We got a dog!!!!!!

[SKR8PN]

The most important thing to remember with ANY puppy or any animal is that EVERY TIME you are with them you are training them! .

Truer words have never been spoken. I prefer to say that every minute you are in their presence, you are training them. Right or wrong, you ARE training them. ' Tis better to do it right the first time, than to have to go back and correct your earlier mistakes.


Every trainer gets the dog they deserve. Word.

 

[tortoise]

The most important thing to remember with ANY puppy or any animal is that EVERY TIME you are with them you are training them! Never allow a cute baby anything to do any behavior as a small cuddly baby that you don't want them to do as a full grown adult. Getting a head butt by a new born lamb is cute - being rammed by a 200 pound ram is dangerous and NO fun.

Well said!

And yes, different breeds groups have different tendencies and therefore respond differently to training. The principles of training
are all the same - it's the application that varies.

The trainer you refer to is "Koehler" and what you mention is just the beginning of an outdated, borderline abusive way to train a dog.

I train a totally different way that requires the dog's active participation in learning. And a totally different result!

Going' for a walk: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvLynTLexoI

Playing around with tricks (MUST SEE!): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUOAzsCbRno

 

[miss_thenorth]

Pat---- you lucked out!!! Getting a 6 month old puppy would be my dream!! think about it. Most puppies take 6-8 months to housetrain (for going to the bathroom), so you have avoided most of the messes. Most people don't realize dogs can take that long to housetrain, which is probably why they gave it up. but the pup is still young enough that it really couldn't have picked up alot of bad habits, and it is still at a very workable age.

Whoot!!

ps. My favourite dog names are
Diogi as in d-o-g
and PD as in puppy dog

 

[ducks4you]

We were discussing just the other day how our Cassie seems to know the day of the week.

Monday through Friday she provides us with a "wake up service" at about 6:00 to 6:30. This has nothing to do with the bathroom because she has a dog door. It also is not dependent on whether or not I am on summer break from school, but if hubby is on vacation after the first day she switches to weekend schedule.

On her weekend schedule she is often snoring on her back still at 8:30 or 9:00! We have to wake HER up. I just don't understand HOW they know.

That's because they watch us before they talk about us.
We should try to be as wise.

 

[Farmfresh]

The trainer you refer to is "Koehler" and what you mention is just the beginning of an outdated, borderline abusive way to train a dog.

Yep - that is the guy. I can see how in the hands of the wrong person his methods could be VERY abusive. When I was first training Sasha I used his methods because the other ones did not seem to register in her Husky brain. I did NOT use his methods exclusively however. After I FINALLY had her attention I went back to more traditional methods. I have NOT used clicker training but I am aware of the totally AMAZING results that can be achieved with most animal species.

Any method that is pro reward and includes very little or no negative reinforcement is the way to go.

As far at the Lab pup. I think you will be able to solve the potty problem very easily with some consistency. It amazes me how people haphazardly try to train an animal to do something and then blame the ANIMAL for any failures.

Skr8pn says it all, "Every trainer gets the dog they deserve."

The sad thing is that not every dog gets the trainer they deserve.

 

[patandchickens]

Pat---- you lucked out!!! Getting a 6 month old puppy would be my dream!! think about it. Most puppies take 6-8 months to housetrain (for going to the bathroom), so you have avoided most of the messes.

Yeah, I think that's about how my husband feels about it -- he really wanted a lab puppy, and this is probably the best-case scenario other than not knowing parentage (e.g w/r/t hips etc). I'd still kind of all things being equal rather had a fully mature dog, but it's a tradeoff-- there are advantages to this way, too. And in the end, it's not about finding the ideal imaginary dog, it is about finding the best-match REAL dog. This one is really really good

Here finally are some pics:

Pat

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Awwwwww . . . that last picture is really cute.

 

[Dace]

What a little beauty of a pup! Congrats

 

[pioneergirl]

Excellent post , FarmFresh!!!

 

[Beekissed]

Looks just like my Jimmy.....great looking pup! And looks to be all Lab, I might add.

Great pics, Pat! Love the last one also..you can almost see the satisfaction on his face..."I'm getting LOVED!!!!"