Jan Fennell Philosophy in Real Life

[Training - Experiences, Challenges, and Mindsets]

Hi Everyone!

My husband and I are bringing home our goldendoodle in a little over one week! We've read Cesar Millan's "How to Raise the Perfect Dog" and Jan Fennell's "The Dog Whisperer" to prepare for Ollie - we've found that we love the philosophy of the Pack and plan to implement a lot of what we've read, but it's overwhelming. Just wondering if anyone has real life examples or advice on how to implement these. Or even just things that have worked/not worked in the first few months of puppyhood in general. Thanks!

[Shari Becker]

What we've found is that there probably isn't one best approach for our dog. When we stared, we were completely set on positive reinforcement. This was absolutely fantastic for teaching little tricks, like "up," "paw," "sit," etc... She was the best puppy in her training class, and we thought for sure she would be a piece of cake to train. We were so wrong. It turns out she just really loves food, and will perform to get more.

As others have said, consistency and patience are key. It took a long time, but we had no trouble teaching her not to nip or bite by simply closing our hand over her nose and saying "No bite" and by simply walking away and refusing to play if she continued using her teeth. Three years later, she knows that no one will play with her if her teeth touch skin. (Even gently.)

We are also HUGE fans of the potty bells. We tried to teach her how to use them for over a month and actually gave up when it seemed like she just wasn't going to get it. But we left the bells on the door out of sheer laziness, and they rang each time we opened and shut the door. On her own, about 6 weeks later, she began hitting the bells when she wanted to go out. Of course, like all bell-ringing dogs, she tried to exert her independence and ring them 25 times in a day before we got our system down. ;-)

I think the key is to get to know your dog and figure out what kind of training works best for her. The beginning is hard, but you need to think of it as baby steps. Patience, patience, patience, consistency, consistency, consistency. And find a trainer you like in case you get into a training pickle. It happens! Listen to your gut. If you aren't comfortable with the trainer's approach, you won't follow through. We use our trainer about twice a year to check in on behavior we need to tweak. She totally understands Lexi's personality, and we agree  on a balanced approach that combines positive reinforcement with slightly punitive actions when Lexi gets super stubborn. But trainer and we agree that Lexi is too sensitive for true punitive training, like a shock collar...

There are two things I wished I'd have done differently. First, I would have been more clear about the fact that all the humans in our home are above her on the chain. I don't mind her on our chairs and couch, even our bed is okay with me, but she started thinking she could growl and snap at our kids if they sat on the couch and she was there first. That is never okay. The other thing is that I wished I'd called in a trainer sooner on issues that could have escalated. Our dog has a tendency to resource guard (thus the snapping and growling on couch), and I didn't understand as a new dog owner that this undesirable behavior wasn't okay ... or just normal dog behavior. We now engage in aa constant conversation with our dog reminding her that we are in charge. 

Good luck! Your puppy will bring you so much joy!!! This is a great board for questions.

Shari

[Leslie, Yogi & Maci Bear]

Also, one thing I really liked about the bells is when he was still pretty young, we would take him to other people's homes. I felt so much better about taking him because I could also take the bells wherever we went and feel more confident that I would know when he needed to go out. Also if I just left him there, it made it easy for my relatives to also know for sure when he needed out. Otherwise they might have missed the cue. So the short amount of training needed to get them to stop ringing just to go out was worth it :-)

[Gwyndolyn Morasko]

Did you have the bells attached to the door knob (or door somehow) so it rang for any human or animal going outside?  Maybe that is the difference.  I attach my bell to the wall so it is only used by the dogs and only for potty so they never hear the bell when I go in and out

[Shari Becker]

We just stopped taking her out when we knew she didn't have to go. She duped us a few times over the first month. She certainly enjoyed her power while it lasted, though!

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

 You specifically asked about the first months of puppyhood.  First and foremost potty training.  Take your puppy out before and after every meal and nap.  Take your puppy out every 30 minutes.  Use "pee" or "potty" or whatever distinctive word you like when s/he is actually peeing.  When s/he is finished clap, praise, happy dance, whatever - no treats. You will never be sorry you taught your puppy to pee on command.  

Work on "sit" with a treat in your hand and move it back and over his head.  S/he should plunk that cute little bottom right down.  Teach her/him right away she has to sit to get her food.  Do not allow free feeding until much later in her life, then you can decide. 

I really like tethering, also called umbilical cord for the first six months.  If puppy is not in crate she is tied to my waist or some convenient place right next to me if I am fixing a meal.  You can use fifteen feet of cotton rope with a hardware snap tied on.  I liked to have several so I always had a clean one.  Tethering keeps puppy out of trouble and within your sight so you can correct immediately.  Puppy proof your house as much as possible.  No dangerous items within reach, pick up the scatter rug if puppy decides it is his newest and best chew toy.  After he has quite chewing on everything and understands where his toys are you can put the rug, purse, shoe back where you would usually leave it.  Both you and puppy have enough work ahead of you  in the next few months without adding shoes that are easy to put in a closet,  chatkis at puppy level, etc. 

If you sit down and cannot reach an appropriate toy for puppy, you don't have enough puppy toys.  If you have a toy or two within easy reach, that it easy to shove in his mouth when he tries to use your hand as a toy. 

