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*Well, almost a perfect puppy…..when people see me out and about with my well-behaved service dog puppies they say: “I want a perfect puppy too! tell me how you did it?”
My name is Colby, I created the Puppy In Training blog to tell our story about raising and training guide and service dog puppies and to help you train your puppy.
Whether you’re just thinking about picking up your first puppy or you’re a grizzled veteran of the dreaded puppy vampire teeth this blog will help you on your way to a well-behaved, perfect practically perfect puppy (just like Mary Poppins: “Practically Perfect In Every Way”).
This page contains information to help you get up to speed quickly and start working on some of the basics of raising and training a puppy.
About You And Your Puppy
QUICK TIP: No matter if you’re about to bring home a puppy or already have one tearing up your house you’ll want to take a look at our new puppy checklist. We include anything and everything we could think of that you need for your new puppy.
If you’ve reached our site then you are probably in some way, shape, or form associated with/in love with/frustrated with/enamored with a puppy (or future puppy).
I’m taking an wild educated guess as to who you are to help you find the information you need to make your puppy raising journey as pleasant as possible.
Puppy Raiser: You are a puppy raiser (or future puppy raiser) for one of the many guide or service dog schools around the globe.
If this is you then you might be most interested in our Puppy In Training TV series, a YouTube TV show that documents our journey with our third Guide Dog puppy in training, Dublin. Check out Puppy In Training TV!
Pre-Puppy: You’re still in the decision making process: Should you get a puppy? What kind of puppy should you get? Lets start you off with 5 tips you can use when bringing home a new puppy.
Post-Puppy: The bliss pain of puppyhood! Thank god puppies are cute adorable creatures because after the initial bliss of bringing home your puppy you realize this is going to be no easy chore.
Potty training, crying, yelping, howling, barking, biting/nipping, jumping, digging, counter surfing these are all parts of the joys of raising and training a puppy. Lets get started with some of the most common puppy problems:
Dog Lover: The majority of the site revolves around puppies and our journey raising and training guide dog puppies. However, it’s been many years since we started writing to the blog.
Two of our puppies are well into adulthood. Stetson is 12 and Raven is 5 years old. Unfortunately, we lost our beloved Linus last year 🙁
We can’t leave our older puppies out of the mix! So you might notice from time to time we will veer off and talk about Linus, Stetson, Raven and dogs in general
Stetson has considered a career as a therapy dog and Linus wanted to get certified as a K9 Nosework dog.
So, even if you’re puppy is no longer a puppy there is a spot here for all dog lovers. Read more about K9 Nosework and/or Therapy Dogs.
Pet Product Advertiser: If you’re hoping to advertise one of your products on our site then congratulations you’ve done more than 95% of pet product advertisers. We wrote this blog post specifically for you: A Post For Pet Product Advertisers.
Puppy In Training Is Everywhere
Well, not really…but we do keep an active presence on some of the most popular social media channels.
- YouTube – up to this point with posted Puppy In Training TV videos and Product Review videos on our YouTube Channel. Check it out and subscribe!
- Pinterest – we love visual search and enjoy collecting and pinning our favorite content.
- Facebook – we have an active page on Facebook with over 70K “likes”. If you love cute puppy pictures this is where we post most of our favorite puppy pics from our various outings and events.
Most Popular Puppy Products
Are you looking for a popularity contest? Some of our favorite products are also reader favorites. Here’s a list of the top 5 puppy products we sell on Amazon:
- SmartLove Snuggle Puppy – a plush puppy with heat pad and beating heart. A great toy for new puppies.
- Rocco & Roxie Stain and Odor Eliminator – if you have potty accidents make sure you get an enzymatic cleaner to completely remove potty odors.
- The Puppy Primer – a great introductory puppy book. It’ll give you a good foundation to start when raising and training your puppy.
- Dog Crate – Midwest Life Stages – we crate train all of our puppies and we’ve used the same Midwest crate for all of our puppies for 15 years.
- Grannicks Bitter Apple Spray – does your puppy bite, chew, destroy things? Bitter Apple Spray can help deter these unwanted behaviors.
That’s our top 5 and must haves in any puppy starter kit. By the way did I mention we have an extensive essential new puppy checklist. Oh yeah, I did…
I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For?
Okay U2…if you’re still confused, you still don’t have a perfect puppy, and you still can’t find the answer to your puppy problems please leave us a comment below and we’ll do our best to answer your question.
