The gf got her dog, now I'm getting mine, a Siberian Husky. With the girlfriend's dog she couldn't let it sleep in the crate, so it slept on the bed. This I did not like. Just wondering if you had some tips on how to crate train it? Housebreak? Any other advice?
Puppy advice...
- Thread starter Chipper
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The key is simple diligence. I usually try to take few days off around getting a new puppy. Take it outside to go to the bathroom A LOT. Every time it comes out of the crate--outside right away. Wakes up--outside. Eats--outside. Starts sniffing around--outside. It makes for a loooong few days, but none of my dogs ever have had issues after the first week.
I just went through this when I got my Shiba Inu in December. I crated him whether he liked it or not. I did keep the crate close to my bed so I could take him out every few hours but he still slept in the crate. After about a month he actually grew to really like it since even now he still puts himself to sleep in it. One useful thing we've done with our dogs is place bells on the door we take them out for their walks/potty trips and rang them everytime we went out with them. Now I can relax and they let me know when they need to go out by ringing the bells on their own.
Yeah. I'm going to set a timer for every hour on the hour. I have the bell on the door so he can get used to hearing it. I'm a big fan of clickers, so I will probably work that in as well.
another great thing, if you can afford it, is puppy daycare. Sounds lame, but for like $20 a day take it to a daycare place. Get the right place and the workers are usually trainers and work with your dog during the day some. We used to take our pup or two days a week for the first month.
Well, he used to whine for up to an hour, but it depends on if you talk back to them. I found it to be worse if I would say things like "It's ok" and what not because then he knew I was there and whined even more. Shiba's are naturally "whiney" dogs though in that, they dont bark really, but they certainly do like to make their presence known with odd shrieks and yelps.
The key is to make the crate a place the dog WANTS to go. Make it fun, reward the pooch often. Entice it with treats to go in. Reward it when he is in there. And don't give in when the whining starts.
Dogs are den animals by nature anyway. They'd rather be with you, but they really won't have a problem with the crate if it's probably introduced. And as stated earlier - the bigger issue is the housebreaking.
When we got our pup - I laid an extra matress down on the floor an slept nearby for a few nights. That way I could easily hear her wimper and get her outside quickly. One thing I learned from a trainer was to not let the dog out until you "release" it - even if the door is open. Open the door slowly, as he starts to bolt, quickly (not violently) shut the door. Open slowly again (throw in some "stays" as well). Pretty soon he won't even try and you'll have the door wide open with a dog just sitting there. This is a good one for the doors to the house as well - so you don't have a dog that bolts through an open door.
As for housebreaking - as stated, outside all the time and after EVERYTHING. Don't whack it when it makes a mistake. Another tip we got was to tell your pup to "go potty" or something when you take it out. Keep reinforcing it. That's been awesome for when we travel or don't want to wait around for business...
We have a little bell on our back door and played a bit of a game for when our dog wants to go out, she noses the bell. You get about as trained at hearing that bell as the dog gets hitting it. It's nice when your in another room or at night (makes a decent little security system too)
Clickers?
Dogs are den animals by nature anyway. They'd rather be with you, but they really won't have a problem with the crate if it's probably introduced. And as stated earlier - the bigger issue is the housebreaking.
When we got our pup - I laid an extra matress down on the floor an slept nearby for a few nights. That way I could easily hear her wimper and get her outside quickly. One thing I learned from a trainer was to not let the dog out until you "release" it - even if the door is open. Open the door slowly, as he starts to bolt, quickly (not violently) shut the door. Open slowly again (throw in some "stays" as well). Pretty soon he won't even try and you'll have the door wide open with a dog just sitting there. This is a good one for the doors to the house as well - so you don't have a dog that bolts through an open door.
As for housebreaking - as stated, outside all the time and after EVERYTHING. Don't whack it when it makes a mistake. Another tip we got was to tell your pup to "go potty" or something when you take it out. Keep reinforcing it. That's been awesome for when we travel or don't want to wait around for business...
We have a little bell on our back door and played a bit of a game for when our dog wants to go out, she noses the bell. You get about as trained at hearing that bell as the dog gets hitting it. It's nice when your in another room or at night (makes a decent little security system too)
Clickers?
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Just a training system that I've had good success with in the past. It's a handheld button that you push for a desired activity or do not push for undesired. You condition the dog to associate the clicker with treats. Then you can encourage a host of behaviors (sitting, gentle leash walking, coming when called) and discourage others (jumping on guests, begging).
Just a training system that I've had good success with in the past. It's a handheld button that you push for a desired activity or do not push for undesired. You condition the dog to associate the clicker with treats. Then you can encourage a host of behaviors (sitting, gentle leash walking, coming when called) and discourage others (jumping on guests, begging).
Works on kids too.
We crate trained our pup and I will never go back. The dog can't sleep in our bed because my wife has allergies. At first we got up twice in the middle of the night to let him out, then once. If I was to do it over again, I would just push his limits right away. Most dogs won't soil the area where they sleep.
Just a training system that I've had good success with in the past. It's a handheld button that you push for a desired activity or do not push for undesired. You condition the dog to associate the clicker with treats. Then you can encourage a host of behaviors (sitting, gentle leash walking, coming when called) and discourage others (jumping on guests, begging).
Ah - I got a different version of one of those. It's called the lid to the treat jar. She knows it well, and can hear it three rooms away with the tv blaring. She also is very aware of precisely where that clicker is kept and EXPECTS to hear it whenever she re-enters the house.
