8 week old puppy training

[Ravenbird]

Some great thoughts here but kinda got off-topic regarding the most important things at 8 weeks.

Back to basics, make all training fun and interactive with you playing. Build confidence in your puppy by setting boundaries - they learn quickly what pleases you and what doesn't and when you stay consistent they will put 2 and 2 together. If sometimes it's a no-no to chew the chair leg and sometimes it's ignored, they won't understand why. A good rule of thumb is if the puppy is doing something you'd hate to see a grown dog doing, let them know it's not allowed. So many see a puppy being naughty and laugh it off, thinking "it's just a puppy thing". At such a young age, it's as simple as "no, not that, here's your own toy". Always trade up. Keep kibble in your pocket all the time to distract or trade for whatever he's got that he's not suppose to have. All your "commands" you listed are the basic things to teach, just teach everything with fun and excitement. I never ever do that thing about taking the food bowl away. You give them food, it's theirs, let them eat in peace. They learn to resource guard because when they have learned that they may not get to keep it. You've lost the puppies trust in you if you say "here's your food", then walk up and pull it away. Build confidence and trust by being trust worthy. Teach "leave it" or "out" a little later, but nothing like that at dinner time.

 

[LucyXIII]

They learn to resource guard because when they have learned that they may not get to keep it.

I don't like thinking about the consequences that well-intentioned people and their dogs have suffered from following that advice.

We do bonuses: walk by and put something high value in the bowl. While he's got an toy or a bone: here's a high value tidbit; pick up the toy and return it. When retrieving all the things from his stupid mouth -- here's a cookie for letting me root around in your mouth for that cigarette butt/discarded iphone charger/mystery turd and not biting my fingers off.

 

[Ravenbird]

I don't like thinking about the consequences that well-intentioned people and their dogs have suffered from following that advice.

It very much depends on the dog and starting with an 8 week old puppy I firmly believe that dinner time should be a peaceful time, not a challenge or a stress test. As far as taking away something that the puppy picked up, yes, take it away, reward for letting you take it. I was referring to putting a bowl down for the dog to eat and then trying to take food away. Yes, adding food while the dog is eating is a great idea, I've done it many times.

It's the damn TV & internet shows demonstrating the dogs at shelters who came off the streets or over-crowded situations, and then "test" them for food aggression with the fake hand on a handle pulling the food bowl away and the dog snaps. Sometimes this test results in the death of that dog, deeming it unfit to be adopted out (talk about suffering consequences!), when all they had to do was feed it in the crate and close the door so it felt safe. So now all the JQ Public thinks they need to do this to train their puppy not to be possessive. A confident little puppy will rarely growl or snap at its person over the food bowl. A feral dog off the streets or feeding the puppy with a resident dog(s) who pushes it around and eats the puppies food, that's a different situation altogether. It is a learned response to defend what little they have.

Again, I'm referring to the food bowl, which you give to the puppy. Not things they pick up and put in their mouth on their own. Just like a baby human you have to watch and protect them from their own curiosity, which comes as the puppy explores your house and yard and on walks using the "leave it" and reward or trade for what you take away.

Hope this clarifies what I meant to say.

 

[BGpa]

Appreciate your frank opinion @Ravenbird and fwiw; concur.
Commonsense alone suggests testing a traumatized dog by traumatizing it further just illustrates not all shelters or wanna be experts are equal.
Especially on a dog like this breed...

 

[BGpa]

@Kobewc my mistake on the counting of days until your pup arrives, and I am guessing you have your hands full RN...

Thats all good and hope you will fill us in on successes and more questions from puppyhood.

Plus "pics"!
You are on a wild but great ride. Take pics at least once a month and save in a folder along with weights taken, lessons learned...notes from the vet, etc...if you are DIY training.

You'll have fun later looking over that.

 

[LucyXIII]

then "test" them for food aggression with the fake hand on a handle pulling the food bowl away and the dog snaps.

This is the practice I was referring to; giving them their bowl and messing with it, the dog's body, the food itself, as an exercise to train the dog not to defend their food.

 

[Kobewc]

@Kobewc my mistake on the counting of days until your pup arrives, and I am guessing you have your hands full RN...

Thats all good and hope you will fill us in on successes and more questions from puppyhood.

Plus "pics"!
You are on a wild but great ride. Take pics at least once a month and save in a folder along with weights taken, lessons learned...notes from the vet, etc...if you are DIY training.

You'll have fun later looking over that.

I ended up getting an older female pup she is 12 weeks old

 

[JanS]

Aww she's adorable! What's her name?

 

[Aaron56]

I ended up getting an older female pup she is 12 weeks old

In all honesty - The longer they get to stay with their siblings the better off (easier in may respects) they usually are.

Bringing a very young one home is a lot more difficult without having other dogs around to help it learn basic stuff about interacting with other dogs (and people).



You did good!

 

[Aaron56]

You've lost the puppies trust in you if you say "here's your food", then walk up and pull it away. Build confidence and trust by being trust worthy. Teach "leave it" or "out" a little later, but nothing like that at dinner time.

Agree on all of your points above but wanted to comment on this one directly -

You are absolutely correct here with respect to mealtimes.

That time needs to be a happy time where the dogs is feeling safe and never allowed to be messed with while they are are eating.


Since I have more than one dog I like to personally 'supervise' every single meal to make sure that every dog follows MY rules so that every dog can eat in peace without any fear or worry about any other dog messing with their bowl.

Agatha (being relatively new here) seems to be blown away that she has her human stand close by while she eats at every meal to let her know that nothing is going going to mess with 'her' bowl ever...

If that dog wants to (has not done this yet) eat half her food and then walk away for a bit - I am not going to pick her bowl up but I will make darn sure nobody else sticks their face in it and tries to steal from her.

