Training your puppy

Now you have your pup home training commences the minute she is through the door.

She will most likely already know her name as the breeder will have been calling her by name if already chosen and the word no a lot.

Now give her a day or two to get used to her new surroundings take it a room at a time. Do not overwhelm a pup as it can frighten them.

Pups are nosy creatures by nature hence a room at a time as she is still learning to go potty. Do remember pups need to go every hour including at night every few hours. Make sure your house and garden are puppy proof. So if young ones in the house remove their toys. No ornaments at eye level as these will be eaten for yourselves. Coal fires well any kind of fires have a guard up even when off etc etc.

Now after your Dane has been there for a few days and getting used to you all including visitors as you will have them too. Very much like having a new born baby in the house everyone wants to meet and greet her training begins.

Find a quiet time of the day and begin with stand and stay, You will have a treat to hand for this. Liver cake or cheese are hit in this house for that.

Stand and stay 
Stand your puppy and say the command stay do so for 5 seconds and treat. Yes, they wont get it to begin with but will in the end do this every day 2-3 times but always get them to stand first. Build up over the days and by the end of the week it should be 1 minute only and a pup always wants to please you. Build on this every week and remember to include everyone in this.

Dog training

Stand and sit 
After a week start with a stand and sit. Now this should be easy as they are learning the stand and now should sit. Show the treat to them in your hand and make a fist. Raise above and over the head as they look they should go into a sit position. Give treat straight away and repeat. Do this 2-3 times a day.

Stand, sit and lie down
Now we begin the lie down command.
Get your Dane to stand as usual and then the sit command next and trail your hand with treat to the ground as the dog follows he should go into a lie position and treat as usual do this also over the course of a week and keep going.

lead training 
We have our treat bag at the ready and we allow the pups to take the lead here in the garden some are reluctant to move so show the treat and get them to walk a few steps and treat. Keep doing this till they get used to the lead every day as at 12 weeks you don't want to overwhelm them on their first walk.

recall
Now I do this with the hide and seek in my garden to begin with. We call it bonsai which they love and we treat the minute they come to us. If an older dog take time out to a park or beach with a long line lead and do the same repeatedly every day but do begin in the garden first to. Have a toy or treats to hand so they know this is a game and it comes with rewards. In the garden we go hide and jump out and shout bonsai at them and run away. They catch up and you treat and run away again and repeat. You can do this for 5 minutes or so as they do love this game because you are treating them with goodies. Do go over the top with praise as well and they should return to you every time. Outdoor recall is harder so needs doing as a puppy. Have a good dog there for training, Now as the dogs are playing recall the pup with the treat and run away, yes the other dog will follow make sure you have enough for both now and treat. Keep doing this for as long as you want and take your cues from the pup. If the pup does do a bolter shout her name to get her attention and you run away this click in their brain it's the game again and there is treats at the end of this so she will come running to you.


Now the big outdoors 
Puppies are restricted in how long on leads for walks but free play is allowed as long as they are supervised with older and bigger dogs no over the top play.
In the beginnings do a street walk or country walk for 5 minutes for every month and build on that for your  puppy. Free play can be for any amount just remember and supervise at ALL times.


Other dogs
Let your Dane meet other dogs in a supervised way. Do not let the other dog jump on your pup and the same for your pup. This is where the sit comes in handy. They will sniff each other mainly bottoms and this is ok. If your Dane is showing fear tell the other owner and remove your dog and try again another day. Do not make a fuss at all just remove and try again.

Children and adults 
Now this is your personal choice here but we do not let anyone approach without permission as sometimes a big person approaching can scare them or a small child running at full pelt thinking its ok to cuddle your puppy is not on either. Be firm on this at all times. Yes, they do like a fuss but do it on your terms. Even if they get rude with you just tell them your dog is being taught her good manners for the future.

Now I have to say this isn't over night training this takes time and effort on your part. Please do keep this up on a daily basis,  plus training classes and do try a few not just one till you find the correct classes for you and pooch.



You should have already booked you and pooch into puppy or training classes remember both are not the same. Puppy classes are a fun way to have pup interact with each other and to know they come in all sizes. Some will do sit and stay but nothing else as its meant to a fun place for them. Now training is training and dogs learn new skills every week. You must keep up these with your Dane every day. Even if it's a sit or lie down. Most classes give training sheets away to learn.

We always begin with Puppy classes and then onto training classes as your dog progresses through the ranks, they then learn more things.
This is the order your Dane goes in for classes some dont do this and miss out on the tween one more so because we have large breeds.

Classes should be in your area and if you have researched the breed before buying you will have sourced out classes also. Please do go along to see how they do their classes and get a feel for it too as you may not like one but another.

Puppy
Junior
tween
adult

Now there is good citizen as well for your dog and it is on this blog where to go for classes your dog will LOVE you for this and you will LOVE your dog in return because its hard work but pays off for you and dog. link below


So I hope this helps in understanding your pup and yourselves

good-citizen