[billtill]

Hey all,

So as you may have seen in the pics section, and some of you may remember me when I introduced myself on the site a month ago, I just got an 8 week old standard pup who I named Zappa. He's my first dog ever so I'm trying to do everything "right".
He's been really great so far; he has taken pretty well to his cage and the housetraining is going very well except for an accident or two a day which I guess is bound to happen with a pup his age. He does cry when I lock him in at certain times of the day (I guess it depends on his mood and if he thinks I am going to leave him). When he's really tired and I'm still in the room he'll usually settle down quietly. On the other hand if he's in a playful mood and I "trick" him into the cage when I have to leave or go to bed, he'll cry and howl for a few minutes (not too long thankfully).
He is learning to sit which is awesome, but I'm not sure he knows his name yet. I'm trying to praise him/give treats whenever he looks at me when I say his name, but I guess thats a tough one to train.

I guess I'm just looking for a little advice from some of the seasoned standard owners. Do you have any good poodle training techniques? Any tricks to get him to like his cage more? Putting treats inside doesn't seem to work, he still cries.
What treats do your standards seem to like in particular?
Also how much water should I be giving him? I usually give him about 3 bowls a day but he always seems to be thirsty!

Any general wisdom related to training/housebreaking/preferences is appreciated

 

[T o d d]

Moose likes his normal food as "treats" makes it easy for me and cheaper too

As far as water... when Moose was a pup we had to limit him on water he would drink until he puked... he's gotten a lot better but occasionally he has a few water burps.

As far as the crate thing goes just put him in there close the door and be done... it REALLY helps if you are out of the room during the day when he is in there. At night I find it fine to have him inthe crate in the same room. Luckily for us Moose didn't / doesn't mind the crate, and if I just say "ok lets go in your crate" he just walks over and gets in.

I trained Moose how to sit, stay, play dead, shake, etc prior to feeding him in the morning. I started with sit then would put his food in there and if he went for it right away I would say "ut ut uh" or just "ut" firmly. He got this REALLY quick then I changed it to stay, and when needed an "ut". He got that, and from then on he learned his other things before he ate took at most 2 or 3 days of morning practice before he got them all.

Now he does them whenever you ask. I'm constantly working on "stay" to get him to do it longer and longer... he's pretty good now I can have him stay while I run around the house and he`ll be sitting there when I get back.

Be firm but not mean or "loud" a lot of new trainers try to yell at their dogs. I can give Moose the same command 5 or 10 times in a "playing voice" like "come here bud come here" and he won't budge but if I firmly say "come here" or "Get over here" he comes running ASAP. Tone REALLY REALLY matters with dogs, and being constant.

As far as accidents.... Moose had some too it's common We tried to take him outside every hour to be sure he was able to go.

TO this day Moose hasn't learned to let us know he wants to go out he just kinda hangs out by hte door... which is not really a sign because he lays by the door looking at birds all day danyway... L O L

 

[billtill]

Thank you so much for your reply, T.
You were very informative and I will try out your advice. It sounds like your Moose is a great dog.
How old was he when you started training like that? My Zappa picked up "sit" very quickly but i cant see him staying away from his meal with the "ut ut". But then again you never know!

 

[T o d d]

Thank you so much for your reply, T.
You were very informative and I will try out your advice. It sounds like your Moose is a great dog.
How old was he when you started training like that? My Zappa picked up "sit" very quickly but i cant see him staying away from his meal with the "ut ut". But then again you never know!

We were not able to pick him up until I think 13 weeks?

It took him forever to understand what come here, or get in here meant but he does now.

Oddly, when he was younger he was more happy being by himself laying on the floor than up on the couch next to me... now that's changed in the last 6mos or so and he just wants to snuggle and lay his head on me. He also lays on the floor but rests his body against my foot or my chair leg as close as he can get... this is all new in the last 6mos too.

 

[billtill]

We were not able to pick him up until I think 13 weeks?

It took him forever to understand what come here, or get in here meant but he does now.

Oddly, when he was younger he was more happy being by himself laying on the floor than up on the couch next to me... now that's changed in the last 6mos or so and he just wants to snuggle and lay his head on me. He also lays on the floor but rests his body against my foot or my chair leg as close as he can get... this is all new in the last 6mos too.

Same thing with Zappa! I have been picking him up and putting him on the couch next to me, sometimes he'll stay and curl up there but most of the time he'll end up jumping down and resting on the floor. Probably better to not have him on the couch all the time because I have a feeling he's going to be HUGE as an adult. He was the biggest in his litter.