A few puppy Q's

EraseAndRewind

Hi would appreciate any help/tips

we adopted a rescue puppy a few days ago-he is a 9 week old collie cross.

he is a great little fella and settling in perfectly but i just have a few questions re. training etc

we are bringing him out to a certain spot in the garden after every meal and also on the hour so he can wee/poop and its going great -lots of praise and petting -no accidents inside so far !

we would like to train him ie sit/lie down/stay etc and just wondering when we should start this

also despite our best efforts the kids are leaving little toys about the house which he is trying to eat-i read here before that people have their dogs trained to drop whatever is in their mouths -how do you train a dog to do this? he had a piece of lego in his mouth last night and would not give it up at all

just one more thing also the rescue told us to feed him pedigree chum dry food three time a day -is this food ok or can you recommend a better one?

thanks for reading

Shanao

First off, well done on taking in a rescue dog. I've got a collie cross foster since last night, aren't they just crazy?:D
In regards to training, best to start right away. Collies are highly intelligent- since getting the foster last night I have him sitting and giving the paw already- they pick things up incredibly quickly.
When it comes to getting him to let go of toys, offering something even better- like a treat. Say leave once he has let go of the toy, then give him the treat and praise him. Eventually he'll realise that putting things down = treat, so all the better for him to put them down.

When it comes to the food though, I would reccomend a change of brand. Pedigree, despite saying no added sugar actually has quite a high sugar content (beet pulp, while not high in it, still contains sugar) Its the same as giving kids sugar, makes them hyper and a collie is the last dog you want to be hyper. I've started my fella off on Real Nature puppy food- same thing our resident pup is eating and he loves it. Now, it is more expensive, but well worth it. You feed a lot less of it, they poop less and their poops are solid- handy for picking it up. On top of that, its a completely natural food- no preservatives, chemicals etc. It is 70euro a bag, but I've found that giving them a good, high quality puppy food definitely helps their development. Once he hits adulthood- about 14months for a collie, you can switch him over to a lower quality dry food. Just beware of a lot of low quality products as the colourings and sugar content really aren't good for them.

Be warned though- without proper stimulation and exercise, collies can get very destructive. I had one for fifteen years and she was a great dog, though really needed a lot of mental and physical exercise. Also, they are great chewers- when I was eight, she got into the christmas presents and destroyed almost everything!!

Officer Giggles

EraseAndRewind wrote: »

we would like to train him ie sit/lie down/stay etc and just wondering when we should start this

to get him to sit down have him stand in front of you. put a traet in your hand and let him sniff it, then move your hand over his head towards his back and say sit, as the dog looks up for the treat he will have to sit down. then give him the treat and praise. repeat a few times with treats and then keep mixing it up with and without treats and he will have the hang of it in no time.

from the sit position let him sniff a treat and then keep lowering it right up in front of him, as he ducks his head move it slightly out and say lie. hopefully this should work, took me a while with fred, a newfoundland, to get the lie working as he kept standing up after lowering his head

best of luck

EraseAndRewind

thanks for all the great advice appreciate it

just one more thing he is nipping a lot(doesnt hurt me or my husband but does the kids)

when he does it we make a high pitched 'ow' and turn away but he keeps doing it over and over...will this stop as he gets older?is it something to do with teething?

Shanao

Where is he nipping? Hands, legs or heels? If you make it sound more like a puppy's yelp than a word it seems to work better. Instead of turning away, put him into another room on his own for a few minutes, or tell whoever he hurts to turn and ignore him. With pups, their pack is everything so not getting attention from their packmembers is about as bad as punishment can get for them. Work on the 'sit' command as much as possible as well and teach him 'gentle', as in when you are giving him a treat, let him smell it and lick at it, but dont release your hold on it until he stops trying to grab it from you. Keep saying gentle as well, eventually he will get that gentle means he has to stop biting and he'll get the treat. Try getting the kids to do commands with him, and when he starts getting too excited, make him sit.

daenerysstormborn3

On the "nipping", my pup did this when he was younger, just excited and doing what he would've done to his littermates. When he did this I would squeal in the same way a littermate might do if the play was too rough as a warning for him to stop and this stopped him in his tracks. I would squeal, turn away and stop play, ignore him until he stopped sticking his nose in my direction to try and entice me back to play, he would then get bored of me and play by himself or lie down waiting for me to become interesting again. He stopped "nipping" very soon after I started that.

A year later I got my OH to start doing the same thing after my pup started "nipping" him (teenager phase) and it worked exactly the same.

I have also seen that woman on it's me or the dog using a similar method, try youtube and you might find a clip.

Good luck.

EraseAndRewind

he is only nipping when you have him up in your arms/lap
he looks to come up to be petted and then gets a little carried away i think
he will nip at your arms/face/hands


i bought a jar of treats called 'coachies' but he doesnt seem to be too impressed by them so i may buy something else tomorrow

thanks for taking the time to help me out i appreciate the advice