And if the primary clicker isn't being used so much - she's also well in tune to the sound of the alternates - being the refridgerator, kitchen cabinet doors and the microwave door opening. :wink:
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Wait, you mean my kids aren't supposed to go in the crate? Well, hell.
(Yes, that is my son. No, I did not put him in there, he did that himself. No, the crate is not locked. Yes, he did put up a fuss when we told him he had to get out of there. And notice the ISU shirt.)
Our dog went in the crate at night from the beginning. We (usually me) got up every couple hours to let her out. We also put the blanket we got when we adopted her in there so she had something familiar.
Our dog is very treat oriented, so training with treats worked out really well. If I could do anything over, it would be to sit down with the hub and decide from the beginning what behavior is acceptable and what is not so we are both consistent in how we interact with her.
(Yes, that is my son. No, I did not put him in there, he did that himself. No, the crate is not locked. Yes, he did put up a fuss when we told him he had to get out of there. And notice the ISU shirt.)
Our dog went in the crate at night from the beginning. We (usually me) got up every couple hours to let her out. We also put the blanket we got when we adopted her in there so she had something familiar.
Our dog is very treat oriented, so training with treats worked out really well. If I could do anything over, it would be to sit down with the hub and decide from the beginning what behavior is acceptable and what is not so we are both consistent in how we interact with her.
Solid advice. The key with crate training, as mentioned before, is to make the dog want to go in there. NEVER force the dog in or punish it by putting it in there, it will associate it with punishment and not want to sleep in there. My dogs whined, but I found out that if I put a blanket over the top and sides (left the front/door exposed) that they would quit whining. I think it made them feel more secure and less out in the open.
Also, you want a crate that the dog can fit in as an adult, but you don't want to give it all of that room. I bought crates with "spacers" that you can move or remove as the dog grows. The dog should only have enough room to lay down and move around a bit. You don't want to give it too much room because it will pee in one corner then lay in the other.
Also, NEVER hit a dog or rub it's nose in it's pee if it has an accident. If you don't catch it in the act, it won't know why it's being punished. We used a small squirt bottle and caught my dogs in the face with water if we caught them having an accident. A pop can full of pennies or pebbles to slam on the ground works too.
As mentioned before, you should also have a "code word" for when they go. When they're peeing outside, we used the word "potty" and when they pooed, well, we said "poop". It helps the dog associate what you want. When I ask the dogs if they've got to potty, they know I'm taking them out to pee.
Don't get frustrated if they don't learn immediately. Every dog learns differently and at different speeds. Just because they may not learn right away doesn't make them stupid, some dogs are just more stubborn than others.
Wow. I think I wrote a book, and most of it's not very useful.
Clickers do work great, too.
Also, you want a crate that the dog can fit in as an adult, but you don't want to give it all of that room. I bought crates with "spacers" that you can move or remove as the dog grows. The dog should only have enough room to lay down and move around a bit. You don't want to give it too much room because it will pee in one corner then lay in the other.
Also, NEVER hit a dog or rub it's nose in it's pee if it has an accident. If you don't catch it in the act, it won't know why it's being punished. We used a small squirt bottle and caught my dogs in the face with water if we caught them having an accident. A pop can full of pennies or pebbles to slam on the ground works too.
As mentioned before, you should also have a "code word" for when they go. When they're peeing outside, we used the word "potty" and when they pooed, well, we said "poop". It helps the dog associate what you want. When I ask the dogs if they've got to potty, they know I'm taking them out to pee.
Don't get frustrated if they don't learn immediately. Every dog learns differently and at different speeds. Just because they may not learn right away doesn't make them stupid, some dogs are just more stubborn than others.
Wow. I think I wrote a book, and most of it's not very useful.
Clickers do work great, too.
Wait, you mean my kids aren't supposed to go in the crate? Well, hell.
(Yes, that is my son. No, I did not put him in there, he did that himself. No, the crate is not locked. Yes, he did put up a fuss when we told him he had to get out of there. And notice the ISU shirt.)
Our dog went in the crate at night from the beginning. We (usually me) got up every couple hours to let her out. We also put the blanket we got when we adopted her in there so she had something familiar.
Our dog is very treat oriented, so training with treats worked out really well. If I could do anything over, it would be to sit down with the hub and decide from the beginning what behavior is acceptable and what is not so we are both consistent in how we interact with her.
HAHA, cute kid.
a lot is going to depend on the dog.
dog A: mutt, she went in the house twice, no crate training, has never had an accident since day 1 , caught on to pawing at the door to get let out in under 24 hrs.
dog B: lab, has had too many accidents to count, crate trained, took a few months but is getting the hang of it.
dog C: chihuahua, is 3 years old and is a complete mess around strangers ... pisses itself on the sound of the doorbell, or a bird singing, or the sound of one hand clapping - crate trained, if you can call it trained.
All of these dogs are in my family, they all were completely different to work with. I own dog A, but I am not a better trainer, in fact probably worse ... I just got lucky.
dog A: mutt, she went in the house twice, no crate training, has never had an accident since day 1 , caught on to pawing at the door to get let out in under 24 hrs.
dog B: lab, has had too many accidents to count, crate trained, took a few months but is getting the hang of it.
dog C: chihuahua, is 3 years old and is a complete mess around strangers ... pisses itself on the sound of the doorbell, or a bird singing, or the sound of one hand clapping - crate trained, if you can call it trained.
All of these dogs are in my family, they all were completely different to work with. I own dog A, but I am not a better trainer, in fact probably worse ... I just got lucky.
