DunePilot Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 So here's the deal..... My wife and my son have been bugging the crap out of me, for the last couple of years, to get a dog. Don't get the wrong idea... I love animals - I had a LOT of pets growing up (dogs, cats, birds, etc), it's just that being the "clean-freak" that I am, I was reluctant. A couple of moths ago, I was out of town for work and my wife calls. She says a friend from work has an 8 week old Whippet puppy that she needs to find a good home for, and she wants him. Being that I really DID want a dog, too (and I like that particular breed), I said it was ok with me. The next day, my wife goes over to her friend's house to pick him up. While she's there, she sends me a pic of him.... who could resist that face! lol. Then, AFTER she gets back home, she sends me a pic of the other one.... she decided to bring his brother home, too! ugh!!!! So now I have two, 4 month old MALE puppies in the house. I love these little guys to death, but they're driving me crazy!!! I need to get them trained by yesterday! lol. I'm not looking for any hard-azz, hard-core, super-strict kind of crap.... I just want them to be happy, well-behaved dogs, who don't :poop: all over my house! hahaha. So if anyone has any recommendations of places to call, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sand chick Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 (edited) First off... GOOD LUCK getting any 4 month old puppy trained!!! Any sort of behavior training really shouldn't start until they are 6 months old..they don't retain alot of information before that.. as for the poop... house potty training should be done by yourselves and not by a professional type trainer.. most professional trainers will do obiedience type training.. sit stay heel and unless you want to pay for a behavior trainer..they are just babys after all and its like you just had twins I actually recommend visiting some dog training sites.. books.. and truely doing it yourselves.. Potty training pups is like potty training kids..well kinda.. take them out every hour on the hour to go potty.. reward them well for a job well done.. Whippets are pretty smart pups, they are very high energy dogs and need alot of room for running, they are sight hounds, so more then likely any movement they see they will be chasing it down by nature.. if you don't have a large yard.. I really really recomend starting them out early at the local dog park.. Good luck.. and congratulations Now where are the pics?? Edited April 23, 2009 by sand chick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertskyz Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 Vegas Valley Dog Obedience Club. I have been training dogs for many years and have had 3 show dogs. You can start obedience at 12 weeks old. Kennel you dogs went you are not interacting with them. Make going out to go potty an event with lots of praise and make a big deal out of it when they go potty outside. Always use the same words. NEVER HIT YOUR DOG. If you spank them with a news paper all you will accomplish is making them afraid of the news paper. Get them neutered ASAP. I have some worksheets on puppy training that I could copy for you. What side of town do you live on. I could copy and mail them to you. But you have to be consistent and work with them 20 min's. a day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jakster884 Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 Vegas Valley Dog Obedience Club. I have been training dogs for many years and have had 3 show dogs. You can start obedience at 12 weeks old. Kennel you dogs went you are not interacting with them. Make going out to go potty an event with lots of praise and make a big deal out of it when they go potty outside. Always use the same words. NEVER HIT YOUR DOG. If you spank them with a news paper all you will accomplish is making them afraid of the news paper. Get them neutered ASAP. I have some worksheets on puppy training that I could copy for you. What side of town do you live on. I could copy and mail them to you. But you have to be consistent and work with them 20 min's. a day. I now have a 5 month old German Sheppard. I picked him up when he was 8 Weeks olds. I think he needed to stay with parent until at least 12 weeks. Potty training was fun but after about 4 weeks he understood where to go and considering he has his own back yard it makes it much easier to do. Inside is a benefit and not a given. Still learing the dog training basics but he if full of energy and 50lbs. I was told neutering is best to settle him down a little. I hope so... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EY3BA11 Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 As soon as you take them out of their crate.. CARRRY them outside.. dont let them walk.. CARRY them outside then like skyz said give them plenty of praise when they do their buisness and use terms like go potty or somethign that they will understand. Hannah lets me know when she needs to go out. She will sit next to the slidign door and make a little grunting noise or paws at the door goin yo fker let me out i gotta piss!! She is also good about going when we tell her too. IF we are getting ready to leave the house.. I will tell her ok lets go outside and go potty. She walks out the door and does her do then comes back in and heads for her kennel and waits for us to lock her in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indasand Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 I have a DVD you can borrow... PM me if ya want it.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DunePilot Posted April 24, 2009 Author Share Posted April 24, 2009 Thanks for all the good advice! They're actually doing very well with the "potty-training" part. We take them out every hour, and they "go" every time. We found that it worked MUCH better by taking them out one at a time - this way, the one trying to go isn't getting effed with by the other one! haha. After they've both gone, then we let the first one back out so they can play. We do have a very big yard, so there's def no shortage on room for them to run... those little effers are fast!!! My main thing is the behavioral part. I completely understand that they're just babies, and it's totally natural for them to be little hoodlums. I just want to get a handle on things right away, while they're still young. I think I should have worded things differently... I'm not looking for someone to train them FOR me. I was thinking along the lines of obedience classes, instead. I did a little searching online and found some places that looked pretty good. Not sure which concept might be better, though.... take them to a class at the park with other dogs, or take the option of having the person come to the house and work with them here. Seems like quite a few of the places I looked at give you both of those choices. I was mainly trying to find out if anyone here on the board has used any of these places to work with their dog, and how their experience was. I am going to look into that Vegas Valley Obedience Club now, as well (thanks Skyz). Once again, THANKS for everyone's input. As for the pics... the recent ones are still on the camera, but here's a few crappy cel pics from right after we got them. They're already 2 1/2 times this size! The one on the left is Walter - the one on the right is Tiger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertskyz Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 What ever you do don't use Sit means Sit. Their type of training is not a good style for your kinda of dog. Vegas Valley is the best. It is important that YOU train them and not someone else. Have someone teach you and them at the same time. Like I said, I have some printouts for beginning obedience I can copy for you. They are from Vegas Valley Obed. I think you will find them very helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sand chick Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 (edited) We do have a very big yard, so there's def no shortage on room for them to run... those little effers are fast!!! You got a couple cuties there!! Yes they are! I used to train and show them years ago! Wait til they get bigger! I had ten acres for them to run on and I love the way they tuck their bodies and tails and just go for it! They are great dogs! Some of the best that I have worked with in the ring! I will have to look through my book boxes.. I may even still have breed books on them, if so I will hand them over to you! Edited April 24, 2009 by sand chick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DunePilot Posted April 25, 2009 Author Share Posted April 25, 2009 ^^^^ Thanks, Jodi.... I appreciate the thought! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DunePilot Posted April 25, 2009 Author Share Posted April 25, 2009 What ever you do don't use Sit means Sit. Their type of training is not a good style for your kinda of dog. Vegas Valley is the best. It is important that YOU train them and not someone else. Have someone teach you and them at the same time. Like I said, I have some printouts for beginning obedience I can copy for you. They are from Vegas Valley Obed. I think you will find them very helpful. Yeah, I looked at the website for Sit Means Sit - as soon as I saw the words "electronic collar", I was immediately turned off. I don't know what all is involved with that, but I don't like the sound of it! I'll pm 'ya about those printouts. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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