The Taming of the Shiba Part 1

I have been consistently making progress in Loki’s training. Thus far, he can reliably sit, down, and he is house trained; for varying values of house trained. He does still have to occasional accident when he’s scared, but what dog doesn’t. Training him has been more about training myself, and less about training him.

I would like to make a few points starting out.  First, timing of your marks is important.  If your timing is off, you will just confuse him.  So your marks and non-marks need to happen during the behavior.  That said, you can not correct your dog for something he has already done; you can only correct him while he is doing it.  So house training means paying attention, paying lots of attention, to your dog.  If you can’t watch him, don’t let him out of his kennel.

The first complaint with regard to this method of house training is, “its cruel to keep your dog in a kennel for 8 hours a day”.  Well, its fine for a puppy, since he will just sleep all day anyway however, if you are seriously that concerned about it, get an exercise pen.  Just be warned that if the space is too big, he will just section off a portion of it to pee and poop in.  In fact, I never give Loki free reign of my apartment.  If he is out of his exercise pen and kennel he is always on a leash; I will let him drag it around.  Your dog is going to be way faster then you, even as a puppy.  If you can not get to him immediately to give a correction you are going to miss a lot of learning opportunities.

Loki watering the lawn

The next complaint is, “I don’t have time to take my puppy out 8 times a day”.   Honestly, in this case, you probably do not have time for a puppy.  Luckily Loki was 4 months old when I got him, so he could basically hold it until lunch.  Loki’s routine is basically as follows:

• 6:00:  Wake up (or get woken up) to go pee
• 6:05:  Get fed (usually kibble)
• 6:30:  Get taken out to poop
• 7:00:  Get taken for a walk
• 7:45:   Get stuffed in an exercise pen
• 11:45:  Get taken out to pee and walk
• 12:15:  Get stuffed in an exercise pen
• 17:30:  Get taken for a long walk / training / play session
• 18:30:  Get fed (usually a Raw Meaty Bone / Organ Meat)
• 20:30:  Get taken out to Pee
• 22:00:  Get taken out to Pee and Poop

So what is Loki doing in between those times?  Sleeping, that’s what.   He seriously sleeps most of the day.   That is the life of a puppy.   The important thing is to keep a strict schedule, so you can predict when your puppy is going to have to go.  Based on this schedule,  I know when he is going to have to go before he does.  With that knowledge I can be prepared to offer treats / rewards for going in the correct spot.  That is basically all there is to house training a puppy.  You simply give him a reward when he goes outside, and non-mark when he goes inside.  In fact, grab him, pick him up (while he’s peeing) and drag him outside.  Most puppies will stop urinating or pooping when you grab them.  This accomplishes two goals, you show him that going inside is acceptable while teaching him that he gets a reward for going outside.  This will make him want to trade his urine and feces for a treat later.  Remember to always be consistent and fair.  You want to set your puppy up for success, which means maximize the opportunity for success while minimizing the chance of failure.  If he makes a mistake inside, it is your fault not his.

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