# Teaching House Manners



## marshies (May 18, 2011)

I feel kind of embarrassed posting this thread, since I'm guessing this is second nature to most experienced dog owners...but I'm needing a bit more guidance in teaching Puppy house manners. I've been doing research but not very many books and websites are dedicated to this topic. My dog growing up was already trained in the home, so it was never an issue that I had to deal with. 

She's always been tethered and closely supervised when in the house, and has never done anything awful and bad, mainly because she doesn't have the opportunity to. But I'm wondering what the transition between tethering/dragging a leash in the house to freedom is like. 

My trainer mentioned that behaviors we train in class can be used. Commands like "OFF" and such. But these commands still require me to be there and monitor her and reinforce the "OFF" should she not comply. 

I guess my questions are:

1) When do commands turn into learned behaviors in a house?
2) If she does something I don't like, like picking up shoes and wanting to chew inappropriate things, what should I do to correct/redirect/manage the situation. I've kept a very bare room for the first 4 months of having her, and that's worked well. But micro-managing the environment doesn't seem to be how other dogs are living...so I guess I'm seeking what normal dog owners do.
3) Could you please share what aspects of house manners you had to specifically teach your puppy? Any special boundaries or rules? 

I would love if you could share how you trained house manners into your dog.

Thank you very much!


----------



## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

Any house manners or rules that you teach your dog will be specific to your home. Its all going to depend on what you will allow or not allow your dog to do. Some people allow dogs on furniture some don't. Some allow playing in the home some don't. My pup is high energy but well behaved, she is 6.5 months and in her third obedience class and I believe this helps with manners at home also. She has picked up my shoe once...I took a picture of her with it, told her no and gave her one of her toys--she has not picked up a shoe again I took a gamble and started letting her sleep out of the crate at night when she was about 4 months...well let me tell you, she decided that she wasn't going to sleep and she was going to play with every squeaky toy she could. The next night I put all the toys up and she got bored...not good--she nibbled on the bottom of the rocking chair The next night the toys were accessible to her again(minus the squeaky toys) and I heard her chewing on a bone. It took her about a month to actually sleep at night, but I had to give her that trust to see what she would do. So what you can do is test your dog in certain situations to see what it will or won't do. I find with all of my dogs that having their toys out and everywhere(yes my house looks like doggie romper room) that they don't chew anything or act in a destructive manner. They have access to play at any time, yet they don't play non stop--they have their moments. I don't think it has much to do with the commands you use when training, because you are right you aren't there to tell the dog to sit, lay down, get off the couch, etc...but the actual training and stimulation given to the dog make for a happy well adjusted dog that doesn't want to get yelled at therefore they behave Since you have already somewhat established good behavior by keeping an eye on her you are already almost there.


----------



## marshies (May 18, 2011)

Thank you for the response. I Know house rules vary but I wanted to see what others did to see what kind of boundaries and enclforcements were being used


----------



## JakodaCD OA (May 14, 2000)

I do think it depends on the house/the dog.. I've never really had destructive puppies, because I have had the luxury of being able to spend ALOT of time with them.

During housebreaking (which I know doesn't apply to you now), I'd babygate off areas so I could keep an eye on them.

Yes, I picked up shoes, removed electrical cords, things I did NOT want a puppy to even 'think' about getting into.

If one say, did grab a shoe, just remove it, give them some appropriate, (and realize it was MY fault for leaving those shoes out there

Jumping , yes an "off", and when off, reward/praise. teaching "leave it",,I think you have to go with your gut / supervise and just keep up your training for good manners


----------



## Ken Clean-Air System (Feb 27, 2012)

Like anything else, it just takes time and patience. Our puppy, who is now 20 weeks old, has always had essentially free reign inside the house (after being slowly introduced, room by room). We block a couple areas off with baby gates and closed doors (the basement where the cat litter boxes are, a room that serves as our ferrets playroom, and sometimes the upstairs), but otherwise she can go where she pleases. She still occasionally chews some things she shouldn't, like the bottoms of a couple chairs and our shoes, but only when she is bored and hasn't had her energy sufficiently drained. We just keep an eye on where she is and what she is doing, and if she's chewing or getting into something she shouldn't we redirect her to a toy, a bully stick, an antler, etc. and praise for chewing an allowable object instead of something she isn't suppose to chew.