Finally, when puppy is crazy, you are tired or out of patience, crate puppy.  Puppies and grown dogs should think of their crates as their favorite place, safe and cozy and smelling like them.   Puppies need a lot of sleep, so don't feel bad about crating - it is not punishment, it is safe and restful if puppy is fed, watered, pottied and played, after the initial resistance ( and sometimes not even initial resistance) his crate is wonderful for him.  He is learning a lot and needs to rest body and mind.

Lastly, like humans, no dog is perfect, except in his owner's eyes. All dogs disobey sometimes, make bad decisions sometimes, even obedience winners!  With patience, joy and lots of help you will raise the perfect puppy for you.

Strongly consider a really good ( read fairly pricey) trainer at four to six months.  You will learn out lot from a hands on experience with someone who has known a lot of dogs and a lot of owners.

[Gwyndolyn Morasko]

My house is so tiny that I didn't ever have to tether Kona.  I could close doors and keep him within 15 feet of me at all times because all of the rooms of my house are tiny.  And the bigger area  (the galley kitchen and dining room) that I did let him eventually have after he was 4 months old while I was sleeping or away from the house was much easier to puppy proof with zero things plugged in, food up and away from him, no breakables, and no rugs or shoes to chew on.  So if you have small rooms with doors and gates, the tethering isn't as necessary. 

[Gwyndolyn Morasko]

I tried several methods of training.  Here are a series of photos of Kona intensely trying to learn obedience training on his own via videos.  (please know that I'm just joking....but he really does love to watch videos of dogs on TV, YouTube, and Facebook)

[Gwyndolyn Morasko]

I LOVED his puppy coat! So soft and long and never matted until he was 10 months old when his adult coat took over with more curls and an adopted sister that slobbered all over him while wrestling, causing mattes!  His adult coat is a lot curlier, but still considered "Wavy Fleece", and I do keep it long by scissor cutting it myself down to about 3 inches after it becomes 5 inches long. I'm definitely enamored by the long scruffy look as you can see by these photos taken in the past few days, which is over 3 years after those photos of Kona watching the training videos when he was still a puppy. He stays pretty free of mattes as long as he gets a good combing 3 to 4 times a week.  

[Gwyndolyn Morasko]

Kona is a Double Doodle (Half Goldendoodle and half multigen Australian Labradoodle). I adopted Maggie (the white one) from a Goldendoodle rescue group, but her behavior was so different (herding Kona and protective and guarding my house and me) that I had her DNA tested.  Twice.  She is half American Eskimo (hence the small body and white hair) and the other half is a mix of very large herding breeds (French Briard Sheepdog, Belgian Tervuren, French Beauceron, and German Rottweiler), so she acts and protects and moves like a 90 pound herding breed.  She looks the most like a small Briard Sheepdog when I let her bangs grow.  Her body hair I just let be it's natural 5 to 7 inches long all over, so no cutting needed.  Ever.  Just her bangs.  

[Becka]

I love these pictures! He absolutely looks like he's trying to learn something!

[Gwyndolyn Morasko]

I know.  I was laughing pretty hard while taking them.  He was soooo intent on "learning". 

[Laura and Angus]

You've gotten a lot of great advice so far! I was just going to say that what  was very crucial for us in the beginning of puppyhood was:

1. Patience, patience, and more patience. We have a very hyper, strong-willed doodle who we love dearly, but tested us at every turn as a baby. He still does frankly and today he turns 2. However, we have a better handle on his behavior and can interpret his communication to us. Remember that you're basically introducing this puppy to their whole world, so things can be confusing to them. They will make mistakes and have accidents as they are learning.

2. Consistency. Our pup had a total of like 4 accidents (all pee) because we were extremely vigilant and took him out every 45 min or so - we had him on a consistent feeding schedule and so we always knew about when he'd have to potty based on when he ate/drank, played, or napped.

3. Leadership training.

As I said, we have a headstrong doodle who needed a lot of "leadership training." This was taught to us by our trainer, but it also sounds like Doggy Dan includes these same skills. We make our puppy wait until we say "ok" for food and whenever we are going in or out of a door. We are always the first to go in/out of doors and up/down stairs. We had to do a lot of  "blocking" in the beginning, which meant that we had to physically block our puppy from rushing past us in small spaces (e.g. hallways and stairwells) until he learned that we are to go first.

4. Reinforcement

We did and still do a TON of reinforcement. Reinforcement has to be consistent (every single time) and immediate! They need to understand what we are saying is a good thing. So for housebreaking we would give a praise (Good potty!) and treat every single time for months until it was clear he understood - we continued to say "good potty" well after 1 year old. We still practice different commands regularly and make sure we praise good behaviors. Reinforcement of desired behaviors is crucial! You're basically teaching your baby puppy how to function :)

5. Discipline

Some people did not need this one for their dogs as positive reinforcement was plenty to teach their dog skills and how to be well-mannered. This was not the case for us. We encountered destructive and difficult behaviors as our puppy got older and (while working with a trainer) identified methods to discourage inappropriate behaviors while reinforcing the expected behaviors. We used an "air canister" that emits a puff of air with a hissing sound - we had to work with a trainer to do this effectively, though, because timing is crucial. You may not even really need much of this - it really depends on your dog's personality. We needed it.

Good luck with your new baby! You'll definitely find TONS of helpful advice here on DK :)