Reddit mentions of Before and After Getting Your Puppy: The Positive Approach to Raising a Happy, Healthy, and Well-Behaved Dog

Get this book. It describes all the problems your having and how to solve them.

https://www.amazon.com/Before-After-Getting-Your-Puppy/dp/1577314557/ref=nodl_

I’m definitely not a dog expert — literally getting my first dog as an adult in two weeks — but the tongue behavior is sited in multiple books as a immediate sign that whatever training activity you’re doing went to far, stop immediately and sooth the puppy.

Dr. Ian Dunbar’s “Before & After Getting Your Puppy” link is widely considered a top book on puppy training and specifically calls out the tongue behavior as something to look out for when socializing a puppy.

I always recommend Before and After Getting Your Puppy by Ian Dunbar, because it really puts into perspective the responsibilities of owning a dog, and the potential long-term consequences of not meeting these responsibilities. It's also an excellent read to learn more about preventing behavior problems, because in my opinion, it's so much easier to prevent behavior problems than it is to try to resolve them later.

My FAVORITE books - that literally saved us and that every single piece of advice I could offer would come from - are Perfect Puppy in 7 Days and Before and After Getting Your Puppy. Both books are highly recommended here and we had AMAZING success following the protocols outlined (they compliment each other well). The only regret I have is not following them longer and slacking off.

• Ian Dunbar's Before and After.
  
• The Puppy Primer and Perfect Puppy.
  
  They're not GSD specific, but I think they cover the foundational stuff that will impact GSDs. Specifically though, the most important part of owning a GSD is getting one from a good breeder with no fear/anxiety/health issues in their lines, and then socializing the dog appropriately (people, things, animals - no forced encounters, but strong positive association building for new encounters).
  
  Not to say don't rescue by the way, that's totally awesome too! Just be aware that there are really, REALLY shitty breeders that are breeding dogs that have no business being bred. :( Lots of fearful GSDs about these days.

Ian Dunbar's "Before You Get Your Puppy" and "Before and After Getting Your Puppy".

The second one is a bit more geared towards after, so it's worth getting both.

I'll second the nod to Dr. Yin as well. She has a lot of free info on her site that is good to keep on hand.

I won't speak on the free feeding part, because there are already a lot of opinions, but I do have a book rec: The Culture Clash by Jean Donaldson. (I would link like I usually do with book recs but I'm on mobile sorry) The end of that book especially explains a lot of dos and don'ts, and has instructions for teaching basic obedience behaviors like sit, down, and stay (with positive methods, but with or without a clicker, which I like because not everyone likes to use clickers). The whole book is mostly about dog/human misunderstandings, but I think it is a good "beginner's guide" per se.

Anything by Karen Pryor is good if you are interested in clicker training. She and other trainers she works with have also published puppy raising manuals that may be with checking out.

Edit: also this book by Ian Dunbar: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1577314557/ref=cm_sw_r_udp_awd_I2vVtb0MY50191XV?ie=UTF8 Dude is like the father of positive puppy training

Leaving mom and litter mates at 6 weeks left him in a developmental lurch. From 5-8 weeks in when they really learn how to me dogs, and how and when to use those sharp teeth of theirs. I would get him into a puppy class with a good trainer ASAP so he doesn't totally miss out. Once he has his first set of shots there's no greater risk of infection from a puppy class than taking him to the vet for his next set.

You also don't know how much, and what quality, human interaction he had before you got him. He may not be comfortable snuggling, he may just be one of those not so demonstrative dogs.

I highly recommend picking up a copy of Dr. Yins Perfect Puppy in 7 Days and Dr. Dunbars Before and After Getting Your Puppy

You need to treat her accidents as your own fault because that's what they are. If she makes a mistake, it's because you have not been watching close enough etc. What you have done is most likely created negative feelings now associated with the bathroom which will only lead her to try and hide better or hold it longer. You need to take the time and read about dog behaviour and how to train properly and do like someone else suggested and start over like a puppy. I would suggest this book:

https://www.amazon.ca/Before-After-Getting-Your-Puppy/dp/1577314557

Do the stuff in this book! It helped me out so much. I only wish that I had done everything in this book. The only thing that I couldn't get myself to do constantly was feed him from Kong products. So I had to deal with him chewing stuff that he shouldn't. It's a really great book, that will help you avoid a lot frustration. It's little rough at times, but worth it.

https://www.amazon.com/Before-After-Getting-Your-Puppy/dp/1577314557

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http://www.gundogsupply.com/k-9-komfort-biothane-check-cord.html

http://freedomnopullharness.com/

http://www.ruffwear.com/Approach-Pack_4

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best of luck!

There are a few times in puppyhood where Shibas are especially big assholes, remember that after neutering the testosterone level will slowly lower over weeks/months and any behavior results you may have been expecting won't show right away.

