Getting a puppy today! I can has your advice?

[miokomioko]

Please please please do your best to socialize it with strangers as well as other dogs that are either a similar age/friendliness or have some maternal instinct. You don't want it going apeshit or recoiling in fear every time there's another dog or stranger around.

Usually, the best thing you can do to avoid situations where they go on a barking spree is to immerse them in that experience at a young age to the point where they just don't care about it anymore. If they see new people coming in and out of your place often, it won't be a huge deal to them if someone knocks on the door.


edit: fuckin' adorable.

[Jodwahh]

Try to teach him to sit via hand commands. What my Mum did with her Irish Red Setter was: Stand normally with your hand at your waist and raise you right hand to you chest while saying "Sit" and stepping towards him. Give him a little bit of ham each time he sits. Soon you can stop saying sit while stepping forward and raising hand. Eventually you just need to raise your right hand to your chest and the dog sits. Always seems to amaze people when he does that shit because he's the most rambunctious dog we've ever had.

[Vandole]

the way we taught him to sit a month or two ago is we'd get food, then just hover it over his head while saying Sit. in order to get the food he'd have to physically sit down in order to reach it, so it worked well. he eventually just connected the two and actually does it without a hand motion.

funny thing is, if he's near someone eating he'll stare at you, and once you have his attention he'll sit and then wait for food.

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[Blabj]

Down is a very easy trick to teach once they know sit. The easiest method I've found is to have a treat in your hand, then put your knuckles to the floor whilst issuing the command. As long as the dog has smelled the treat and is aware it is in your hand, it should naturally bow down to sniff at your hand. It's just a matter of repetition, and rewarding once their chest is on the floor. Then you'll find that after a while you'll be able to do it with just the palm of your hand on the ground, then by doing a small gesture towards the floor whilst issuing the command, and finally with just the command on its own.

Depending on the dog this trick can be learnt as quickly as a couple of days. Our jack russell pup pretty much has it down after an evening of playing.

Paw/high five is another easy one, just start from a sit and follow the steps above, except you'll have to physically move their paw to your palm the first few goes.

[Cyana]

Hmm from my experience with the puppie(s) I had, it would not listen to my sister because she had a softer high pitch voice, vs me with a low deep "authoritarian" voice. Because of that, she would rarely listen to my sister, but as soon as I would tell her to do something (sit shut up etc etc) she would immediately do it. Deep strong confident "authoritarian" voice helps I think, though I never really read up on. This is purely from my own experience.

This so much. My mother used to get so frustrated because our dog wouldn't listen to her yet he would listen to me straight away because of the way I said things. We got lucky with my dog because he is smart (he was toilet trained almost instantly, leaves things alone unless we say he can take it, never chewed any furniture) so hardly have any problems with him. Minus his foot fetish especially if we are wearing slippers. He loves to mouth them. Doesn't bode well when I'm walking along arms laden and he goes in for a slipper mouthing session <.>

[Lyrai]

I'm a professional dog trainer, and so far a lot of the things said are good, but positive reinforcement is always going to be the best training method. Don't ever do an "alpha roll" which is pinning them down when they do something wrong. They don't understand that, and the big confusion comes from the fact that dogs will LIE DOWN THEMSELVES for the alpha, the alpha will never pin them. Attempting to do an alpha roll can get you bit, real fast.

Tone of voice is really important, low, deep voice for correcting. I've found that making that distinction alone can correct so many training issues people have.

Use treats for teaching new behaviors, not ones you know they already understand. It takes an average of 6 to 8 weeks to set a pattern in a dog, so be patient.

Also start learning dog behavior, watch your dog at home, watch your dog out, and with other dogs and people. Look for any signs of aggression, showing teeth, whites of the eyes, staring, hair going up, freezing. Not that your dog will ever be aggressive, but for other dogs you might come across. When introducing dogs, nose to nose, ear to ear, then butt to butt. Keep the meetings short for a few times and gradually let them have more time together. When dogs get tired (An older dog is more likely to get tired before your puppy) they might nip at each other, get cranky just like kids, and that's when you need to separate them.

