Tips on house training a puppy?

[Chuck]

Any experienced ex or current puppy owners on the best way to house train a puppy?

Just drove down to Grants Pass, OR two weekends ago to get an 8-week old purebred Anatolian Shepherd. His name is Archie.

Right now I have an indoor crate that I put him in when we go somewhere (usually not anywhere more than 2-3 hours), but when we're home outside of taking him on many walks throughout the day and making sure I put away his bowls of food and water at 6pm, I'd love any tips on getting them to stand at the door or alert me when they have to go. 

Here's a few pics of Archie. 

 

[Blarg]

Paper Training is the best method. I would suggest pictures of Hillary spread across the areas of the yard you want him to do his business. 

[Chuck]

10 minutes ago, Blarg said:

Paper Training is the best method. I would suggest pictures of Hillary spread across the areas of the yard you want him to do his business. 

I got those diaper pads for pets at Costco, but what I've been finding is the boy misses the mark more than half of the time. He ends up pissing right on the corner which gets on the wood floor. 

I wonder if these pads are a detriment to him learning to want to go outside when he has to go since he just utilizes the pads inside?

[Blarg]

He will do what you train him to do so pads indoors says indoors is OK. Dogs have small brains so it only holds so much in terms of right and wrong. How do you teach him indoors is bad when you are validating him peeing indoors? It causes a lot of confusion of good/bad and they don't have shades of grey in their thought processes. 

Also, get a dog door. The more they are able to choose instead of waiting for you the better. So far the dogs choice is try and decide if they can pee in the house and where or wait for you to let them out. 

 

[red321]

electric shock therapy!

 

We used the crate method, so the puppy spent a lot of time in the crate. The second she was removed from the crate, we put her outside to go to the bathroom. Dogs try not to relieve themselves where they sleep. The one time she had an accident in her crate she was very upset. But from that point we almost never had an issue...with the exception of when we had a really shitty dogsitter (who we obviously stopped using) who left her alone for 20+ hours and she went to the bathroom in the house. Months and months of separation anxiety after that...could have killed that dogsitter.

It's cute to let them roam around and sleep where they want...but at least initially it's good to give them a safe space that is theirs and helps with training for things like relieving themselves.

Our second dog was trained elsewhere, and they only had a concrete backyard. Took forever to get the damn thing to stop shitting on the patio and not the grass two feet away.

[Chuck]

1 minute ago, Blarg said:

He will do what you train him to do so pads indoors says indoors is OK. Dogs have small brains so it only holds so much in terms of right and wrong. How do you teach him indoors is bad when you are validating him peeing indoors? It causes a lot of confusion of good/bad and they don't have shades of grey in their thought processes. 

Also, get a dog door. The more they are able to choose instead of waiting for you the better. So far the dogs choice is try and decide if they can pee in the house and where or wait for you to let them out. 

 

Yeah I'm thinking that I need to only utilize the pads when we're gone. I have a room just for him, but I also have a large sized dog crate for those times as well. 

[Chuck]

2 minutes ago, red321 said:

electric shock therapy!

 

We used the crate method, so the puppy spent a lot of time in the crate. The second she was removed from the crate, we put her outside to go to the bathroom. Dogs try not to relieve themselves where they sleep. The one time she had an accident in her crate she was very upset. But from that point we almost never had an issue...with the exception of when we had a really shitty dogsitter (who we obviously stopped using) who left her alone for 20+ hours and she went to the bathroom in the house. Months and months of separation anxiety after that...could have killed that dogsitter.

It's cute to let them roam around and sleep where they want...but at least initially it's good to give them a safe space that is theirs and helps with training for things like relieving themselves.

Our second dog was trained elsewhere, and they only had a concrete backyard. Took forever to get the damn thing to stop shitting on the patio and not the grass two feet away.

@red321, how long did you let the pup play indoors with you or did you always keep the pup in the crate while indoors and only spent time with the pup outdoors when walking them, having them go to the bathroom? 

[Blarg]

My brother has used the crate method with his lab pups and it worked well. We have picked up our last couple of pound puppies when we've had considerable time off to teach them the rules. It's much harder when no one is there because of work. 

Edited September 25, 2017 by Blarg

[Chuck]

Did you guys put those pads in the crate just in case, or just their blanket and toys? 

Just wondering how much time in the crate they need. 

I know i'm going to have to use some tough love here, but it's hard because I like hanging out with the pup all day. 

[Tank]

i love dogs far more than cats. we got a chesapeake bay retriever about a year after we married, and my wife and i found out we were terrible at training dogs. cats are so much easier, and thus why we became cat owners.

with jr. gone off to college, i'm considering very strongly finding a rescue dog that's already housebroken. would love to have one in the house again.

and chuck, that's a darn good looking dog you've got. he's gonna be bigly.

[red321]

55 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

@red321, how long did you let the pup play indoors with you or did you always keep the pup in the crate while indoors and only spent time with the pup outdoors when walking them, having them go to the bathroom? 

We'd let the puppy play with us indoors. Maybe an hour or two at a time. The key was the first thing we did when taking her out of crate was she went outside and the last thing she did before she went back in crate was go outside. And yes, it's nice to have them hang out with you all day, but there's plenty of time for that when they get a little older.

Someone mentioned dog door...that is a great idea if you have a yard that supports them coming and going as you please. We don't really have that option between skunks at night and some issues with a neighbor.

One key thing we did make sure though was the crate was never "punishment". If you are interested in crate training...1...you have to be dedicated to it and 2...read up on it. there are resources that really go through how to do it.

We never used those pads...we never introduced relieving herself indoors at all.

