My GF just got a new puppy, and she has asked me to help her train him, I know the bare minimums of training dogs but would like a referral to a good text or other source that would walk us through the steps to turning this little guy into a first rate "good dog".

Thanks in advance.

Start by getting a crate for the dog to sleep in.  Important to start that habit early.  Get one that the full grown dog can sleep in comfortably and put a divider in it so it is not too massive for a tiny puppy.

When you say "crate", does that preclude a cage? They have a cage that he sleeps in that pretty much fits that description.

I think by crate, he means the cage you've described. I've been going through this recently as well. It seems people commonly refer to the wire cages as crates. Look up the "crate" method of housebreaking on google. It works like a charm!

leerburg

All kinds of GOOD training info here. Look around his site. THere is a section on raising puppies. THere is free info and buy stuff as well. Ed has been at it a very long time and has done more than most. I have no connection to him I've just learned many things from the site and have been going to his site for many years.

This is someone you can learn from.

I totally agree with the create training mentioned as it makes the house breaking very easy and quicker. It also gives the dog a safe comfotable place of it's own. They like them as their instinct is to live in a hole in the ground and a create fulfills that instinctual need. If you use a WIRE create (read cage) try putting a blanket over the top and sides as it reminds them of the hole in the ground(make a cave out of it). I prefer the Veri Kennal type and it is my opinion that the dogs do as well but us what you have if you already own one.

Learning to train dogs is a journey that never ends because there is always something new you can train and there are more than one way to do it. The reality of it is that you are really training you.

enjoy the journey

Blocker

There's a lot of misunderstanding of how and why to properly crate train a dog.

The purpose of crate training is primarily to teach the dog that peeing/pooping is to be done outside.  The reason you confine the dog to as small a crate as comfortably possible is b/c the dog is less likely to 'go' when inside the crate.  Then, upon releasing it from the crate, you immediately take it outside to 'go'.  If it doesn't go, then whenever the dog is not under close/immediate supervision, it goes back in the crate.  This process is repeated until the dog recognizes that going outside means going pee/pooping.  Once they get this, then they get more freedom to roam around outside the crate in the home.  The idea being that the home itself would eventually become the 'crate' and that only when the dog is outside the home/crate, and only then, may the dog go pee/poop.

this.

And never use the crate to punish the dog.  Positive renforcement works wonders, you dont have to go broke buying dog treats, I've used plain goldfish and cheerios to help train my dogs they're cheap the the dogs love em.

Our 3 year old Gracie in put  into the crate whenever we leave her in the house alone. Her crate/cage is covered on 3 sides and the top. She has her own cave.

http://www.koehlerdogtraining.com/

http://www.yourdogsfriend.info/

a great resouce.  they will send you a free training book and dvd if you ask.  just email them.