Training

Training your Dog, Puppy and Lhasa Apso

Lhasa Apso's are not difficult to train. They want to please, they want to learn. But most importantly with Lhasa Apso's, they should not be treated harshly. They do not react well to being shouted at for instance. Commands should be short, simple but firm. If you keep repeating words, along side the action your puppy will learn it very fast.

Importantly, remember that you and your family are the only ones who can ever teach your Lhasa Apso what is acceptable behavior and what is not. It does not know and will never know if you do not teach it. And don’t think that training your Lhasa Apso can wait until it is older. It can’t. Teaching your Lhasa Apso right from wrong and good from bad has to begin from day one. Your Lhasa Apso will be a much happier Lhasa Apso if it understands that it has to abide by your rules, not his!

The trick is to start as you mean to go on, if puppy will always be allowed on the sofa or in bed then fine allow it from day one, but if they will always sleep in the kitchen on their bed then no matter how much fuss they make you must stick to your guns and leave them to cry about it, after a few days they get the idea, break the rules just once and it can set you back months of training.

House Breaking

Rules

• When on walks or in garden keep training treats to hand to praise doing their business outside, this positive reinforcement along with keeping them near the ‘exit’, helps them to know where to go and to house break them more quickly
• Your Lhasa loves you very much and as so when you come home after being out awhile they will be excited and this may make them wee on site of seeing you or worse, just as you pick them up. To avoid this ignore them at first and take them straight outside and greet them their and praise the good behavior when they ‘go’ outside. 
• no matter how hard you try your puppy will have a slip up, ensure they are cleaned thoroughly using and odor neutralizer, to ensure your puppy does not continue to mark this area.
• unless you live in a vet hot climate remove water a few hours before bedtime, dogs drink when they get hungry and the gap between dinner and breakfast is long, so they will drink and then need to urinate.

Step By Step

1. when you first take your puppy home create an area for it reside in, this should be a smallish area like a pen or utility room. Your puppy cannot have free roam of your home until it is toilet trained once trained they can then have more freedom, this may seem strict but if followed will get your puppy the freedom it wants much sooner.. this should include a water bowl and a bed area, toys but and a toilet area. the toilet area should be removed when you are home with puppy as during this time he or she will use the garden.
2. take your puppy to the toileting area of the garden ever hour whilst you are at home and immediately after feeding time. Typically puppy's can hold it for about an hour for every month they are old and all puppies feel the need to urinate after feeding.
3. feed puppy at regular times morning and evening, your puppy will need a poo about 2 hours after eating to time their walks around this or trips to the garden.
4. carry your puppy to the toileting area at toilet time, have treats ready ( you can use positive reinforcement with just cuddles and tickles instead of food but you have to be consistent one method or the other) walk back and forth and around in circles this stimulates the need to go and use your cue word we use "poo poo" once puppy has done their business act really excited and pleased give them a reward and repeat your cue word.
5. if puppy fails to go on an hourly trip outside after a few mins, take them back to their pen and repeat in fifteen mins. ( you can see why a lot of people take some holiday from work when getting a puppy or use a family member to continue training when you are out, the less times they go in the house the quicker they will be house broken.
6. after a successful toileting trip allow your puppy some free play time outside their pen, enjoy your puppy during this time and then place them back in their pen.
7. at your puppy ages into their 3rd and 4th month you can extend for 60 mins to 2 hours and so on
8. over night remember do not feed you puppy in the evening, remove water and place them in the pen or puppy's area, set an alarm and wake up 3 times when they are 3 months old and 2 times when they are 4 months old and 1 time when they are 5 months old, repeat the same process as during the day except, it just toileting, praise and back to bed, no playtime. keep paper down in the pen area at night to prevent puppy toileting on your floors. I prefer not to use puppy pads except in the car as they feel like carpet to a puppy are expensive and slip about on hard floors. 

Asking to Go Out

Dogs are smart, but don't come to you knowing how to do things. Once house breaking training is well underway it is now time to teach your puppy to let you know when to go outside.

Rules

• Like with all training, be consistent, once you start your asking method you need to do it every time you are taking puppy to the toilet.
• Decide are you going to have doggies pat the door,jump up do or or lay near the door or ring a bell, what ever you choose, the training method is based on conditioning so is the same
• choose a cue word to associate with this act. we use "garden" and trained our dogs to pat the door.

