisites that are essential. They are trust and respect. If your dog doesn't trust you, there is no reason why he should respect you. If your dog does not respect you, your relationship will be like two 5 year olds bossing each other around. If your dog does not trust and respect you, then when you attempt to teach your dog something, he will regard you as if he were thinking, "Who do you think you are to tell me what to do?"

Use of Reprimands and Biting
Never hit, kick or slap your dog. This is the quickest way to erode the dog's trust in you. Yes, he will still love you. Even abused dogs love their owners. A unique characteristic of dogs is their unconditional love. You don't have to do anything to acquire your dog's love. But you must do a lot to gain your dog's trust and respect. Another area where we destroy our dog's trust in us is when we scold or punish them for housesoiling mistakes and accidents. When housetraining your puppy, there is never an appropriate time to punish or reprimand. If you catch your dog in the act, just head for the towels and cleaner. You have no right to scold him, because if he is going in the wrong place, it is your fault, not his. If you find an accident after the fact, just clean it up.

Summary Tips on Biting

Just a few tips:

•	Reprimand alone will never stop biting
•	If no respect exists, the biting will get worse. If you act like a littermate, the dog will treat you as one.
•	If trust is not there, the dog may eventually bite out of fear or lack or confidence.
•	Inconsistency sabotages training. If you let the dog bite some of the time, then biting will never be completely eliminated.
•	Don't forget follow up. The dog must understand that it is the biting that you don't like, not the dog itself. Make up afterwards, but on your terms, not the dog's.

Most owners wait until a bite just "happens to occur" before trying to deal with it and are therefore totally unprepared when it happens - and do all the wrong things, thus making the problem worse. If your dog already has a biting problem you might want to order the book "Help! My Dog Has an Attitude."

House Training

Unless you can monitor your puppy 24 hours a day, don't expect the house training process to be completed until your puppy is at least 6 months old. It's normal for a young puppy to be a little 'input-output' machine. Since puppies are growing and developing rapidly at this stage, they eat more food, burn up more energy and seem to need to eliminate constantly! They also have not yet developed bowel and bladder control, so they can't 'hold it' as long as adult dogs.

House Training When You Are Not Home

Confine your puppy to a small, 'puppy-proofed' room and paper the entire floor. Put his bed, toys and food/water bowls there. At first there will be no rhyme or reason to where your pup eliminates. He will go every where and any where. He will also probably play with the papers, chew on them, and drag them around his little den. Most puppies do this and you just have to live with it. Don't get upset; just accept it as life with a young puppy. The important thing is that when you get home, clean up the mess and lay down fresh papers.

Passive House Training or Paper Training
While your puppy is confined, he is developing a habit of eliminating on paper because no matter where he goes, it will be on paper. As time goes on, he will start to show a preferred place to do his business. When this place is well established and the rest of the papers remain clean all day, then gradually reduce the area that is papered. Start removing the paper that is furthest away from his chosen location. Eventually you will only need to leave a few sheets down in that area only. If he ever misses the paper, then you've reduced the area too soon. Go back to papering a larger area or even the entire room. Once your puppy is reliably going only on the papers you've left, then you can slowly and gradually move his papers to a location of your choice. Move the papers only an inch a day. If puppy misses the paper again, then you're moving too fast. Go back a few steps and start over. Don't be discouraged if your puppy seems to be making remarkable progress and then suddenly you have to return to papering the entire room. This is normal. There will always be minor set-backs. If you stick with this procedure, your puppy will be paper trained.

House Training When You Are Home
When you are home but can't attend to your puppy, follow the same procedures described above. However, the more time you spend with your puppy, the quicker he will be house trained. Your objective is to take your puppy to his toilet area every time he needs to eliminate. This should be about once every 45 minutes; just after a play session; just after eating or drinking; and just upon waking. When he does eliminate in his toilet area, praise and reward him profusely and enthusiastically! Don't use any type of reprimand or punishment for mistakes or accidents. Your puppy is too young to understand and it can set the house training process back drastically. Don't allow your puppy freedom outside of his room unless you know absolutely for sure that his bladder and bowels are completely empty. When you do let him out, don't let him out of your sight. It is a good idea to have him on leash when he is exploring your home. He can't get into trouble if you are attached to the other end of the leash. Every 30 minutes return your pup to his toilet area. As your puppy becomes more reliable about using his toilet area and his bowel and bladder control develops, he can begin to spend more time outside his room with you in the rest of your home. Begin by giving him access to one room at a time. Let him eat, sleep and play in this room but only when he can be supervised. When you cannot supervise him, put him back in his room.

Active House Training
The most important thing you can do to make house training happen as quickly as possible is to reward and praise your puppy every time he goes in the right place. The more times he is rewarded, the quicker he will learn. Therefore it's important that you spend as much time as possible with your pup and give him regular and frequent access to his toilet area.

Key to Successful House Training
Consistency and Patience. Never scold or punish your puppy for mistakes and accidents. The older your pup gets, the more he will be able to control his bladder and bowels. Eventually your pup will have enough control that he will be able to "hold it" for longer and longer periods of time. Let your puppy do this on his own time. When training is rushed, problems usually develop. Don't forget, most puppies are not reliably house trained until they are at least 6 months old.

