Got a new puppy

[Fisher's Mom]

Help! We got a new puppy yesterday - not planning for one but a neighbor had this pup that she had found somewhere and couldn't keep and Fisher fell in love. His birthday is this weekend so the timing is great. BUT, I have never actually house-trained a puppy. I've always gotten grown dogs that were already trained or cats that self-train. Anybody have any tips? This little one is about 12 weeks old, I think. Still has baby teeth. He's a wire haired dachsund type mix. I have a crate, which he slept in next to my bed last night, and didn't cry at all. But he has no idea that when I take him outside, that's a good place to potty. Any help or tips will be greatly appreciated!

 

[LT72884]

We have had about 10 dogs in my life time and my mom trained them all. You have to get them to learn the word potty so when you take them out and say go potty, they know what you mean. when you notice the puppy starting to get ready to go on the floor or something, hurry and pick it up and put it on a pile of newspapers. hopefully you make it in time. if he goes on the papers, then say good boy/girl and give them hugs and treats. after a while they learn that the newspaper pile is a good place to go, then when its time, you will learn the puppies schedule and you can start taking it outside at certain times and it will get used to going out side every 2 or 3 hours to go potty.

 

[Jeekinz]

Reward the dog with a treat when they are good and let them know when thay are bad. Cage training is a great way to train. If the dog is bad you tell it to go to it's bed (the cage) but when you lock the door on it, it knows it did something wrong......usually. Have alot of patience.

 

[GotGarlic]

We took our dog to a training class - it was the best thing we could have done for her, and us. She doesn't run away, or jump on people, she leaves things alone when we tell her to. We had several dogs growing up, but my parents never trained them. My dad spent a lot of time on his grandparents' farm when he was growing up, and dogs weren't really trained there. But it makes the dog *so* much easier to live with.

If you get a book or something, and are really diligent about it, you can train the dog yourself. We found it easier to take her to a class. Also, we don't reward her for good behavior with treats - we reward her with petting and a lot of "Good girl!" The trainer said rewarding a dog with treats can easily lead to overeating and an overweight dog, which can cause physical problems.

Soon after he eats, take him outside on a leash and say "go potty" over and over. Praise him a lot when he goes. Remember that dogs do not understand sentences but they can learn lots of words. HTH.

 

[pacanis]

Yep. Patience. Lots of it.
It helps if someone is home all the time (are you?), then you don't have to trust the pup to "hold it" longer than they can. 12 weeks old is a lot better than 8 weeks old. Trust me on that

I've never been a believer of training a dog to go inside, so no paper training for my dogs. Pierce turns one year old on Monday and only one pee accident, but even now I rarely let him leave my sight, and never as a puppy. If I was watching TV late, he went into the crate beside me in case I fell asleep. Even now he will seek out his crate and lay down in it rather than me "yelling" at him to get out of the kitchen (when I'm cooking). So I guess what I'm saying is to never punish him by putting him ini his crate and he won't mind going there.

So, gone are the days of rubbing their nose in it. If you don't catch a pup in the act and run into an accident, put him outside or in his crate for a bit and clean it up without him seeing you. Remember, his mother cleaned up after him until he was weaned..... don't let him think it's still OK by him watching you clean up after him.

Anticipate when he has to go; When he wakes up, shortly after he eats, after playing or losing interest in playing and getting "the look". And about three other times inbetween.

If you do catch him starting to squat, throw something at him. Magazines work great, but a remote landing closeby will have a similar effect, too. It will stop him from going immediately, then grab him, take him outside and if he has anything to finish, tell him how good he is. Repeatedly. A stomp on the floor and a yell from you will work in a pinch if you don't have anything safe handy.

Keep in mind; You can't housebreak a dog just by putting him outside on his own. You need to be there with him, and if he wants to play, bring him back inside. You aren't out there to play. He will get the idea quickly what he's supposed to be doing and yes, a "word" helps remind him why he's out there. I liked to keep a leash handy and use that, taking him to the same spot, but Pierce has always been a walker and that didn't work for him, so be ready to adapt.

