Lilo

Well we have tried everything to try and train lilo to no avail. She is just so hyper she can't pay attention to anything around her, so I broke out my wallet and forked over the money to get a personal obedience trainer for lilo, crossing my fingers cause I really want to have both pugs sleeping in my wife and I's bed at night, I always feel terrible that only stitch can sleep with us, but if we let lilo stay in our bed she would keep my wife, stitch, and myself awake allnight, and I can't be having a crabby wife on my hands! Any words of wisdom when dealing with trainers?

She's still only a puppy, isn't she? Give her time. Maybe lots of playing with her before bedtime to tire her out. With trainers though the BIGGEST, most IMPORTANT advice any of us will give you is to only ever use a trainer that uses positive reinforcement. No punishment, no choke chains, no negative methods EVER. If the trainer uses positive reinforcement then watch closely and do whatever they do. Good luck!

Age has a lot to do with it. And my experience is that the more badly bred pugs just don't have the pug temperament as solidly as the well bred ones do. Yes, some do, but I see a lot of manically busy pugs that stay manically busy for years.

I'll echo what Rona says. Focus on the positive training methods. Lilo may take a year or longer to settle down enough to sleep with you and some just never do. As puppies, they just can't totally focus or retain learning until they are older and the brain is more able to function.

If you haven't already, read two of the articles above--the Puppies can be very discouraging one and What the Books Didn't tell You. Both will give you some hope and encouragement.

I echo what Rona says, find a trainer who uses positive reinforcement. Ask around and find out if any of the people you know can recommend a trainer. Most trainers will come and let you observe a class and they should be happy to answer your questions.

Avoid training where you drop the dog off and someone else trains them. A dog trainer can train your dog quickly, but the dog needs to learn to listen to you, not the trainer. Ideally, group glasses are the best where you and your dog hang out with other dogs and people so your dog gets a bit of socialization and learns how to do some things with distractions around them. And the trainer is there to coach you and show you the most effective way to help with your particular dog.

Avoid anyone who "guarantees" that your dog will be trained. They are usually (at least here in the US and Canada) hack trainers who use corrections. No one "guarantees" that your child will get all 100's in school, same thing with dogs.

I don't know about trainer accreditation in Japan but in the US there are several accreditations that a trainer can get like a CCPDT and these tell you that a trainer understands the science behind what they are doing.

And finally, the trainer better have dogs and they better be behaved! That's one of the first tip-offs that your trainer maybe doesn't have much experience. If the dog is ill-behaved, ask the trainer why. The only acceptable answer is that they just got the dog. If the trainer says this is their personal and it's flailing at the end of a Gentle Leader, move on.

well I talked to my wife about the trainer and she said she would never hire someone who was going to be mean to Stitch, she said that on his website he says the most important thing for training a dog is that the dog is enjoying the training, Sounds positive to me. The trainer we are bringing in has the highest reviews of the dog trainers for the kanagawa prefecture. He is expensive, and ill be the first to put him on his backside if he puts a choke collar on stitch.

Stitch Chan wrote:well I talked to my wife about the trainer and she said she would never hire someone who was going to be mean to Stitch, she said that on his website he says the most important thing for training a dog is that the dog is enjoying the training, Sounds positive to me. The trainer we are bringing in has the highest reviews of the dog trainers for the kanagawa prefecture. He is expensive, and ill be the first to put him on his backside if he puts a choke collar on stitch.

Sounds like he's a good one! I think a trainer is always good, especially puppy training. However, Sophie just started sleeping with us, at about 3 years old. She's was a busy body up until then.

Stitch Chan wrote:well I talked to my wife about the trainer and she said she would never hire someone who was going to be mean to Stitch, she said that on his website he says the most important thing for training a dog is that the dog is enjoying the training, Sounds positive to me. The trainer we are bringing in has the highest reviews of the dog trainers for the kanagawa prefecture. He is expensive, and ill be the first to put him on his backside if he puts a choke collar on stitch.

I had one session in Ohio with a trainer for Penny who insisted on a choke collar and would not let Penny calm herself by leaning on me or sitting on my foot when she was stressed. Needless to say, we never went back. And, very interestingly, Penny was the first pug she had ever worked with. Mostly rotties and GSDs. Um, training is not a cookie-cutter thing! This trainer sounds like a good one and a very good idea. Keep us posted on how it goes.

I only have about 2 days worth of experience with pugs, but in my experience with puppies, they are like kids. If you take a nice long walk or play for a long while in the yard before bed, they'll sleep all night. Just yesterday I took Prissy to the park with us and she slept all night. The night we got her, however, she woke up several times in the night to potty and play.

