Help required with Puppy training

Milford_Cubicle

I appreciate your weekend has passed, but thought I'd add my 20p to see if I can't help you out with this little bundle of joy!

I can speak from experience, we picked up our then 7 week old black Lab last October and have gone through all of the training "motions" (pardon the pun!)

It's tiring in the early stages, but worth it ultimately. You and your daughter need to set this baby yellow Lab into a routine held by BOTH of you. Consistency is the key. During the day, take pup outside every hour and also before and after meals for it to wee and poo. As it is weeing/pooing, give your command. As soon it has finished, go completely mental, offering masses of praise like the puppy has just peed/pooed golden eggs and give a high value treat.
As a few on here who know me already know, I use "Cheese for Pees"
A teeny little sliver of cheese, purely reserved for toilet training. It works brilliantly. You're lucky it's a Lab, they are soooo receptive to food based training :rotfl:

Because they have such short memories at that age but are like little sponges, then the repetitiveness is what ultimately brands these commands and the acceptable behaviour onto their little brains

Now, have you considered crate training? A most excellent toilet training tool.
Can you/she buy/borrow one? This gives them a place of safety, a den if you like and also helps them "hold it" longer during the night. It will also help when your dog and the pup stay together, it means they can be seperate but still see each other.

Hopefully by now mini-yellow is far enough post-jabs to be going for walkies! Yay! Remember though, training such commands as sit, stay, wait, beg, lie down (etc etc) makes puppies mentally tired and is worth much more than a decent walk. At this age with Labs, you need to stick to the five minute rule i.e. no more than 5 minutes of enforced walking (on-lead exercise, basically) per month of life. So, 12 weeks means a 15 minute walk and then loads of training. Keeps their mind sharp ans stops them getting into mischief

Please feel free to PM me if you need any more tips. I'm new to dog ownership but as my Lab is now almost 11 months old and a lovely young woman, I feel suitably qualified to be able to help new Lab puppy owners through the "difficult stages" !!

P.S. www.labradorforums.co.uk is where you need to be. An absolute goldmine of useful information for the first time (and the rest!) Lab owner and some really wonderful people

Joyful

Thanks for everybodies input. She is crated which was a godsend over the weekend when my dog needed a rest! I have suggested that my daughter uses a food reward. As of Friday she is allowed out but we were advised up to 40 minutes walking only until she is a year old. Thanks for the link Milford _ Cubicle. I'll send it to my Daughter.

supermezzo

40 mins in one go is for when she's about 8 months old. At 12 weeks, really the corner shop and back should be her aim in life. She'll possibly be scared, shocked and apprehensive by so much noise, sights and smells. Anything more than a few minutes may well overwhelm her and make going out a chore not a pleasure so start small. Better to give her 3 or 4 five minute walks a day than one 20 minute one. (Besides which, they will just lie down for nap or refuse to walk if they're too tired and you end up carrying them home). If she's not tired enough after those, do some training indoors (sit, down, stay etc) to wear her brain out too.
All that apart, her bones and muscles need time to grow at the right speed and if you exercise her too much when she's young, you risk long term damage and heavy vet bills in later life!

Raksha

Walking a puppy too long can also encourage pulling on the lead - to get home!