I would suggest enrolling in formal obedience classes, but do your research first. If there's a local PetSmart, you can always go there for any dog related questions, leash and collar fittings, food suggestions, and basic health questions about your dog. Ask if the trainer is there and he or she can do a consultation for classes as well. Some SPCA's offer classes and there might be some smaller places around your area that do as well. There's also things like Canine agility that you could get into, or flyball. There's competition and for fun ones out there.

[Blabj]

Flyball is god damn amazing. +1 for that, bigtime. It's really impressive to watch in real life.

[BIGSTIC]

Keep a towel tied to your refrigerator door and your bottled beverage of choice easily accessible and you can train him to be your drink server. Had mine trained to even take the empties back to the recycling bin. You name it you can pretty much teach a dog to do it.

[miokomioko]

What? Alpha-rolling a strange and/or adult dog could get you bit, yes. However, alpha-rolling a 6-month old puppy to assert non-pain-inflicting dominance is not dangerous in any way. I know most dog trainers/enthusiasts utterly despise the idea and it generally sounds bad, but a child/pet should have at least some healthy fear of you. It's completely and utterly natural. Without it, you're going to have a real hard fucking time training unwanted behavior out with only positive reinforcement when they don't fear any repercussions for their actions. It's just, as always, heavily dependent on the breed and where your dog is in the social hierarchy. I, personally, have a Spitz breed which is incredibly intelligent, stubborn, and independent. She's extremely treat-driven and, while that's useful for most things, it's just unrealistic for me to distract her away from bad behaviors with treats without occasionally inadvertently rewarding the act, especially when it's something I can't stop via negative reinforcement. I can't take away the couch she's jumping on and I'm not going to go "hey get off the couch and you get a treat" because that's teaching her to get on the couch to get offered a treat. Because of all the positive reinforcement I have done, she decides to disobey me if she doesn't smell/see/hear some treats. The only tangible negative drawback to alpha-rolling that I've seen is it can result in your dog associating rolling on its back and being even playfully submissive as a punishment and will be very uncomfortable about doing it in a social situation when it would have been a normal action while playing with other dogs.

There's a lot of people out there who just hate the idea of making your dog submit and obey you "like a slave." I'm sorry, that's just how it is. Stern, confident, strict, and consistent behavior towards your dog will yield good results within your home, you just need to be on the ball from the start with socializing to make sure that part goes well. Most people aren't getting dogs just to see how they adapt and evolve naturally inside a house and to watch nature take its course as they simply feed and shelter it. They usually get young dogs so they can teach and train them to behave how they want. I've had a number of weird "dog people" tell me things like not to train jumping out of my dog (because it's a natural instinct) or that they prefer that their dogs flip their lid and go apeshit with excitement when they come home (because it makes them feel wanted) instead of teaching it to remain calm and collected until given the command to let loose.

I will always defend the act of alpha-rolling because it doesn't hurt a dog whatsoever and it instills a healthy fear of repercussions for misbehaving as well as creates a positive reinforcement when its over. It has done wonders for me when dealing with a stubborn, independent, and troublemaking 8-month old puppy. They may fight it just because they want something they aren't getting but you just hold them down while they struggle and when they finally let out that frustrated sigh and completely give up with the struggling/fighting/over-excitement, you let them go as a reward for calming down. It's really not much different from giving your annoying kid a time out until they chill the shit out. It's a long process but they'll eventually learn that being calm gets them what they want.

If your dog bites you while alpha-rolling, you have much bigger problems to deal with first and foremost... and it has nothing to do with putting them on their back.

edit: Another example of too much positive reinforcement gone-wrong is my mom's shitty dog. As a puppy, it would grab her socks and pantyhose and whatnot like toys and ruin them. My mother, innocently enough, thought it would be a good thing to give the dog a treat for dropping it and giving it back. With enough of that, now the dog constantly and purposefully grabs her socks and shit and refuses to give them back until the expected treat is given. It demands trades and has actually gone as far as swallowing some her her knee-highs because it didn't get what it wanted. It completely associated doing something bad to get a treat offered for it to stop. So, again, I'd be careful about the timing of your rewarding as well as the consistency. You usually have to keep them guessing whether you're going to reward them or not so they just do what you want in hopes that this time is going to result in a treat.