Top Picks For Our Puppies
- BEST PUPPY TOY
We Like: Snuggle Puppy w/ Heart Beat & Heat Pack - Perfect for new puppies. We get all of our Service Dog pups a Snuggle Puppy. - BEST DOG CHEW
We Like: Best Bully Sticks - All of our puppies love to bite, nip, and chew. We love using Bully Sticks to help divert these unwanted behaviors. - BEST DOG TREATS
We Like: Wellness Soft Puppy Bites - One of our favorite treats for training our service dog puppies.
Check out more of our favorites on our New Puppy Checklist.
Meil @Best Homemade Dog Food says
I’m at the pre-puppy stage and have not decided when to get a puppy. Is it really worth raising your own puppy or it’s better to have a grown-up dog? Using the positive reinforcement method in training a puppy might be good.
Colby says
It’s up to personal preference whether you choose to get a puppy or an older dog. We enjoy raising puppies because we like watching our pups grow and learn. A well trained older dog can be much easier if it has been trained in basic obedience, house manners, and socialization. However, you never really know with an older dog as you probably will not know their exact background and personality until they are living with you and your family. Hopefully that helps. Good luck with your choice.
Kim says
I have a 15 month old female Pomeranian whom is quite hyper. I’m having difficulty with potty training. she will go when I take her out in the morning and go pee and poo and I immediately praise her and give her a treat. I feed her when we come in and within 15-20 minutes I take her out again and she goes poo again but does not pee until we get in the house and sometimes goes 2-3 times. I’ve noticed sometimes when she goes it’s not an empty the bladder type, just “spotting”. first question, could she have a bladder infection and that’s why she spots and goes often or is it a puppy thing? Next question: I live where it’s like 10-20 below zero frequently and initially started letting her do her job on my 10 foot high from the ground wood deck and that worked out great! I could just watch her from the patio door while inside and not freezing my butt off. However, when I brought her to the vet she said that was a no no unless I wanted her to go there all the time which I don’t come Spring/Summer. she was doing so good with that situation of training but I also don’t want my deck ruined so now I have to take her down an icy flight of 13 steps. question is, is it bad to train her to use the deck during the winter months and will it ruin my deck? Question 3: I don’t have the luxury of letting my dog out every 2 hours because I work which is an hour away. should I keep her caged for the approx. 8 hours I’m away or should I just block off a larger space for her and place potty pads down for her? I feel terrible caging her for this length of time and when I give her the larger space she tends to go everywhere except the pad (she chews up the pad)! Help I feel like a bad parent that is confusing this dog to no end and have been so stressed about my decision of getting her. Thank you for your response.
Colby says
1. At 15 months old a puppy should have control of her bladder. It’s possible she has a bladder infection. Here are some articles that might help:
https://puppyintraining.com/how-to-potty-train-a-puppy/
https://puppyintraining.com/my-puppy-pees-outside-then-pees-inside/
2. If this were my dog I’d probably take the extra time and not have her potty on the deck mainly because I wouldn’t want my deck to smell like urine and the smell would probably attract the dog to continue going potty on that spot.
3. We recommend not crating a puppy for more than 2-3 hours during the day. Here’s an article that might help you with owning a puppy and working full time:
https://puppyintraining.com/what-do-you-do-with-your-puppy-when-you-work-full-time/
Em&Dan says
Hi, I just got a puppy a day ago. He is a lab/chow mix. I’ve been trying to teach him to pee/poop on the pee pad and he did really good yesterday but today he has been peeing/pooping everywhere else except his pee pad. He also is starting to bite my feet when I walk by him, he bites my clothes and my hands a lot even when I try to give him his chew toy. He is 8 weeks old. I am soon starting college again so I won’t be able to supervise him as much.
Colby says
Congratulations on your new puppy! Here are some articles that might help:
https://puppyintraining.com/how-to-potty-train-a-puppy/
https://puppyintraining.com/the-ultimate-guide-how-to-stop-a-puppy-from-biting-and-nipping/
https://puppyintraining.com/my-puppy-goes-crazy-sometimes-what-do-i-do/
In our experience we’ve noticed that potty training takes from several weeks to several months for a puppy to master. Biting and nipping can be curbed (see article above), but can be difficult until a puppy loses his baby teeth at around 5 months old. Good luck with your new puppy!
