Well I received some really good feedback for the newsletter, topics include:

Tips/ tricks/ recommendations for house training a puppy.  (What has worked and what hasn't)

Obedience training for a  puppy while building confidence

Cropping ears,  How to care for them, tips ect.  What to expect

We would love to read a section on puppy issues as this will be our first puppy.

Maybe this is just a question for us but we do not know what the difference between AKC  registrations, such as a  limited registration

Shock collar training and more to come for next week.

If anyone has additional input, click the reply to all button, not just reply and everyone in the group will get the message.

First off housetraining:

I use only two methods that work for me depending on the time commitment you have. I use Crate training or one step better, “me” training. I use only these two methods because they guarantee no accidents in the house, that way it is a positive reinforcement technique only. Not that negative reinforcement isn’t sometimes needed, but with young dogs and their gentle spirit, positive only at a young age is more effective. Crate training your new puppy/dog (even some older dogs still need housebroken, or revert to bad behaviors) is effective and easy way. The basics are that a dog will not eliminate where they sleep unless they absolutely can’t hold it. Remember with young pups, the time they are able to hold it is not an 8 hour work day. If the new pup needs to be alone that long, you need to paper train, or train to a doggy door or something else. Most of our pups and dogs that we ship you will be using a doggy door most of the time, so it is not a scary thing to them. About 4 hour intervals are as long as a young pup should be required to hold it. As you get to know your dog and they begin to grow you will all develop a set of signals that tell each other it is time to go outside. Some people go above this and teach them to only eliminate in one spot. Very useful idea! Anyway the theory is this, the dog is in the kennel all the time except when you are actively engaged in playing with it, or holding it. Watching TV while it chews it’s toy on the ground at your feet does not count. You have to have active attention or you will have accidents. Every time the puppy comes out of the kennel, it first goes outside, usually just to urinate. You praise the dog and then bring them back in. If you want to get them in the habbit of using just one spot, take them directly to that spot and keep them there until they go. Then bring them back in, play with them, cuddle with them etc. If you won’t be paying full attention to them, put them back in the kennel. It is not mean, in the wild dogs live in Dens, small holes with one opening just like a kennel. They feel secure this way, they only have to guard one entrance, it is easier to stay warm. Most people don’t believe this truism until they leave the door off a kennel in the house and see the dog always go sleep in the open kennel. So it is time to feed… Just take the pup outside, praise them for going, bring them back in and let them eat and drink. Then play with them for about 15 minutes actively, then take them outside again, they will usually eliminate. If not back in for more play, or kennel time, and go back outside 30 minutes later until they do eliminate. It is important that while you are outside with them the only interaction they have is you standing there showing them where to go. If you play with them outside during potty breaks, they would rather play, and then they come inside and whine in their kennel to go back out, or worse, have an accident in the house. Generally when they start sniffing and circling, it means they are about to go, whether they are inside or out. Those are the basics, it helps them learn I have to go outside to eliminate, I have a schedule I can look forward to and follow, and it develops good play drive in your pup because they are only getting play time when they interact with you. The “me” variation is much better and faster, but requires there is a stay at home person. This also makes the most tightly bonded dogs, that follow you around and always stay at your feet. If you move to the kitchen the dog will to instead of going back to their kennel or their “spot” in the house. Basically while the pup is young, they stay in your arms or on your lap, period. You will not be able to miss when they need to go outside, and you take them, reward them and bring them back in. You have them sleep with you so when they get up in the night, they wake you up, you take them outside an voila! A perfectly housetrained dog in a short amount of time that is very tightly bonded. As they get bigger you move to 6 or 8 foot leash and they have to remain by you, still no accidents and at the same time they learn leash obedience and commands such as sit, down and stay very quickly because you will have them do it often. This is in my opinion the best way to start new pups, but not everyone can do it, so the crate training is my next choice. Everyone feel free to share your input, your success stories and your mistakes and make this a real discussion instead of a one way news letter. I wish I could say that I invented this method but I didn’t. smart people have done it for thousands of years. There is however no one out there promoting this as a training method, which is too bad, it really is better for the dog, and more effective.

Registration terminology: The AKC has several types of registration we will only discuss the most important two. If your dog or the one you are looking at does not fall into these two categories, don’t by them. Other registers are also no good if they are not recognized by the AKC. For example our dogs we bring in from Europe can be registered with the AKC, and we do that. Dogs with UKC/ACA,CKC etc may or may not be able to get papers with the AKC. In America as much as the AKC frustrates me, and they do have their weaknesses, they are still the American standard. You can likewise enroll your dogs with the United Doberman Club if you are interested in the Schutzhund sport or foreign dogs. AKC offers full registration which means the dog is eligible for all AKC sponsored events and programs such as the “Canine Good Citizen” Which I encourage all of you to get. It is easy enough anyone can get it if they set a goal and pursue it. It also exposes you to the world of competition which you may decide you like or not. Full registration most importantly gives you the right to breed the dog and register their offspring with the AKC. Limited papers mean you can still compete/show and everything else you just can not register the offspring if you bred them. For that reason, limited dogs are usually spayed and neutered. It is also possible to change limited papers to full, so some people do not “fix” their dogs right away. Full registration nearly always cost more from a breeder, and it often involves contracts of performance or a share in pups or whatever, each breeder is different. Likewise it usually will cost some amount of money for the breeder to upgrade the registration to full from limited. Only the breeder can do this.

Later this week or early next we will cover two more topics. I also wanted to include two pictures of recently placed pups that I though were awesome, the first is “Mana” helping to write and E-mail or some other computer task, the second is “Rot Baron” advertising that he like many of us enjoys ATV’s and motorcycles. Thanks for your time!