[Cesaria]

This so much. My mother used to get so frustrated because our dog wouldn't listen to her yet he would listen to me straight away because of the way I said things. We got lucky with my dog because he is smart (he was toilet trained almost instantly, leaves things alone unless we say he can take it, never chewed any furniture) so hardly have any problems with him. Minus his foot fetish especially if we are wearing slippers. He loves to mouth them. Doesn't bode well when I'm walking along arms laden and he goes in for a slipper mouthing session <.>

The man/woman tone of voice depends - we've just got muttzilla today (much older than a puppy - he's a 5 year old rescue dog, although he's got the same massive ginger eyebrows going on your dog has!) and he responds much more to me giving commands than my husband. Difference being - I use my "don't fuck with me I give detentions" teacher voice, and I'm very good at using my tone of voice to manage, and engage kids... seems basically the same shit to me so far - they do something right, give 'em the doggy equivalent of a sticker (and our guy's brain is definitely in his stomach) and you switch between a "don't fuck with me -do this" tone and a "that poo is absolutely the most fabulous exciting thing I've ever seen in my entire life" tone of voice (practice this by looking at scribbly kids pictures you haven't got a fucking clue what they are but you have to encourage them and build their self confidence lol).

On the other hand - some one in his past has taught him "lie down"... however they've taught him that this involves doing a full on lie, collapse, play dead, barrel roll manouver which had us pissing ourselves laughing when we figured this out in the middle of the park this morning!

He's hilarious though - he adopts the "if all else fails and I can't figure out what they want from me - sit, look cute and offer to shake hands" policy. Fair play to him - at least he's trying and sit's likely to stop him eating the cat if he forgets the rest of his repertoire!

[Lyrai]

If you actually know about dog behavior and canine psychology, you know that you NEVER want to instill fear in a dog. Fear results in inconsistancy. Fear results in more behavioral problems and things happening when you're not around. A classic example is people rubbing their dogs nose in their shit when they have an accident. They have no concept of shame like that, all you're doing is leading them to have more accidents behind your back rather than teaching them appropriate behavior.

Dogs have the intelligence of a about a 3 year old. Very black and white, it's either right, or wrong. Would you pin down your 3 year old anytime they do something wrong? No, of course not.

There have been NUMEROUS studies about alpha rolling being detrimental to the behavioral skills of a dog, and is ONLY used in the most severe of situations, and even then, is fast falling out of practice. Positive reinforcement is not just about giving treats, attention is also a reward, praise is a reward. The goal is trust and respect, not fear.

My issue is that it's never something to be attempted by an amateur or someone who isn't educated about how to perform it properly. There are much better alternatives than using it, and it should never be a first choice of action. Dogs are our companions, our family members, and not our slaves.

[Caiyuo]

If you actually know about dog behavior and canine psychology, you know that you NEVER want to instill fear in a dog. Fear results in inconsistancy. Fear results in more behavioral problems and things happening when you're not around. A classic example is people rubbing their dogs nose in their shit when they have an accident. They have no concept of shame like that, all you're doing is leading them to have more accidents behind your back rather than teaching them appropriate behavior.

Dogs have the intelligence of a about a 3 year old. Very black and white, it's either right, or wrong. Would you pin down your 3 year old anytime they do something wrong? No, of course not.

There have been NUMEROUS studies about alpha rolling being detrimental to the behavioral skills of a dog, and is ONLY used in the most severe of situations, and even then, is fast falling out of practice. Positive reinforcement is not just about giving treats, attention is also a reward, praise is a reward. The goal is trust and respect, not fear.

My issue is that it's never something to be attempted by an amateur or someone who isn't educated about how to perform it properly. There are much better alternatives than using it, and it should never be a first choice of action. Dogs are our companions, our family members, and not our slaves.

