The 6 Essential Tools I Use When Training My Puppy

27 Comments

1. I encountered a puppy in a bad condition two weeks ago and brought him home, but my mother scolded me for it. She told me never to let it roam around the house and I’m constantly worried because I figured he’s quite the playful type. I’m really thankful for this article for proving information on what tools we could use to train our puppies, and I think my puppy would love having treats after doing a good job. If everything else fails, I’d just look for some puppy obedience training available near us to make sure my mother allows me to keep him.

2. I have an 8 month old labradoodle. He’s crate trained and does wonderful. My problem is this. We are going to have to move his crate to another room in the house. I don’t work and so he’s only in the crate at night and maybe a few hours a week during the day.
   Any suggestions on how I can make this transition easier?

3. I have a gentle leader and another similar product called a snoot loop, but I’ve never had the Halti brand. I don’t use the gentler leaders that often, but I do know that many of the guide and service dog schools use them with their puppies in training.

4. I love my leather leash! And they get better with age. I have a treat pouch with a draw string and the PetSafe one in the picture. Let me know how you like the treat pouch with the magnetic closure. I’m always looking for better products to help with the puppy training.

5. Have you heard of/tried the Halti? It’s essentially the same concept as the Gentle Leader, except that the Halti is padded and a British brand, if I’m not mistaken. I started with Gentle Leaders for both pups, but then upgraded both to a Halti when I saw those in a pet store. No more rubbing (I had the same problem).

6. Oooh yes, I absolutely love my leather leashes and my clip-on treat pouch. I’ve heard good things about the ones with the magnetic closure, so I might actually look into upgrading to one of those. The one I currently have needs to be drawn shut with a string.

7. Thank you for training service dog puppies! If you haven’t seen that behavior before I would guess that it could have been stress related. I would have done the same as you. Anytime I take my puppy out with me I’m always prepared to leave just in case the situation is to stressful for my puppy. Good luck with your puppy in training! Happy Holidays!

8. Oh, and he has never growled or barked at anyone before, and he as been to different stores, parking lots, and the mall twice.

9. Hi Colby, I am training a service dog pup for myself, I am working with a trainer twice a week as well. This is the 3rd pup i have trained, the first washed out at 18 months, 2nd is now retired. It has been nine years since I trained a pup. I would like to get your opinion/take on something that happened this weekend with my 8 month old pup. We
   were training, socializing, walking around an outside mall type center. There was a Christmas wagon with horses giving rides through the parking lot, this was a new experience of my pup. We sat on a bench and that is when he started to growl and bark at two different people that came past us. He was under control, except he was vocal. I corrected and redirected him. We felt maybe it was overload for him and headed back to the car, he didn’t bark or growl at anyone after that. I was wondering if you have had this happen with any of your pups in training and how you handled it. Thanks

10. I’ll have to revisit this one and see about putting together a video. Let me know if there’s anything else you’re interested in seeing in a video.

11. Congratulations on your new puppy! Regarding the collar I recommend buying the the current size and then purchase a larger size as your puppy grows. Here’s an article we wrote on crate training: https://puppyintraining.com/crate-training-puppies/ I recommend putting the crate in your bedroom next to your bed. This is a rule I’ve carried over from training guide dog puppies. Here’s an article we wrote on working puppy parents: https://puppyintraining.com/what-do-you-do-with-your-puppy-when-you-work-full-time/ Hopefully that helps. Good luck with your training!

12. Yes please a demo video would be great!!!!

13. We are bringing home our Lab puppy in about 4 weeks so I am currently in “OHMYGAWD what am I getting myself into?” mode (It’s been 11 years since I’ve done the puppy thing)
    When it comes to collars do you recommend buying the size they are currently or then buy bigger as they grow?
    My other question is in regards to crate training…our bedroom is on the second floor so is that where we should always leave it??
    Tips for working puppy parents?? I am working half days the first week he is home but will be back to full schedule after that….any tips would be great!!!!
    SO so so many questions …thank you in advance

14. I have 3 easy walk harnesses at home. Medium, Medium/Large, and Large. The Medium has thinner straps then the Medium/Large and the Large harnesses. Archer is about 55 pounds and he’s been wearing the M/L harness. The M still fits him, but I like the larger straps on the M/L. Here’s a chart of my dogs and what harness I think fits them best:

    Linus (50 pound Aussie Mix) – M/L
    Archer (55 pound Labrador Retriever) – M/L
    Raven (70 pound Golden Retriever) – L
    Stetson (80 pound Labrador Retriever) – L

    If Remy is going to be around 70 pounds then the large harness will probably work best when he’s full grown.

