# Training ?? for the more experienced



## MicheleS (May 9, 2011)

Cappy just turned 5 months old and is doing great with his training. We just started session 2 of puppy training and there's even another Havanese in his class! So far, he has learned sit, come, down, roll over and paw. He knows to sit and wait for us to go out the door before he does (when his leash is on) and even recalls well outside. I work with him twice a day for 5-10 minutes to reinforce what he's learned and continue with new commands.

There are a couple of things we need to work on and I'm hoping those more experienced Hav owners can help. The first is when a family member leaves the house he goes to the door and cries. One of us will always stand in front of him and calmly walk forward so he backs away from the door. In less than a minute he can be distracted, but so far he hasn't learned that behavior is unwanted.

Also - any thoughts on underground fence systems? We'd never leave him outside alone with one, but it would be great if he could be outside with us while we do yard work, etc. without having him get tangled on every shrub and tree on his long leash.


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

Hi Michele , you might want to try some uncoupling exercises. Don't worry ,you're not going to ask for a divorce. LOL . These might help , http://www3.us.elsevierhealth.com/communities/Veterinary/Overall/protocoldeparture_instructions.html


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Dave has posted a good article for you on his door behavior. As far as an electric fence is concerned, I wouldn't. You say your intention is to not let him out unsupervised, but it can be so tempting when the dog needs to go out, and it's cold and wet, or early in the morning. A small dog in an electric fence is a sitting duck for larger dogs and wild animals. 

Besides that, elecric fences cause dogs to learn to charge toward people and dogs walking by on the street and to run the edge of the "safe zone" barking. Neither are behaviors I want to encourage in my dog.

If you can't afford to fence your entire yard, perhaps you could afford inexpensive wire fencing for a play area on your property. If that's not an option, or if you think he will need to be nearer to you to be happy, consider purchasing two or three ex-pens. These can be clipped together to create a large, moveable, play area right next to where you are working. This method has the added advantage that you can even take the pens on vacation with you until he's old enough, and well trained enough to stay with you unrestrained.


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

Thanks for that Karen, I forgot that part. I've collected a couple of articles on the dangers of electric fence systems.
Here are some different articles that can shed some light.

http://ow.ly/1IO7L

http://media.causes.com/ribbon/792146

http://www.ust.is/media/ljosmyndir/dyralif/Trainingdogswithshockcollar.pdf

http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a783707194~db=all

http://www.hollysden.com/say-no-to-shock-collars.htm#Invisible_Fencing_Systems

http://www.positivedogs.com/articles/electronic_fencing.html

http://www.positivedogs.com/articles/lisag.html


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## MicheleS (May 9, 2011)

Thanks for all of the information. It took me a while to read through it all  We live in south Florida on a lake (alligators) so leaving Cappy outside alone isn't even an option on our lanai! We live in a community where we can't put up fences, although several moveable ex-pens might work for when we are working in the yard and want him to be with us. He plays with the Bichon across the street at their house every night. All the other neighbors with dogs come over and it's like a mini dog park! The neighbor has an electric fence and her dog doesn't even try to go near the edge of their yard, yet Cappy will periodically run off to say hello to other neighbors who are walking by. Short of putting a long leash on him (which would get tangled around all the other dogs he plays with), we're not able to prevent our little welcoming committee from doing his thing. I don't want to prevent him from playing with the other dogs (he absolutely loves it), but I don't want him to get hurt either! Guess I'll keep reading....

Thanks for all the advice!


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