I need puppy 101!!!

[mum5]

Hi all. We have a 9 week old german shepherd / lab puppy from a rescue. After much talking with DH, I agreed that now is a good time.

Anyway, she is super. Goes to the bathroom on her pads, sleeps well. BUT!!! it is apparent that there is a wealth of information out there about teaching, but I am overwhelmed.  I have never had a dog, and limited interaction with them.

Where to start?

Is there a reputable website or a book that I could read? Like Puppies for Dummies? LOL!

We are teaching her to "sit" , "no" for when she is mouthy and biting us and " leave it " when she is chewing on rugs, shoes, etc.

When she is succesful we treat her and say good girl, stroke her.

What do you think?

DH has had dogs before and is a little more clued up than myself, but he is at work a lot.

[starrlamia]

First Id recommend training her to go outside and nix the papers, it can be a pain in the butt to get them off the papers inside.

Ian Dunbar's puppy book is great: http://www.dogstardaily.com/taxonomy/term/31 all sorts of amazing info in there.

I also highly recommend Karen pryor's clicker training website: http://www.clickertraining.com/

I would stay far away from cesar millan and any dominance based training.

[Fortune Teller]

In addition to training, I would strongly recommend working on socialization NOW.  We too have a german shep/ lab mix and although he is very well trained/ behaved, we completely failed to socialize him well and now he has issues with strangers.  We have to be very diligent with him, as he is super over protective of our family and territory.  

Other than that (which was a complete failure on our part, no fault of his).. Our mix is a complete Love.  He is family.  I think the mix is a winning combo!  Enjoy 

[mum5]

Thanks all! I just took her to the vet yesterday and she is 12lbs at 9 weeks. Apparently pretty big.

The vet did say that we should be taking her outside to go to the bathroom, every half an hour. we did get about 2 1/2 ft of snow, so I but the drive way portion is shoveled, and i will take her out there today. Also, thanks for the heads up on the Cesar Milan. I really have no idea!!!

I put a collar on her yesterday, she did not like it, and was trying to flip it off.

thanks! I will definately work on the socialisation

[starrlamia]

GSDs are known to be aloof with strangers and be very family oriented, no amount of socialization will over ride a breed trait. I would highly recommend doing some research on both breeds your dog is mixed with so you can get an idea of how their temperament may be when fully grown.

For the collar. Don't start with putting it on her. Put it on the ground and give her treats for interacting with it (you can use kibble for this). You want to create a positive association with her collar. This is a good video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_fT1q6vH_o

[mum5]

Thanks for the video!! It is very helpful, just for me to learn how to interact with a dog, and what they are thinking / feeling. Thanks again!!!

Any other recommendations for potty time. We are using the pads inside, as I sai before. I am taking her out every 1/2 hour. She is not going outside, just waiting to go inside....but not on the pads today. On the treadmill, rug, and in the playroom. I think she is gettng confused. Should I be treating her everytime she goes for a trip outside, even if she does not go to the bathroom?

She does really well in the crate. She as never pooped/peed in there.

[starrlamia]

Potty time should be party time! Take her out every half hour, as well as after every nap, every feeding and every playtime. Stay outside until she goes and then shower her with treats, love, toys, etc whatever will get her excited! In the house don't let her out of your sight, if you have baby gates use them to keep her in the same room as you and look for queues that she has to go such as sniffing around the ground. If you don't have baby gates you can leash her too you (once she is comfy with the collar). You can also take some of the pads outside and place them where you want her to go.

If you want a good book on dog behaviours I highly recommend Patricia McConnell's The Other End of the Leash (everything by her is really good!) Some good videos on youtube are by a user named kikopup https://www.youtube.com/user/kikopup

[mum5]

Thanks so much!!! Lots of reading to do. The outside bathroom is going well. She's a smart pup!! 

[wildmonkeys]

We are getting a puppy in a couple of weeks and I checked a bunch of books out of the library and am really liking one called "The Love That Dog Training Program". It is very "attachment parenting like" in its approaches. Some really good ideas about strategies for preventing aggression with kindness.