The First Month (and beyond)
These are the items I focused on in the first month/quarter of Trouble coming home with me. Besides that I had taken a week off work to watch him, spend more time with him, and ultimately bond. I'd have to say those were crucial to his development and ask anyone who has met him. He is friendly and well behaved.
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1. "Name Loading"
The first step before any other training is to establish the relationship between you and your dog while teaching it its name. (See 2:30 in video)
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2. Potty/Crate Training
In the first week home, there will be LOTS of accidents and its ok. Potty training and crate training go hand in hand. The puppy needs to understand that it's "Spot/Bed" is its home and they should not get it dirty. Giving a puppy too much room allows it to potty on one side of the crate or pen and completely avoid it. As the puppy grows older you can give it longer time without a bathroom break, allowing a small amount of water for it to drink, and larger access to the home.
Crate Training teaches the dog where their safe spot is in the house, where food and water will be, and where to go when it is time to rest or take a break. At first do not associate the crate with a spot to put the dog as a punishment.
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3. Teething/Herding Mitigation
Corgis are working dogs that herd large animals like cows. As puppies they naturally want to nibble on hands, feet, legs, you name it. Here's some tips to nip this in the bud as soon as possible.
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4. Basic Commands
There is a lot of training material on how to get your dog to learn basic commands, but I find that sit, stay, and down are the most important ones to teach early on. Stay teaches patience and increases mental endurance. Think of a hand gesture to go with your command. It becomes another method to communicate with your dog nonverbally. One final one I would throw in there for later is teaching a dog not to run out the door if it is open. I usually use a leash during that training and the stay command. Here are my list of commands in order from the easiest to teach:
- Sit
- Down
- Wait
- Stay
- Release (to indicate when stay or wait has been finished)
- Come
- Spin (around)
- Give me Belly
- Roll Over
- Fetch (just because my corgi doesn't like to fetch on command only when he wants to play lol)
5. Feeding Interactions
Exposure to all types of (positive) experiences will take your puppy far. This will help avoid food aggressiveness between your dog's interactions with humans and other dogs. This also helps with the dog's ability to share his toys, treats, and help him play better with other people and dogs.
- First couple of interactions I would hand feed a part of their meal to them and randomly stick my hand back into their food bowl. They may completely ignore you, but providing them these learning experiences will keep them from being food aggressive.
- Keep your dog on their toes. Continue with sticking your hand in their food bowl, but also maybe half way through the meal move the bowl away or take it away completely and returning it. Watch your dog's reaction and correct any negative behavior.
- Have someone else hand feed and handle the bowl and it is especially useful if you have a child. Corgis that have exposure to children have a far easier time interacting with them than corgis that had no experience with children.
- This also works with toys and treats. Do the exact same thing and reward your dog generously if they don't react negatively by returning the item/food and praising them.
6. Touch Desensitization
Handling your dog a lot while it is a puppy will help it be more accepting and acclimated with different types of people and various levels of touch. If you plan on grooming your dog or having it groomed. Your dog will be one of the most well behaved dogs in the shop. Pet them all over and make them love it! But especially in these areas:
- PAWS! All four of them. Hold them, squeeze them, move them all around and all while distracting the puppy with a toy. This helps with nail clipping.
- Holding them safely and firmly because even though your corgi is not a small lap dog there will be times where they will be picked up and you don't want them to squirm out of your arms. It's dangerous!
- Ears, face, mouth, and teeth. I play squishy face with my corgi because its so cute, but having their face inspected will make them used to vet visits, general inspections, and teeth brushing.
- Pet them while they are asleep. Try not to startle them, but its good for the dog to learn and understand that someone touching them while they are asleep shouldn't be an alarm to them. If anything it should be nice and soothing.
7. Introduction to Grooming Tools
All dogs have some maintenance in terms of grooming whether you are doing it yourself or having someone else do it. The experience is much better when there has been exposure young. I was lucky to have my vet offer to cut Trouble's nails while he was a puppy so that at home he would have a totally difference experience and slow introduction to the nail clippers and brush.
- Let the puppy smell the brush & nail clippers. Make them a bit interesting and give the dog treats while they are interacting with the tools.
- Eventually touch the tools up against them and make sure they are comfortable with it while providing treats. After several interactions with the tools that were neutral or positive simulate a session of clipping nails and brushing without actually doing it (make sure to hold the paws firmly and at this point the dog should be ok with that)
- I found a lot of people prefer to clip their dogs nails while the dog is laying down on its side or on its back between a person's legs. I began to introduce Trouble to laying down on his back between my legs to keep him firm and still.
- Brushing while petting will help, but making sure the dog is comfortable and will hold still. I correct the dog when there is too much movement, but just like the potty training only have short brushing sessions before ever doing a long full body brushing (because it'll happen, they shed everywhere)
- Nail clipping by bright light and ONLY take off what is needed. Having lots of good experiences will ensure that the dog will trust you while it is getting its nails clipped. I don't even venture anywhere near their vein in their nails. And award with treats during and after the nail clipping during times they were calm and collected.
- Have water already prepared slightly warm to the touch and hold the dog firmly while bathing. Peanut butter on the side of the tub works well.
- As their head and necks get wet they will like to shake, hold them gently but firmly by their neck to keep them from shaking. (I actually loaded the command "shake" in during these instances)
- Have your towel prepped to shield yourself from incoming spray and for puppy drying.