I'm of roughly the same opinion, or at least getting to that point after getting really into the whole Cesar Milan method of dog behavior. I'm really not sure which is most ideal, but I'm falling into the camp of avoiding the alpha techniques based on some criticisms I've read, mainly that dogs, unlike wolves, are not naturally "pack" animals so much as they're simply social animals, which if true, throws off the basis of the method. Outside of that I'm really not sure, but after letting up on the alpha behavior for a few weeks now, I am at least enjoying my dog's company a lot more and haven't found him any harder to command or more disobedient.

[Qalbert]

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[Caiyuo]

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[Amelya]

My issue is that it's never something to be attempted by an amateur or someone who isn't educated about how to perform it properly. There are much better alternatives than using it, and it should never be a first choice of action. Dogs are our companions, our family members, and not our slaves.

Totally agree with the above. I don't roll my dogs, never have, and they still respect me.

Even with a 6 month old puppy it can be dangerous, and yes it can hurt a dog physically and/or mentally if it's done incorrectly. On a forum I visit a woman was instructed by a trainer to scruff and roll her puppy every time he snarked at her over a bone or a toy, and big surprise, the dog is now almost a year old and now has terrible fear aggression towards her.

Anyways, long story short it's not something I personally would recommend. If you feel you must do it to control your dog, then please contact a professional trainer that would be willing to show you how to do it correctly.

[Silenka]

You don't need a pro trainer if your dog is a well-behaved sheltie, that's a waste of goddamn money. My last dog was half sheltie/half german shepherd and she was smart as fuck. We trained her to ring a bell hanging on the doorknob if she wanted to go out - she was also able to learn many many tricks such as crawling, circling (looks like chasing her tail), stretching (looks like 'I wanna play' stance), and various forms of 'five'...I'm willing to bet we forgot some of the tricks we taught her since there were so many.

Shelties like to put their minds to things, that's why they make perfect agility dogs (running an obstacle course is fun to them). If your dog isn't learning what you teach it well, you're probably just doin it wrong, that's when you look online for ways to correct yourself. Shelties are seriously intelligent enough that anything you throw at it should be, with patience, learnable. They are a breed apart as far as learning and sociability - although every dog is different, I think it would be rare if you were to have many problems with your dog around other people or other animals, as long as you provide guidance.

You have to watch out especially if it's a purebred sheltie though, every dog breed has things they are susceptible to, shelties are especially susceptible to epilepsy, which my dog had. She would tremble really hard and sometimes yap or do other scary-looking things. We had to get medication for it, but other than the occasional epileptic fit she would be perfectly fine.

[miokomioko]

If you actually know about dog behavior and canine psychology, you know that you NEVER want to instill fear in a dog. Fear results in inconsistancy.

Not quite. Inconsistent and/or ill-timed punishment is what causes problems, not just "fear."

Dogs are our companions, our family members, and not our slaves.

Hahaha, sugar coat it all you want. It's a domesticated animal that is taken from its mother, placed in a house with humans and forced to obey their commands to coexist with them without hindering/destroying/annoying.


Asserting dominance isn't necessary for every breed of dog by any means. However, there are a number of them that are known to test you and will walk all over you to get what they want unless you make it known (correctly/immediately) that the unwanted behavior is unacceptable. Also, domesticated dogs are still a lot closer to wolves than people would like to think. They are most definitely still pack animals. Even if they are an only dog, your family is its pack.

[Qalbert]

taken from its mother, placed in a house with humans and forced to obey their commands to coexist with them without hindering/destroying/annoying.

I'm pretty sure there is more to slavery than just being taught to coexist peacefully. Or is a daycare center slavery now?

[miokomioko]

I quoted the term "like a slave" because it's been said to me by others about training natural/bred instincts out of dogs. Pulling the "companions/family members" card is just sugar coating the fact that we're making them do what we want them to do and forcing them to stop doing the natural things they do that we don't want them to do. Most of the dogs people have in their homes are specifically bred to run, dig, hunt, etc. and end up primarily chosen for their aesthetics, resulting in a lot of work to squash some of those instincts so they don't destroy our property or hurt themselves and/or other animals and people.

[Qalbert]

last I checked my brother was 'trained' to act in ways that are socially acceptable even though it isn't something he would do naturally. that part of your argument is deeply flawed.