So here are my thoughts about what might be going on.

Biting
He is walking all over you because he thinks he can get away with it, this can be because there is not consistent discipline from ALL family members. If the puppy gets away with biting one person he will do it to EVERYONE. We taught our boy the word 'gentle' when he bites too much, when he would lick our hand or give us kisses we would say 'good boy, gentle' eventually he learns that gentle means to lick your hand and stop doing the unwanted behavior of biting.

Destroying He might be bored, without enough exercise or mental stimulation puppies can become destructive. Limit the rooms in the house he is allowed to be in, crate him at night, and spray everything with bitter apple spray.

Roaming Obviously he should be supervised when outside and Shibas recall can be really hard to enforce and train. Use high value treats when he comes when you call, and keep him on a long lead while he learns.

I recommend using a behaviorist and/or trainer who is familiar with primitive breeds (Shibas/Huskies), and understand that most Shibas typically do not respond well to aggressive training techniques, instead consider a more positive approach to training check out Shibashake and Dr. Ian Dunbars Book

Thank you, hooskerrr, for sharing your experience and your reaction to the video.

>Dunbar ridicules people for getting frustrated with their dogs, but he offers little or no solutions for the problems.

TED talks have to be pretty short, so they are more of an intro to a topic (for a general audience) than step-by-step directions. However, Ian Dunbar has written several books for dog owners, like this one, for example: Before and After Getting Your Puppy: The Positive Approach to Raising a Happy, Healthy, and Well-Behaved Dog.

Ian has made the first part of that book available for free as a pdf, so you can download that pdf and take a look at it.

Ian has also created a website called Dog Star Daily. It includes the Digital Dog Training Textbook which has all sorts of useful information for people who have dogs to train. Please take a look at the potty training information in that and see what you think. Possibly also of interest on the same site: errorless housetraining.

>Honestly, I don't think punishment is that bad an option.

Sticking to the topic of potty training, I could introduce you to a bunch of people whose experiences have indicated otherwise. For example, the owners of a boxer who hides (in the house!) to poop when nobody's looking. This dog was punished for pooping in the house. The message his human wanted to convey was "no pooping in the house! Only outside!" But the boxer thought the message was "he punishes me for pooping! So I must hide to poop, because I've gotta go and I'll get smacked if he sees me."

Punishment doesn't tell the dog what you do want him to do. Setting the dog up for success and then rewarding him for getting it right does tell the dog what you want him to do. The directions in Ian Dunbar's book and website give details on this whole process.

*edited to add a link.

Hi and thanks for replying. Your information is offering me good insight into what I need. I was looking at these two books: http://www.amazon.com/Leader-Pack-And-have-Your-Love/dp/189176702X/ref=la_B001ILMAOY_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1341528918&sr=1-3 and http://www.amazon.com/Before-After-Getting-Your-Puppy/dp/1577314557/ref=la_B001K83EFO_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1341528963&sr=1-1

The puppy and my dog have established their pack order today it seems like. For the most part he was limping or had a cone on the entire week, so my dog was avoiding him. Now that he's had the cone off for a day, she has established dominance with him and they are hunting in my back yard, running in patterns already Lol.

First, read Ian Dunbar's Book.

• Socialize your dog. Have her see, smell and meet as many people as you possibly can. Walk her in many different environments. Have her see people in skates, bikes, skateboards. Learn how to introduce her to other dogs and then have her meet as many dogs as you can.
  
• As you have probably seen in this subreddit, pitbulls are very often affectionate and not aggressive. However, they are powerful. A playful nip from a chihuahua is very different than a playful nip from any 80+ pound dog. From the dog's perspective, it's the exact same ludic behavior. See the book on how to teach your dog to learn to have a soft mouth.
  
• It is an every-day commitment. She will need her walks, her training and discipline exercised every day. If you don't have the time or energy to do this, don't get a dog. Any dog, any breed. Watch some Dog Whisperer episodes and you'll see that even the cutest fluffiest breeds can get unstable and neurotic without this level of attention from their family.
  
• Have your kids learn how to train her, and have them train an exercise her as well. That creates very strong bonds and will also let her know that even though they may be small, they're still figures of authority.
  
• Learn to relax while your out and about with her. If you're about to have a tizzy with worry about what others think about you having a big dog, your dog has no choice but to be nervous. She will look at you for guidance and will follow your lead.
  
  Feel free to DM any other questions you have. If you decide to rehome her, please find a reputable rescue organization or a no-kill shelter.

You can start training your puppy now, just keep in mind that small puppy=small attention span. Training sessions should be 2 minutes tops, keep them exciting and full of positive attention. Start out by getting him used to being handfed, then move to an easy-to-train command like "sit". Once he's got that down or seems to need more variety, gradually begin to introduce more commands.

