If you were to get 100 of the world’s best dog trainers in a room, there would be a lot of disagreements. However, if you asked, “what’s the number one training mistake people make with their new puppy?” 99 of those dog trainers would give you the same answer. If you were to google, how do I get my puppy to stop, search results like stop peeing in the house, stop barking, and stop putting everything in their mouth, will be returned. These puppy behavior problems are related to the number one mistake dog trainers agree about: giving a puppy too much freedom.
In the episode you'll hear:
- Why puppies can’t have too much freedom without something bad happening.
- How puppy zones prevent the rehearsal of undesired behaviours.
- About the stages of puppy development related to giving freedom.
- How I utilize crates, ex-pens and baby gates for puppy zones and safety.
- The reason not to use a doggy door with your puppy.
- Why I want my puppies to learn alone time, pottying on leash, and listening indoors and outdoors.
- About sleep time, potty time, training time, eating time, exercise time and chill time for a puppy.
- Tips for structuring your morning schedule with a puppy to create success.
Resources:
- Podcast Episode 30: Why Dog Crates Are Not Dog Cages
- Crate Games
- Podcast Episode 48: Potty Train Your Puppy in a Week (Easy 3 Step Process)
- Blog Post: All About Dogs Sleeping in the Bedroom
- Podcast Episode 98: Puppy Home Alone: Are You Creating Chaos or Calm?
- Podcast Episode 26: Pro Dog Training Tips to Get Your Puppy to Sleep All Night
- YouTube Video: Puppy's First Training with Susan Garrett: Shaping, Targeting and Collar Conditioning
- YouTube Playlist: Puppy Essentials with Susan Garrett Dog Training
- Watch this Episode of Shaped by Dog on YouTube
My 8 week old puppy has a sensitive tummy at the moment , how can I crate train with no food ., THANKS
Hi Dee, could you use their food that they’re allowed to eat at the moment as reinforcement?
My puppy is now almost 8 months old and I’m pretty sure I’ve given her too much freedom and now she’s being a terror (digging on the sofa, eating corners of pillows, biting) can i reverse this behavior?
My dog just turned 2 and we still leave him in an exercise pen without toys when we go out of the house or if I have a client meeting where I can’t check on him. He just puts stuff in his mouth and chews at it, almost always his toys but I’m afraid he will chew a piece off and it will get impacted. He is masterful at doing this. He knows “leave it” but if I’m not there to say it, I worry that he will chew on something dangerous.
I’m about to get a camera, hoping that we can give him the run of the living room and/or downstairs and then he can sleep on the couch.
Am I being too careful?
1. Does that mean you don’t walk your puppies at all or do you just spend way more time on excercises inside and outside than on walking?
2. Does that fulfill puppies exploration needs?
This was such an eye opener. I thought I was not giving my puppy enough freedom. I was feeling guilty about him being in the pen or crate. I have 2 crates. A smaller one for sleeping. A larger one in the living room, and 2 exercise pens. One inside and one outside. I take him to potty on the leash.
Can you give an example of this for a 10 month old dog that is very high energy/high drive?
What do you do with a new puppy that screams in the crate or xpen? Crate games will still take awhile. After 1 1/2 weeks at home, he just now goes in his crate at night willingly. I have not been able to crate during the day. At least I’m retired and have the time to supervise during the day.