# How should I discipline my puppy?



## Sarah0407 (Oct 5, 2015)

Bowser, my 8-9 week old puppy has been with us for 6 days now and he has settled in perfectly well... he's now beginning his 'lets see how much I can get away with' phase, which I'm sure will last ages.

Aside from occasional accidents like pooing on the carpet even though I've just taken him out for a wee, he has now decided to eat/chew everything, as they do. Stones, chair legs, mats, the sofa, blankets... we're laying grass in the garden for him but as it's not down properly yet, he's chewing the corners of the grass and essentially ruining it. Every time he's outside he runs straight over to the concrete we're breaking up and picks up bits and tries to eat them.

We say no and push him away but he is relentless. He tries every angle to get around us and we are wondering what we can do. We feel like we are saying No so much that he's just ignoring us. My partner flicks him on the nose when he does something wrong but I don't want to physically harm as I've read it can cause aggression in the actual dog... but what do you do when your pup doesn't listen and you can't let him out for a pee and a poop without him wreaking havoc?

I've ordered a playpen for him so we'll be able to put him in that eventually.

What do you guys do to essentially discipline/correct your dog? Do you find those corrector sprays work?
He's getting better at house training but he occasionally messes inside with warning even though I've just taken him out and he's peed or pooed. I'm assuming this will just come with time, but when he's hyper he's unmanageable so any advice you can give me would be great. Earlier I was sitting there and he walked over and randomly bit my toes... ouch!


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## wyominggrandma (Jan 2, 2011)

He is a puppy and doing what a puppy does. A firm no and redirect him with suitable toys/bones to chew on.
Quit "flicking him on the nose"..


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

Discipline is good. The best type is when the owner learns to discipline themselves with respect to raising the puppy. It takes a good deal of self-discipline to become good at managing, teaching, enforcing, reinforcing behavior in your puppy. 

The good news is that when you are successful at this, you will have an awesome bond with your puppy, and your next dog it will be second nature. 

When we place the blame on the canine end of the partnership, it takes a lot longer, and we don't learn anything that carries forward to future dogs. I think we stumble into some things that tend to work for the dog in front of us, and we give up on other stuff, and end up with a half-trained animal we can live with. Or we dump them at the pound, and refer to him as the issue of some BYB, or simply say the dog was bad or unintelligent or stubborn.


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## Stonevintage (Aug 26, 2014)

Just my opinion but you can't treat a 8-9 week old puppy like he understands verbal and physical corrections. All you're doing is hurting the bond you should be developing. Great to say No and redirect to a toy or praise when they potty in the right place and right time but anything else is counter productive until they're about 12 weeks old. Then, take it slow. They learn better on "happy parties" lots of praise when they do something right. 

I always have a "room" that I can pu the puppy in when I need a break - give them safe toys and a blanket to snooze on - just the laundry room or kitchen works - somewhere safe where they can't get into anything or chew any cords. Use your imagination to block off the entryways to the room - I use cardboard boxes flattened high enough to keep the pup in but not to tall that I can't walk over or swing open to get in or out. 

Puppies need lots of sleep and sometimes they get overexcited and therefore really kinda bratty and don't listen and bite. Time outs are great, you both get a break - they will protest at first, then settle.


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## Apexk9 (Sep 13, 2015)

Sarah0407 said:


> Aside from occasional accidents like pooing on the carpet even though I've just taken him out for a wee, he has now decided to eat/chew everything, as they do.
> 
> What do you guys do to essentially discipline/correct your dog? Do you find those corrector sprays work?
> He's getting better at house training but he occasionally messes inside with warning even though I've just taken him out and he's peed or pooed. I'm assuming this will just come with time, but when he's hyper he's unmanageable so any advice you can give me would be great. Earlier I was sitting there and he walked over and randomly bit my toes... ouch!


Me I just let my puppy get away with everything.
I let him dig up my garden chew anything non dangerous to him [Statues etc] because to me those things weren't important. Oh no he'll dig up the garden that will die once winter hits anyway. I focused for the first while to just make sure me and him have a great bond anything I didn't like I redirected by ignoring and moving to play.

I eventually taught him what NO meant and now I have Eh Eh and NO as my 2 verbal corrections and he knows the meaning of both.


