Three questions for a novice owner

Question
My husband and I just bought a 8wk old black lab/Chow now we are clueless as to how to discipline this particular puppy.  We have heard that disciplining any Chow mix can be difficult and encourage aggressive behavior (so no smacking nose w/paper etc.) Is that true of a Chow/Lab X?  If you can't do that, how on Earth do you get your point across?  Also, one similarity I have found is that the dog needs positive reinforcement with treats--but we can't find a treat that Koda is interested in, how do we find a tasty treat w/out emptying PetCo?  Finally, I have heard that you should not BOTH crate train and train puppy to pee outside because it shows puppy it's OK to pee inside and sends a mixed message, is this true?  If so, which one is better/easier?

Answer
Good questions, Laura!

1. You should not smack any dog in the nose, or anywhere else, for that matter, as a form of discipline. This can encourage aggressive behavior in any breed. It can also cause a dog to become hand-shy, meaning he slinks away or recoils when you reach towards him or raise your hand for whatever other reason. I'm curious to know what you are needing to discipline an 8 week old puppy for, that you would even think of hitting it? The form of discipline that is appropriate depends on the dog, and also on the situation at hand. If you can tell me what the puppy is doing that's bad, I can give some suggestions on how to deal with those bad behaviors.


2. You are right that, when you begin training a puppy or adult dog that has has no prior training, everything should be positive. Some dogs are easier to train with food than others. May I ask what treats you have tried so far? Also, what food are you feeding him, and how much/how often per day? It could be that he's just too full to want treats! ;^)

I would recommend that you call your local dog trainers and see about enrolling him in a puppy obedience class as soon as he's old enough. I would recommend avoiding the classes offered in pet stores, because it's way too distracting, and often the trainers are not as skilled. Plus, with such a young puppy, you don't know what you could be exposing him to by taking him there. Pet stores don't require proof of vaccinations to bring your dog in, like training & boarding facilities do.  


3. If you want to train your puppy to go outside to potty, crating him when you cannot supervise him is probably the best way to go. Crate training means that you are teaching the dog to 'hold it' until you let him out. An 8 week old puppy, though, cannot be expected to 'hold it' for longer than 2, *maybe* 3 hours at a time. The general rule with puppies is that they can hold it for as many hours as they are old in months. An 8 week old puppy is 2 months old, so needs to be taken out at LEAST every 2 hours. If you and your husband both work full time jobs, and cannot take the puppy with you to work, enroll him in a 'doggie daycare', or arrange for someone to take him out every couple of hours to potty, then I would not recommend putting him in a crate just yet. If you do, he is going to go potty in there, and that's what you do NOT want to encourage. Instead, you should try to confine him to a small area, either using an exercise pen (also called an x-pen) or baby gates to keep him in a small room of your house that has easily cleanable floors. You can try leaving a couple of wee wee pads in the enclosed area for him, but if he thinks that they are more fun to shred and play with, discontinue that. Don't worry, putting down wee wee pads will not keep him from learning to go potty outside. Once he's old enough to be crated during the day while you're at work (which will be anywhere from 4-8 months, depending on how long you're gone and whether or not someone can come home to let him out once during the day or not), you can stop using the wee wee pads altogether. The only reason I suggest that you give it a try now, is to encourage him to go on the pad, rather than getting used to going on the floor. Does that make sense? When I recommend the use of wee wee pads, I also recommend putting the pad in a large, shallow, cat litter pan, to give the puppy a clear understanding of going on the pad, and not next to the pad, and also to help make cleanup easier.