Puppy training (humping, sit, chewing ankles, etc)?
We just got a puppy who is around 7 weeks old. He is a cocker spaniel, poodle, lab mix. We are experiencing some things with him we would like to stop. I am also curious if I can start to train him this early. Basically, it’s like this:
1. He just started humping my daughters leg. I know he’s too young to do it sexually, but how do I get him to stop?
2. He loves to chew on legs of pants or ankles of people. Do I need to swat his nose and tell him to stop when he does this?
3. He whines all night. We put him in a kennel at night downstairs. We all sleep upstairs. He is horse from whining throughout the night. He is warm enough and comfy. I think he is just lonely. Should I let him cry it out for a few more days?
4. Can I train him to sit or stay now?
5. He goes potty outside if you take him outside. He really doesn’t have a “show” he puts on to show us he needs to go out. He just starts sniffing around and we take him out. Can we train him to scratch the door?
OK, you’ve got lots of questions here. First, you’ve got a puppy that’s too young to be away from his mom and litter mates, so everything is going to take longer.
The humping puppy’s do is something all puppy’s go through and it’s never sexual, it’s just a stage puppy’s got through and you never teach them not to do it or stop them chewing on anything by swatting their nose – that only makes them hand shy and teaches them to be afraid of you.
He’s not too young to start training, just very patiently. Teach him “off” when he jumps on anyone’s leg – gently push him off and re-direct him to something else. When he chews on something he isn’t supposed to, same thing, re-direct him to something he can chew. He’s much too young to even be teething yet (he’ll start at 3 months). Young puppies need a ton of toys to chew on so you can give him things he can chew.
At his age, he has absolutely no bladder control so he can’t let you know when he has to pee. At this age, if you want to housetrain him correctly and not let him pee in his kennel at night, you need to set your alarm clock and take him out to pee about every 2 hours because he can’t hold it any longer than that.
And yes, to crate train him you never let him out when he’s crying, only when he’s quiet. To let him out to pee, let him out when he’s quiet, go out with him, when he pees, quiet praise, straight back into his crate (no playing), ignore him when he cries, take him out to pee again next scheduled pee time.
During the day, take him out often and praise immediately when he goes – that’s how he learns what he’s supposed to do. If you’re very consistent and take him out often enough, he’ll catch on quickly.
You can train him to scratch the door when he’s a bit older, but you probably won’t really want him to do that. What some people like to do is hang a bell at the door that he can reach and teach him to ring the bell. Ifi he’s alreayd sniffing around to let you know he wants to go out, he’s doing really well!
Retriever Puppy Training Session 5