It's really just a matter of redirection, praise and most of all patience, with a bit of trust thrown in as well. Just try to confine to an area where you can check on her regularly and have a variety of objects on hand to redirect if she is found chewing something forbidden.


----------



## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

my dog was crated when we weren't home. we were home we watched
our closely. by watching him closely we could stop him from getting
into things. when our pup went after the clothes laying around
one of us get him and say "no" or something to verbally correct.
his verbal corrections were done with a gentle voice sometimes
raised slighly. you have to train them to stay out of things.
to teach my dog not to counter surf i use to leave food on the edge of the counter. when my dog went for it a simple "no" and moving out
the kitchen worked. i went from leaving things on the edge of the counter
to leaving food on the coffee and the floor. went i made it easy for him
to get my food i also would leave the room to give him time to get to the
food. i would watch him from another room. when he went for it
a verbal command and sometimes moving him from the room.
to turn it up a notch i use to leave food on the coffee table or the floor
and leave the house for 5 minutes. leaving the house for 5 minutes
turned into leaving the house with food exposed to leaving
the house for 20 minutes and so on. you have to train for a lot
of situations and train in a lot of places (indoors, outdoors, at the
mall, the bank, supermarket, downtown, the burbs, woods, farms,
etc.). the more places your dog is exposed to during training
the better off he'll be. whatever it is you don't want your dog to do
train him not to do it. you don't want your barking at the mailman
introduce him to the mailman, you don't want your dog barking at
people passing by the fence have a few people walk pass the fence
and train him not to react, you don't want your dog being
crazy when you have guess invite a lot people to visit and teach
him how to meet and greet. with training and socializing
you're going to have that well behaved dog. you train and socialize 
him and he'll learn to do what you want.


----------



## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

wow, that's a new, highly advanced technique. taking a
pic of the situation. when you showed your dog the pic
what did she do realizing you have proof of the act?



llombardo said:


> She has picked up my shoe once...
> 
> >>>>>I took a picture of her with it, <<<<<
> 
> told her no and gave her one of her toys--she has not picked up a shoe again


----------



## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

marshies said:


> Butmicro-managing the environment doesn't seem to be how other dogs are living...


Depends! Dena was reliable in the house by the time she was housebroken. My husband was leaving shoes on the floor when she was 4 months old and she never chewed a single one. With Halo she was probably over a year old before I stopped taking shoes off and putting them on top of the dresser rather than just kicking them off and leaving them on the floor. 

I still don't leave the dogs alone in the house when we're not here, but they're perfectly fine off in another room without supervision. For Halo (and Cassidy too!) the point where we felt comfortable giving that much freedom was much different than with Dena & Keefer, who were never destructive chewers. Cassidy was a horrific chewer, and she also had a secondary chewing phase many months after we thought she was done. Halo is more about the challenge, so she's good about ignoring stuff that's around all the time in favor of stealing things off tables or counters, such as eyeglasses, the remote, bills and receipts, kleenex, toilet paper (she eats it right off the roll! :hammer, potholders and the kitchen towel, kitchen knives...


----------



## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

doggiedad said:


> wow, that's a new, highly advanced technique. taking a
> pic of the situation. when you showed your dog the pic
> what did she do realizing you have proof of the act?


The point I was trying to make was that it wasn't anything serious enough to stress over I got my picture because she looked adorable and I redirected her...she has never done it again


----------



## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

Rotfl!!! 


doggiedad said:


> wow, that's a new, highly advanced technique. Taking a
> pic of the situation. When you showed your dog the pic
> what did she do realizing you have proof of the act?





llombardo said:


> the point i was trying to make was that it wasn't anything serious enough to stress over I got my picture because she looked adorable and i redirected her...she has never done it again


----------



## TCAP1 (Mar 28, 2012)

We got Zach at 8 wks - first couple commands we worked on were "leave it" and "out" because he wanted to pick up rocks outside. Command worked well inside the house showing what he can chew on and what he can't.


----------



## Jeven's Tyde (Feb 1, 2012)

My daughter was sitting at the table, and I was standing next to it talking to her while texting someone, (so I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings).

Then I hear her say "Oh Mama!" and laugh... (sometimes she's naughtier than her 2 yr old brother and the puppy...) I look up, and there was Tyde laying on the table looking up at us.

WTF.


