Puppy Advice......

msflowerfairy

I trained my border collie to lie down, by getting him to sit while i sat on the floor, and with my 2 hands i did the play stance banging both of my palms onto the floor saying lie down in a stupid voice, he thought this was a great game, and as soon as i did it i gave him a treat, and made loads of fuss! He does it now as soon as i ask him to.
A bit unconventional, but it worked for me!

foreign_correspondent

I have taught a 'lay down' by sitting on the floor with the dog, practicing and rewarding 'sit' with some nice treats, then holding a treat in my hand and moving it down towards the floor in front of the dog, (a little way infront) so that they naturally go into a lie down position to reach it - I then praise and reward.

I would teach a lie and a wait seperately, as its all best broken down into small steps, otherwise the dog will be confused.

- oh, you also need to socialise him with more than one dog, if you want him to be trustworthy with other dogs as he gets older..

Hughesy84

foreign_correspondent wrote: »

- oh, you also need to socialise him with more than one dog, if you want him to be trustworthy with other dogs as he gets older..

Oh dont worry he is - the Jack Russell is just the one he see's most. He is also friends with an Akita, spaniel & a puppy jack russell.

He also meets many other dogs on his walks

Sequeena

Hiya, congrats on your pup

To get him to lay down, make him sit then take a treat and move it from his face down to his feet (tell him to lay at the same time). He will follow your movement, give him the treat. Do this for a few times then don't give him the treat until he moves his paws forward. Soon you'll have him laying down with no fuss - I trained both of my dogs this way

For walking there is a 5 minute rule for every month he is. So at 4 months old he should be having a 20 minute walk twice a day. However you know your dog best and if he needs more than that walk him for longer but don't walk him so much that he is laying down in exhaustion. Build his exercise up slowly.

When leaving him alone do you mean going out of the house or when you go to bed? My dogs were thrown in at the deep end and left alone at night straight away (apart from the 1am and 5am toilet trips). They cried a little for the first few days but soon got used to it. When I go out I always leave them with toys to keep them occupied. Having a crate is good as it means you won't come home to a destroyed house and dogs love having a 'den' area. Always introduce the crate as a good thing. Leave the door open, let them have a sniff then put treats in slowly moving the treats to the back of the cage until you can close the door. Only do this for a few minutes at first then build it up

Hope I've helped!

Sequeena

A book I definitely recommend is The Perfect Puppy by Gwen Bailey

dollparts

omg your how cute is your puppy!

If they arranged marriages for dogs I would offer my baby girl staffy (12 weeks) for his paw in marriage...

I have found http://dogtraininginfo.co.uk really useful. They have an option to sign up for a daily training email and they also offer a free sample of their doggy treats for use in training (and spoiling!)

I have downloaded their training guides as well and they seem pretty good.

I am clicker training my baby and so far she sits on command, comes when called, goes to her bed and is now learning to 'stay'.

Sword_2

It is amazing what a dog can do at 16 weeks when you compare it with a 16 week old human child.

dollparts

Sword wrote: »

It is amazing what a dog can do at 16 weeks when you compare it with a 16 week old human child.

That's very true, and when they get to 16 years old they still don't answer you back:rolleyes:

Toothfairy4

Awww he is so sweet!

Raksha

dollparts wrote: »

That's very true, and when they get to 16 years old they still don't answer you back:rolleyes:

No, that bit happens at 6 months