[SecretAgentRat]

One thing I did with my dogs was to say their name and give a gentle tug on their leash, and when they looked at me I would reward with a toy or treat. My dogs never responded well to treats either so I used some small torn bits of lunch meat. Eventually the dog learns it name, but it will take a few days or so. But training them to stop whatever they're doing when you use their name is a good idea--the only problem that arises with this is you have to be careful not to use his name when you're just talking about him.
My dogs each respond to several things. Hehe.
They both respond to "puppies."
Franke responds to Frankie, Frank, Beans and Fat Head.
Gala responds to Gala, Lays, Layla and Beautiful.
I usually only use their real names for commands, while I use the others as terms of endearment so that I don't wear out their names. But that's just a personal preference, coming from someone who nicknames everything that breathes.

I'm glad that you're enjoying your new baby! What did y'all decide to name him and why?

[snizzle]

She decided to name him Flops. Because, well....he flops! He's been opening up a lot since Saturday. Becoming a lot more playful and full of energy!

He's 9 weeks old, so he's still pretty young. Is he too young to train? I've been working with him a lot (I actually don't have school until jan 22nd, so I'm going to have a LOT of time to spend with him) but I fear that he may be too young to really grasp anything that's going on.

By the end of this week, I want him to at least know his name (by that I mean look at me when I say it...ideally, I'd like him to completely stop what he's doing).

Flops is getting a lot better at going outside to 'do his business'. I think a big part of this is because if he's not on my lap my eyes are on him. He doesn't really have a chance to have an 'accident'. I'm trying to trust him a little more and let him run free for a few minutes without constantly supervising, even though he normally just stays by my side.

A week from today, we go home to see my family in New Orleans. They have a beagle so we'll see how that goes. He's met probably 10-15 people since we have him and 1 other dog and he seems to be doing really well. How do you transport your dog? I don't really want to keep him in the crate the whole trip to N.O. (5+ hours). I've read and seen the 'doggie seatbelts'. What do you think?
-shane

[PontiusPirate]

Instead of a doggie seatbelt, I would suggest more of a carseat for a little guy.
We have one of these booster seats for Punky.

[SecretAgentRat]

Though a crate wouldn't be too hard on him, if you took him out to stretch every now and then. Once he's older it will be easier. Even just sitting in your lap might work, though be less comfortable for you.

I don't know--I've always had larger dogs that just sit in my back seat or on the floor. I'm sure it's a little different for very small dogs.

[snizzle]

Originally Posted by PontiusPirate

Instead of a doggie seatbelt, I would suggest more of a carseat for a little guy.
We have one of these booster seats for Punky.

Which one? It opened up to a multi-product page. I was looking at this one because it was only $20: DELUXE Pet Lookout Car Booster Seat.
-shane

[PontiusPirate]

Haha. I changed the link right after you looked at it. It is the deluxe, I believe.

[snizzle]

Yep. How does Punky like it? Does he try to jump out? Can he? Is it pretty solid? It looks good!
-shane

[PontiusPirate]

Originally Posted by snizzle

Yep. How does Punky like it? Does he try to jump out? Can he? Is it pretty solid? It looks good!
-shane

It is quite solid. She actually likes it, because she can see out the window. When we first tried it, she tried to jump out once, but she can't really. It has an adjustable clip to hook on to a harness or collar. Punky's only 6 lbs, so there is quite a bit of room for her to move around, and we can put a blanket in there for her. The pockets and adjustable straps are nice.

[snizzle]

Is 9 weeks to young to train? I can't get him to focus enough to look at me or even sit still. He seems to have two modes: asleep and ADHD. It's cute, but I'd really like to be able to start training him.

Also, he hardly ever uses the bathroom? Maybe twice a day. Is that normal? Am I just lucky?
-shane

[SecretAgentRat]

I would give him a little time to get used to living with y'all. Perhaps 9 weeks is too young for him, though I've seen it done. Just like people, dogs develop differently. I don't see any reason why you can't give it a try, however, as long as you use extreme patience--remember that he's a baby!
You could also incorporate little bits of training into playtime. If he wants to play with a rope or special toy make him sit for it first. Just say, "Sit!" and make him sit then play, play and play! You'll eventually learn techniques that are effective with Flops.
Other forms of training are easy. It doesn't all have to be formal--just day-to-day life works too. When you go on walks...do not let him walk out of the front door until you give him a pre-decided verbal command (preferably something that wouldn't pop up in normal conversation too often--another language works well). You should also ALWAYS be the first in or out a door--it's an alpha thing.

That is infrequent...does he have regular access to water? How many times a day are you feeding him? I know adult dogs can usually manage with two bathroom trips a day, but I'm not familiar with puppies being that way.

[snizzle]

We haven't really laid out a feeding routine yet. Basically we put food out in the morning and he just sort of goes at it all day. Tomorrow, i'll probably start feeding him 3 meals a day.

I'm getting a little frustrated that he doesn't really respond to treats or anything yet. I'd really like to teach him his name, but I just can't get any focus. Maybe it's too soon.
-shane

[snizzle]

What do you think about 'clicker training'? It works off of Skinner's operant conditioning theory. (Think of Pavlov's drooling dogs and the bell). I had never heard of it, but I'm growing more keen on the idea. I think I may try it out!
-shane

[PontiusPirate]

I've seen clicker training work, and I've also seen it be ineffective. As SAR said, you'll find out which training methods are effective.
One key tip: When you're teaching a basic command, have a key work to "release" that command. "Break" is a good word to use (as opposed to something as simple as "ok").

[SecretAgentRat]

Yeah--Don't use "okay" to release. I use okay (it happened by accident) and sometimes it's just really inconvenient. Hehe.

You really want to set up a regular feeding schedule. Some dogs will eat continuously if given the opportunity. I am really not a fan of allowing the dog free range of the food--especially in a setting where they don't also have free range of a yard. Having specific feeding times makes it easier to housebreak, as well, because you have that extra bit of control. My dogs eat twice a day.

As for the treats...does he not want them at all? You may just not have found a treat that appeals to him yet. My dogs are incredibly picky. They refuse to eat Milkbone-type treats. Frankie likes carrots. Gala prefers praise. Though turkey lunch meat worked the best for training.

My caution to you: Don't get frustrated. Well...if you do get frustrated then stop training or working on a behavior. It is too easy for frustration with an animal to turn into anger and dogs always respond poorly to anger. You want to be calmly authoritative.
Just as we have to show patience with babies learning their first words, we need to show the same kind of patience to baby dogs learning their first tricks.
I know it's hard--trust me...I had to train two at the same time. Oh my gosh did they feed off of each other's craziness.

I tried clicker training. It didn't work for my dogs, but what did was hand signals. A baby dog's senses are available to him in stages. First is touch. Then smell. Then sight. Then sound. Because of that, they learn differently as well. Some people learn kinesthetically, some visually and some aurally. With my dogs I switched from purely vocal commands to hand signals and it worked like a charm. My dogs know both but have always responded quicker to the hand signal.

[snizzle]

hand signal examples?
-shane