education

A good education is very important so you and your dog can live in harmony later on. To help you with this mission, I wrote down some general info about a good education of your pup.

                                           The pack

Dogs live in a pack, with one leader , some assistants and all of the other dogs are servants and have to submit to the boss and his assistants. A dog is at ease in his pack when he knows his place on the "pack-scale". He has no problem with the fact of being a servant as long as the leader , leads his pack in a stable and consistant way. A leader gives short and clear commands and when they aren't executed immediately , a correction follows : he will put the dog down on the ground untill he relaxes and submits to the leader. At that moment the leader releases his grip and live continues in the pack, no regrets , no revenge (unfortunately this is a human thing...)

                                    A new dog into the family

When a new pup arrives at your house, let him explore your place and your family ( this will become his new pack ). The places he can't acces later.... don't let him enter now !!! Education begins from the moment your dog enters your live until the moment he dies.

Make sure your dog has his "own" place in the house : bench, basket, carpet. When he is at his own place : leave him alone !!!

You already have a dog : let them get to know one another and observe. Normaly the new dog has to submit to the other. Let them decide this between each-other but you as a pack-leader have to correct them when things are about to escalate. At that moment you correct the dog who misbehaves . This is your way to disapprove and to show that you and only you are the pack-leader.

                                         Eating and drinking

The leaders always eats first, your dog as last, that's your way to confirm his place in the pack. Never feed him from the table ( when you don't start wih it,your dog won't feel the need to beg). Don't leave his food for the whole day, but take it away after 30 minutes, that way your dog learns there is a limited time to eat.

Make sure there is always water at his disposale,inside as well as outside the house.

                                               Commands

Do you want to learn something to your dog? Proceed as follows : first always have the dogs attention by calling his name. Does he look at you, than give the order (sit,lay,up...) and do this with a loud voice and only the correct word (not a whole frase because the dog doesn't understand it at all). If your dog doesn't execute the order, repeat it one time and help him physically to execute it. Now , when your dog does it well --> reward him with a goodie and with a joyfull voice. When your dog fails, ignore it and start all over again at a later time.

                                              Pipi and Caca

At our place (the first 8 weeks) the pups receive a basic training concerning cleannes. We place puppy-pampers on the floor on wich they can do their thing. After multiple corrections an a lot of patience it works pretty well at the moment they move to their new owners. Now it's your turn to continue this training. Place a pamper on a steady place in your house. At the beginning their will be many accidents. Ignore them untill you see it happen yourself, than you have to correct your dog by taking him by his scruff and yelling : BAD!! (or another word). Never put his nose in his pipi or caca, then you risk that he gets scared and doesn't dare to do it at all. When you see a succesfull pipi or caca : reward him with a joyfull voice and a goodie.

Later you can move the pamper little by little towards the door , so your dog will associate  his "call of nature" with going outside.

Important : after feeding and when he wakes up, carry him outside to do his thing..

In general : have a lot of patience , reward the succes, ignore the failure.

                                                 Wandering

Many theories circulate about this item : how do I learne my dog to walk next to me and to follow orders while walking ? We also tried numerus things first but our own experience tells us the following : take your pup to a good dogschool !!!

First it is very good to socialise him with other dogs and people. There you will learn how to behave correctly as a pack-leader. Later this will give you a big advantage when you walk around with a full grown dog who knows that you are the pack-leader and who will follow your orders !!