And it's not tough love, it's getting them to a spot where they can have more freedom

[Adam]

That is one cute effing dog dude.

[mrwicked]

yeah, crate method.

i dont have a pup yet but have read up on it quite a bit. listen to red. you have to be super strict those first few weeks or months. the dog's paws literally never touch a floor where they can't pee. you dont just let them roam around your house as a puppy, or you are going to be saddled with a badly trained dog for the next 20 years. 

they are in their crate (they won't pee there), then you physically carry them to a place where they can pee (yard, etc), and then you carry them to a place to play. and then they go back to place to pee, and then into the crate. rinse and repeat. for the first 2 months.

[red321]

that's a little more strict than we were...but yeah...kinda what he said.

 

I will say, getting your dog under voice control is awesome. We are at about 80%. Sierra will not pass our front door threshold without permission. I can leave the door wide open and she's going to stand there and wait. The other dog...not so much. But both of them, I call them, for the most part they come (unless there is a squirrel involved). I tell them, outside, they go to the back door to pee. I tell them go to bed, they go to their bed. It just makes it more pleasant for everyone involved, including the dog since you aren't constantly yelling at them.

The odd part is...lots of their training go out the window when they are on a leash...it's like their emboldened and suddenly are tough guys. Usually that's when the wife is walking them.

[Chuck]

29 minutes ago, red321 said:

We'd let the puppy play with us indoors. Maybe an hour or two at a time. The key was the first thing we did when taking her out of crate was she went outside and the last thing she did before she went back in crate was go outside. And yes, it's nice to have them hang out with you all day, but there's plenty of time for that when they get a little older.

Someone mentioned dog door...that is a great idea if you have a yard that supports them coming and going as you please. We don't really have that option between skunks at night and some issues with a neighbor.

One key thing we did make sure though was the crate was never "punishment". If you are interested in crate training...1...you have to be dedicated to it and 2...read up on it. there are resources that really go through how to do it.

We never used those pads...we never introduced relieving herself indoors at all.

And it's not tough love, it's getting them to a spot where they can have more freedom

Thank you, @red321. I really appreciate your wisdom on this. 

[Blarg]

Just don't bring the dog to work. Every dumbshit thinks their dog is the best behaved then they go apeshit triggered by something or decide to piss in the lobby to mark territory.

We have several dumbasses in our company and every day there is some problem but no one has the balls to tell them all to keep their pets at home.

Except for myself and that leads to a lot of animosity. I have had to shoe dogs out of the room, yell at the owners to shut their howling mutts up when they walk out of the dogs eyesight. I even had one trip me when it decided it just had to bolt down the hall.

I love dogs, have two of them but I don't like your dog at my workplace. 

[red321]

I'm sure there are a ton of dog owners on this board who will have great suggestions.

Our trainer made it clear to us...they're cute and fun as a puppy...but that is when you have to spend the time training them so you still think they are cute and fun when they aren't a puppy.

[Chuck]

3 minutes ago, red321 said:

I'm sure there are a ton of dog owners on this board who will have great suggestions.

Our trainer made it clear to us...they're cute and fun as a puppy...but that is when you have to spend the time training them so you still think they are cute and fun when they aren't a puppy.

Good stuff. 

[red321]

6 minutes ago, Blarg said:

Just don't bring the dog to work. Every dumbshit thinks their dog is the best behaved then they go apeshit triggered by something or decide to piss in the lobby to mark territory.

We have several dumbasses in our company and every day there is some problem but no one has the balls to tell them all to keep their pets at home.

Except for myself and that leads to a lot of animosity. I have had to shoe dogs out of the room, yell at the owners to shut their howling mutts up when they walk out of the dogs eyesight. I even had one trip me when it decided it just had to bolt down the hall.

I love dogs, have two of them but I don't like your dog at my workplace. 

Agreed...and this dress your dog up as a service dog is total bs. Saw one try and maul another dog a few weeks ago...almost tore the owners arm out of her socket. Service dog my ass. People should get fined for that shit.

[Chuck]

1 minute ago, red321 said:

Agreed...and this dress your dog up as a service dog is total bs. Saw one try and maul another dog a few weeks ago...almost tore the owners arm out of her socket. Service dog my ass. People should get fined for that shit.

I read something a couple months back where people now can get jail time & a big fine if they fake the whole service dog BS so they can bring their dogs to work. 

[Chuck]

1 hour ago, Adam said:

That is one cute effing dog dude.

Thanks, @Adam. He sure has brought a lot of joy to our household in such a short time. 

I drove down to Grants Pass, OR (16 hour round trip) when I found an online ad from an Anatolian Shepherd breeder down there the day before. I'm glad I did because according to the breeder, I got the pick of the litter according to her. The litter was 11 pups. The mom was a champion according to the papers, so that's a bonus. But I'm stoked that I got Archie for such a good deal at $650 as some of these dogs go from $1500-$2000, especially the ones shipped straight from Turkey. 

Apparently the breed can get up to 150 lbs. Max was 95 lbs and he was large. 

But based on his size and bone structure for being just 9 weeks old, Archie may exceed 125 lbs the breeder says. 

Check out some of these Anatolians full grown...

[red321]

dude...you searched on the wrong term...this thread is about dogs not horses

[Chuck]

15 minutes ago, red321 said:

dude...you searched on the wrong term...this thread is about dogs not horses

haha, no shit. 

[Blarg]

@calscuf Is having an over large dog the same as a gun or a Corvette in regards to the owner's self esteem? 

[gotbeer]

1 hour ago, red321 said:

dude...you searched on the wrong term...this thread is about dogs not horses

Wait did you say horses?  @Adam What are the odds that the dog will piss in the house tonight?