Step By Step

1. firstly choose your method, if using a bell method attach the bell on a string near the door, high enough so that puppy cant just run into it but low enough so that they can touch it with nose or paw.
2. at a toilet time stop at the back door and first show your puppy what to do (i lifted my dogs paw and patted the door, saying garden) repeat cue word and open the door, do this over a day or so on every visit to the toilet.
3. after this place puppy at the door and repeat cue word and wait for action, after ten goes, do the action for them and open door and go to garden, 
4. when puppy finally completes the action give lots of praise and tickles and proceed to the toilet area. 

one of my dogs molly got this on the second go and has always gone to the back door, to pat the door to ask to go outside ever since.

Using Stairs 

Rules

• Dogs don't come with the natural ability to climb stairs but show them where to put their paws and they will soon know what to do.
• vets advise that dogs would be kept away from stairs are the stepping motion us unnatural for the spine of a dog and can cause additional wear on the joints, we gate our stairs and the upstairs is off limits to dogs except when i need one in bed for a snuggle!
• Always supervise a puppy on the stairs

Step By Step

1. Teaching a dog to safely descend the stairs is more important, push your puppy into a laying position on a step and wiggle them forward down the step onto their front paw
2. then show them to wriggle their bottom end down a bit sideways and one leg first then then other, after a few goes they will do it by them selves
3. beware puppy's soon get over confident and in trying to do it faster may fall and injure them selves. 

Riding in the Car

Rules

• safely first, treat a dog as you would a small child and you cant go wrong
• decide if you are going to use a harness or a cage to trandsport your dog
• never leave a dog in a veichle, if you need to pop into a shop remove the dog to the curb and tie out, you never know how long you will be or how hot the car will get.
• never allow a dog to travel next to a child, obvious reasons! unless it is restrained and cannot jump onto the child in any way
• there are not laws about travelling with dogs except sensible advice given by the highway code in the UK. 

When in a vehicle make sure dogs or other animals are suitably restrained so they cannot distract you while you are driving or injure you, or themselves, if you stop quickly. A seat belt harness, pet carrier, dog cage or dog guard are ways of restraining animals in cars.

Step By Step

1. start as you mean to go on, if the dog is to be retrained in the back seat or behind a screen in the boot them start this way, for smaller puppies use a bed with sides in the back seat or boot at first
2. ensure their first experience is a positive one. don't let the first time you take them in the car be in very hot or cold conditions, ensure there are not over whelming odors to distract puppy and that the first trip in the car does not end at the vets with an injection! 
3. make the first car trip be to the park for a fun walk full of positive reinforcement
4. encourage the dog to sit or lay in the car whilst it is stationary and use positive reinforcement to praise good responses

Biting & Chewing

A puppy nibbling your hands maybe cute when hes small but allow it to continue and it become biting, which is not cute at all. Biting is a natural part of play and social interation for dogs, watch puppy's play together and they bite, but when one hurts the other they cry out and the play time ends. As a puppy owner you simply have to mimic this and your puppy will soon learn. 
Chewing appears during your puppys teething phase, and is a natural need of all dogs to chew and crush things with their teeth, it is your job to help fulfil this need.

Rules

• Do not feed the puppy with hands
• Do not handle a puppy with hands that smell of food etc
• Don’t plag tug of war or fetch games whilst training not to bite as these games encourage biting with humans involved
• Do not hit your puppy this only breeds aggression

Step By Step

1. Pull away and make a loud NO every time they bite
2. Keep chew toys and raw hide toys available for puppy, rotate them with differnt ones each day or so, if your puppy chews skirting boards, he likes wood, so provide wooden toys.
3. Put the puppy down if she bites and don’t look at them or play them
4. All members of the house hold need to be strict trainers using the same method
5. Reward good playful behaviour ‘treats with toys’
6. Throw treats onto the floor not fed from hand, another method is to hide the treat in your hand and let the puppy bite, but to only give the treat when he stops biting and hunting for it, i think this method is a bit confusing for puppy, but does work for some.
7. Make loud noisies like a tin can with stones in when they bite
8. If the puppy locks onto your hand place your thumb under their toung and finger under their chin and squeeze not to hard but this is very uncomfortable and the puppy will pull away
9. if they have behaved badly tell them off and mean it shout NO be loud and forceful qickly give them another try dont be afraid to put your hands back near their head, be brave trust them to learn and if they are good reward with cuddles not with food to reinforce how to behave with humans
10. walk your puppy 4 times per day build up energy will cause bad behaviour a tired puppy is easier to train
11. biting can go on for some time if they start this behaviour they have learned it, you have to stick with the training and help them, they are not being aggressive, just misplacing pain, stress or energy.

