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Original poster

Things you wished you'd taught your dog early on...

27 replies

GiraffeNecked · 14/10/2020 10:28

I wish we'd cordoned off a bit of the garden for a toilet and trained to go there.

I wish we'd started off with her sleeping downstairs - she's now an on the bed dog - which husband loves - I'm not so keen.

I wish we'd done more lead training when little. She's grand off the lead - not so great on.

OP posts:
Bergerdog · 14/10/2020 10:48

I wish I had spent more time on not jumping up with one of mine. She still jumps as soon as anyone she does not live with speaks to her and she’s stuck in her ways now!

OneFiveFour · 14/10/2020 10:55

I wish I had spotted that he was finding socilisation overwhelming and slowed down the pace for him.

There is too much around how owners must expose their puppies to everything to socialise them, not enough on how this can be too much, too fast for some dogs who would benefit from a slower pace.

steppemum · 14/10/2020 11:01

well, we adopted ours aged 3, and have m,anaged to train LOTS of things in/out of him, so I am not convinced any dog is untrainable/set in their ways (unless it stems from bad experience/fear maybe)

But the things that make a huge difference are
walking nicely on a lead/not pulling
not jumping up at visitors
being able to send him to his bed eg when we are eating, and he gets it that he has to stay away/not beg
We started with downstairs and no sofa, and so that is his norm, but we can invite him up, so he sit swith his head on my knee 'asking' to come up, which is fine, but he doesn't sleep on sofas when we aren't in the room, which I really like.

steppemum · 14/10/2020 11:04

Oh and the command Wait or Stay.
It is so useful, and is his best command. we use it in lots of situations, from stay in th elounge while shopping is being delivered, to wait in the car boot while I sort your lead to wait by me on the footpath until the cyclist has passed.

i would include recall in useful things too, but mine is perfectly well trained, he just doesn't always choose to do what he knows he is supposed to do Hmm

Original poster
GiraffeNecked · 14/10/2020 11:14

We were doing fine with begging. As long as my mil isn't in the house. Then the dog just spends the entire meal with her head on her lap.

They look after the dog a lot - which is amazing - but going round for tea theirs with the dog they are practically setting a place at the table for her. Then wonder why she begs with them and not with us...

OP posts:
steppemum · 14/10/2020 11:18

weeing on command is a great one. He isn't perfect, but he does understand it when I won't let him in til he has done a wee, and sulks off down the garden to do it.

AvocadosBeforeMortgages · 14/10/2020 14:20

I wish DDog was better at riding in the car. He had a London puppyhood and as far as I know (rescue) he probably didn't set foot in a car for the first time until he was about 2.

The result is that he's fine on tubes, trains and buses - and pants in a very stressed fashion in the car. Unfortunately, now we live in Not London (and with public transport restrictions) he needs to go in the car more than he ever needs to go on the train

IrmaFayLear · 14/10/2020 14:27

I too wish I hadn’t bought into the “socialisation” thing. I exposed poor dog to loud traffic, farm animals, people with beards, hats, mobility scooters... he was a nervous wreck! He was absolutely the best, friendliest dog ever, but a complete coward and I think I should have “listened” to him as a puppy and let him live a quiet, sheltered life...

Sertchgi123 · 14/10/2020 14:29

Going to the toilet on command is a great one. We achieved it with our last dog but somehow it didn't happen this time.

I would also have spent more time making recall more reliable.

MsMarvellous · 14/10/2020 15:26

Loose lead. He's big and strong and I wish I'd nailed that early so I was reinforcing now not teaching

vanillandhoney · 14/10/2020 16:11

Pulling, for sure. He's better now he's three but it's been a LONG slog to get him there. I wish we'd focused on it from the get-go when he was smaller and not as strong Grin

vanillandhoney · 14/10/2020 16:16

Oh, and the other thing would be getting him used to being alone. He's a beagle, so prone to separation anxiety anyway but he REALLY struggles. Luckily we have support from family but if I could leave him for a few hours at a time, it would be MUCH simpler.

longtompot · 14/10/2020 16:25

I wish I'd continued with mines puppy jabs at the breeders vets and then changed to mine. Set her back a month with socialisation, though my dd did carry her to and from school on her lap (wheelchair user) which helped with road noise and general people traffic.

