K-10 Dog Training

Let's talk about this photo. It's cute, except it's not. I see a dog who cannot get up without telling the child to get off. How do you think a dog is going to do that?

The 7 Golden Toddler Dog Rules:
#1: If a dog walks away from you, you DO NOT FOLLOW.
#2: Always leave room for the dog to walk away from you.
---that right there is 90+% of dog bites eliminated---
#3: We do not climb on the dog.
#4: We do not grab or pull on the dog.
#5: We do not hit or throw anything at the dog.
#6: We do not touch the dog's food.
#7: We do not go into the dog's kennel.

I promise these are not overly difficult concepts for littles, nor will they rob a kid of their bond with the family dog. It will deepen that bond, while keeping everyone safe.

"Oh, it looks like Moose is walking away from you. She is saying she wants a break. Let's play with this instead!"

"It's Moose's dinner time! Let's give her space to enjoy her yummies."

"That is Moose's room(kennel) and only she is allowed to go in there."

"If Moose wanted a break, could she walk away from you right now? No she really couldn't. Let's move away from the play house. You can keep playing but now she can leave when she wants a break."

In conclusion, ***parent your child or your dog will do it for you, and you will not like how they do it.***

Post # 1 – New Puppy – Before Bella Came Home.

I am a huge proponent of crate training. Therefore, one task before Bella came home was setting up the crates. I initially wanted a small crate in our bedroom where she would sleep at night. Most dogs and puppies do not want to be close to where they eliminate. So if they are in a crate that prevents them from getting away from their p**p / p*e, they will likely whine or bark when they have to potty. That’s your signal to take the puppy to the location where you want them to go, whether that be a p*e pad or directly outside. Step one of potty training underway.

I also decided that I would feed her in this crate which has a two-fold purpose. Firstly, it would keep her confined while she ate so Strut would not get into her food and she would not get into Strut’s. Secondy, it would make the crate a “good place”. Food is a primary reinforcer, so having food presented while she is in the crate will help her connect the crate with good experiences.

I also wanted a slightly larger crate in our living area she could stay at those times when I did not have direct eyes on her. This crate would be large enough for some toys, a water dish and a bed for nap times during the day, but it would again a confinement so she would signal when she needed to go potty.

Another thing I did before bringing Bella home was to contact the breeder to find out what she was feeding the pups. I then ordered a bag of the same food. Additionally, a bag of her food was included in her take-home package from the breeder. Keeping Bella on the same food would help prevent tummy upsets.

If you opt to use p*e pads for potty training, you should have a supply before your pup comes home. The breeder made the decision of where Bella would go to eliminate easy. As soon as the weather was warm enough, the litter of puppies was let outside to investigate and play. Because she was already used to being on grass, we opted to skip using p*e pads for training and went straight to putting Bella outside.

Some miscellaneous things I had ready were dog mats for the crates, puppy dishes and toys. Bella has a few new plush toys and chew toys. She also has access to Strut’s Nyla bones and antlers. When teething, sometimes puppies like soft things to chew on and other times she needs something hard.

That about all we prepared before-hand. We added a few things after she arrived, but that’s a later post.