Bathing & Grooming

bathing and grooming starts at birth, any good breeder will have started this training and will tell you how to continue. This is ever more important in the Lhasa Aspo and other breeds with higher maintenance of their coats, as they must get used to grooming.

Rules

• Dont over bath your puppy Bath when needed for cleaning the coat. 
• ensure water is a good temp not to hurt puppy 
• do not get water in puppy's eyes, stray dirt or shampoo can cause infections and eye ulsers
• dont alow the fur to get matted, gently brush out mats careful not to pull on the skin.
• choose a groomer that is used to puppy's tell them when its their first time at the salon and they will help to train puppy when they are there.

Step By Step

1. use a small washing up bowl, warm water, and puppy shampoo in the water. 
2. the first time you bath puppy keep the area quiet, and calm
3. talk to puppy, hold puppy and dip in and out once slowly, then place puppy in keeping a firm old with one hand and using the flannel with the other to stoke down the coat, 
4. keep head out the water and don't get it wet not until puppy is more comfortable and trusting in the water.
5. remove from water after just a short wash and hug puppy dry, 
6. use a hair dryer on low heat on and off the puppy, not in the face, for a short period and longer next time, so they get use to it.
7. purchase the correct brush for your dogs coat, and once dry, not when wet, brush the fur, gently at first, and build up to tackling knots, be reassuring and don't hold them down, keep them replaced with tummy tickles.
8. repeat, over time, soon puppy will get used to all the sensations involved in grooming and bathing, and will get stronger at steadying themselves in water
9. build up to using the shower as it quicker and easier, but you may need to adjust the pressure.
   
   
   

Walking & Lead training

like any training walking on a lead must be taught and the sooner you start the better dogs are naturally inquisitive and will want to inspect and smell everything. It is your job as their leader to let them know who is in charge when they are out walking, ensure your puppy has learnt the basic obedience commands before you let your dog off a lead in pubic to ensure it will come when called.

Rules

• ensure your puppy has learnt the basic obedience commands before you let your dog off a lead in pubic to ensure it will come when called.
• pulling sharply on the lead does not correct poor behavior, reward good behavior with treats and positive speech

Step By Step

1. start your puppy off by wearing the harness or collar so they can get used to how it feel
2. start off without any lead at all, the aim it to teach your dog to walk nicely beside you, treat in hand lead the dog around the garden luring with the treat near doggies nose
3. next encourage dog to walk beside you with the treat in front of him and reward with treat after a few paced, repeat and repeat this action moving and waling further all without the lead
4. next begin to add a word to the action so when dog is walking nicely beside you your repeating heel heel heel so they learn heel means walking close and i get a treat, reward with treats and repeat and repeat
5. next you can begin walking, start off in a quiet location with less distractions, remember your treats and continue to reward good behavior, use your learned words and build up to other areas like those with other dogs and traffic
6. hopefully dog will now walk nicely without pulling and will also learn words like stop and sit and come to be safe by roads and around children and other dogs

Play With Children

first never trust a dog with children, all dogs can be dangerous and harmful given the right circumstance, young and active dogs can easily mistake a toddler for another dog and even in play dogs use their teeth and full strength to dominate over each other. 

Rules

• never leave a dog alone with a small child
• use puppy/safety gates to give dogs and children separate safe spaces
• dogs can become as frightened of children as children can of dogs, handle all new meetings with care for both as dogs turn fear into aggression
• never keep dogs in a room with children are having food, it is all too easy for a child to hand food to a dog and get nipped, even if this action would not hurt a grown up, these actions can cause children to become afraid of dogs

Step By Step

1. once your dog has learned some of the key obedience commands you will feel safer allowing play with children
2. from a young age dogs will learn how to behave appropriately around children with your guidance
3. for first meetings have your dog on a lead and monitor play very carefully 
4. teach children at the same time as your dog, they must learn not to feed, pull, hit dog and not to leave toys that the dog could chew on the floor.
5. you will know your dog and child best of all, use your instincts, and never forget your dog is and animal not another child!

Meeting Other Dogs

It is never too early to begin socializing your dog, proper socialization in its first year will set your dog up for life with the skills and behavior it needs to meet and be around other dogs
there are many different method on training dogs on how to behave with other dogs, most of which you will never need if you simple meet other dogs out on your walks and reward calm positive behavior.