I wish I'd gotten into a grooming routine.

I wish I took her to the vets more just as a quick visit type thing.

I wish I'd taught her how to speak, so I could stop her barking at the postie, delivery drivers, sometimes people walking past, people closing their car doors, tapping on their windows.

blueberrypie0112 · 14/10/2020 16:26

Recall

sergeilavrov · 14/10/2020 16:35

Ours has a bit of a 'guard dog' mentality, so won't stop barking until we get up and confirm there is no one there. Every time the AC kicks in, the elevator passes, the washing machine cycle alters...

I also wish she had been socialised with a more diverse range of people by her original owner. We adopted a racist dog and have only just got her to stop barking at Hispanic people.

moosemama · 14/10/2020 16:48

Over the years the things I’ve found most useful to teach pups early on, other than the usual sit, down, heel, etc, are the things that keep them safe. In no particular order:

Recall
Emergency Stop
Instant Down
Waiting to get out of car till cued
Loose lead walking
Wait
Watch me
Leave

Other things that are useful:

Settle
Toiletting on cue
Speak/quiet
Positive association with tooth brushing, grooming and nail clipping/grinding
Positive association with being handled all over for veterinary checks etc
Sitting for greetings and when doors are opened
Alone time

Stellaris22 · 14/10/2020 16:52

Getting used to nail clipping.

We do lots more pavement walking just because we can't get near them.

If anything she is 'too friendly' and insists on saying hello to every dog, but she lies down to be submissive and refuses to move, gets annoying after a while. Should have nipped that in the bud.

moosemama · 14/10/2020 17:16

@Stellaris22 have you tried one of the quiet usb nail grinders instead of clippers. I’ve heard dogs who won’t tolerate clipping can be gradually acclimatised to grinders instead, if it’s done carefully and made rewarding and decided to give it a try.

My 15 year old boy has always hated having his nails clipped, he has thick black nails as well, which makes me more nervous doing it. I introduced a grinder this summer and we’ve gone from it being a chore that stressed us both out to him sleeping while I give him a manicure. Grin

I started out just sitting next to him holding the grinder and switching it on, so he got used to the noise, then started holding one paw while the grinder was running and treating him for not reacting. Very slowly started just touching it to a nail then treating, then increasing the number of nails before giving a treat, then increasing the length of time I use the grinder on each nail before treating. Now he just snoozes while I do all four feet and then gets a treat at the end. I am actually quite gobsmacked at how quickly he took to it. Lots of videos on youtube about how to do it safely and we bought our grinder off Amazon for about £15.00.

His nails have never been really bad, but I have been doing them a bit at a time, chasing back the quick and he has lovely short nails now, which helps his gait and is a good thing for his arthritis as well.

Stellaris22 · 14/10/2020 17:20

I've tried the nail grinder and gradually desensitising her to the noise, but no good. I can get the dew claws but pavement walking works best with her.

Thanks for the tips though.

moosemama · 14/10/2020 17:27

@Stellaris22, no problem, just thought I’d mention it, as I wish someone had told me about them sooner.

whatsleep · 14/10/2020 17:32

Our lovely border can open the door with his nose (not using the handle obviously!). I wish we could teach him to close it too so I don’t have to get up! I wish he would leave the room the fart (not sure how you’d teach that though!) Other than that he’s perfect 😍

Stellaris22 · 14/10/2020 17:40

@whatsleep mine will walk into a room, silently fart, and leave the room.

whatsleep · 14/10/2020 17:54

@Stellaris22 😂 mine farts and runs away, looking at me in disgust as though it’s me that’s done it 🤦‍♀️

ruthieness · 14/10/2020 18:30

I agree with the touching ears and feet so they get used to it BEFORE there is anything wrong!
The big mistake we made was allowing doggy to play with a football, should have stuck to tennis balls only.

GrouchyKiwi · 14/10/2020 19:55

Our Newfie has the worst recall when other people are around. I wish I'd discovered something she likes more than people so I could have trained her better. I just don't let her off the lead any more.

I mostly wish I'd trained her to shut the door when she comes inside, though.