[KayGates]

I was wondering what I should be training my nine week old puppy to do.

So far she asks to go to outside to go potty(not consistently, but she will whine or stare at me) and I can get her to sit when I have her attention(which at nine weeks is hard to keep :P).

Is there a website or a chart of some sort that is almost like a lesson plan of what I should be training her to do?

Also we are working on not biting so much.

Any Answers would be greatly appreciated :)

[starbuck8]

You might find this site helpful for your general training questions Kay! There are different links to click on until you find what you're looking for.

Congrats on your new little pup!

http://www.dogchannel.com/dog-inform...AB&PostalCode=

[KayGates]

Thanks. She is a sweety. A mini dachshund, and very alert and eager to please. She has that trademark stubborn and independent streak though :)

Thanks for the links. :)

[starbuck8]

She sounds like a cutie! :)

I hope the links give you some good info. Here's another one that I go to often. There is a ton of really good info on A-Z questions.

Pumpkin for cats - pumpkin for dogs - weekly pet tips by Pets.ca

(I just took the link from my faves. It's not really just about pumpkin... lol)

[KayGates]

It was great.
I travel a lot with her, even though she is only nine weeks.
She is in the process of completing her shots so I am careful about having her around dogs that I do not know about their shot histories. Other people have told me that too much travel at such a young age can be bad, but I think that if that's the lifestyle that she will always have, Why not?

What do you think?

[starbuck8]

I agree that until she is done with her shots, that you should keep her away from other pets. You never know! Some owners unfortuately are very careless.

I don't see a problem really with getting her used to travelling at an early age. Maybe start slow, and make sure she doesn't start to get car sick. I know when we had dogs at the farm, we always used to take them with us in the truck when we did chores, and many times for hrs. in the tractor with us. (we would stop for breaks of course) I think the sooner they get used to travelling, the better behaved they are in the vehicle. Myself personally, I would say it's a good thing to get her used to it when she's young.

EDIT: My dog looooves her car rides! It's her favourite thing to do!

[KayGates]

Lyla(my puppy) is great in the car. She prefers to be in her crate though. I really think it depends on if she is tired or not, because sometimes she wants to look out the window. I recently had to make a 1 hour + car trip to a city, and then a 1+ back. She was fine. I think that she likes the motion. She certainly doesn't get sick :)

[starbuck8]

As long as you don't leave Lyla in the car alone for more than a minute or two, I don't see a problem then if she enjoys it.

I remember not long ago hearing a horror story about a woman that had to travel in her car for a living. One day while coming back from a business trip, she pulled into a rest stop. She let her two dogs out to go pee, but then put them back into her car so she could go to the restroom and get some fresh air. She turned the car off, and locked it up. Apparently it was a cloudy day, and she was only about an hr. away from home, so she was planning on taking the dogs for a walk when she got there. She thought she would take a short walk on her own at the rest stop to stretch out. She was only gone for about half an hr. Well, she returned only to find both of her dogs were dead. :( So sad!

She thought that just because it was cloudy, and didn't seem very hot to her, that they were fine in the car without the AC on. Obviously they weren't. Something that seems like it wasn't a big deal, turned into a tragedy in mere minutes!

If I need to leave my vehicle for anymore than a minute or two... say to fill gas, I will not take Niki with me at all. Of course she's not happy at all with this, but I just couldn't risk it.

[KayGates]

Ahh. That is a pretty scary story.
Yeah, its pretty cold in the northeast right now. Lyla is little, I wouldn't want her to freeze.

[starbuck8]

Yes, I'm in Canada. We've had temps down to -50C, which is pretty much the same temp in Fahrenheit as far as I can remember, (burrrr) so Niki hasn't been getting as many car rides as she would like either. Although, she sure has excess body fat to keep her warm in the winter, LOL! I just bought her a treadmill today, to get some of that extra winter poundage off! ;) I hope Lyla enjoys her car rides with you, and I'm sure you'll take good care of her while you are out and about. I've read some of your advice to other questions, and it seems like you're well informed. Lyla is lucky to have a good mommy! :)

[450donn]

As for training, I would suggest that you teach her to be on a leash. You can start in the house and as the weather warms again you can move outside.

[KayGates]

Ahh yes, I am a research nut.
And as a child I read every animal book in the primary, and middle school library. I love dogs. You should have seen all of the stuff I bought for her before I got her. She is in good hands. :)

And thanks, I have been wondering about leash trainging the past couple of days. Right now we have been working on teaching Lyla her name(hold the treat to one side, repeat her name until she holds eye contact, reward her, switch sides) and the command "sit" Also the no biting and tug of war issue. I haope its not too much too soon.

[starbuck8]

I don't think it's ever too early to start training them. Just keep the training sessions short, as she will have a limited attention span right now. But, if you keep it consistent, she should pick things up in no time! :)

[KayGates]

Oh yeah, her attention span is amusing. I try to keep them less than a few minutes, and if I see her getting bored I back off. Trying to push it just frustrates her.

[cheated]

Hello,

I know what it's like to train puppies. What I did is, give it a companion. Either another puppy or a stuffed animal will amuse and keep it entertained. Also, try to keep chew toys around.

[KayGates]

She has tons of toys, and strangely enough, my cat felix and her get along very well. They play together all day. He is 11 months old, and she is only nine weeks. He just loves her :)