How To Do Timeouts With Your Puppy.

She's a mix of some kind of dog and another kind of dog with a little bit of some other dog thrown in for good measure and came to us from county animal control when she was about 3 months old. She caught my interest because she appeared friendly but slightly aloof. As I crouched down in front of the pen, she just sat towards the back and observed the noisy, busy, and depressing environment around her.

I wanted a puppy rather than an adult dog and I shied away from the ones that rushed to the front of the pen barking, biting and licking; this indicates a more aggressive temperament. Likewise, I shied away from the ones that seemed timid or skitterish. That can indicate a possible fear biter plus I just don't care for dogs that are skitterish; I like a dog that is a "trooper".

Tessa, as she came to be known, only came to the front of the pen if I crouched down and talked to her. She wasn't scared, she wasn't excited; just calm and friendly. Later that day I returned with my wife, took her out into the general area where you can have one on one time with your potential family member and administered the Puppy Aptitude Test. She scored pretty close to what I was looking for and looked like she would be medium size and had a relatively short coat. Perfect. We took her home.

It all went well, just the typical puppy stuff, until about the third day. It was then that a demon of some sort that was residing quietly inside decided that it was time to come out and play! It turns out that she didn't have an "off switch". She would NEVER sleep when she was outside of the crate; she never tired out. Everything she did was full bore pedal to the metal. It was if she was possessed or taking some kind of illegal substance.

People ask me what kinds of things she did and when I tell them they say, "Oh my dog did that, it's no big deal." I can say that the problems that she had were pretty typical of puppies; I've had dogs pretty much my entire life. The problem was that she seemed to have every single puppy problem that exists. And none of them were mild. As I mentioned above, they were all full bore pedal to the metal. She was lucky to have ended up with me. Most people that ended up with a puppy like this would have either brought her back to the pound, dumped her in the desert, or had her put-down. Puppies are a lot of work, frustrating, and challenging but they are also fun at times. Tessa was no fun at all for the first couple of months. There were times when I thought that having a wild, rabid monkey in the house would have been easier.

I finally had to make a list of all the bad behaviors and determine how to address each one and figure out the order in which to address them. I didn't want to do anything that would fix one problem but make another problem worse. There were many nights that I went to bed seriously questioning whether she was a dog that could even be a house pet. But...I remained determined.

Many of the problems were cured or minimized before she started obedience school at 6 months of age but I still had a lot work ahead of me. I enrolled her in the obedience school at PetSmart and the work continued. I decided on PetSmart because I took our Rottweiler through an obedience school sponsored by a park district and didn't feel comfortable with all of the methods taught there and I wanted more tools in my tool kit.

One of the corrections that PetSmart teaches is that of timeouts. It does require a lot of effort and patience but it does work. I'm sure I lost a few pounds the first week getting up and down. It is critical though that it be done exactly as described.

Training a puppy does not begin with obedience school; it begins as soon as you bring her home. If you don't start to mold their little minds right away and wait until they're 6 months old to start training, you'll greatly increase your workload and frustration levels. For inexperienced dog owners, I highly recommend enrolling in a puppy class. You will learn how to potty-train, crate train, and a lot of other things that will mold your dog-to-be into a good canine citizen and make life with your puppy much more enjoyable and rewarding.

Two books that I have and cannot recommend enough are written by the Monks Of New Skete. They are: The Art of Raising a Puppy and How to Be Your Dog's Best Friend. The best way to correct bad behavior is to not let it develop in the first place. These two books will help you do that.

It's worth mentioning again that this training technique must be done EXACTLY as described. First and foremost, as difficult as it sometimes can be, DO NOT exhibit any anger or emotion while doing this.

Have your puppy's crate nearby to the area where you and your puppy spend most of your time. As soon as your puppy starts to engage in an undesirable behavior, say "Wrong". Just say the word in a normal tone with no emotion. Walk over to your puppy, put a finger under her collar and lead her quietly and gently to her crate without saying anything else. Close the door on the crate and leave her in it for 30 seconds. And I mean 30 seconds, use a watch with a second hand. A puppy's attention span is not very long; if you leave her there for a minute or two she will forget why she's in there and this technique won't work.

After 30 seconds, walk calmly to the crate, open the door, and let her out. If you were interacting with her in a positive way when she started her undesirable behavior, continue the interaction once she's out. If the bad behavior starts again, do the process all over again. You may need to do this several times over several days before she starts to make the connection between good behavior = freedom, bad behavior = no freedom. You'll almost see the little wheels in her head start turning when she starts to make the connection.

DO keep a leash on her if she learns to run from you when you say, "Wrong". That way you can step on the leash and walk to her. You could also use barriers to make the area small enough that she can't get away. You must always be the one in control so that she learns that resistance is futile.

DO cover the crate with a blanket if you have a puppy on the stubborn side. This creates a higher degree of isolation.

DON'T talk to her or look at her while she's in the crate. The idea is to isolate her from you.

DON'T exceed 30 seconds. Your puppy will forget why it's in the crate and not make the connection.

DON'T call her to you or to the crate. This will teach her that coming to you is bad. Calmly walk over to her and lead her into the crate.

DON'T exhibit anger or frustration. If your anger or frustration level is to the point that you just can't do this without displaying emotion, then calmly put her in the crate without saying anything and leave her in the crate until you can perform this technique properly.

One of the "activities" that Tessa liked to engage in was running towards the couch, jumping into the back of it and launching herself 180 degrees in the opposite direction. She did this once while my wife was sitting on the couch. Thirty-five pounds of puppy landing and then launching off of your chest doesn't feel real good.

So...there we are one night sitting in our chairs watching TV. Tessa was at the point where she knew what the time-outs were about but she still had her occasional moment. She ran towards the couch, started to jump, realized the error of her ways and stopped herself as best she could but her front feet ended up on the couch. She got down, hung her head, ears, and tail in shame and walked into her crate and laid down. My wife and I had not said a word or even made a sound. It took all we had to keep from laughing. I didn't even shut the door. After 30 seconds I gave her the go ahead to come out of the crate.

This technique can be applied in a similar manner without a crate for certain situations. For example, it's very common for a puppy to bite too hard while you're playing with him. When he does, say "Ouch!" and stand up and turn your back towards him. If he tries to get your attention by moving in front of you, you may need to stand face first against a wall. If he chews at your pants or jumps on you, then go into another room to isolate him from you. With a puppy less than 6 months old, 10 or 15 seconds is long enough. Then continue whatever it was that you were doing together.

My wife said that whenever I did this to Tessa, it looked like she was going to cry. That means that it's effective. Again, it may take some time and patience but it will work.

By the time she was about a year and a half old, most of her problems had mostly subsided and she was a good dog and fun to be with. When she was about 2, she was diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). She's been on Prozac since she was diagnosed and that reduces the OCD behavior about 85 - 90%. Without Prozac, she'll stare at reflections or a spot on the floor for hours and not even respond when you call or touch her. I don't know for sure but this might be the reason for her extreme behavior as a puppy.

Tessa is now 11 and is healthy and active for her age and has been a very good dog. She has a couple of behaviors that I haven't been able to completely fix but considering the raw material that I started with, I'll take it. She's a 50 pound dog with a ton of personality and makes us smile or laugh every day. Maybe she's trying to make up for her bad behavior as a puppy. If so, she's made up for it.