# Do puppies learn bad habits from other dogs?



## TijgerStrepen (Mar 1, 2009)

I bring my puppy to my parents' to be around their dog on a daily basis. The two are getting along rather great. One thing I am worried about though, is my parents have their dog (4 yr. old Mini Schnauzer) spoiled. They allow him to "jump up" on people for pets. Grant it, it's not a hyper/excited jumping, he is rather calm (Mom calls it a "hug") but I hope that my puppy won't learn to do that. I don't pet her when she does, I say "off" and turn away. She is going to be a rather large dog being Pittbull/Lab/Shepard mix. At 9 weeks she's already almost the same size as my parents' dog.

Also, I wish for her not to be on furniture. Can she decide she's allowed if he is? Same thing with barking. Their dog barks at just about anything he sees moving outside which is annoying to me. I'm just wondering how likely puppies are to learn from other dogs against owner's wishes. I have had her for a week now and she had zero training. 

House training has not had any progress, but I don't think I should expect much of that just yet. A friend from work owns her mother and he really didn't do much with the puppies (9 of them). When they all got big enough to walk, he crated them all together and only let mom in to feed. Then when he got them weaned, he was giving them away before they were ready. Being that he's a friend of mine, he held onto mine til she was 2 mo. at my request. Poor pup had never been outside til I got her and she didn't have mom around to say "don't potty here" As far as she's concerned, everywhere's her potty. 

Any advice on house training a "dirty" dog would be helpful. I give her praises and treats for potty outside, yell "Outside" when she I catch her going inside, and say nothing for it after it's done. She does know the difference between inside and outside. I say "outside" and she goes to the door from inside, "inside" she goes to the door from outside. And that's at both places, where we stay and here at my parents'.

I do keep her in a crate while I'm at work and sleeping. I come home on lunch to take her out. She has a large crate that I let her have full use of. I tried the divider, but she didn't like that at all. She wouldn't even go in it. I don't force her in, I set her infront of the open door, point and say "bed" and she'll go in most times. But even with the crate being large, she'll still lay in her messes. I tried free roam of the kitchen (blocked with gates) and she she still either sat/layed/walked right thru. (Not to mention gate chewing and refridgerator cord attempt).


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## TooneyDogs (Aug 6, 2007)

Short answer....yes, if they're not trained to behave differently.
You have to stop the jumping BEFORE it happens. Saying OFF only teaches her to get down/off when you say so but, doesn't teach her to not jump up on people/furniture in the first place.
For the potty training, you need to clean everything thoroughly with an enzyme cleaner that removes all traces of odor. The really hard part though will be getting her on a schedule where she never makes a mess in the crate or the gated area. That might mean that you devote an entire weekend to taking her out every hour....never allowing the mistakes to happen inside and huge reinforcement for going outside.


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## TijgerStrepen (Mar 1, 2009)

How does one go about teaching a dog not to jump in the first place? Also, I was wondering how much I can expect her to learn obedience wise at her age. Should I be working on one thing at a time or a few things? Her attention span doesn't seem to be very long. Maybe I need to find some better treats. I've been usin chicken and bacon training treats as well as Pupperoni beef sticks I tear in tiny pieces. None of them really get her attention.


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## TooneyDogs (Aug 6, 2007)

You stop the jumping up on furniture the second the muscles tense up...getting ready to jump. You use your NO command (you don't have to scream....just a casual No is fine) and step between her and the couch/bed whatever. You'll know she got the message if she backs away from it....that's why the stepping inbetween is so important.
She can learn anything you want to teach her...dogs love routine, challenges and being with you. For the treats try Spam. Slice, dice, microwave for 1 minute and pat dry. If she's not taking the treats from your hand try tossing them to her.


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## hanksimon (Mar 18, 2009)

As far as training, don't worry too much about the past, stopping you from making progress. Most people don't start training their pups until they are 7 - 9 weeks old, so you're OK there. 

The crate training is a problem. TooneyDogs is right. Clean the crate, don't use ammonia (It smells like urine) ... in fact, you might try to borrow a clean new crate that is the correct size for the puppy right now. Normally, a divider is fine, but she has already learned bad habits that you have to unteach... It sounds like standard housetraining methods will work, if you start at the beginning... again. She walks through her mess, because she never learned to be clean, so you have to give her the opportunity to stay clean.

1. During the day, take her out to go potty when she wakes up, after she drinks, after she eats, and about every two hours. 
2. When you get her on a regular schedule, you can take her out every 3 hours, and then stretch it a little more than 1 hour for each month of age. For example, at 3 months, she can stay in the crate fo 3 - 4 hours. At 4 months, she can stay for 4 - 5 hours, and so on. 
3. When ever she soils, clean it up so that she doesn't stay in it. And make a point of cleaning her when she gets dirty, so that she learns what it is like to be clean....
4. After she learns to stay clean... after you give her the chance to separate potty and sleeping areas ... then you can probably house train her in a couple of weeks.

- Hank Simon





And, yes, people and dogs can unintentionally sabotage your pup's good habits. Teach her to sit on cue. Work on it, so that she even sits with distraction. Then, when she starts to jump, tell her to sit. And, don't let anyone teach her to jump, because that will be dangerous when she gets larger.


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## Cheetah (May 25, 2006)

They sure do! And adult dogs can even learn a puppy's bad habits lol. Eevee started acting out like she was an unruly puppy when I got Shippo, pulling on the leash etc. and so I ended up with two dogs to train instead of one puppy lol.

You got good advice here though, so I've really got nothing to add.


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