Thoughts around raising a happy family dog.
This is my preemptive response to all "new puppy at home" training questions, based exclusively on my own experience and--more importantly--mistakes as a dog owner; the things I'd wish I'd known and what people don't seem to say explicitly.
Short-version: Training and conditioning are two different things. Training is simply making sure your pup knows what the command means. That's the easy part. Conditioning is REPEATED training until your dog responds without thinking every time you give the command. That takes--well, forever. Meaning that you will need to reward/reinforce your dog occasionally even after months and years of practice. Unless the behavior is self-rewarding. And rewards don't need to be food.
Young puppies will bite and attack while you are teaching a better behavior--don't let that stop you. Redirect with a toy. Say no. Yelp. And keep doing it. You will start to see improvement after a few weeks. You won't extinguish the behavior for months. Pro tip: I wore an oven mitt for the first few weeks with my pup, as did my kids. You can begin to teach sit/down, whatever, as an alternate behavior, but the instinct to play like this won't be overcome for quite some time. Don't blame your pup. Train, redirect, condition.
Start training and conditioning "Wait" at the door from day 1. As a safety measure, this one is essential. And you will feel dang good when your puppy listens b/c you are doing YOUR job keeping it safe. Google the training and do it off leash (use a pen outside the door if you are worried you'll be too slow to close the door quickly enough if the pup attempts to go out).
Carry the pup out to potty (see below on leash training), and stay still and boring in the potty spot. I've waited 40 min almost motionless on a couple of WI winter nights to get a pup used to going outside, while the pup sniffed and attempted to engage me in a 6-foot radius around me. Ignore; don't engage. Don't go back in until something happens, then praise and reward. My rule was, potty on leaving create; potty break every 30 min of freedom and before going back to confinement, when pup was 8-16 weeks. The 30 min. stretched by 5-10 min every week w/out an accident. Set a time on your phone and confine or tether if you aren't 100% committed to honoring the schedule. Every single setback for me was when I gave us "a few more minutes."
When your pup has done its business, do a few minutes of training it to follow you on a leash/leash training. Teach your pup to walk on a leash before you take it for walks, or you too will have dogs who pull. Everyone wants to walk their adorable 8 week old but that's a mistake. Google the training and find one that has your dog following you. You won't be able to take long walks for exercise for a while, so consider other options for play off leash--like a fenced yard, indoor, etc. (Here's a heads up: Long walks won't tire your Aussie, anyway.) So start with very short sessions after potty; you'll be doing a lot of potty breaks anyway, so 2-3 minutes of leash training after each break is fine.
Use pens/crates/gate/tethering 100% of the time you are not ready to be actively engaged with your puppy. First and most importantly, a puppy needs to be SAFE and will find ways to be unsafe if left to its own devices. Stop feeling guilty. Google mental and physical exercise for your dog, and do your best. Contain your pup when you aren't "there" for it. And plan to do so for the next 1-2 years, depending on your tolerance for risk, mess, hair, and the unexpected.
Don't count on your kids, not even teenagers, to be watchful. You got the dog; it's your job. Even if like me you were stupid enough to think your older kids would be more responsible this time around. It's on you--if you want it done right. And decide how important that is to you, b/c it's not worth fighting every battle with your kids OR yourself.
A well-mannered house pet is relatively easy; a well-mannered dog that you can confidently travel with, hike with, shop with, etc., is more work.
And most important, please do not EVER blame your dog when it fails to obey. It's not stupid or willful; it's just not conditioned. If that is your expectation, it is on you to do the conditioning.
