Using vocabulary that your puppy can understand

Your Japanese chin absolutely thrives on consistency. This applies from finding and sticking to the best food to deciding from the start what is and what isn't acceptable behavior. Consistency, proper and prompt discipline, and keeping yourself as the undisputed head of the house makes a much, much happier and manageable puppy. The bouncy, frequent change lifestyle a lot of people enjoy is fine for them, but not for dogs.

Maybe you need to have a family council every few months to figure out what behavior is and is not acceptable to various members of your family. You definitely need to get all the human members of the family on the same page when it comes to discipline. If one person gives in to, and thus encourages, begging and another punishes your puppy for it, he will be a confused mess. Once everyone agrees on what is acceptable and not, enforce your rules. Letting your puppy do it "just once" will put a wrecking ball in your training program and confuse him.

Your Japanese chin will arrive with almost no vocabulary or a very limited one. Decide on your words of command and have the whole family use only those words. If you wonder why your poor silly puppy doesn't get the message when you go chattering away in your own vocabulary, try having everybody use the same words and see if it makes a difference. If different members of your family are uncomfortable using a phrase, "go potty" for example, if they use another short, easy to understand term, consistently, then your puppy will easily understand both of you and do what you want her to.

Another good general purpose word that has been used over the years is GENTLE. Said calmly and drawn out, it sounds like the behavior we want. This is especially useful when the puppy is playing roughly, a calming hand accompanied with the "Gentle" command will quiet your puppy. The puppy doesn't need to stop what they're doing- they're just doing it too much or too vigorously. The curious puppy that is nosing a resident cat will be warned to be "gentle". The puppy and cat need to get along, this is not a time for NO.

A puppy who greets someone very energetically is toned down, with the "Gentle!" warning. The older dog obviously knows what they are doing wrong when they get the gentle command if they're to rowdy. Think of the "NO" command as the red light and "Gentle" as the yellow, or warning, light. A very useful command.

Balancing Play And Roughhousing With Your Japanese Chin

Some chin owners enjoy roughhousing, teasing, and manhandling their puppies. Puppies either enjoy roughhousing and teasing or they are frightened and scared by it. Non-threatening teasing can desensitize a puppy to the weird things people, especially kids, do. It gradually and progressively helps build his confidence around people who act strange or other kids that want to play with him. On the flip side of the coin, relentless teasing and roughhousing frustrates your puppy and damages his personality. It's not teasing, it's abusing your puppy.

Train your puppy to accept different human actions by teasingly withholding their treats and toys, hugging or restraining the puppy, make strange noises, mildly scary faces, or odd body movements, and praising your puppy and offering a treat afterwards. Always remember to do it for only a short period of time. Every time you do it you might act a little more weird or scarier before you give him a treat. With time he will confidently accept any human action or mannerism. Don't overdo it, remember you are playing with your puppy. If your puppy refuses a treat you have overdone it and should stop for the day. Also keep in mind this is different from trying to scare him when you catch him being naughty.

For a Japanese chin puppy that hasn't been trained to enjoy teasing, having a child relentlessly chase him can be the scariest thing on earth. But being chased around the living room by his owner doing the monster-walk is a fun and exciting game for a puppy who has learned to enjoy it. Most dogs love attention and they also love being chased if you have made a game out of it with them and have taught them to enjoy it. On the other hand, teasing your puppy to frighten or annoy him is just cruel and stupid. Intentionally causing discomfort or making him afraid is definitely not funny. Your puppy is learning to distrust people and if, as an adult, he reacts defensively, it is your fault. Unfortunately the dog gets into trouble, not the person who misused him. Please be careful and don't allow this to happen.

If you want to find out if your puppy finds teasing enjoyable or not, use this simple test. Stop your game, back away from your puppy, and ask him to come and sit. If the puppy comes promptly and confidently with a wagging tail and sits with his head held high, that's a good sign that he's having as much fun as you are. You may continue playing and having fun with your puppy. If the puppy comes crouching or almost crawling, making excessive licking motions, and won't look you in the eye, you have pushed your puppy to far and he doesn't trust you any more.