Won't "GO" on Walks
It is extremely common for dogs to avoid eliminating while being walked but then rush to eliminate upon returning home. This is interesting because there are two radically opposing reasons why dogs do this. One reason is that the owner has done an excellent job in housetraining and the other is that someone has inhumanely and improperly attempted to train the dog.

Dogs are creatures of habit. If from the beginning they only are given opportunity to eliminate in one area, then they will want to continue using that spot. Look at it this way, our culture and upbringing has taught us to use western-style private toilets to do "our business." If suddenly the law said we had to use phone booths in Jack London Square, we would "hold it" when we were out and as soon as we returned home we would rush to the privacy of our privy. So if a dog has only used his own private toilet area, he would naturally be reluctant to go elsewhere.

A second reason a dog will do this is because he was improperly housetrained. Some people erroneously think they should punish a dog when caught in the act of soiling in the house. If the dog is traumatized enough, he will avoid the mistake of eliminating in front of humans. If people are around, the dog will "hold it" for fear of being clobbered again. So again, he will wait until he can "do it" in privacy.

Separation Anxiety

Many dogs experience separation anxiety when left alone. They will often whine, bark, cry, howl, chew, dig, scratch at the door, soil the house or destroy your home and yard. We often unintentionally train our dogs to behave this way because whenever they throw this kind of tantrum when we leave, we quickly come back to reassure them, give them attention or even a bone or biscuit. If you do this, your dog will soon learn that he can control you with emotional blackmail.

Long, drawn-out farewells can create separation anxiety problems by first exciting your dog and then making the isolation more obvious when you're gone. Just when he gets all worked up and ready to play, suddenly you disappear. With all this energy, your dog will either try his best to get you to come back or he will have to vent his energy in some other way. Since he can't build model airplanes or invite his buddies over for a hand of poker, he does doggy things - like chew, dig and bark.

Perhaps it is not separation anxiety after all! We often think our dog is destructive because he is angry and spiteful that we left him, but he could actually be just trying to have some fun since there is nothing else to do. He may be relieved to be able to do those things he normally can't do when you're home. He may be thinking, "Thank goodness the owner is finally leaving! Now I can chase the cat, dig up the tomatoes, get in the trash, and bark at the neighbors. They never let me do those things when they're home."

Some dogs with separation anxiety are stressed, nervous and insecure when they are left alone. They express this nervous energy in typical dog fashion - chewing, digging, barking and house soiling.

To prevent separation anxiety, dogs need to feel happy, secure, and comfortable when you're away. It's important to give them things to do while you're gone. Provide them with lots of toys, such as a kong stuffed with treats. Often another companion pet can help alleviate the boredom.

Another way to prevent separation anxiety is to set aside scheduled time periods to give your dog undivided attention, play and exercise. A happy, well-exercised dog will usually sleep contentedly during the day while you are gone. Be sure that one of the scheduled play sessions occurs before you must leave for the day. Give your dog a chance to settle down before you leave and don't make a big deal of your departure - just leave without any emotion or commotion.

If your dog is already experiencing separation anxiety, then gradually accustom him to your leaving. Practice leaving and returning several times a day until he gets used to your departures and realizes that you are not abandoning him forever. Gradually leave for longer and longer periods of time, but start out by leaving for just 5 minutes and returning again.

Whining

Whining, crying, barking, and howling often result when a dog is left alone. Puppies will whine and cry when separated from their owners. The puppy is afraid he is being abandoned by his pack and is sounding the alarm so that he can be rescued. The reason excessive whining continues is because the dog has learned that whining, crying or barking gets whatever he wants - attention, food, affection. Often what starts out as a demand whining soon becomes an unconscious whining habit.

To prevent an annoying whining habit, teach your dog to accept short periods of confinement before leaving him alone for long periods of time. Spend time with your dog in the area where he is left and show him that this is a fun place to be. If he starts whining or howling when you leave, don't rush back to let him out or reassure him. If you do, he will soon learn that he can control you with his whining blackmail. However, if barking, whining or howling continues then he probably is not yet comfortable in his confinement area. Spend a little more time with him there. Then when you leave, it he continues barking, whining or howling, give him a loud and stern 'NO!' After he has been quiet for a few moments, return and praise him lavishly. Practice leaving and returning several times so he becomes accustomed to your departures and realizes that you are not abandoning him forever. He will see that you will return and there's nothing to worry about. Practice leaving him for longer and longer periods of time.

If your dog is whining or howling when you are at home, either for attention or just out of habit, the first step in stopping this is to provide your dog with daily routines of play, exercise and training. Often these special times of undivided attention will stop the dog from whining the rest of the day. Secondly, pay attention to your dog only when he is quiet. Ignore him whenever he begins demanding your attention by whining. Each time you give in to your dog's whining demands, you are training him to continue whining. If you want a few moments of peace, you can teach the dog to be quiet on request. Gently ask your dog to please 'Stop Whining.' If he ignores you and continues whining, immediately shout a very loud, 'STOP WHINING!' or squirt the dog in the face with water. After a few repetitions, the dog will get the idea and obey the first gentle request of 'Stop Whining,' rather than get scolded or doused with water.

Unusual whining or whining that starts suddenly when it never existed before may be your dog's way of telling you that something is wrong. See your veterinarian right away to be sure no health problems exist.

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