Let The Training Begin!

After bringing Sasha home the training began with her getting to know her new home and the rules. Yes there are rules! There should always be rules. The first rule was that I am the dominant one and Sasha listens to me, not the other way around. The dog does not walk all over you or you will be pulling your hair out wondering why in earth did you ever get a dog. Sasha is part of the family now and she lives by our rules.

Let me also add that it is important that you use words when training. Dogs are capable of learning hundreds of words (not long sentences or extremely long phrases). And be consistent in the words you use or you will confuse your pet. (Oh and yes I like to use the word consistent alot so get used to it)

Our second order of business was to make sure that Sasha went pee and poop outside. If you are consistent with this, your pup can be trained in no time. I consistently said "Outside" before I would take her out. Even if she had an accident I would say this firmly and take her outside so that she can associate this word with the action. Schnoodles are supposed to be extremely smart so to let you know it took about 2 weeks to fully train her without having any accidents. All dogs will learn if you are consistent. Some more quickly than others.

Next, when we went outside and she would pee I would say "Go Potty" as she peed so she learns the word with the action. I would also say "Go Poop" when she pooped. Which word you use doesn't matter, just be Consistent! After she did her business I would praise saying either "Good Potty" or "Good Poopie" immediately after she did her thing. After the second day I would give her a reward while I praised her to reinforce she did a great thing. I used a piece of her kibble in the beginning and eventually fazed this out after several weeks, meaning I would give her a food reward perhaps after every second or third time she went then I stopped the food reward altogether, but even now I still praise verbally. You will also find that after a while if you say "Go Potty" to your dog they will go when asked...saves you time if you are in a hurry and don't want to spend a hour outside while your dog sniffs the scenery.

Our next order of business was to get Sasha acquainted with her crate. The way I got her to go in was to place a few pieces of her kibble inside. She would go in and eat and then come out. That's ok, you don't want to scare them. After a few times of doing this I would say crate and toss the kibble inside. Wow so now she know s the word "crate". Once she got used to this I would serve her meals in her crate, always with the door open. I did this to let her know that the crate was a good thing. I would say "crate" she would go inside and then I put the bowl down. After a few times of doing this I would start to close the door but stay right next to the crate to let her out if needed. When she stayed in the crate again I would praise her by saying "Good crate". So how long did it take me to crate train her? 3 days! Yes, I am not exaggerating.

* Note when using her kibble as a food reward I would take this out of her daily meal allotment or else she would have ended up as a really chubby puppy!

In one of my other posts I mentioned that I put Sasha on a naptime schedule not only because puppies sleep alot, but I needed to get stuff done without having to supervise her constantly. So this is how it went. In the morning wake up take her outside to eliminate immediately. Bring her in feed her in the crate, wait 10 - 15 minutes take her out again. Play with her for about and hour and take her out after playing. Bring her in put her in crate by saying "Crate" and give her a couple of pieces of kibble and say "Go Nappy". Wait until she wakes up about 2-3 hours later and take her out again to eliminate. Bring her in and play with her and continue this routine again around noontime and dinner time. I would put her down to sleep at around 8pm taking her out first to eliminate and then take her her out again at 10 pm and then take her out during the night when needed. I should note that I would leave water out for her most of the day. I would not let her drink after 8 pm or she would have to keep going out all night long. At about 12 weeks I only had to take her out once during the night and around 16-20 weeks she could make it all night without having to go out.

Playtime is also a great time to incorporate some training! Sasha's first favorite game was fetch. As I would throw one of her plush toys I would say "Go Fetch" and she would run obviously because I threw it not because of what I said. When she put the toy in her mouth I would praise her saying "Good Fetch" and once she associated these words with the actions she would bring the toy back to me to do the whole thing over again. As she dropped the toy at my feet I would say "Drop" and praise her for dropping. The food reward came when she dropped the toy and I would say "Good Drop!"

What I want to let you all know, that around 11 weeks of age we had had Sasha for 3 weeks when she went to the kitchen gate and just stood there staring. I told my husband that I think she needs to go out. I promptly took her out and she peed. Yea! She did this over and over when it finally hit me...she understands! Did she ever have an accident after this yes, once when I ignored her signals thinking, but you just went out an hour ago. Well apparently she had to go out again. Sorry Sasha and shame on me! The next day I went out and bought her a new toy.

See! The training happens continually during the day. You just have to be... yes it's that word again... CONSISTENT.

Lara