And good luck!

Oh, and pick his water up after dinner. He won't need any water til the next day unless something is wrong with him. That should let him go one last time before bed (11:00ish) and hold it til morning (6:00ish?)

 

[Mama]

All of the above advice is great but just remember to be patient. The vet told me that a puppy can't control his bladder until he's 3 to 4 months old so there are going to be accidents.

 

[sattie]

Pacanis has good advice. I don't like indoor training or pee pads.... As soon as I brought Binks home, outside he went! Binks was only 9 oz at the time, so I made very frequent trips. But it all paid off in the end.

I'm not a fan of treating dogs either. I think that can get out of hand and then you have obesity problems with your dog. I prefer praise and love than treats. They get a treat once a week maybe. I usually don't even buy them, but they do like their marrow bones.

Congrats on your new puppy!!! Any chance we get to see a pic of the little guy???

 

[Fisher's Mom]

Thank you, thank you. This was kinda what I had remembered from years ago when I worked in veterinary clinics but with more details.

The crate thing is interesting. I have always used crates when a new dog came into the house or I was watching a friend's pet. It's a safe place for them to sleep or escape kids and noise and chaos. I've never used one as punishment. But lots of people I know see it as a bad thing, like prison or something. I'm glad so many of you use them, too.

I know that when pets have an accident, they tend to have accidents in the same spot over and over, no matter how well you clean it. Thus it made sense to me to keep the pup crated at night so he wouldn't potty somewhere I didn't find immediately and then think it was a good spot. I made sure it was facing the bed so he could see me and he was perfectly happy to sleep in it.

I'd never thought about not letting him see me clean up after him but it makes perfect sense! Thanks, Pacanis.

I will definitely post a pic when I get back home tomorrow. He really is cute (but of course, all puppies are cute.) No definite name yet since right now Fisher wants to call him CuddleBug. I know his brothers will never let that slide. He'll probably have some very macho name like Rock or Stone or something by the end of the weekend.

 

[Jeekinz]

We crate trained Bloo and her sister. I removed the crate a few years ago. I could remove everything from the room, say "In your bed!" and she'l go lay where the crate was. LOL I keep her bed there now just to keep on the same track.

The other blessing is a dog door. The dog can come and go as she pleases to a fenced in spot on the side of the house. Sometimes when I wake up in the middle of the night I can hear the "click...click...click." of the door swinging. lol

 

[PanchoHambre]

Crate training works great especially with puppies. The only good dog we had growing up was crate trained.

About a month ago I adopted a year old large pit-boxer mix. He is a great dog but he has been a handful. I did not crate him because he is so big but I probably should have. He does not like to be left alone and sometimes destroys stuff. I just couldnt bring myself to put such a big boy in a crate.... he has now claimed his space on the couch (the side he did not chew up) and that is usually where he when I get home.

Good luck with your puppy! It will be great for Fisher to raise a dog and teach him alot.

 

[quicksilver]

Oh boy, a new baby! Lucky you.
Any chance of a name or pics.
Have loads of fun...............................................

 

[Toots]

Pacanis gives good advise. We adopted a 1 yr old bassett mix last year and she had never lived in a house, so we had to housetrain her. This is what we did, took about 3 months before she was housetrained and now she never has accidents:

1. take the pup out every 1-2 hours, especially right after she eats or drinks ANYTHING.

2. Give a treat and LOTS of praise immediately upon the pup going in the yard. Say things like "its time to go potty" every time you take her out.

3. If she has an accident in the house, do NOT punish her, just thoroughly clean it up and keep taking the dog out. You'll probably have to get up in the night to do this too.

4. Buy a comfortable crate (not too big) and get the pup used to going in there. I fed Lily in her crate and since she loves food, she started hanging out in her crate even when it wasnt dinner time. You might want to buy a kong and stuff it with peanut butter or hot dog bits to keep the dog occupied while they are in their crate.

5. don't expect a pup to hold it very long. It takes time for them to learn to "hold it". And even then, never ever let your dog go longer than 8 hours or so without a potty break. Especially small breed dogs, they have a little bladder.

