# When to start training?



## AliAlfie (Jul 29, 2013)

We've had the boys a week and a half and they are settling in really well. They mostly do their business outside, although largely because we take them out every hour or so. My question is when should we start training them with other things? They can't go out for walks yet as they haven't had their 2nd jabs (having them next Monday,) but hubby and I differ on what we think about some aspects of training. Should we reward every time they pee or poop outside (with a piece of kibble,) or is lots of praise enough? Should we start now with 'sit,' 'stay,' 'come,' commands or are they too young at 9 and 10 weeks? Any advice and/or personal experiences would be gratefully received...thanks


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## dio.ren (Jan 18, 2013)

It's never too early to start training them. We got Molly at 8 weeks old and I thought her to sit the first week she was home. I would use her kibble as a reward. Then I thought her down. She learned very quickly. Lots of praise when she did her pee/poo outside sometimes I would use a treat and other times just praise. When they are young they have a short attention span so keep training sessions short. I used to make Molly sit before I would give her her food etc...that way they learn that you are the boss


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## Lexi&Beemer (May 5, 2013)

I started with sit first day (10 weeks). A few minutes a few times a day. I recommend sit separately as it is foundational to everything else. From then, taught them lay down and leave it before we started puppy school. So first few sessions was the trainer going on about how great they are. As for food rewarding pees/poos, I found it too difficult with the two (of course they did their business early on at the same time about 15 feet apart). Just lots of verbal praise. But I think people who use treats for reward get the housetraining done faster than we did.


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## Lexi&Beemer (May 5, 2013)

dio.ren said:


> I used to make Molly sit before I would give her her food etc...that way they learn that you are the boss


Absolutely. Now I just hold their bowls up and wait if they haven't already sat down and they look up and their butts go down. So much easier than getting bowled over. I also had them sit before they came in the house, sit before we walk out the front door (back door is their potty door, so immediate out is fine by me), and when we walk if I stop, they sit. 

Sit is very important.


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## AliAlfie (Jul 29, 2013)

Brilliant, thankyou ladies.  I was going to start with 'sit' so good to know we are on the right track. Have had a bit of a rough day with the toilet training...lots of wees on the floor and rug with no warning, probably the worst day so far  (We have the special enzyme spray treatment to remove odours and stains which we've been using every time.) That's partly why I wondered about using kibble rewards when they do it outside, to confirm that's where they need to do it. Not to worry, tomorrow is another day, fresh start and all that.


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## RuthMill (Jun 30, 2012)

From the start. Great if you can just integrate it into your day. If you are doing concentrated sessions make them short and sharp, 5 minutes, no longer.


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## Lexi&Beemer (May 5, 2013)

AliAlfie said:


> Brilliant, thankyou ladies.  I was going to start with 'sit' so good to know we are on the right track. Have had a bit of a rough day with the toilet training...lots of wees on the floor and rug with no warning, probably the worst day so far  (We have the special enzyme spray treatment to remove odours and stains which we've been using every time.) That's partly why I wondered about using kibble rewards when they do it outside, to confirm that's where they need to do it. Not to worry, tomorrow is another day, fresh start and all that.


So I noticed an increase in accidents as I started doing the training outside. I don't know if its because they realized it was where they got food so best not to go there. I moved training (aka food and training) to only inside. Outside all verbal and petting and playing for reward. 

As for accidents, oh yeah. It seems to just work that way. We would go several days without one and of course I would brag about it and bam!, one has an accident inside. I think once I posted at least it wasn't a poo accident and bam!, there's poop in the house. I took out the rug as I don't think those enzyme sprays were penetrating all the way through.


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## tessybear (May 1, 2011)

We started training ours at 8 weeks. My daughter had them doing high fives, dancing, begging, sit, lie, and all sorts of tricks! They were very responsive and loved learning new things. I would definitely say the earlier the better. In my experience cockapoos are so intelligent they can get bored quite easily. Mine were quite bored by the end of their obedience classes as they could do everything and Dexter had a tendency to refuse to do things at the end as he hates anything too repetitive!


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## nicky65 (Aug 10, 2013)

I got charlie at 7 weeks and started training straight away using sit, paw, down and played games and always rewarded with treats. I couldn't take him to puppy classes until he was 14 weeks old but it really helped me training him myself beforehand. He is now 16 months old and in the Gold class and is now doing silent emergency stops. I think the more you engage and train your dog the better the bond and your dog is kept mentally stimulated. 

Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## Ted (Jul 29, 2013)

AliAlfie said:


> Brilliant, thankyou ladies.  I was going to start with 'sit' so good to know we are on the right track. Have had a bit of a rough day with the toilet training...lots of wees on the floor and rug with no warning, probably the worst day so far  (We have the special enzyme spray treatment to remove odours and stains which we've been using every time.) That's partly why I wondered about using kibble rewards when they do it outside, to confirm that's where they need to do it. Not to worry, tomorrow is another day, fresh start and all that.


We have been training Ted and have found out with our last dog 'Pumpkin' the Basset Hound, that the best thing to clear up and get rid of the urine smell was 'White/Clear' Vinegar. With Pumpkin when we first got her 12 years ago, we used the shop brought stuff and it made her wee even more indoors where we thought we had cleaned up!  Then we got told to use white vinegar and bingo no more wee's (until she was unwell one time) so this time round we have used 'white vinegar' and although Ted has had the rare accident indoors (mainly at the back door as we didn't get there in time) it has been brilliant  so we would highly recommend you give it a try and in Tesco's it's much cheaper than keep buying the spray stuff !
Good luck and it will get better, we are next onto trying out bells on the back door to ring so he can let us know when he wants to go out!!  that will be fun 
Marie


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## AliAlfie (Jul 29, 2013)

Thanks Marie.  Don't want to tempt fate, but we haven't had any accidents indoors for 4 days now...early days I know, but its definitely a step in the right direction.  We use white vinegar for lots of other cleaning so already have some in the cupboard...will try it if/when they make their next faux pas!


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## Ted (Jul 29, 2013)

Your welcome and let's hope fingers crossed it won't be required


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