Meley Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 Hi. I have a 10 week old female Labrador named Rani. She is absolutely beautiful and we are doing really well on the training aspect so far. I just have two issues that I don't know what to do about... Firstly, how do you teach a puppy not to chew on everything? She has plenty of her own chew toys, but much prefers my shoes, electrical cables, the kids stuffed animals or anything else she can get too (none of her toys resemble anything she is not supposed to have). How do I teach her what is acceptable to chew and what is not? Secondly, she will come when I call her 9 times out of ten. But when, for example, she is supposed to be on her bed (she is being trained to sit on her bed while we are eating at the dinner table as I HATE dogs sniffing around while I'm trying to eat) she gets off her mat, wont come when I call her, so I chase her - which she thinks is a great game. Its the same if she gets out of her yard, into an area where she is not supposed to be, so I have to chase her to get her back. I know its giving in to her game by chasing her, but what else am I supposed to do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavNrott Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 Hi.I have a 10 week old female Labrador named Rani. She is absolutely beautiful and we are doing really well on the training aspect so far. I just have two issues that I don't know what to do about... Firstly, how do you teach a puppy not to chew on everything? She has plenty of her own chew toys, but much prefers my shoes, electrical cables, the kids stuffed animals or anything else she can get too (none of her toys resemble anything she is not supposed to have). How do I teach her what is acceptable to chew and what is not? Secondly, she will come when I call her 9 times out of ten. But when, for example, she is supposed to be on her bed (she is being trained to sit on her bed while we are eating at the dinner table as I HATE dogs sniffing around while I'm trying to eat) she gets off her mat, wont come when I call her, so I chase her - which she thinks is a great game. Its the same if she gets out of her yard, into an area where she is not supposed to be, so I have to chase her to get her back. I know its giving in to her game by chasing her, but what else am I supposed to do? It sounds like she's training you very well Don't leave things she isn't allowed to have within her reach and invest in a crate so you can safely confine her when you can't watch her. Puppies don't know what they are allowed to chew and what they're not. Everything they can get is fair game, especially the kids fluffy toys. They love pulling the stuffing out of them. It's up to you to keep forbidden things out of her reach. When she runs away from you, you need to run in the opposite direction calling her if necessary. If you chase her she's won the game. If you're outside with her, keep her on a lead. She's a baby puppy and she doesn't know which area she is not allowed to enter. It's a good idea never to call a puppy to come to you if you know she probably won't. It will make it much harder for you to get good recall as the pup grows up if she's quite used to ignoring the 'come' command. Enjoy your pup while she is a puppy, they grow up so quickly. Make it easier for all of you by puppy proofing the house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogsfevr Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 so I chase her - which she thinks is a great game. This is your answer here " I know its giving in to her game by chasing her, but what else am I supposed to do?" realize she is 10 weeks old & stop expecting miracles especially when you havent trained her to now any better,The dog is doing exactly what you are training her to do "run" . As for things like shoes & toys then im sorry to say but if you leave them laying around then expect to loose them. Electrical cables are more serious & you need to look at the safety issue & prvide adequate measures until the dog understands . "we are doing really well on the training aspect so far." Well actually no,if your dog is running away from you then it doesnt respect you or you are giving it confusing commands. I do ask when you do finally catch her do you tell her off or praise her.she may very well be running the other way as she knows she is in trouble Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blacklabrador Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 But when, for example, she is supposed to be on her bed (she is being trained to sit on her bed while we are eating at the dinner table as I HATE dogs sniffing around while I'm trying to eat) she gets off her mat, wont come when I call her, so I chase her The length of time it would take you to eat dinner is FAR too long to expect a ten week old pup to stay on it's bed. Use a crate or put the dog outside or in a room or somewhere else until she is old enough to have the concentration and self control to stay for that long. By all means bring her in and sit her on the bed while you are eating dinner, make her stay on the bed for 2 minutes before praising her and taking her back outside or wherever. She will learn what is expected of her during mealtimes without being expected to sit for a length of time which is far beyond her capability at this age. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rainey Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 Reward the puppy over and over for chewing the right things and doing the right actions. The rewards and attention stop when puppy is doing the wrong things. My Lab loves our attention and hates it when we ignore him, so it is easy to teach him what is unacceptable behaviour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quoll Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 Dogs are really good at reading our body language, they are also really good at taking advantage of our mistakes. Labs love food so instead of you chasing HEr have HER come to you call her and have a treat as soon as she gets to you feed it to her. This is you teaching her to come as opposed to run. Re chewing remove as many of the objects that she is NOT allowed to chew as possible, get yourself a kong and put some puppy biscuits in there, that will help take her mind from other chewing activities. The idea is to set in good bahviour patterns that is so much easier than corrective training. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poodle wrangler Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 Useful advice I got was: NEVER call a puppy to tell them off/ punish them. CHasing- as you say, pup thinks it's a great game Instead, say a firm "No!". Take a breath. Then call pup using a treat as a bribe (make it a good one). Sounds like crate training would be good for you. Labs have a long puppyhood. Add up the cost of what pup chews in a week, then see how cheap that crate looks by comparison . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbo Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 My pup was the same - I always told him a firm "No" when i saw him chewing on something he wasn't allowed to and replaced it with something he was allowed to chew and praised him when he occupied himself with that. Also the more 'edible' kind of dog chews (i.e raw hide chews as opposed to toy) do wonders normally he would be laying at my feet munching on the legs of the study table but instead he's amusing himself with his dog chew - must taste a lot better than the toy type because he won't touch his chew toys. But that's just newbie advice on what seems to have worked for me - im sure there's a lot more experienced advice out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
percyk Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 lol rascal! i tether my dogs when i train them to sit on a mat theyre either on a lead so i can correct them ...say when i am watching tv or working at the pc or have them hitched to a big tethering hook i have two in the family room and near the kitchen ...i just take their mat and enc0urage them to sit i dont have them loose ever...until theyre older...ie can hold their bladder and starting to go to the door or to their paper in the laundry ( thats for the littlies who cant hold it so well lol) this way i never have to chase...cos they love that... same thing with the come command...labs are clever and work willingly so keep her on a big rope or lead and insist that she comes.. never call her and then let her get away with not coming... every come must end with her coming so take small steps dont expect her to come until she really understands that she must come every time..keep her on the rope..if she doesnt come right away .,.give her a tug and coax her above all never chastise her if she does come and uve been fed up calling her...no matter how frustrating! she will be scared to come and the next time it may be in a dangerous situation near a road or whatever good luck..they are amazing dogs but it takes about two to three years to get the potential out of them..dont expect much from a puppy..lots of informal fun training that occurs incidentally is also good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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