6. Best advice is to give praise and treats immediately when the dog potties. After awhile you are going to know their "sign" that they need to go out. Lily starts pacing by the back door and I'll say "do you have to go potty?" and she'll give a little jump.

My other dog tries to shake paws when he has to go out.

Just be patient, puppies are a handful but totally worth all the love you'll get back in return.

 

[In the Kitchen]

Please my puppies have been here since February and March and cannot believe the activity that never stops. Also please give them plenty of things to chew on. Like Nyla (SP?) bones at Petsmart and chew toys. Last night, found the handle to one of our leather stuffed lazy boys that we just got Christmas chewed on. Does that hurt? Who knows when it happened and which one did it? Have to give a lot of forgiveness and patience. Plus when you see something strange, don't get mad at them unless you see them in action doing the mess. One reason I got TWO was the first one cried the whole time I was gone and the cage was completely wet. After the second one came, crying and wet cage stopped. I still don't understand why they want to get up before 5 in morning to go outside, must be rabbits or something cause I let them go out around 9 night before and I know they can hold it till later.

I am thankful I have them but they are sure taking long time to relax. If they aren't playing with one another they bother me by jumping all the time. I do plan on taking them to Obedience Training but have to be 6 months and I want to make sure I trust the instructors. I have to have the BEST for my dogs!!!! HO HO HO. Now if only they knew that.

I sincerely wish you luck. Oh, be sure to get them Heart and Flea medicine. And a identification tag. My dogs are both microchipped but how would people know who they belonged to unless you take them to vet. I think tag is important. I just saw on Sunday that PetSMart has some kind of machine that makes these kind of tags which I think great idea. Buy their food and tags too. You got a name for the pup? I am happy for you. Really sounds like cute one. Hope no one looking for him. Wouldn't that be a the pits?

 

[elaine l]

The minute you take him out of the crate bring him outside and praise him when he goes.

 

[texasgirl]

pacanis has some really good tips!! I would usually clap loudly and say, no, get mine and put them out the doggie door. Mine learned very quickly that way, but, before I got that, I would take them to the door, show them to scratch, then take them out and sit with them until they go and praise them endlessly every time. When they would go on their own, praise them too until they know that is where they go.

 

[QSis]

Terry, please post a picture of the puppy when you can.

Lee

 

[jpmcgrew]

Just be patient with the little guy they have tiny bladders and go all the time. Besides after eating and waking up they may need to go if they get cold. I don't care for the crate thing at all but it's OK if you make sure they get to go alot. Ive seen some people put the poor creature in a crate from 6:30 at night till 7:00 in the morning and I think that is just way to long. Also if they start whimpering in the crate it probably means they hafto to go. I know I sound like a freak but I am very diligent in making sure my grown dogs go out before I go to bed etc even when they are sleeping I wake them up and go out before I go to bed. I have trained them as well to the command "go pee" and I make sure they do, sometimes they don't need to but I always wait a bit to make sure they want to go sometimes they get so caught up on smelling stuff they don't go which is why I try to remind them over and over to snap to it and go pee. DH is up early in the morning around 4:30 am and they go out again until I wake up.

 

[buckytom]

Reward the dog with a treat when they are good and let them know when thay are bad. .

gooood jeekinz. good boy.

now go lay down.


hey, it works!!!!




he hee. congrats f-mom. awaiting pics.

 

[Fisher's Mom]

You guys are the best. I feel much better about tackling the whole housebreaking thing. He's already getting the idea that when I take him out, he should pee and seems to really like the praise. So far so good. I know it will be quite a while before he can hold it for any length of time or reliably ask to go out. But hey, it took 3 years with some of my kids so I figure I'll give him at least that long! Here's some pics I took when I got back home tonight of the pup (known as Junior for the moment), my dog Bella and my "pleased as punch" Fisher! He looks like a fair amount of dachsund is somewhere in his background, don't you think?

 

[pacanis]

Cute little bugger