I have no experience with trainers. But good luck! :)

I am a little confused about the training you are getting for your dog. Are you sending the dog to a trainer to have it trained by them or are you going to the trainer to get help training your dog? I only have experience training my own dogs with help from group dog training classes but in my humble opinion that is the best way to go.

Are there dog obedience/training classes in your area and are you willing and able to attend them on a regular basis? I have seen many pure and mixed breeds in dog classes over the years and the progress they make with their loving owners is amazing. Watching and learning how your dog sees the world as well as building trust and confidence are well worth the time and money. The socialization opportunities for both of you training together are endless. So many dogs/owners to meet...so little time. Some people think the only reason to go to dog obedience classes is so they can compete but 90% of the participants coming to our club classes only want a better pet and to help solve some basic problems. Good luck in finding the right mix for your furkid.

Basically we called in a personal trainer to come to our house to help with training. He came by yesterday for the initial meeting to take a look at lilo and get to know her alittle bit. He said that she is the most hyper pug he has ever seen. He even joked that she would calm down eventually when she was about 10 years old lol.
We laid down the type of training we wanted to do with her, basic commands, help with potty training because she simply doesn't listen, and loose leash walking.

Lilo is very loved in our house, and at times she can be a handful to deal with, we simply want to get the basics down with her.

Stitch Chan wrote:Basically we called in a personal trainer to come to our house to help with training. He came by yesterday for the initial meeting to take a look at lilo and get to know her alittle bit. He said that she is the most hyper pug he has ever seen. He even joked that she would calm down eventually when she was about 10 years old lol.
We laid down the type of training we wanted to do with her, basic commands, help with potty training because she simply doesn't listen, and loose leash walking.

Lilo is very loved in our house, and at times she can be a handful to deal with, we simply want to get the basics down with her.

LOL--yes, the hyper pug. I've had several in foster care who just about drove me around the bend. And the potty training struggles are likely related to the busy-ness. She's too wound up and/or distracted to concentrate on the business at hand.

Stick with it. She will get it. And it will take time. Some of the busy bees can make you despair, but they all get it eventually....

Stitch Chan wrote:Basically we called in a personal trainer to come to our house to help with training. He came by yesterday for the initial meeting to take a look at lilo and get to know her alittle bit. He said that she is the most hyper pug he has ever seen. He even joked that she would calm down eventually when she was about 10 years old lol.
We laid down the type of training we wanted to do with her, basic commands, help with potty training because she simply doesn't listen, and loose leash walking.

Lilo is very loved in our house, and at times she can be a handful to deal with, we simply want to get the basics down with her.

I honestly know what you are going through. I've fostered one pug who was the busiest pug I've ever seen. Part of it was the fact that she was so smart-training helped her a lot. Sophie was also a lot like Lilo when she was a puppy. She did eventually calm down..at 3 years old. It's amazing to watch her in comparison with the boys, who are very laid back, you can almost see those wheels turning in her head.

Just an update lilo is incredibly smart and is picking it up very quickly. The trainer says that she is one of the smartest pugs he has ever trained, and that she is picking this stuff up faster than most dogs do. she is allready loose leash walking, no excessive barking when she is in her crate. He also has taught us methods of relaxation time with her, called bonding time. Basically its methods of laying the dog in a certain way on your lap and rubbing their belly untill they calm down, lilo has responded very well to it, and she loves relaxing time with momma and poppa, half the time she falls asleep within ten minutes of starting!



Anyways ill keep everyone up on how lilo is doing!

Very nice update to read. Sounds like Lilo is responding well to the training.

Glad to hear that it's going well!

Sounds like you found a good trainer there. I totally get the hyper thing -- I had a foster pug, Herbie, years ago who made me insane. He was 9 months old, black pug, and he would just GO GO GO from the moment he woke up until the moment he collapsed at night to sleep. There was no winding down or quiet time with him, EVER.

Herbie was also the most confident pug I've ever met. NOTHING fazed him, ever. I was fostering for PugSavers, and Roxane and the board ended up agreeing to let Herbie go to the SF/SPCA Hearing Dog Program and be trained as an assistance dog for a deaf person. I had worked for the program for several years prior and I knew that Herbie had all the qualities they look for in a good hearing dog: energy, drive, confidence, food-motivated, etc. He sailed through training in some ridiculously short time, like 6 weeks, and has been happily placed for years now.

Lilo will probably amaze you with her ability to learn. Sometimes the wild ones catch on the quickest. But that doesn't mean they don't make you completely crazy in the meantime!

I am not surprised that she is a quick learner. Those little black divas are amazing. But, you know, it would be nice (hint, hint) to see a pic of Lilo having some relaxing time.............