Category Archives: Training

My 2 Cents

Posted on by Kristy

Puppies are naughty. They are mischievous. They are bad. They chew things and they potty where they are not supposed to.

Since I’m also in the puppy training trenches right now I wanted to share my 2 cents on how this should be done, or maybe just how I am going to do it.

Have you ever wondered why service dogs are such good dogs? I have my opinion. From what I’ve learned from a friend, a prospective service dog is either with their people, on a leash, or directly interacting with their people, or in their crate. They are never left unattended unless they are crated. Period.

When a puppy is crated they cannot get into trouble. Period. They learn to be content and you have peace of mind.

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The two naughty puppies that are living with me right now, Bella and Louis (pronounced Louie, the Blenheim Accelerated Puppy from Pansy’s litter-he finally got named this morning) are currently crated. I have peace of mind. They are peacefully sleeping. They just had a grand playtime where I was in the room next to them. I was watching them, had to spray bitter apple on the doggie door flap because they were chewing it (naughty puppies-it was Bella), so I offered them a bully stick as a replacement, which they happily chewed on for a solid 15 minutes until I plopped them in the crate.  Yes, that was a really bad sentence.

They might have been able to chew the bully stick longer, if one of them, and I don’t know who, hadn’t peed on the floor instead of going out the doggie door to use the litter box. I’m pretty sure it was Louis because he was the only one walking around.

So in spite if my efforts to be right near them and supervising them, I got busy shredding papers and had to clean up pee.

But back to crate training…I believe in it and I believe the more contained a puppy’s life is, the more content and calm he will be.

It is like having a new baby. They must be constantly supervised. And taught. And trained. It takes a lot of time. It takes a lot of effort.  These 2 puppies are going to be contained a lot, either in their crate, or in their small space shown in the photo, or on a leash with me in the house.  This is just how we do things here.  I can’t have pee on my carpet, even once.  It cannot happen, and it won’t happen because I simply don’t let them go there.  These puppies will have plenty of space to play and run and have fun.  But it will be on my time clock, when I am ready, and prepared, and willing.  Otherwise, they will be contained….because that’s how I think it should be done!!

I wrote the above about an hour ago, and I’m just finishing it now.  The puppies are STILL crated, sleeping like little babies.  Soon one of them will wake up and cry to be let out.  When that happens, I will let them out and guide them toward the litter box and we will have success.  We will then offer food, inside the crate with a kong ball, and water, and they will have another grand playtime together, and hopefully they will poop in the box as well.  And when things begin to tone down, I will put them in the crate again for another nap.  And they will be content, and fall asleep, and have sweet puppy dreams.

And the wheel will turn like that all day long, and tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day, and the next day….till Bella goes to her forever home, and till Louis gets a little older and can be trusted with a little more space!  Happy Potty Training Everyone!!

And that’s my 2 cents!

Puppy Training Tip

Posted on by Kristy

Training your puppy can be a fun and rewarding experience. Here is a quick tip for new and older puppies.

Every puppy from Silver Paw Cavachons comes home with a collar and leash. Use these tools, not only for daily walks, but for containment training as well.

Your new puppy does not need full run of the house to be happy. In fact, he will be more secure and settled if you control and confine his spaces during the first year of his life.

The picture below happens a LOT in our home! Whenever we are doing extended training with someone’s puppy, we bring them into the middle of our lives, and treat them as we would our own little dog.

Use your collar and leash to tether your puppy in a central location so she can see you and the family in action. Give her a bed and bully stick just in case she gets bored of watching you!

Knowing your puppy is close by and safe gives you peace of mind. Knowing your carpet and furniture are safe provides even more, and through the process your puppy learns to be content near you without having to be constantly held or in your lap.

I highly recommend puppy containment during the first year, and this is one simple way to do it, while still providing the feel of freedom for your puppy.

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*This method is best when you know you will be in the room or passing through frequently. A puppy left on a leash with no supervision, could easily chew through if she decided to. Of course, your Lupine Collar and Leash are guaranteed, even against chewing, so you can easily get a new one, but its always best to supervise your puppy unless she is in her safe zone or her crate.

Covering For The Puppies

Posted on by Kristy

Training puppies is a 24/7/365 day adventure.  It doesn’t let up if you’re sick.  It doesn’t let up if you want to get away for a few hours.  It doesn’t let up if you want to get away for a day.  Forget about taking vacations!  It doesn’t let up if you need to cook a Thanksgiving dinner, or go Christmas shopping.  It doesn’t let up if company needs to sleep in the office/puppy room.  And most importantly, it doesn’t let up for the weather.

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When the sky fills with clouds it means one of two things…RAIN or SNOW!!  And these two things make potty training puppies very difficult.

But I had a dream and I knew a solution was possible when we got our new house.  I knew the office would double as a puppy training room, and I knew there was a nice little back porch with a sliding glass door.  I knew we could install a doggie door into the sliding glass door, and I knew we could use the back porch for the potty boxes.  And I HOPED we would be able to figure out some sort of covering to shield this most important space from the weather!

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And so the dream began…with corrugated hard plastic roofing, that allows the sunshine to still spill through, but blocks the moisture and snow from falling on the training grounds!

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Lucky me, who has The Woodman for a husband, who can build and fix just about anything.  I knew this little project would be no problem for him, if he’d take the time to do it!  It’s well known that “the cobbler’s children never have shoes”, right?  I begged and pleaded and coerced and manipulated.

