First and foremost I want to say this page is made for our adopting families and is protocol/training styles we personally prefer and use with our puppies and dogs, this does not mean these techniques will work on EVERY dog as every dog is different and some require other styles of training that we personally do not use strictly due to the fact what we use currently works for US and OUR DOGS. This page is also meant for reflection and revisiting, it likely won't all "stick" in your brain with full recall with just one read through. So many of these articles, training tips, and documents are printed and in your pup's go home folder as well, but we are constantly updating our website and information so checking back in would be beneficial!
Potty Training
All of our pups produced and raised by us are started on potty training at 3 weeks of age, while this seems young to many, its proven to work well for our program and pups with very good results by 6 weeks. We implement potty boxes initally, then graduate to dog turf potty areas inside, then finally only turf in their designated outdoor area. With this technique it leaves very little for our pup's adopting families to do potty training wise outside of making up a routine that fits their pup and personal schedule! This all said one main take away that I can't stress enough with every dog is routine is your BESTFRIEND, and it takes 30 days on average to establish a routine your dog and you know like and can live by.
Crate Training
We start crate training with pups that we produce and rasie at 4 weeks of age. This starts with a crate simply being added to their exercise/play area and in their sleeping area with an open door which makes it their choice to go in and out as they please, taking away the eventfulness of being in a crate as a whole. From there we transition to periodic crated day naps lasting 30mins to an hour depending on age. When we move to this step we al implement "special treats", meaning treats they only get while in the crate starting with an inital reward for going in when asked (small soft training treat) and giving a long term chew toy to combat crate anxiety and boredom. I DO NOT allow this long term special chew to be used outside of the crate, this technique makes the crate "special" and rewarding. By 7 weeks of age our pups are crated overnight with two crated day naps a day making them used to and good in their crates by 8 weeks. Its always the adopting family's choice on if they continue the crate training at home or not but we do strongly recommend it!
Sit~
Lay Down~
Leave It~