Training

Housebreaking:
Take puppy outside as soon as it finished eating, after play or exercise and as soon as it wakes up. A small puppy should be carried from crate to outside in the morning so that there is not an accident on the way. Praise the puppy when it relieves itself outside. If you are not one to praise excitedly, use a food reward. When the puppy has an accident in the house, tell puppy “NO” if caught in the act. Do nothing if not caught in the act. Take the puppy right outside and praise after puppy relieves itself. Do not hit, yell, or put puppy’s nose in its accident. Shelties are very sensitive. Trust is important, as is the flexibility to make mistakes, as long as one is learning. Housebreaking occurs over several months. Do not expect miracles. Puppy housetraining is much like potty training a child. It occurs over a period of time, not overnight.

You may need to get a pet sitter to visit the puppy half way through the day.

Commands:
1.     Leave It: Use this command if the puppy is chewing on any forbidden object, then praise puppy emphatically for obeying such command. Offer a toy as a replacement object for chewing. If chewing persists in those forbidden places, spray object with Grannick’s Bitter Apple, available at Petsmart or on Amazon.com, (or a comparable substitute safe- such as lemon juice- for consumption). This includes fur biting, hair chewing and skin scratching. One application usually eliminates the problem.
2.     Quiet: Use this command if puppy is barking inappropriately then praise puppy emphatically for obeying such command saying “good quiet.”
3.     No: Overuse of the word no will render the command ineffective. Choose your “no’s” wisely.
4.     Good: Use this word when puppy listens, or otherwise pleases you
5.     Come: Teaching come is easy and can be done in a very positive manner.

Carry tiny treats (tiny pieces of hot dogs work best) in your pocket. Show the puppy a treat and let it sniff the treat. Back up a few steps holding the treat out and calling “come” as the puppy comes tell it “good come” and give it a tiny treat (this is done on a 6-foot or 20-foot lead, not loose). Gradually work your way further away. With in 3-4 tries the puppy will start to understand “come”. When outside do the same things. It should take less than week to get the puppy RUNNING to you from all the way across the yard when you call “come”. Use puppy’s name before “come”. When puppy is in yard and you want to bring him inside call his name and “come” and reward him as soon as he arrives to you. Later if your dog runs away, you can use “come”, but remember that once your dog starts to obey the command, praise the dog. Always be positive when calling your dog to you.

Shelties are sensitive dogs and do not take to negative training methods. You must be only positive when training this dog.