New trainer tips?

[Blari]

Hello,

For a Christmas gift, my father had surprised me by giving me a cockapoo puppy that is currently 9 weeks old. I really love my little cockapoo, and he is a good puppy overall. However, since this is my first puppy, I was wondering what type of tips I should know?

I am also a bit concern about how my dog sees me as. Lately, every time I try to pet him, he tries to bite me (most of the time he is being playful but recently his bites is getting harder and harder) and rarely starts growling at me. Does he see me as a threat rather then his owner?

I understand that he is teething since he bites my furniture, but he also seems to try to use my hands and feet as something to teeth as well, and seems to try to play with me at the most inappropriate times.

I am also wondering if there are any tips for training in general? (Sit, lay, come, stay). Since sitting requires me to sit on the floor with him, my little puppy tries to jump at me, trying to bite my hand (as mention above) and refuse to hold still for me to teach him properly.

I realize that this questions have already been answered, but all dogs are different and I want to make sure my puppy's training goes well. :)

[strof51]

Hello Blari and welcome to the forum.
You will get lots of help and support from the members here over the coming months, also check out the Copckapoo Club of GB web site for usefully tips.
And also do a forum search for the problems that are concerning you most, lots of other peoples experience's and tips to be found.


http://www.cockapooclubgb.co.uk/

[Janev1000]

If this is your first puppy I would definitely recommend a book such as 'The Perfect Puppy' by Gwen Bailey. This covers all the basics and teaches you how to train your puppy in a very clear way. Also, you should check with your local vet about socialisation classes. Ours did this for free for a 4 week course and it covered the basic training in that. Mine is now 16 weeks and soon to start more training classes. It's good to do this with other dogs too as well as teaching them at home. You don't need to sit down with your puppy to teach it to sit. You can stand in front of him and hold a treat near his nose and then take it back over his head to encourage him into a sitting position. You need to train with treats at this age to lure them into the various positions, otherwise they will lose interest.

[Janev1000]

Also, make sure you have lots of toys to offer when you want to pet him, or do other things, as he is naturally wanting to mouth everything. This will teach him that toys are ok but the others things he is biting is not ok. Every single time he goes to bite you you need to adopt a way of saying 'no', either by yelping and withdrawing your attention, or a firm 'no!'. Overall though, I definitely recommend you get a good puppy book. Good luck! Are you able to post any pics?

[Soo]

The main thing in training a dog is to reward what you want and that way the dog does more of it.

If you reward the dog with petting and attention when it sits to greet you you are encouraging it to do more of it. Things that get no reward are less likely to be repeated so if you ignore the dog when it jumps up but pet it when it sits your dog will quickly get the message that its more rewarding to sit to say hello. Think about each of the things you want the dog to learn and work out what to reward and what to ignore to get the dog to do what you want. If you work out what the dog wants it then will work out what it has to do to get it :-)

Puppy biting is normal. They are teething, playing and learning. As already suggested giving them a toy to munch on rather than you plus if they continue to bite you give a time out. They want to play, if they learn that every time they bite the game stops they will stop biting (eventually..). Some pups have a period when they are worse, many its evenings and you could use a short line on them then so you can remove them from the room without giving any attention when they do bite. The first few days they will spend more time out of the room than in but the biting should start to cut down as they realise the new rule

The puppy biting stage goes by fairly quickly if you dont encourage it. Try to find some local good training classes to get some help with the training.
http://www.apdt.co.uk/
will hopefully have some classes in your area.

Looking forward to seeing some pics

[Blari]

I'll be sure to take more picture of my little puppy soon! And thank you for the responses! But I tried giving his toys, but after a few seconds playing with it, comes to me and tries to bite me again. I tried to yelp and leave but it doesn't seem to affect him, as well as the firm 'No'. Instead his bitting starts to get worse and rather a bit painful.

[Blari]

Hmm I just realized I have asked a question when there was a similar post around that, sorry about it! Any puppy book suggestion?

[paul1959]

The first thing we taught Jess was her name. When he responds, treat and so on. This enables you to get his attention.

http://www.maccvets.co.uk/fact_sheets/fact_sheets_puppies_training.htm

[Mogdog]

Hmm I just realized I have asked a question when there was a similar post around that, sorry about it! Any puppy book suggestion?

"The Perfect Puppy" by Gwen Bailey is excellent for first time puppy owners.

Also see the "Training" and "Cockapoo Care" sections of The Cockapoo Club of GB website:-

http://www.cockapooclubgb.co.uk/index.html

Most of all enjoy your new puppy. They grow and change rapidly ... they are quite bitey when young as they are teething and soon lose their puppy teeth and grow adult ones. Chew toys will help, especially tough ones like Kongs, which puppies love with peanut butter or cream cheese inside.

Hope this helps. :)

[M&M's mummy]

Please also check out the training section on www.cockapoo-owners-club.org.uk which also has a list of some books that you might find useful.

For people whom are members of our club we will be holding monthly training Q&A sessions via our FB page or by sending in questions to our club.
These questions will be answered by our APDT qualified trainer and behaviour consultant. The first session will be starting in Jan- dates TBC.