15. I didn’t use a treat pouch for the longest time until I started K9 Nosework (everyone in class had one). My problem with using the pockets is I’d always have crumbles of treats in my pocket and every once in a while I’d forget to empty my pockets of treats and put my shorts/pants through the wash with a pocket full of treats.

16. What size would you recommend for the Easy Walk harness for Remy? What size is Archer wearing? I guess I’m wondering how adjustable they are. Remy is currently just under 30 pounds, obviously he’ll grow to about 70+. He and Ace wear the same size Gentle Leader (medium) though because it’s so adjustable. Maybe I”ll just get a large harness and assume he’ll grow into it soon.

17. I couldn’t agree more with a clicker & easy walk harness. Laika’s actually my first dog I’ve tried both with and it’s made a world of difference.

    I have to admit I haven’t gotten a treat pouch yet, even though I know it’s something I’d find invaluable once I started using it. Having a pocket full of carrots (or meat…) can get pretty messy, and gross if you forget a piece for a while.

18. Linus running across the golf course was very scary. It was at dusk so there weren’t many golfers out and he was pretty much out of sight in about 30 seconds. I was chasing, but gave up after running halfway across the first hole. As I walked back to my house Linus came trotting back with an ear to ear grin on his face.

    I originally had the leash attached only to the harness when Archer was a little pup, but as he squirmed a few times he slipped out. Step 2 was attaching the harness to Archer’s regular flat collar, but that was putting pressure on his neck when he pulled which seemed to make the harness less effective. Step 3 was attaching the harness to the martingale collar. I adjusted the martingale so when at it’s tightest it would still allow me to get two fingers underneath the collar (this makes the martingale fairly loose around Archer’s neck when not engaged). When Archer pulls and the easy walk harness adjusts the martingale does not add pressure to the neck and while it tightens a little bit it does not seem to interfere with the effectiveness of the harness.

    Hopefully that makes sense. Maybe a demo video is in order 🙂

19. Wow, I’m still stuck on the visual of Linus chasing a coyote across the golf course! That must have been scary and interesting at the same time.

    Thanks for sharing your list of training essentials. I probably should have tried using a harness when Haley was younger and pulling hard on the leash. I’m curious about attaching the harness and collar together at the same point. When Archer pulls, does the harness turn him slightly and the collar engages just a little bit too? I never thought about connecting both at the same time.

20. I bet she still remembers and would pick it up quickly. We saw my 3rd guide dog puppy who’s working in Arizona. He wasn’t even looking at me, but he heard my voice and immediately popped up for an enthusiastic greeting. He’s 6 now and hasn’t lived with us for 4 1/2 years, but he still remembers us 🙂

21. i did clicker training with my middle girl and it worked fine. dont know if she still remembers any of it today, being she is now 6.

22. I really like the Easy Walk harness although it doesn’t work to well if you have an aggressive puller. When Stetson started Nosework training we used words (“Yes!”) to mark behavior. I’m not sure why they didn’t use a clicker in those classes. I’ll have to check with the trainers. If you’re interested you might try one of the quiet clickers with Zoey and Scout. They may have them at PetSmart to test out.

23. Yes! Patience is an essential tool! Take a look at this blog post about traits of successful puppy raisers: https://puppyintraining.com/3-traits-of-successful-puppy-raisers-and-bloggers/

24. I will sometimes still have a pocket full of treats, but I try to always have the treat pouch when working with my puppy. I like the no-pull harness, but it doesn’t work as well if you have an aggressive puller. Every dog is different and depending on the dog I’d use a gentle leader or for a dog like Linus I’ve just used the flat collar even when he was a puppy.

25. I really want to try the Easy Walk harness with my dogs. I think they would do well on it and I’d certainly love it. Zoey is afraid of the clicker and once she started showing fear, Scout picked up on it too. So now I use words to mark good behavior.

    I’m excited that I’m able to use praise as a reward now. I was getting worried that Zoey would only listen if she was getting food.

26. Can patience be one of your “essential tools”?! It’s for sure one of mine when I have a new puppy. 🙂

27. I am not normally a clicker trainer but I have a clicker and have used it with Remy. I also think I need to get a treat pouch. If you can believe it, I don’t have one. I put treats in my pockets. And finally, Remy could also use the no-pull harness! We’re using the Gentle Leader, which I like, but sometimes he pulls so hard with it that it rubs under his eyes.

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