How long does it take to train a puppy??

[Atomic Roach]

Generally speaking, how long does it take to train them?

My busy time of year is from April-Sept... Oct-March I'm home a lot more, and from Nov-Feb I work from home 90% of the time. So I figure when I finally get a puppy, I'll get one in Oct... That way I'll be home with him pretty much all the time. And while I'll be working at home, it's not to the point where I can't take him out, play with him, etc. at any point.

Would that be a pretty good amount of time to train him?

ETA: And no, this won't be my first dog... I've had dogs all thru my childhood, but this is the first time I'd have my own puppy that my parents wouldn't be training.

[STOICH]

I'll assume you mean potty/house training?

6 months old is a standard goal for complete potty training. Sometimes shorter, but it really it's different from dog to dog and also the training of the owner.

The key is regular feeding, catching them as soon as they start to go in the house (and taking them outside), and being consistent. The first month or two will be the hardest as you will be getting up at least once/twice in the evening to take it out.

My current pup was the fastest to potty train; got him at 8 weeks, started crate training, had accidents for around a month, then got the hang of it. By 4 months he was completely house and potty trained and has had full run of the house since.

[Atomic Roach]

Alright... that's pretty good. Even when I'm working outside of the house I'm able to stop home during the day. So if I got him in Oct... that would give me a solid 5 months... And my work slowly gets busier - so it's not like I'd be out of the house every day for 10 hours at a time...

[STOICH]

Yeah, a solid 5 months of being around a good portion of the time will probably be more than enough provided you stay on top of training. A puppy should not be younger than 2 months old when you bring it home, so that's about 4 months to get it trained properly. Quite a bit of time

[sakigt]

I thought you meant regular training. It never ends!

Heres what we did for our pup:

Control water and food. Feed twice a day and water generously throughout the day.

When you feed or give the dog water take the dog out. When (not if usually) it pees or poos act like it won the superbowl. When you arent watching the dog and it is very young, you put it in the crate. The crate is small enough so that it can comfortably turn around and stand up, but thats it. Every hour or so you bring the dog out and take it outside. We did this for nighttime training too. If youre against locking your dog up all day thats fine, but crate train at first so youve got the potty time controlled. Not to mention crates are helpful if youre visiting someone and arent 100% sure how your dog wil act.

If you see pee on the ground, youre too late. Its your fault you werent watching the pup. No scolding (Except yourself). Just clean it up with 1:10 vinegar to water ratio to break down the enzymes to discourage going in that spot again and try again. If you catch them squatting youre good to go. Say "no" grab the dog and take him outside. When they pee outside its the superbowl again.

Some people use bells to train them to alert they need to go out. You have the dog ring the bell then take them outside. They figure out when they ring it they go out. Mine never picked up on this so we just recognized his "usual" times. Once in the morning, again before we left for work, as soon as we got home, again when he exercised, and again right before bed. We try and keep it consistent during the weekends too. Mine pants wide mouthed when he needs to take a dump outside of these times. Just recognize what your dog's sign to you is and dont ignore it!

When the dog got older we started saying "go outside" everytime it squatted or started to pee. A few months later it pees and poos on command. I cannot tell you how awesome it is have that command. When were out and about and theres a tiny patch of grass Ill use that command and hell go do his thing, as opposed to all of a sudden taking a dump somewhere because hes held it for so long. When F&F watch him he doesnt take too long to do his thing either b/c we tell them to use it as well.

When I was growing up we had dogs but never trained them like Ive trained mine. Have fun!

[Atomic Roach]

Thanks everyone for your ideas. I def. plan to crate train him... The first dog I had growing up we did not crate train him, but all the others were. My parents have a dog that is crate trained, as does my sister. They will just go in the crates without any problems.... sometimes just to sleep... so I'm cool with that.

My uncle had a dog that rang a bell when she needed to go out.. I used to think that was the coolest thing! Just not sure how to get them to learn to do that. :shrugs:

[STOICH]

I double everything sakigt said. Spot on

Start crate training on day 1 and don't give into the whining. It may keep you awake for a few days, but paying no attention is teaching the pup that it does him no good.

As for obedience training, that will always be ongoing. But start to drill the basics into them when they are young. Those should be your core commands; sit, stay, front, heel, lay down, etc. If you find a command that he is simply not picking up on, try word that is completely enunciated differently. I've always found short, quick, one syllable words to work the best. All of which sound distinctly different.

My favorite command is front. It's his recall command which brings him in front of me in a sit position. Heel is a runner up. It's a hard command, but is very useful when leash walking and in some indoor situations.

[Atomic Roach]

My sister had an english bulldog and she took him to a school where they used german words as commands. That was pretty neat... but I did read one of the problems with that is if the dog were to run off or something they wouldn't listen to normal commands spoken by other people. (Say if he was running towards someone kid... that parent would yell to stop or whatever and the dog would have no idea what they were saying)

I've been reading dog forums for the past couple days... everything is starting to worry me! LOL Being able to potty train him... keep him from getting into the habit of biting people.... etc.

