Puppy training

[HolaWeenie]

Hello, our puppy is settling in well and we've got a fairly good sit command going on. He's tiny and when he greets us excitedly he does jump up, my question is do you think it worthwhile asking him to sit each time he greets us, to curb jumping up later on down the line!? Or is he too young to understand!?

They are never too small to start understanding that they need their paws on the floor to get attention!

Do it right from the start. It's much easier than waiting til they are big enough to be a nuisance and the habit of jumping up is well engrained.

Even at 2.5kg my little pup was heavy enough to knock over a small toddler so it's important that they learn asap.

Great thanks, and do you think asking him to sit is the best way to deter jumping? Or is there a better way? Thank you

HolaWeenie well done on 'Sit', keep practising it in a variety of settings, and increased distractions and sometimes 'just because', with no distractions/ not only for something specific, then he'll be totally rocking it! You can further set it him up for success by coaching all family members and visitors not to greet him while you're doing this training. So no bending down to him, no touching and little ones keep hands out of reach as they arrive. So the incentive for jumping up is further reduced. Once everyone is in and settled, then he can be acknowledged and rewarded for remaining clam. You can't expect him to remain in a Sit for long at this age, but as long as you're not reinforcing the Jumping Up he'll soon get it. The reason this can break down is more likely inconsistency of the hoomans than the doggies as we just can't resist the cuteness factor. So you may need to police this a bit while he's learning. It can be surprising how much learning they can take on even when tiny. I'm a Trainer (thought I should declare). Have fun!

Totally ignore the jumping. Treat and make a fuss when all 4 paws are on the floor. How are you getting on with the incessant puppy chewing of fingers and toes?

Thank you cannyjb, will keep one testing sit, he's not had his jabs yet so yep he's acing it in our home environment, add other things in and I can see how it can go awry. I had read about the ignore and get all guests in and settled and then allow the dog to see them, thanks for backing that up as the right way to do things. I'm more than happy to police for a while, I need him to grow into a happy obedient pooch! Husband is doing everything I say, as is my 5 yo my 2yo is trying bless him, but I really do need to keep on top of their interactions to stop bad habits forming.

With the finger and ear and toe nibbling we all just say a sharp "ow", fold our arms and ignore for 5 seconds and then interact with him again, he's not totallly bothersome or overwhelming with that right now, it often quickly turns into licking and then and snooze! If he is particularly insistent with nipping due to excitement, we get him to stop by asking him to sit and praise the stopping part and then replace with a toy.

He does seem to like weeing on the blankets and bed we have got him though, he doesn't like sleeping on them, he prefers the carpet or sofa. Any tips to discourage wee's on his blankets and bed!?

Oooh it's unusual to pee on his bed (other than real accidents). But it also sounds like he's not actually recognising his bed as his bed, if that makes sense. Where is his bed situated? Does he have a little chill out zone? With a crate perhaps within a playpen? This should be his main bed, which he has access to whenever he likes, if he's in there, it's out of bounds for your 5yo, playpens are a great idea when they're little as it's a safe space for them to hang out and enables you get on with other stuff. I would gather up all his current blankies (you can always reintroduce them again later) wash, dry and pack away. If it's fully washable I would re-wash his bed, cover it with a new throw and/or replace the central cushion/mattress and place this in his main bed. You can then have another cushion or mattress bed outside of his zone, so he has somewhere to relax while hanging out with you guys. You can always have this at your feet in the evening before bed, so he's near to you. try not to situate any new bed areas with places where his bed/blankets have been previously. I let my dog on some furniture and I don't think there any must have rules about this other than for their safety. So if you're cool with him being on the sofa that's fine, just be aware of heights while he's little, as injuries can happen easily, when little sleepy heads nod off and then roll off stuff.

He has a crate within a playpen, his
water is in there and I feed/treat him there, it's a in the far corner of our family room and he just seems to stick by us on the other side, he never wanders over there except for a drink, but I believe I've rushed crate training a bit, due to having to have him in there for the school run and nighttime sleeps, he cries in there but settles within 10mins, but I believe if they're crying then it means we've moved to fast?

I've washed everything and put away a blanket and kept one on the back of sofa where he likes to sleep, there's a soft bed on the floor near us and he popped in and out of that, I left a kong in there and that seemed to interest him, I praised him. He had a puppy pad at breeders and I'm wondering if he's mistaking them for pads!? As he's not actually slept on them yet, so he's not recognising them as a place where he sleeps.

Would it be worthwhile moving crate from playpen over to our side of the family room this weekend and have door open, perhaps he would venture in there more.

Ahh it is possible that he mistook them for pads. I'm not a massive fan of them as you have to transition them from the pads to the outside rather than just starting with outside. But anyway back to the bed. I would revisit your crate training and keep at it, try watching this series it's a bit convoluted but doing a little each day should help. Yes, in the interim it might be worth bringing the crate into the family room so he can be near you all.

Progress! Crate moved onto other side of the room nearer to us, I encouraged him in, left door open and he had a little snooze in there 👍🏻

I may have rushed puppy pads too then, as I placed them outside and just took him out there, after a few days, I took the pads up, so now he just goes on the concrete down the side of the house that's his designated toilet area. I was advised to not puppy pad indoor as it gives them the green light to go indoors!?

Thanks for replying cannyjb, it's really helpful.

Look at him! Clever boy. Cool I'm glad you got rid of the pads as long as you keep up your toileting schedule all should be well. No problem, happy to help.