I don't know what a correction spray is but if its like those bitter apple things they may or may not work. Some dogs hate it some dogs actually like the taste of it.

Also place the bathroom on a Verbal Que and always treat when he goes outside. Any mistake at home make sure to clean with a solution of Bleach/water or a enzyme spray.


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

Apexk9 said:


> *Me I just let my puppy get away with everything. This is NOT a good idea, but your further explanation is, for the most part. *
> *
> *I let him dig up my garden chew anything non dangerous to him [Statues etc] because to me those things weren't important. Oh no he'll dig up the garden that will die once winter hits anyway. I focused for the first while to just make sure me and him have a great bond anything I didn't like I redirected by ignoring and moving to play.
> 
> ...


 Ok, it is best to not allow bad habits to become habits in the first place -- nuisance barking, digging, chewing on items that are not intended for that purpose. 

It is far better to discipline yourself to supervise the puppy, give a verbal correction -- Eh! and then provide an alternative and praise when the alternative is accepted. 

If you allow behaviors you would not like when the dog is 2 or 3 to become habits, those habits will have to be broken. Breaking a habit, especially one that is self-rewarding like digging or chewing or even fence fighting to develop and become entrenched, will mean that eliminating that habit will be unpleasant for you and the dog.

Training and managing a puppy or dog should be fun for you and the dog. We accomplish this by the following:

Train when you are in a good mood. 
Manage the dog when you are not training, 100%. 
Give commands once, allow the dog to comply, help the dog comply, praise. 
Always follow through.
Do not repeat commands.
Keep training sessions short.
Manage temptations that are beyond the age/training level of your pup/dog. 
Begin and end training sessions doing something easy, fun, and likely to be successful.
Talk to your dog.
PLAY with your dog.
20 2-minute sessions is better than 1 1-hour session. 
Be consistent.
Be happy.
Tell your dog you are pleased with him, "What a good boy you are!"


What NOT to do:

Do NOT yell at your dog -- this only hurts your voice and makes your pup anxious.

Do NOT strike your dog -- physically striking your dog will make an animal who is afraid of you, or irritated. It may even ramp the dog up.

Do NOT repeat commands -- you are teaching the dog to ignore you. Say it once, give it a moment, then follow through by helping the pup do what you want.

Do NOT give a command you cannot immediately enforce -- don't tell the dog to come when it is across the yard chasing a squirrel. Again, teaches the dog he does not have to listen to you. Call his name, reach in your pocket as for a treat, run in the other direction -- but do not give a command unless you can enforce it immediately. 

Do NOT leave the dog crated for an unnatural number of hours because you are too busy to have a puppy.

Do NOT leave a puppy loose in an area that is not puppy proofed without supervision. 

Do not alpha roll your dog, put it on its side to make it submit, or other nonsense to make you feel like you are in charge. 

Do NOT give the COME command and let your dog turn it into the CHASE ME game. 

I am sure I am missing some, but here is a start.


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## DutchKarin (Nov 23, 2013)

At this age you really shouldn't discipline per se. Discipline or rather a well timed correction comes when the dog is older and knows the behavior that is expected given a command. At this point y0ur puppy knows nothing. So your goal now is to redirect him to what you want him to do and praise and throw a mini party when he does it so he says to himself, "that was cool look how fun that was. I'll do more of that" This is why it is good to have places where he can be a nutcase... outside in a yard, in an ex-pen, or a room. Then when he has gotten his ya-yas out, do mini training sessions, 2-3 minutes of sit and down an then throw a party again. 

You haven't trained him yet so don't correct. Just redirect and party; this is called positive reinforcement if you want to look it up.
Consider working with a trainer now so you can update your training techniques. They sound a bit old fashioned.


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## Sarah0407 (Oct 5, 2015)

Hi guys, thanks so much for all the replies.
I don't personally flick them on the nose, that's something my partner has learnt from his dad who has two well rounded pets but I don't like the idea of it so I don't do it.

I have heard of positive reinforcement yes as I have read books and work with dogs so it crops up regularly, im just looking to Learn from other gsd owners as this is my first puppy.

He is crate trained and we use a clicker and treats for positive reinforcement so I think we're on the right track. I don't think that's overly old fashioned.


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