[sakigt]

The easiest way to train sit is to ignore that jumping piece of crazy dog until he sits. If he doesnt get it and continues to jump kick him off. Once that butt hits the ground reward with attention. If that butt lifts ignore him again. a) Youll teach sit b) When he wants attention from strangers he will run up to them...and sit. Automatically. My dog cant help himself. Hell be an excited mess and still will automatically sit in front of the person he wants attention from. Great for kids.

[STOICH]

I've been reading dog forums for the past couple days... everything is starting to worry me! LOL Being able to potty train him... keep him from getting into the habit of biting people.... etc.

It's really not all that hard as long as you known what you're getting into.

For biting, the best thing is being around other dogs. They learn bite inhibition very quickly through playing with other dogs. When one dog yelps from a bite, the puppy suddenly stops. This process will repeat and mature into knowing their own bite pressure.

And socialization will help make them friendly with strangers (both human and animals). As long as you take your pup to visit other dogs, play and visit other places/people all early on, it will set the course for a friendly, loving dog. I can't say how much just taking your puppy out and about will help later on.

[sakigt]

A lot of people say Cesar Milan is overhyped (and maybe he is) but my husband and I have drank the Cesar kool-aid and with the breeder's help (they run hunt test trials, are personal friends and have only bred their bitch twice) my dog is calm, well behaved and has no issues.

Some people cherry pick his advice, skip the hard work and call his method a failure. Sucks for them.

Its all really about being consistent, being calm and above all satisfying the needs of the dog before you satisfy your human needs for having a buddy. The dog REQUIRES exercise and discipline to be happy. But truthfully consistency is the key. If you play inside with your dog then get angry with him when people are over and hes bat**** insane - YOURE the crazy one with unrealistic expectations.

Anyway, I highly suggest grabbing his book from the library and catching a few of his shows. Theyre great building blocks to start on.

[Atomic Roach]

Thanks, I'll def. check that person out and see how what training they do.

I've been watching a couple YT vids on training... some really neat stuff if it works. If my landlord didn't cut my grass for me I think I'd risk getting him now. But since he's over every week or so during the summer there would be NO way to hide him. lol

[eurotekms]

I got my puppy at 8 weeks.
I had him house trained in 10 days.

In 2 years, he's never had an accident.


I have the benefit of working from home, and therefor spending time with him. If you don't have this luxury, I would suggest taking a week off the get 'em broken in.

PM me if you want some awesome, easy tips.

[STOICH]

I got my puppy at 8 weeks.
I had him house trained in 10 days.

In 2 years, he's never had an accident.


I have the benefit of working from home, and therefor spending time with him. If you don't have this luxury, I would suggest taking a week off the get 'em broken in.

PM me if you want some awesome, easy tips.

Keep in mind, a puppy simply doesn't have the ability to control their bowels/bladder proficiently until around 5-6 months of age. Getting the idea across at 10 days is great, but they are not truly house broken until they can willingly hold it until released outside.

[CO Boy]

A lot of people say Cesar Milan is overhyped (and maybe he is) but my husband and I have drank the Cesar kool-aid and with the breeder's help (they run hunt test trials, are personal friends and have only bred their bitch twice) my dog is calm, well behaved and has no issues.

Some people cherry pick his advice, skip the hard work and call his method a failure. Sucks for them.

Its all really about being consistent, being calm and above all satisfying the needs of the dog before you satisfy your human needs for having a buddy. The dog REQUIRES exercise and discipline to be happy. But truthfully consistency is the key. If you play inside with your dog then get angry with him when people are over and hes bat**** insane - YOURE the crazy one with unrealistic expectations.

Anyway, I highly suggest grabbing his book from the library and catching a few of his shows. Theyre great building blocks to start on.

Coming from someone who trains dogs professionally there are a lot better shows to watch and books to read. Not to get in a pissing match, but there are better ways. Ceasar comes from a dominance/pack theory trainer which are both proven wrong in their approaches.

A few books I recommend are:
Don't Shoot the Dog - Karen Pryor
The Power of Positive Dog Training - Pat Miller
The Other End of the Leash - Patricia McConnell
The Culture Clash - Jean Donaldson

TV Show:
Its Me or the Dog - Victoria Stilwell

[eurotekms]

Keep in mind, a puppy simply doesn't have the ability to control their bowels/bladder proficiently until around 5-6 months of age. Getting the idea across at 10 days is great, but they are not truly house broken until they can willingly hold it until released outside.

Keep in mind that I am a god, and therefore my dog is the son of god.

[jerseygli]

Keep in mind, a puppy simply doesn't have the ability to control their bowels/bladder proficiently until around 5-6 months of age. Getting the idea across at 10 days is great, but they are not truly house broken until they can willingly hold it until released outside.

I read that a good rule of thumb is 1 hour of "holding it" for every month old they are. Obviously a 2 year old wouldn't be ok for a whole day, but you get the idea.

OP - there is a really great place in Berlin off 73 that does 6-8 week training courses in all disciplines. Check it out: wonderdogs.com/

I liked doing a class training for a couple reasons. 1) Socialization and 2) the trainer is training the dog AND the clueless owner (me) on how to train the dog.

[Atomic Roach]

Thanks for the link to wonder dogs..... never heard of them before and would never have seen it just driving down 73. I'll definitely check them out when the time comes.