I do not have an affiliation with any of the products on this page. It is what has worked for me and my dogs. Please do what is best for you and your dog and any advice from your vet. I am not trained in veterinary medicine and am only sharing personal experience and the knowledge of how your Aussie-Love puppy has spent his first 8 weeks of life.

Feeding

Puppies should be fed 1/2 to 3/4 of a cup of food four times a day. Their current feeding schedule is 6 am, 11 am, 3 pm and 7 pm. They are currently eating First Mate Chicken Grain Friendly. I soak it in goat’s milk overnight, it will expand so be sure the container is large enough. https://firstmate.com/product/cage-free-chicken-meal-oats-formula/

 I choose to go to independent pet stores I have found them to be knowledgeable about dogs and their needs. Paws on Chicon is amazing and where I buy all my dog’s food and goat’s milk. They will give you $60.00 of free product if you tell them, you got your dog from me and spend $25.00 in the store.

They all love goat’s milk yogurt, Kiefer and milk. All of these are good for their gut bacteria.

Treats

Many commercial treats have dyes and chemicals in them so be sure to check the ingredients. I make some treats for my dogs that they love and keep them busy.

This is a pumpkin, rice, peanut butter combo. I mix 1 can pumpkin, with 8 oz of organic, nothing added, peanut butter and one cup of cooked white rice. I spoon the mixture in used marrow bones and freeze them. The rice and pumpkin are good for their digestion, and they just love the peanut butter.

If you know a farmer that raises beef humanly and without antibiotics and hormones, drying beef liver makes a great and healthy chew. However, since the liver is where the body processes toxins, I would not use commercially raised beef liver.

They also like rope toys, soft toys, and their puppy Kong’s. I usually put out a few toys at a time rather than leave a lot of toys out. This makes the toys special and their brains can focus on playing with the toy.

Training

It is important to spend time training every day. Aussies are working dogs; they are smart and energetic. Training them is fairly easy, they enjoy it, and it helps them get their energy spent so they can relax. However, if you read multiple books on dog training, it is possible to get multiple approaches which is confusing.

I read that the only thing that three dog trainers will agree on is that the other two are wrong! While there is some truth to it, there are trainers that have similar basic philosophy. I prefer to learn from trainers that have spent time observing, learning and understanding dog’s natural behavior. ALL behavior, dog or human, is communication. If you don’t understand why the dog is repeating a behavior, it is hard to change it.

Some books I have read from authors with similar philosophies are:

Cesar Milan-How to Raise the Perfect Dog Cesar has spent his life around dogs and understands dog behavior.

The Monks of New Skeet-The Art of Raising a Puppy These Monks raise, train and breed German Shepherds and between them have deep knowledge of why dogs behave as they do and how to stop unwanted behavior.

Zak Georges Dog Training Revolution Zak George is a very experienced dog trainer with many good ideas.

I also follow McCann’s Dog Training on You Tube and they have many good, short videos.

Commands

Housebreaking

In order to housebreak a dog, it is important to begin with good habits so they know where it is ok to relieve themselves. The puppies have been housebroken since 8 weeks old, but you will need to reinforce and teach this in your home. The first 3-7 days are vital to making the habits permanent.

I use the acronym HOT

HABITS-Teach good habits based on what works for a dog. Dogs need to relieve themselves after sleeping, play and eating or drinking. Use these times to teach the habit to go pee or poop outside. Immediately after they wake up, get done playing or eating, take them to the place you want them to use as their bathroom spot. A designated area in your yard makes clean up easier and the dog more comfortable. Do this every day, with every event. They usually take about 5 to 15 minutes after eating before they need to go, but I still take them out right away. It is best to do this by leashing them and walking them to the spot. Give the command, such as “go pee pee” or whatever command you are comfortable with; it is not the words but the consistency of the same command for the behavior that dog’s need. As soon as they do their business, give them a pet and say good dog. Do not give a treat as this is a behavior that we don’t want to train them to expect a treat every time they go potty.

