I have been bugging my lovely wife for 2 years about getting a dog, while she thinks they're cute she has been very strongly against one. Fast forward to last Saturday when I get a text while at drill, a picture of a cute black lab puppy and the question "what time are you done"

So 4 hours later we have a very cute male black lab puppy and due to the short notice we are ill-prepared. My wife did get a kennel and some toys and the breeder gave us some treats and food but otherwise nada.

Now this is not my first puppy but it has been at least 20 years since I went through the joys of puppydom.....

He's a very good 11 Wk old puppy, has had a few accidents, most due to us not noticing the signs or getting scared...he sits well, has almost learned his name, sleeps at night from 2100-0330 or so...pretty damn good for less than a week.

My wife has never had a dog so she is still 50/50 about him "he's cute when he's laying down but otherwise...."

So here's the bitching.....puppies ....god made them cute for a reason

And training non-dog people is often harder than training the puppy



Here is Loki laying in our office while we work

That's a good looking pup!

Your wife will come around. By this time next year she'll kill anyone that harms him.

Jim

Yep, its training you not him LOL

Great looking pup.

quote:

Originally posted by Jimbo54:
Your wife will come around. By this time next year she'll kill anyone that harms him.

Jim

I keep telling her that...like I said she's never had a dog and doesn't "get it"

Give her time

Can't beat Lab's IMO. Enjoy!

We call it "training the trainer". It's never the k9's fault, it's the faulty human who doesn't know what they are doing.

Tips:
Feed in the crate.
Water bowl, in the crate.
Timeouts, in the crate.
Sleeping, in the crate.
In the vehicle/trips to anywhere, in the crate.

At the puppies age, every 4 hours, take it out to potty. When it goes, MASSIVE rewards via petting and a treat "Good dog" or "good potty". When the k9 starts nailing it, make a big deal about it like you just won the lottery. House breaking is all about frequency, and regularity.

When the wife needs a break, in the crate, with a toy. An hour a day of training. Hold food back and feed one piece of kibble at a time during training. Until 18 months, 100% supervised, don't let it out of your sight.

And put the toilet paper roll on top of the counter...or else.

It is a handsome pup.

Adorable pup!

Great looking pup!

Potty accidents, the last 3 pups we've had we hung a small bell on a string next to the door. Every time we let him, or made him, go outside we rang the bell. Literally within a couple days they catch on and ring the bell to go out to potty.

Great looking pup.

quote:

Originally posted by 08 Cayenne:
Potty accidents, the last 3 pups we've had we hung a small bell on a string next to the door. Every time we let him, or made him, go outside we rang the bell. Literally within a couple days they catch on and ring the bell to go out to potty.

Great looking pup.

Thanks...My wife's boss made the same suggestion...bells in route

quote:

Originally posted by Prefontaine:
We call it "training the trainer". It's never the k9's fault, it's the faulty human who doesn't know what they are doing.

Tips:
Feed in the crate.
Water bowl, in the crate.
Timeouts, in the crate.
Sleeping, in the crate.
In the vehicle/trips to anywhere, in the crate.

At the puppies age, every 4 hours, take it out to potty. When it goes, MASSIVE rewards via petting and a treat "Good dog" or "good potty". When the k9 starts nailing it, make a big deal about it like you just won the lottery. House breaking is all about frequency, and regularity.

When the wife needs a break, in the crate, with a toy. An hour a day of training. Hold food back and feed one piece of kibble at a time during training. Until 18 months, 100% supervised, don't let it out of your sight.

Doing some of this, treats for going outside, training only about 30 minutes at night...besides just playing fetch with a long leash.

Why the feeding and water in the crate?

We have a pen coming today, at the moment he sits in the office with us. the doorway is blocked. He goes out after eating and whenever he wakes up or every 30-45 minutes.....been in back yard more in the last 5 days than the last 2 years and it is rather enjoyable at 0330

hell since I have reached that age we go out and go together

Sweet pup. We had a pair of Labs when we were first married, a chocolate and a yellow. They are great dogs

When we got Sweet Pea, now a 13 year old black lab, it took her about two months to train my wife to shut the door to her closet. Sweet Pea had a really good appetite for Italian high heal shoes.

I've found that having a puppy helped me break my wife of some bad habits.

quote:

Originally posted by dewhorse:

quote:

Originally posted by 08 Cayenne:
Potty accidents, the last 3 pups we've had we hung a small bell on a string next to the door. Every time we let him, or made him, go outside we rang the bell. Literally within a couple days they catch on and ring the bell to go out to potty.

Great looking pup.

Thanks...My wife's boss made the same suggestion...bells in route

Hah! A word of caution- my Plott figured it out quickly: the bell meant “to go outside”- after a while I had to take the bells off the door because she would just go and ring it incessantly to just go out..

Is there anything in the world better than a Puppy?

What a fine lookin' Pup!

Training looks like it is going well.

He has nailed "Stay!"