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Tips For Walking Your Japanese Chin In The Busy City

Unattended Puppies: This is one big mistake that can be very devastating. In the time it takes you to buy a few groceries or get a quick cup of coffee, someone could have long run off with your puppy. A good thief can steal a car in twenty to forty seconds. Your puppy can be snatched much quicker. If your puppy is a pure breed it will be much more tempting. Getting groceries or whatever else you want can be done later. Your puppy will be much harder to replace.

Your dog can also be a hazard to himself if you leave him unattended. He may become excited or scared and wrap his leash tight and choke himself. Or he could slip through his collar and run away.

Watch The Weather: Be alert for severe weather conditions before going on a walk with your puppy. If it's going to get hot, cut back on the length of your walk. If you don't trim your Japanese chin's coat, watch them very carefully for signs of overheating. During the hot summer months it would be a wise precaution to not take them on walks at all. The pavement absorbs a lot of heat and will make your puppy even more uncomfortable.

Remember that during the winter months salt will be painful on your puppy's paws. Take them on walks through a park or some other place that isn't salted, and also check their paws for ice build up. Booties may help but most experts agree that they do more harm than good, and most dogs don't like them.

Distractions: In the city there are endless distractions for your puppy to investigate. Everything will interest and excite your puppy, and if something doesn't it's only because there are to many other distractions. The noise, other pedestrians, wind in the trees- the bushes- through your puppies legs, the scents, other dogs, all these will be vying for your puppy's attention. All these will be very exciting and depending on your puppies nature will either make him very excited or shrink in fear.

Using Attention-Getters on a Walk: Because of these distractions on city walks, you need something to get his attention on you. A good way bring his attention back to you is to have a motivator with you. Use a one of his favorite toys. It not only gets his attention but it also creates a spirit of fun and playfulness. You want your puppy to have fun on your walks. If you two have fun inside you should have fun outside. Your puppy will enjoy going out with you and your bond will deepen. A stick or other non-hazardous object your puppy picks up and plays with on the walk, is a great motivator or attention getter while on walks.

Your "Chase Me Please" Japanese Chin

If you have a Japanese chin, by now you know they love attention. One very annoying way they try to get attention is by grabbing a knick or other object and running off with it to induce someone into a crazy game of chase. Put a leash on your puppy so you can easily catch him. You'll have to watch him so the leash doesn't catch on anything. But you also won't be running after your little thief either. Once you grab your puppy after he stole something, quickly remove whatever he has. Most people recommend squeezing a dogs snout to induce them to drop the object, but Japanese chins don't have much of a snout to squeeze. Most of the time you can get them to give it up by holding them firmly and forcing them too.

Clicker Training

For many pet owners, the decision on what training method to use is a weighty one.  Generally, people do not want to use physical means to "train" an animal, but may lose patience when other means aren't working out as planned.  Enter clicker training. 

What is clicker training?  How does it work?  Clicker training is a method of training that works with an animal’s natural desire for a pleasurable outcome after completing a desired task.  This method works on the premise that a treat is better than a physical punishment.  As the animal performs a particular task, i.e. sit, the clicker button is used in conjunction with the task and they begin to associate the click with the desired out come of the task.  The animal is then given a reward such as a treat, petting or a verbal reward, this is at your discretion.

The animal will begin to associate the clicker training sound to the reward and soon the click and the reward will not be needed as reinforcement.  Occasionally, it may be helpful to reinforce the clicker training with a refresher lesson while gradually replacing the food reward with a pat or a "good boy" type of a reward.

It is also very important to train in a variety of settings.  While you dog may learn to sit in your backyard via clicker training, he may not understand the action that you are asking for if you have him in a park setting. It is important to fully train before deciding to leave the clicker at home.