# Timing of overall training targets



## sillybluecreature (Oct 6, 2013)

Hello! I've been lurking on these forums for ages and I have to say they have been an immense help since we just got a puppy 2 weeks ago. Whiskey is now 10 weeks old and though she's been amazing, she's also my first dog and I wanted to make sure I wasn't asking too much of her. I just wanted to know in general, with your pups, at what *age *did she-

-understand *house training *(able to understand she needs to tell you she needs to go and will try to hold it). I totally understand mistakes will be made but just wanted to know when she "got" what the goal was

-learning to walk on a *slack leash* around town (we are training her but don't want to be too frustrating on all our needed walks. we also live in an area with tons of distractions)

-getting 50%/90% *recall* (in a dog park)

-stop *eating your hair*?

-stop chasing the *cat*

-stop *digging *in her bed (she's tearing up the bowser!)

-learn to *mouth *softly even when excited and around toys

I'm trying to be super patient with her, keep my tones soft, and give her tons of love when she's calm and let her run out her energy when she needs to. I've totally fallen in love with this breed and can't imagine a more perfect dog. I love hanging out with her in non-distracting environments. It's just where I live, in the city, walks can be so frustrating with everyone stopping us, cars/trucks/bikes, tons of dogs, garbage everywhere- I just feel like I'm constantly correcting her not to hurt herself. Thanks so much!


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Most of what your describing, is just a puppy being a puppy.
Other than the potty training, you and her have months of work ahead of you.
Even though all the sights, sounds, and smells are something you have seen thousands of times, its all brand new to her.
Your going to have to praise what she does correctly, and slowly work on the other things.


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## hcrowder (Dec 26, 2013)

I am no expert but here is how Penny has done. 

-understand house training - 11/12 weeks old - we only had one accident after 12 weeks and that was completely our fault. 

-learning to walk on a slack leash around town - we are still working on this at 7 months. She walks on a slack lead when tired and often when she doesn't know where we are going. If we are heading to the park she pulls like a maniac.

-getting 50%/90% recall (in a dog park) - We have good days and bad days. Penny is smart and has learned that most of the time when we call her "come" the lead goes on. If she thinks I am going to put the lead on she wont come. However, if we call "this way" she checks back in with us and can be called off other dogs, kids, etc. "this way" means she has to change direction but the fun of running off lead isn't over.

-stop eating your hair? - 16 weeks or so. I had my hair in a bun for the first 3 months or so that we had her. 

-stop chasing the cat - we don't have a cat so I can't comment. I will say that her bird instincts have really kicked in since she turned 6 months old. She now loves to chase birds and squirrels. 

-stop digging in her bed - this decreased a lot by 3 months but she still digs in her bed when bored. 

-learn to mouth softly even when excited and around toys - this also was a gradual change but was pretty good by about 18 weeks. 

Hope this helps. It is by no means a conclusive list as Penny is my first dog and she is still a puppy.


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## einspänner (Sep 8, 2012)

I'd put up the nice bed until she's older. A lot of us use old towels for the first few months and move to a cheap bed as a test after that. Around a 8months to a year she may have earned the Bowsers. 

Heeling is an ongoing thing for us at 14 months. From 12-20 weeks old she hardly pulled which impressed her trainer, but meant I didn't have my technique critiqued either. She started pulling later, but has a pretty good grasp of heel now. Point being, they go through stages of progress and regress. 

Still chases the cats, but I've haven't tried that hard to dissuade her. : She understood leave it by 12 weeks though, so in theory apply that to the cat which is more tempting and I'd say you could have it trained by 20 weeks. 

Recall in a distracting environment (but not a hunting environment) she had down by 5-6 months old. Again this is one of those things they tend to regress on. You'll find tons of threads on adolescent recall problems. 

Don't worry so much about developmental milestones. They all learn things at different paces because there are so many variables at play.


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## R E McCraith (Nov 24, 2011)

Post back in 16yrs - our V's are always in training - just the nature of the BREED !!!!!!!LOL


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## Ruthie_67 (Jan 25, 2014)

Oscar is 7 months old and is PERFECT at all of these things .... (as long as I have sausage to bribe him with)  

xx


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## aliciavp (Mar 14, 2014)

Hi there, Lazlo is my first dog too, and he's a week off 6 months now. A lot of this we're still working on, but here is a general idea:

*- house training. *This is a work-in-progress. We had no accidents after about 13 weeks... but over the last 2 weeks he's been having a couple accidents, usually on the stairs, on the way down to the door which leads outside.

*slack leash*. Again, work-in-progress. Puppy school helped us with technique, and he's getting better, but not perfect by any means. As others said, if he knows he's going to the off-leash creek trail, he pulls like a maniac.

*recall*. still something we're working on, but he's usually pretty good when i turn and walk in the other direction. 

*eating hair*. hahaha. about 16 weeks i think. he still likes to lick and chew my hair if he's hyper and my head is within grabbing distance, especially when it's in a nicely made bun... 

*chasing the cat*. Lazlo has never chased cats, we don't really have many in the area, but when we take him to my parents house, he loves to bark at their cats, he's too scared to go lunging at them. 

*digging in his bed*. I call this "evening-post-walk-frenzy" I seriously think he's pumped up on endorphin's... he has a burst of energy and "digs" in his crate, pulls out the pillows and blankets and makes a mess... He does this most nights, it lasts a couple minutes before he finds a toy and takes it to the couch.

*soft mouth*. I'm pretty sure the sharkies stopped around the 16 week mark.

as hcrowder said... this list isn't complete - there is a lot we're still working on and getting used to - we are first time dog-owners so it's really been a learning curve, and many of our training techniques were learned from books before attending puppy school.


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## sillybluecreature (Oct 6, 2013)

Thanks so much everyone! I totally figured everything was a work in progress but wanted to know what to expect along the line. We have moments where we wish she was a puppy forever (usually when she's sleepy) and of course moments where I just want to stop the sharkies and have her grow up! 

The poor girl had diarrhea and vomitting last night and we stayed up holding her until she fell asleep at 2am. In between she seemed as happy as ever though (tail wagging off her butt) so we're just hydrating and watching her carefully. We've got a long learning curve head of us, so thanks so much for sharing and I can't wait to be able watch her grow up! Cheers everyone!


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## aliciavp (Mar 14, 2014)

sillybluecreature said:


> Thanks so much everyone! I totally figured everything was a work in progress but wanted to know what to expect along the line. We have moments where we wish she was a puppy forever (usually when she's sleepy) and of course moments where I just want to stop the sharkies and have her grow up!
> 
> The poor girl had diarrhea and vomitting last night and we stayed up holding her until she fell asleep at 2am. In between she seemed as happy as ever though (tail wagging off her butt) so we're just hydrating and watching her carefully. We've got a long learning curve head of us, so thanks so much for sharing and I can't wait to be able watch her grow up! Cheers everyone!


Boiled chicken, mashed roasted pumpkin (skin removed), white rice all mixed in with a little yoghurt will help with the diarrhea.... and they LOVE pumpkin. Lazlo had the runs for 3 weeks on/off, and this was my go-to recipe. He absolutely loved it!!


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