Observe When you bring them back in the house, watch them and their behavior. It is good at first to limit them to one room where you are present. I have them in the living room which leads to the balcony where they go to the bathroom. Dogs have “tells” when they need to pee or poop such as walking around quickly, looking for a spot, or turning in a circle. Watch for your dog’s tells. If I observe one of them exhibiting behaviors of needing to relieve themselves, I pick them up, take them outside to the same spot and say the same phrase, “go pee pee.outside”.

If I see one of them beginning to pee or poop in the room, I pick them up quickly, say No! in a firm voice and bring them outside and use the phrase, “pee pee outside.”

If I discover an accident that I did not observe when it happened, I just clean it up and disinfect the area. There is no purpose to punish the dog in any way, it won’t teach them the behavior you want.

All 6 puppies were 90% house broken by 8 weeks. They would rarely pee in the house and never pooped in the house again. This will need to be reinforced when you bring your dog home. As I said, it is best to leash them quickly to create the habit, but I just couldn’t do that with 6 of them! Now that they are better trained I am adding the leash to the habit.

Train-As I said earlier, Aussies are a working breed, they love a job! Spending 5 to 10 minutes training daily will keep you and your dog much happier. What is difficult is the realization that we can train dogs to have bad habits as well as good habits.

Not jumping on people-I don’t know about all dogs, but Aussies love to jump. I made the mistake of letting Cooper and Annie jump on me as puppies and I am still trying to break them of it. So, with the puppies I do not let them jump up on me.  When they do jump up on me, I take their two front paws and place them on the ground while telling them, “Off”. It is cute when they are puppies, but not when they are older and jumping on your dinner guests.

Crate Training- Crate training your dog is so helpful in so many ways such as being able to travel with your pet, knowing your belongings won’t be destroyed when you leave the house, and giving your dog a quiet, private place to eat and relax. It takes time and patience, but it is worth every second you put into it.

I start the process by feeding them in their crates. I get their food bowls and say, “Crate” I wait until they are in the crate before I put the food bowl in. If they won’t go in, I slide the food to the back of the crate so it makes a noise and say “crate” again. I close the crate as they like to wander to the other puppies’ crates to see what they have. I stay in the room and open the crate door, when they are done, pick up the bowl, and take them outside to use the bathroom.

I leave the crates in the living room and leave them open all day. They often choose to go in there to rest. I wait until they are getting tired each day and put each one in a crate, cover it and stay in the room. I build up the time in their crates daily. They are currently at a 2 hour stretch. I never want them to cry it out as that will cause trauma and they will hate the crate. The crate needs to be fun, comfortable and safe.

People say that dogs won’t pee or poop in their crates, this is mostly true, but that also needs to be trained. A couple of the puppies have done so, and I immediately wash the bedding and wipe out the crate. Then before the next crate training I ensure they have used the bathroom before entering, and right after getting out. They won’t do it forever, but it does take training.

I also play games that make going in and out of their crate fun. People who are not successful with crate training may not have spent the time training. You cannot just put them in the crate and call it training. Spending a few minutes, a day training your puppy to relax and enjoy his or her crate.

It is up to you whether you decide to crate train your dog, but I want you to have the information before you decide. This video is a good overview on crate training. If your dog whines in his/her crate the video is helpful.

Dogs should not be in a crate for more than 6 hours a day, and 8 hours at night, no matter how old they are. As they get older, you will not need to crate them when you leave the house, but I continue to crate Annie and Cooper occasionally as it calms them down and they like their crates.

I want you to know that I never had a crate trained dog till Cooper. I thought it was cruel and that the dog would not like it. The opposite is true, dogs love their crates as a safe, calm place and if done right will be a blessing for both you and the dog.

Sit-Stand in front of the dog with a small treat, lift your arm, with the palm down, and in a calm, but deep voice, say “sit” If the dog does not move take a step towards her or him, do not repeat the command. If the dog still does not sit, gently put pressure on his back end. When he sits, praise and give the treat. If you do this a few times a day, your dog will begin to sit on command. I am not sure why, but this is one of the easiest commands to teach.

No bite-Puppies play bite each other but should never do that with humans. Please do not reward this behavior, by allowing it to occur while they are young. Whenever they try to bite me, I say, “No bite” and tap them firmly on their noses. This is just a light tap, I am not smacking the dog. It is just to let them know that human flesh is not for biting.