As for treats, you can use kibble from his main diet as a minor training reward to start out with. You can also use soft treats like training treats or freeze-dried liver. Just don't go too overboard on rewarding!

Get as many friends and family of a variety of ages to come and visit/treat your puppy in the next couple of weeks as possible. Socialization is key and the 8-10 week window can, in a lot of ways, determine your dog's demeanor going forward. I'm sure you know, but you should avoid taking the puppy out to meet other dogs or into areas with high dog traffic until he is finished with the parvo series of vaccinations.

This is just the tip of a very large iceberg of puppy info. I'll put in a plug for /r/dogtraining and /r/puppy101 here! Both are great resources. We also relied heavily on the advice of Ian Dunbar while training our corgi. His website is here, he also has a great book Before and After Getting Your Puppy which was our bible. We basically did a less intense versions of his errorless house, chew toy, and crate trainings and our corgi was accident free by 3 months, is happy and bark free in his crate, and has yet to legitimately destroy anything.

Congratulations on your new pup and happy training to you!

Congrats! Do you already know what kind of dog it is and how old it will be?

For some books and reading I've heard good things about The Puppy Primer, by Patricia Mcconnell and Brenda Scidmore. There's also Before and After Getting Your Puppy by Ian Dunbar. It used to be two separate books but they've since combined them.

/r/puppy101 also has some great resources in the sidebar!

Well, I'd caution first time dog owners against adopting a stray off the street rather than through a rescue that has evaluated it. If its a puppy its one thing, but older dogs who have been strays or ferals for a while can come with some challenges. If nothing else, do try to rescue the pup and contact local rescues (especially if you can guess the breed and find a breed rescue) as puppies get adopted pretty fast. If you do choose to keep the pup yourself, search for a local trainer using the terms "Positive only," "positive reinforcement" and "clicker training" to local a positive-based trainer. Avoid trainers who advertise "balanced," "traditional," or talk about "dominance", "pack leader", or "alpha."

There are a ton of wonderful resources out there, and here are some very worthwhile books to look into

Before And After Getting Your Puppy

Puppy Primer

Power of Positive Dog Training

Family Friendly Dog Training

And specifically addressing house training -
Way to Go!

Anything by the following authors (who also have online articles) is pure gold:

Patricia McConnell

Pat Miller

Ian Dunbar

Suzanne Clothier

Grisha Stewart

Pia Silvani

Jean Donaldson

Sophia Yin

Also check our Dr. Yin's amazing series of youtube videos

And for general training (as in obedience and tricks) Kikopup is phenomenal.

I've worked in rescue for years and I foster harder dogs. If you every need any advice or questions answered you are welcome to contact me individually as well :-)

Use an exercise pen to confine her and attach it to her crate. This way the crate is only part of "her" space. She'll feel less confined and when she wants to be in the crate, she'll go in there. Always feed her in the crate and make sure there is nice soft bedding in it.

Recommend Dr. Ian Dunbar's book, [Before and After Getting Your Puppy] (https://www.amazon.com/Before-After-Getting-Your-Puppy/dp/1577314557/) (but ignore the alarmist stuff that makes you think you'll ruin your dog forever if you don't do everything perfectly).

http://www.amazon.com/Before-After-Getting-Your-Puppy/dp/1577314557 this is a great book, covers just about everything you need to know, gives lots of good ideas.

The person behind the biggest changes in Dog training and uncovering the myths behind the old school of thought is Dr. Ian Dunbar. He really changed the entire landscape of training. This is the book I get new puppy owners: http://www.amazon.com/Before-After-Getting-Your-Puppy/dp/1577314557

Anything else by him will also rock I'm sure. I also recommend

http://www.amazon.com/Culture-Clash-Jean-Donaldson/dp/1617811122/ref=pd_sim_b_8?ie=UTF8&refRID=05B0YMSXJHAPV8HKYE03

Start as soon as possible! :) We started with his name. When we said his name if he looked at us, he got a treat. Then, sit was very easy to teach. Hold a piece of kibble in front of his face, then put it towards his head but above his head. If he backs up instead of sitting down, gently nudge his butt towards the ground with your other hand. We taught our pup to sit in less than a week with that method, and he was around the same age as yours. Just be diligent, and very consistent. Make him sit for everything, you will thank yourself later.

The book my husband and I read, which helped a LOT with training is called Before and After Getting Your Puppy. I HIGHLY recommend it!! Worth more than any other dog/puppy book I have ever read.

Please, please read a book [1] [2] [3]. And watch a video.

I am sure there are some great pointers on here, but you'll need a lot more information than that.

I've been enjoying this book a lot and many people recommend it. If you want a taste of it a lot of his info is on this website for free


Edit: a word