Rules

• ensure your dog is up to date with all vaccinations before meeting other dogs or going out places other non vaccinated dogs may visit
• carry your treats in case you meet other dogs
• when first meeting other dogs use a pleasant voice and repeat a key word like doggies
• always keep your dog on a lead until u are confident it is both obedient and socialized

Step By Step

1. spot another dog whilst out walking on lead 
2. encourage calm sitting or laying behavior in the presence of other dogs, 
3. use a firm voice and issue a command sit and keep rewarding with treats all the time they sit in the presence of the other dog until the dog moves out of sight or move on,  this lays the ground work to submissive and passive behavior. 
4. lets the dog know you are in charge and no other behavior is acceptable, keep this up every time you see another dog, 
5. try to meet other types of dogs 
6. when this command is learned allow dogs to meet and sniff each other after first following your sit command
7. once meeting is over issue the on command or follow etc and move on away from the new dog

Dogs and Cats!

dogs and cats are not designed by nature to live in houses together, in nature one is prey and one is predator, its not hard to know which is which. Firstly if you wish to be a multi species household it can be done, it requires diligence on your part and training but harmony can be achieved. It is far easier to add a dog to a cat house than a cat to a dog house. 

a cat into dog home

A cat into a dog house will find it difficult to settle, they will know the territory is that of a predator, dogs can be taught to tolerate a cat in their territory but i depends on their prey instincts, you must carefully consider the quality of life both will have if one lives as prey and the other constantly on the hunt!

dogs instinctively want to chase and catch, test your animals "prey drive" by trowing a toy away are they interesting in chasing and catching, if not they may  likely tolerate a cat in their home but vast training will be needed.

a dog into cat home

here the dog in in cat territory and you must teach the dog that the cat has right of way as well as teaching no chasing is allowed

Rules

• always ensure the cat can get away, give them high up places to climb and sit and feel safe, consider allowing cats access to upstairs while this can be an area the dog is not allowed
• sometimes the dog needs to get a tap on the nose from cat to know they are a powerful animal too, be very careful not to allow either to become injured.
• a similar method to that below can be used when you have a new baby in the home and are introducing baby to dog, follow steps and take great care

Step By Step

1. before introducing cats to dogs, first ensure they know the basic obedience commands
2. much like introducing dogs to dogs, encourage calm sitting behavior in their presence, issue a sit and stay command when cat is around and reward until cat goes away
3. on the next few attempts bring the cat a bit closed use a friend to help, if the dog continues sit and stay reward, if he moves issue a firm "leave it command" you many need to do separate work on the leave it command using toys in the garden before moving forward
4. correct any barking behavior toward cat reward all good quiet calm behavior
5. when the dogs sits and stays in the presence of cat reward 
6. once dog is able to sit calmly when cat is right next to him you can move to the next stage allowing dog to walk around the room with cat present, keep a lead on to correct any behavior, watch for any signs if the chase instinct
7. correct any chasing urge with leave it command, continue this training over many months monitor all contact until full obedience is achieved

Obedience

Dog Training for Obedience lays down a set of rules or boundaries which educates your dog, they also learn to listen and respond to commands, learning basic manners and how to behave in situations.

 Teaching your dog the commands of obedience establishes basics which will assists in preventing the development of unacceptable problem behavior - such as jumping up, barking, chewing and digging. This is because once your dog has learned sit or down, and jumps up at someone you will respond with a firm down and sit and your dog will willingly comply, you will praise them for their goo behavior and hopefully the dog will not jump up again for sometime. you will be more relaxed with a dog you know you can take anywhere, keep safe and trust in any situation.

Basic obedience training for your dog is teaching them right from wrong, they will know their place and will thrive on their new skills. 

Obedience training fulfills some of your dogs basic needs like exercise, mental stimulation, spending time with you and having a purpose. This can lead to better behavior and a more focused dog. Most problem behaviors in dogs stem from lack of boundaries combined with lack of stimulation.

training your dog to listen and be obedient increases your dominance over the dog. this is essential for a multi dog/animal household. More than one dog is considered a pack, and any pack of dogs needs a leader, you must be that leader. Your pack must look to you for guidance. When you have one dog that dominates over other this can creates dominance struggles later on as the behavior of dogs changes as they age. At each stage you need to be ready to lead all into submission, being well trained obedient dogs will help them at every stage of their development.