Matrona Baran says
I have a Norweigian Elkhound puppy, female about 11 weeks old. She is very nice and sweet BUT she is extremely fearful and when we took her to puppy training she refused the “positive training” with treats and just sits down and does nothing. We have 2 other dogs and she acts like a dog when she is outside playing and jumping around but when I try to walk her, feed her or try to train her she just shuts right down. Or we get in the middle of training and she shuts down. Like last night-
I took the puppy on one leash and my other dog she really likes on the other to try and create a pack so she will follow- and she did for about 1/2 a block then she shut right down and literally laid in the middle of the street- there was no stressors- no cars, dogs etc- she just stopped right in the middle of training and I had to nudge her along as she was dragging her rear end because we were too far for me to try and carry her- which I feel I should have to do because she is perfectly able to walk and did so before. I am so frustrated right now- I can deal with crazy high energy dogs- but a dog that is the equivalent of Eeyore and is depressed all the time is really bothering me. We have never laid a finger on her.
I have tried good cop, bad cop, in between cop, indifferent cop and strict cop and to no avail. Nothing seems to make her break out of this shell.
We even made sure she was good and hungry before the puppy class and she just sat there like a bump on a log- Please help- I don’t know what to do- continue the classes or go to private classes or just accept that she is closer to a cat than a dog?
Summer Remmey says
Hello Matrona! 🙂 I think whats best is therapy. Stop taking her for walks and to training for now. She might just be stressed in all this new territory. Stay at home with her and you could even try to train her yourself in your home territory, which you should try to make a happy place! Praise her and give her treat whenever she does something good, and she will learn that treats means she did something good.
Becky says
I hate to say it but I’m about to send her back. Dolly holds it all day and all night. We get home about 5:30 or 6:00 and she goes for a long walk. Last night by 10:00 (bedtime) she had peed (or squatted) outside 5 or more times and had peed in the house 4 times. She is now 4 months old we have had her for 8 weeks. She now is refusing to ring her bells when she goes out. We have to go find her and practically drag her to the door to make her go out. Forget watching for the signs….she gives NONE. I tried tethering her to me. That’s a game to her….all she does is chew on her leash….I’m guessing we don’t want that behavior. Telling her no absolutely has no effect ever. The nipping has gotten a little bit better…thank goodness….but now the counter surfing is terrible….again…yelling no and putting her down doesn’t phase her. Do I need an exorcist?
Summer Remmey says
Hi there Becky! 🙂 I think the best solution for you (hoping you did not give her back already), is to exercise her. I think the most likely problem is that she is just too excited and does not get enough exercise to release all that energy. Do some walking with her, try and teach her more tricks, and when she goes to the bathroom outside, reward her!! Hug her and say good dog, good dog, in a very happy voice! And give her a little treat. Inside, when she makes a mess, only say bad dog when you catch her doing it. Then put her outside and reward her when she goes out there. Focus more on positively rewarding her, since negative doesn’t work.
Juls Bindi says
Hi Colby,
Your blog is very informative and relatable, the topics you are writing does not only give a solution to common pet problems but it touches the heart of every pet owner to understand the whole process of parenting a pet. May you continue producing interesting blogs in the future.
Kudos to you and your pets
Yvette says
I adopted a lab mix, Bella, from the SPCA about 2 weeks ago. They told me she was house broken…..NOT. I constantly take her outside AND I MEAN CONSTANTLY and she will still pee in the house and in her crate. Now, by reading your blog I will try changing her into a smaller crate. However, is there any idea on how long it will take her to learn. I have another lab mix, Midnight, and she is 11 yrs old AND THE BEST DOG IN THE WORLD. She is obedient and smart. I was hoping my new puppy would take after her Midnight’s good behavior but it does not seem to be rubbing off on Bella. It took me many years to get a new puppy because I did not want or need the responsibility of training but I decided IF EVER now was the time to commit and I am at my wits ends…and it has only been 2 WEEKS!
What can I do besides being patient lol I do not give her much water but if I reduce her water intake any more I am afraid the poor thing will dehydrate. I took her to the vet last week and other then a dry coat, she said Bella is fine. So, I am not over feeding or watering, I take her outside constantly, I reward her when she pees/poops in designated spots, and I am consistent and on a schedule with her food and water….WHAT CAN I DO??