Training Your PWD Puppy

Portuguese Water Dogs can be trained but you've to be quick thinking with this breed.  Porties are very clever. As a puppy my dog Goji was responsive to dog treats, so you could reward him with food if he did something on command. This breed is  too clever for that human trick to last for long. Here’s what I did to begin training my standard PWD:

It is a good idea to have the puppy go to a puppy class starting at age 3 or 4 months or so. Being around other puppies is good conditioning for him. I took mine to the Marin Humane Society.  Actually the class is ideal for training the owner. I needed some catching up in the latest training techniques for dogs. Nowadays you don’t punish the dog if he does something bad, but only reward him for doing something good. That reward is a treat. That's what the class taught me. Socialization is what the class taught Goji, though he was well socialized at his breeder, Toraq. I learned to unlearn the training techniques I did with my black labrador retriever in an earlier incarnation. I was told not to negatively discipline my dog. It was difficult for me to instruct my friends not to discipline him when the mouthy puppy jumped on them and nipped their skin. I asked my family and friends to be assertive and to knee the dog if he would jump up. It is important that the dog know who is in charge right from the start.

A month or so later he went into the Family Dog I class at the same also at the Humane Society.  This taught him some commands and obedience, and that continued with the Family Dog II class.  I don’t think he really learned too many commands there, but we did learn to get along superior together, which was good.

The Portuguese Water Dog is actually more inclined to like praise more than a treat, as an adult. My dog is quite picky about treats now; when we go into a pet store and the shopkeepers offer him a treat, he often refuses it. Porties are very particular about their food, unlike other breeds. Here’s what he like nowadays:

• Dried liver such as liver biscuit
• Dried salmon sticks
• Charlie Bear treats
• Bil-jack biscuits
• Fois Grois and Caviar
• Red Barn rolled beef hide with chicken inside
• Dried Kangaroo meat
• Dried salmon tenders

Women train these dogs better than men, in my opinion. The porties are more responsive to their high pitched voices than men’s. I also think Portie’s prefer the smell of women over men.  But this doesn’t mean that they don’t highly respect male masters; they do. They need the master to have a complete life. In fact, they've to have a working “captain of the ship” and you learn that quite fast when you have one of these dogs living with you.

One thing that the Portuguese Water Dog does not seem to have to learn is devotion to the master. We quickly realized that it is as if he thinks he’s living with a fisherman, and he’s on a boat with the fisherman and becomes very devoted to him.  Goji  despises boats, so the devotion isn't really to a working fisherman, but to a master.  This has been built into Goji since he came to our house at age 9 weeks. This unlearned trait seems to be only increasing over the years. If you can’t handle this extreme devotion don’t bring a PWD home.

Image via Wikipedia

• You should be consistent in your approach towards your dog
• Keep intonations, gestures and words for expressing dissatisfaction and praise consistent; then  you will be help him understand commands by associating wtih the way it is said.
• If you issue conflicting commands your dog will be confused compared to one who has learned the same command over and over. One example of being consistent is to let him out the same door every time he has to do his business. In this way he associates that door with needing to go out and will let you know by going to that door instead of somewhere in the house.
• Remember of course that after every command that he successfully does, shower him with love and affection. Treat him once in a while when he does right because like a child it needs to be appreciated and given praise.
• There are many technques to dog training from positive reinforcement, understanding when to reward and when to punish, the effective way of punishing, how to cease excessive barking and chewing and aggression to name a few.
• Dog training is an on-going process but one that is full of rewards. You will create a bond with your pet that's unbreakable. You'll have a loyal companion for life and a friend forever.
• There are many dog training ebooks, cd`s, dvd`s, seminars, groups and tips on training your dog that you can find online.  Find one that you're comfortable with and provides all the necessary tools to help you in dog training.