1. sit
2. come
3. stay
4. go 
5. stand
6. down
7. leashing
8. heel
9. leave it
10. fetch

Whatever the command the training is based on positive reinforcement, once your dog knows these commands it will be loyal and obedient, in turn this will mean a dog that can be trusted about the home, around town, and around your children. (although always remember the golden rule never trust a dog with a child)

Rules

• Choose a technique, dog whispering, clicker training, using a training school, which ever the technique you decide learn all about it, then stick with it, train one command then keep using it while you begin training the next command. i use simple positive reinforcement and treat training, when my dog does the command on cue, i praise with tickles or treats.
• have fun, obedience training is a great way to have fun and build a loving between you and your dog.
• don't start obedience training too early, it is important to focus on housebreaking first, equally don't leave it too late, where your puppy has already developed bad habits, it you get to this stage it will be much harder and you will probably need professional help.
• get the family involved, everyone who is going to be caring for puppy needs to know the commands and the techniques for enforcing them.
• commands need to be given clearly and with some force, they need to know who is in charge and when its time to listen.
• positive reinforcement will go on for years when ever your dog successfully completes a command you praise them, as first you will be more excited and use treats and in years to come a cuddle or just a "good boy" will let them know you were pleased with their behavior.

Step By Step

1. first choose your training technique if you are going to use the clicker you should begin with the clicker during toileting, ensuring every time the clicker is used their is a positive reward, find out more about this method before using it. I use the simple positive reward method, when the action is completed positive reward is given, (praise and treats)
2. do correct bad behavior with a firm and simple cue word like stop, do not praise on the stopping action of poor behavior only praise on the action of positive behavior
3. repeat and repeat and repeat. stick to it, for example with the command down, when they are up on the sofa (and use other places to like top of steps or on bed) use the cue down, use a gesture as well. when they don't respond, pick them up and place them down, repeating the cue word firmly. then repeat when the dog finally does it by themselves positive reward. and repeat over and over ever day
4. keep training session short and fun a half hour s day over long periods of time
5. master once command then move on to the next but continue to use all commands learned daily
6. test commands in different places so your dog doesn't think they only apply in the kitchen!
7. get everyone in the house using the command, get the dog to sit before every meal, the mean is then the reward, use the commands in many situations
8. some dogs are not motivated by treats of food, one of mine learned all the commands with a tickle to their chest as the reward as they loved that so much, find out what works for you

Tricks

once a dog has leaned obedience commands they will be used to listening for instructions and receiving rewards. dogs can learn all manor of actions, i find they enjoy learning new actions and proving them selves. Teaching your dog new trick helps you bond with your dog, they can learn useful actions, like fetching items and the extra training helps to channel a dogs need to attention and exercise with further leads to better behaviors
some breeds are so intelligent they need to be occupied with trick and jobs to do, the boredom of being under trained leads many of the most intelligent breeds to be poorly developed and have poor behavior like destroying furniture digging up your garden, barking etc

some fun tricks
roll over - to roll over (not all dogs can physically do this due to their posture)
fetch - to collect an item, return and drop it
speak - to bark on command
jump - over or onto anything a doggie fav
dance - stand on hind legs possibly spin around as well
sing - howl to music on command
sprint - a straight sprint and stop and lay on 1 command
fly ball - to release a ball catch it, turn and run over hurdles whilst carry the ball
hurdles - to jump in succession without then need to walk or stop in between
long jump- to clear 2 or 3 hurdles close together
seesaw- to walk a seesaw and balance weight to move to the other side
weave poles- to weave in and out of poles at speed
shake - to present paw and shake
wave- to raise paw and wave it
paw - to lift paw 
names of items, to choose the correct item from a selection
ring bell - useful to get your dog to ask to go outside
leap over people- as it sounds
wee on command!
go to place - to go to place on command e.g. go to bed
spin - to turn in a circle 
back - to walk backwards
put toys away
catch
bow - to lower head between front legs
skip - skip over a swinging rope
crawl -move forward whilst laying down

+many more, what can you teach your dog to to leave a comment let us know!

Rules

• ensure your dog is familiar with basic obedience command
• be realistic about your dogs potential not all dogs can dance and jump
• be patient and consistent and you will see the results
• start of with some easy thing and work until you reach your dogs potential
• with most action you will likely have to show your dog what you want it to do
• when teaching my dog penny to literally jump through hoops, i had to lift her of the ground and throw her gently thorough the hoop, rewarding on the other side, eventually she got it and can not run a whole agility course on the command "go"

Step By Step

1. begin by issuing a basic sit and stay command and reward, get your dog into listening mode
2. show dog the action and do it for them and issue the command eg, stand (to stand on hind legs)lift up front legs and balance dog and repeat stand, and issue reward, keep going until they do it on command only issue reward on the first 2 or 3 with you helping perform the action then they have to do it by them selves for the treat if they dont to it come back to it in an hour or two and repeat