Ok, I only begged and pleaded.  I think he saw the need and I’m so glad he was willing to do the job!

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It was a wet and miserable day, but he faithfully built the puppy shelter.

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It was scarcely done before it was tested with great results!

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It’s a little lean-to shelter, with just enough space for all the necessary tools…

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To properly maintain the space, we need…

-4 litter boxes that will service up to 8 puppies
-an electric water dish to withstand our freezing weather (and a normal one in the summer)
-a metal trash can that holds puppy kibble
-a dark brown plastic container that holds the pine pellets
-a nice broom for quick sweeping (the pellets can be a bit dusty)
-and not shown in this photo, but in the following photos, a large round trash can for all the doggie waste (and there is a LOT)!!

And of course, a wonderful, tall, Iris pen to contain the puppies while they’re out on the porch doing their business, and playing!

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We will paint the railings and framing white this coming spring.

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It’s such a nice, compact space, with EVERYTHING necessary for successful litter box/potty training.  Redford is loving the space and uses the litter boxes like a regular champ!

I am so excited about this space.  Now it doesn’t matter how bad the weather is outside, we will still have all the puppies going through their training.

We just brought Sadie’s litter into this space this week.  It took them less than 24 hours to figure out the doggie door!  Redford is showing them the ropes.  They are having a ball playing inside and outside, and though it is dry right now, let the rain and the snow come!  This year, we are READY!!

The Litter Box

Posted on by Kristy

 

THE LITTER BOX

We are happy to tell you that we get your puppy started on litter box training. We use the UGODOG indoor dog potty to train our puppies. We have tried several different potty systems, and for our needs, the UGODOG works the best. Your eight week old puppy is young enough to be molded with any potty training plan that you would like, but we encourage you to continue with what has been started, at least until your puppy is mature enough to make it outside.

 

THE TRAINING

We follow a precise schedule that involves reaching certain milestones during the litter box training process. We begin with a “Beginner Setup”.

During this stage, your puppy will begin to toddle off the bed and use the litter box. He is simply following his natural instinct to not soil his “den”, and it’s so exciting to watch their first steps as they navigate over the lip of the crate .

 

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As your puppy successfully completes each stage of the litter box training process, they are given more freedom until they are reliable in the “Advanced Setup”.

 

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For the best results with your new puppy, we want you to duplicate the above photo in your own home. Your puppy does not have full bladder maturity, so when he feels the need to go, he needs to find a place very quickly. You may wonder if you really need to get the litter box for your puppy. At eight weeks the puppies are just to young and taking away their litter box is like trying to potty train a 1 year old to the toilet and eliminating their diaper. The one year old is just not quite ready, even if they can do it sometimes. Your puppy is the same way. You *might* notice his need, and get him outside quick enough, but why take that chance? Eight week old, small breed puppies simply aren’t ready and don’t have the physical maturity bladder-wise to hold it long enough to get outside. We recommend having a litter box in your puppy’s “puppy zone” so he doesn’t have to go very far, or wait very long to relieve himself.

 

THE PUPPY ZONE

Besides giving your puppy a familiar setup, the “puppy zone” that you create in your own home will be a safe space for your puppy. You will want to set up this “puppy zone” on a surface in your home that is easy to clean. We recommend a simple metal exercize pen, that will form a 4 x 4 ft area. You’ll need one that is at least 3 ft high, as the puppies, and especially the Cavachon puppies will get over a 2 ft x-pen in no time!! Your puppy will spend his time in the “puppy zone” when you are not actively interacting with him. This is his safe space, safe from items in the house that could be harmful, like chewing electric cords, and safe from having accidents on the carpet or any other place in the house that is not his designated potty spot.

In the “puppy zone”, your puppy will have everything he needs…his crate, his bed, his UGODOG, his food & water dishes, and all his wonderful toys that squeak, and bounce, and tug, and snuggle.

 

USE THE UGODOG FOR THE LIFE OF YOUR DOG

You may be wondering if your puppy will think going potty indoors is what he’s supposed to do. In the beginning, it will be where he does his potty business, but you can begin to transition your puppy to outdoor training around 12 weeks of age. Your puppy is maturing and from 12-16 weeks, the bladder control is really beginning to develop more fully, and you will find that your puppy is able to hold it for longer periods of time.

If you live where an outdoor dog potty is inconvenient to get to, you can train your puppy to use the UGODOG outside as well. If you purchase the double UGODOG, which is essentially two units with a clear connector, you can use one indoors and one outdoors in the early weeks of training. When your puppy is older and can go outdoors to potty, you can take him to his 2nd UGODOG outside and he will have something familiar to eliminate on. Eventually, you will simply use both units outdoors with the clear connector, creating a doggie toilet, that can be used for the life of the dog.

This is especially convenient for those living in an upstairs apartment with a small outdoor porch, or for families that simply don’t want to have to pick up dog poop in the yard. It could also be used indoors if you would like to have an indoor trained dog, in an RV, or on a boat. If you always take your puppy to the UGODOG outside, he will learn that this is his spot to potty.

Naptime

Posted on by Kristy

Molly’s babies are getting their crate training by enjoying their nap in the crate with the door open. We are closing the door as well, for short periods of time. Two of these pups are sold, with the last pup, the larger Blenheim female still available. You can see her face in this photo.

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