Weimaraner Owner

Playing With Your Weimaraner

One of the greatest pleasures in life for a puppy is for you to play with him. We teach our youngsters that this should be done outside, never in the house. As with children, the adrenalin begins to flow, they get excited and things get knocked over and broken.

If your puppy thinks that this sort of behaviour is permitted in the house, then it can lead to other problems. He will generally become unruly, disobedient and wilful, thinking that if he can behave badly with you then he can do the same when you are not there.

All of which leads to a destructive, out-of-control dog, which you will wish you had never bought.

While enjoying playing with your Weimaraner remember always to keep him under control.
Don't ever allow him to bite at you, even in fun. If he wants to bite, as puppies naturally do, pick up a stick and let him bite that or take the old stuffed sock and throw it, drawing his attention away from chewing on anything.

If you allow him to bite in play as a baby, when he grows he will automatically snap or bite if reprimanded.

As an adult he will have a jaw like a vice and this could lead to you being shocked or injured. He will be able to sense your apprehension when he grabs your arm and that will give him mental superiority. If you discipline him again in the future, he will remember your previous apprehension when he grabbed you and do it again, though this time it will be a bit harder, and before you know it, you will have a dog that bites.

He must be taught right from the start that such behaviour is not permitted in any form.

When playing rough games with your dog, don't allow him to climb on your back or jump about wrapping his legs around you. You will end up with the dog becoming sexually excited and demonstrative. If you think the game is getting out of hand, stop it and draw the dog's attention to something else he will find interesting. Such behaviour is practically impossible to rectify in an adult, so stop it when he is a puppy.

Housetraining A Weimaraner

Once you have your Weimaraner puppy home, one of the first things to do is to housetrain him.

A puppy is a bit like a baby in that he gains more control over his bodily functions as time goes on. He gains this control much sooner than a baby and at eight weeks begins to know or learn where he is allowed to go to the toilet and where he is not. Instinctively he will not want to defecate where he lives or sleeps. He might, not by choice but because he could not get where he wanted.

Right from the beginning, think for him: learn to read the signs. When he wakes up, a puppy usually wants to relieve himself, so pick him up immediately, take him outside and encourage him to go, using the same words every time.

If, for instance, you say 'Be good', he will go when he hears the words 'Be good' if you are persistent with the command every time you take him out. When he has relieved himself, praise him and pet him to show how pleased you are with him.

Another time he may want to relieve himself is after he has eaten. Again, take him straight out and encourage him to go.

When he is playing a game with the children and he stops and starts to potter about, sniffing as he goes, often in decreasing circles, get him out quickly as it is a sure sign.
Stay with him while he is outside. This can get very boring if he forgets why he has been taken out. Be patient because he will remember eventually and get on with it.

If he has an accident, pick him up and say a disapproving 'NO'. Take him straight outside and encourage him to go; even if it is too late he will get the general idea. Don't rub his nose in it and get excited, because that will worry him and he won't perform for you at all in case you repeat your show of disapproval. He will be more hurt if you quietly and quickly show your disaproval, because he does not like to be ignored.

When he makes a mistake, clean it up with disinfectant as quickly as possible to remove the scent and stain, as well as for hygienic reasons. If the spot is clean, he will not be able to remember where he went before and will not consider going there again. A good way to remove toilet stains and smells is to squirt the stain with soda water as soon as possible after mopping up.

One method of training a puppy is to put newspaper on the floor near the outside door, gradually moving it outside as he gets accustomed to using it. However, this can confuse him. One minute he is allowed to perform in the house, the next he is not. He cannot be expected to differentiate between paper in the house and paper outside. It is far better to make the rules clear, right from the start. Inside no, outside yes. Otherwise you might end up with more than you bargained for when you are reading the Sunday paper on the floor!

If at all possible it is best to use one door to take him outside. As he becomes familiar with the procedure, he will go to the door himself to ask to be let out. When he does, drop everything and take him out; there is no room for manoeuvre on this point, it is the sign that you are winning.

Obviously night training is another problem. Restricting his intake of fluid later in the day can help. Confining him to a small place, such as an indoor kennel, to sleep will also help. It will encourage him to wait or to bark for you, as no dog willingly fouls his bed.

People in desperation have resorted to taking the puppy upstairs to resolve the problem - a drastic measure and one that is not easily reversed as he will not take kindly to being left downstairs again when clean.

After a few months, he will be in complete control of his bodily functions. Weimaraners are usually clean by nature. It is interesting to note that a puppy that has been kennelled outside, and therefore not housetrained, at seven or eight months can come inside the house and automatically expect to go out to the toilet. Kennel bitches that are brought in to be whelped will instinctively want to be clean and will never do anything in the house.

Weimaraner Jumping Up

A weimaraner that jumps up all the time is not being wilfully naughty, he is just pleased to see you. He wants attention, and the bit of you that tends to give him that attention with kind reassuring words and gestures, is the head and face. His only way to get to that part is by jumping up.

He must be taught that this is wrong. You may not mind when he is a clean puppy, but when he is a dirty grown dog stopping him from jumping up is considerably harder, as well as being confusing to him because you are changing the rules.

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Weimaraner Training and Obedience

Training your Weimaraner is an important factor of your ownership and should be a part of your routine from the moment you get your puppy or older dog.

Training can modify a Weimaraners behavior from a dog that will not obey you to a dog that will listen to your commands, is quiet and considerate to neighbors and others, will stay still at your command and generally be a pleasure to own and interact with.

The first thing to do is make sure your dog knows its name. Once they know their name they can respond to your commands.

If you have a Weimaraner puppy and you are trying to get him to listen to you make sure the environment is one where you can both focus; no other people or animals, comfortable surrounding etc.

If you get your Weimaraner as a puppy then this is the best time to start training. It ensures a much better rate of success even if you have no prior experience of training.

Ideally you should learn about dog training before you even get your Weimaraner and perhaps attend some dog training classes. If you do attend classes though make sure you adapt what you learn to the Weimaraner breed as not all lessons are applicable.

Most of the time you will learn the best techniques as you train your own dog, but you can also hire a professional dog trainer to help you out. The benefit of training your own Weimaraner is obviously the trust and intimacy you will both build up making your relationship that much stronger. If you can train yourself I do recommend it.

You can always train your Weimaraner yourself and join a dog training class as you are not deprived of your bonding sessions and you get to learn new and effective techniques in the lessons.

No matter how train your Weimaraner have patience and you will see success in your efforts!