He tried several times after that, various times during the evening, to do it again. 


That was several days ago and he hasn't tried again... thankfully. 

He's in dire need of some house manner training.


----------



## DJEtzel (Feb 11, 2010)

I didn't read the previous responses, so I'm sorry if I'm a bit redundant. 

I rarely tether puppies to me (unless I'm busy and don't want to crate), and I usually give them freedom of the entire house from the get go. If they leave the room, I'll call them back for some food (recall work!) or I'll follow them to keep an eye on them. Basically, for the first month or two until I can trust them at least a little, I follow them around like a hawk, because I don't believe in keeping them in one room for a month, tethered to me until 6, etc. They can do their own thing and be a dog in my house. 

If the puppy starts chewing on things, sniffing too much, etc. we'll go into the living room and play tug, fetch, wrestling for a few minutes to build engagement, then I'll do some simple training- touches, sits, downs, impulse control for about 5-10 minutes, let them out to potty, and they come in and crash for about an hour... 2 if I'm lucky. [this is the time where I watch tv, eat, use the internet, while keeping puppy in site] Then we do it all over again.  I just carry a lot of treats on me and reward for good behaviors and completely distract for bad ones. Puppy jumps on the couch? I call it to go play on the other side of the room. 

Good luck! House manners are probably my favorite thing to work on with dogs, just because it impacts their future so much- no one wants a counter surfing, bouncing, chewing puppy/dog for the rest of their life.


----------



## marshies (May 18, 2011)

Thank you for the advice! 

Puppy is GREAT at commands, but not so good in transferring them to life skills and manners in the house. We've started doing extended time in the house tethered to me/furniture I'm near while on a long line. 

She responds to me saying NO and OFF of most objects. I'm continuing to micromanage the environment to not let her repeat and reinforce mistakes. I've taught her that the behavior while in my room should be a default "down" by feeding her kibble over a 20 minute period in a "down" that she offered herself. She now readily goes into the down instead of the previous restless mode. 

Looking forward to hearing more advice on redirection/control/leash corrections/other prevention and consequences you've introduced in training house manners.


----------



## staceybullock (Mar 22, 2012)

I use Invisible Fence Indoor solutions to keep my 11 month GSD from counter surfing, out of the kitchen and pantry, and out of the carpeted areas in the kids rooms (I guess he thinks carpet is grass). We've only had him for two months, and having him instantly know his boundaries has made life with him so much easier. Invisible Fence® Brand - Freedom for you and your pets.


----------



## Barb E (Jun 6, 2004)

Cassidy's Mom said:


> With Halo she was probably over a year old before I stopped taking shoes off and putting them on top of the dresser rather than just kicking them off and leaving them on the floor.
> 
> 
> Halo is more about the challenge, so she's good about ignoring stuff that's around all the time in favor of stealing things off tables or counters, such as eyeglasses, the remote, bills and receipts, kleenex, toilet paper (she eats it right off the roll! :hammer, potholders and the kitchen towel, kitchen knives...


Are Halo and Kaos related?
I don't think I'm ever going to be able to have my shoes on the floor (unless they're on my feet) or have toilet paper on the holder :rofl:

Marshies - Kaos is only so/so at "drop it" so I always try to have a good toy or treat close by when she's grabbed something I don't want her to have. This morning it was a receipt that she found somewhere - I do have to admit that part of the so/so at "drop it" might be because I'm often laughing so hard as she's running around with something she shouldn't have it's hard to get out of my mouth :rofl:


----------



## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

:rofl: Love all the pics Barb!


----------



## marshies (May 18, 2011)

Barb, love the pictures!
Puppy is GREAT at "out" when its a toy, bone, or bully stick I've given her. The not so great manifests itself in things she picks out of the trash, things she picks up off the street...I've had to pry dead bird wings, used tampon dispensers, and other disgusting items from her mouth. BLEH.

I feel like I'm bribing when I show her the treat for an out...

the road to a well-mannered dog seems long and hopeless.


----------



## Barb E (Jun 6, 2004)

Time and repetition is the key to a well mannered dog
 

Dante will even drop cat poop, which if someone had told me he would do that when he was younger I would have told they that they were insane


----------



## Barb E (Jun 6, 2004)

Oh and I'm not above bribing 
In a sense my boss bribes me every day with a paycheck!!!!


----------