Doggie 'ownership' of that bowl...

 

[Two Dobes]

This is a good read about training the dog in front of you....

 

[Ddski5]

I ended up getting an older female pup she is 12 weeks old

That is a beautiful pup right there! She has a sweet disposition about her. You can tell a solid Doberman by their paws….
Where did you get her?

You did a great job posting. Have you done this before? All looks good- just make sure not to wrap the tape too tight.

Be careful with fluffy bedding and teddy bear- not gonna be long and she will be tearing that to shreds. When it starts, you are not going to stop it, you just need to remove the objects she can tear up. Better to teach/train it if she doesn’t have the ability to do it.

 

[Ziva23]

getting my little guy very soon. He will be 8 weeks old when I pick him up from the airport!

I’m curious what are your first commands/most essential things to teach him?

My current list:
1) potty training
2)sit
3)down
4)crate/place
4.5) stay
5)heel
6)separation anxiety training (leaving him alone with some toys+treats for a few minutes apart) and do this in intervals for longer times

I’m not sure what else is absolutely essential to teach my new puppy? Can you give me a list of your favorite tricks/useful things to help him be the best pup and grow to be an amazing trained Doberman?

I also plan on petting him/hand in bowl while eating every so often to avoid any sort of eating aggression.

I’m not sure if these commands can be taught at 8 weeks young ? Or if some of the more advanced he might need to be a bit older


Any feedback/advice is appreciated!

Crate training No.1. Potty training next. Hand feed your puppy all of their meals. Feed 3 times a day. While you are hand feeding, lure into DOWN position. Say nothing. Just do down until he is doing it every time. Then, say DOWN and then lure down with kibble.

Do not teach SIT and then down. Teach DOWN FIRST. THEN you can lure from down to SIT. No commands. Just lure while feeding. When they do it every time THEN add command, 1 second, the lure into position.

Hand feed at least a month if not two. My dog is 14 months and I still hand feed her at times.

This will also give you a chance to play in and around their mouth. I put my hand in every dog's mouth I have ever raised, including a ridiculous biting Shiba Inu and none of my dog's have ever had a nippy problem none. My Shiba is 5 now and she refuses to do even play biting.

Watch Robert Cabral, American K9 or DIYK9, Alpine K9, Shield K9, or Larry Krohn on YouTube. These are people that know what they are doing. AlpineK9real with Hans is one of the best trainers out there, 50 years.

You don't know what you don't know.

 

[Ziva23]

Okay, so you think the bowl thing is bogus? I’ve seen some YouTubers say that it’s good aka Doberman planet lol. Good to know thanks!

When do you think trickier commands is appropriate to start ? How old ?

Don't listen to JanS that is completely hogwash.

You should hand feed a puppy for at least a month. My dog is 14 months and I still hand feed her at times. The alpha provides.

After a month, you can introduce a bowl by hand feeding her by dropping kibble into the bowl and they eat it. Put your hand in the bowl with kibble, let her eat out of your hand. Drop kibble, pick it up let her eat it out of your hand. Do this here and there and then after a week or 2 you can stop.

I hand fed my puppy for 2 months. I can reach in my 14 month 75 pound European Doberman's mouth and take her favorite bone out of it without any reaction from her.

I have other dogs and she let's them take her bones or toys at will without a growl or showing her teeth.

The above method works, period. Do not listen to anyone who says not to do it. They don't have a clue about it. Probably best not to listen to them on any other topic as well.

Good luck with your puppy. It is a marathon not a sprint when it comes to training. Do not pay attention to Instagram or TikTok "trainers" and their perfectly trained 10 week puppies.

 

[JanS]

Don't listen to JanS that is completely hogwash.

Excuse me????
I never said you can't or shouldn't hand feed the pup, I said you shouldn't reach in the bowl and threaten to take it away while they are eating.

 

[Ziva23]

Excuse me????
I never said you can't or shouldn't hand feed the pup, I said you shouldn't reach in the bowl and threaten to take it away while they are eating.

Exactly. That is absolutely rubbish. What you said about the bowl is pure nonsense. What you said could not be any more wrong. An 8 week puppy needs to learn you provide everything, food, water, affection.

By hand feeding and then after weeks of hand feeding and bonding, you the introduce the bowl by putting it down empty and then hand feeding in the bowl by holding the kibble and them eating. You then start dropping kibble in the middle a kibble or 2 at a time, gradually dropping more, then dropping it in and the immediately picking up some kibble and hand feeding it again.

This is a tried and true method of teaching the puppy thst you are the alpha and provide everything. It teaches the dog that your hand provides. It shows them it is fine for you to give and to take away.

Every member of the family should participate in this routine.

Do the same thing with high value treats and toys. Give it and then take it away randomly, then after a second give it back. Do this randomly over and over.

You will NEVER have a resource guarding dog if you do exactly what I just said.

 

[JanS]

That is absolutely rubbish. What you said about the bowl is pure nonsense. What you said could not be any more wrong.

Please do not talk in this tone to our members or staff and stop whiting things out. It's okay to disagree but it's not okay to blatantly say someone else is wrong or what they are saying is nonsense and your way is the only way.

 

[Ziva23]

When people say things that are categorically false, it would've wrong not to say something.

The dog is more important than any human's feelings. I replied to a blatantly false statement. Telling someone not to put their hand in a bowl with an 8 week puppy is ridiculously wrong.

Getting the correct information out versus coddling a misinformed person is more important to me.

Tone, are you serious? Be thankful my wife didn't reply, she was incensed at her advice not to do it.

 

[Two Dobes]

Tone...yes your tone...

Colossians 4:6
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Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.