Over the Crate training and now dealing with................

[Guest Anonymous]

HI All,

I posted something back on 06/22/2004 about my new puppy and trying to kennel train him. Well, that went better than expected. He knows that Mon - Fri he has to go into the crate. Although he does not want to he does. I am so Proud!

Here is another problem: potty training and biting!
He is now 3 months old and doing better that what he was when I brought him home on the 16th. Now, when we come home we take him out for a small walk in the yard and I always say "Lets go pee and poo!" and while he is doing it outside I do praise him. However, I have a problem with after he comes inside and he gets more water (which I know you are suppose to let them get as much as they need) he will go into one of the bedrooms or hallway and pee...he doesn't sniff or search for that spot he just squats! This is so nerve racking. I tell him when he does it that he is bad and we go outside to potty. HELP! What should I do? :roll:

Then there is biting:
When we come home and let him out I know that he is really excited to see us and we are excited to see him as well! But, he will jump on the couch in between me and my husband and will bite our arms and legs. I know that he is being playful and all but IT HURTS! We had a friend come over last night after we had been home for a while with her 1 1/2 yrs old little boy. Stealth was all over him licking and biting (playfully) and jumping. He gets really excited when people come over. I did go out and get him some rawhide and that helps with the chewing and some biting but what else can we do to help him stop?

And another thing, It is just me and my husband and Stealth (3 month old Black Lab). When we eat (which we sit at the couch) he constantly sits there and trys to get into our food...now i know that most dogs do that and begs...but what can help them with stopping?

Any tips anyone can offer would be AWESOME! Also, we will be getting him fixed with in a month....

Thanks All!
Jessie

[Taurus and Jada]

Well in regards to the house training, I would say just try to be more pro-active . If you know he is going to pee after he comes back inside and drinks water, then make sure you take him out again before he has the chance to pee. Its alot easier to train them by reading their patterns ( ie: he/she always pees after taking a drink ) and acting on them before they do.
We had some problesm training Jada only because she peed so often, I had never heard of a puppy peeing so much. I just learned that until she was about 6 months old, she HAD to go out every 45 mins, or there would be a mess on the floor. Once I figured this out, training became much easier because I could react to the situation faster.

As far as the nipping, when she bites at you just say a firm NO. And then ignore him. He will soon realize that he only gets love when he doesn't use his mouth as a play object. Also , If you have a chew toy available, if he bites you, say NO then immediatly give him a chew toy. When he chews on that instead of you, praise him.

As far as the not begging while your eating, I don't have alot of good advice for a puppy there. This drove us nuts with our two dogs., so we just taught them a good down-stay, and make them stay while we're eating. Then if they are good and stay where they're supposed to, they will get a treat from our dinner .... but only in their dog bowls. Never from the table.

Good luck, hope I've helped a bit. Im sure someone more experienced can elaborate on what I've said, these are just teh things we've found worked for us.

Kara

[Taurus and Jada]

Always take them out the SAME door for pottying, and try using a different door if it's playtime.

thats a really great tip!! I'll have to remember that the next time I have to train a puppy... ( which won't be for many, many years... lol)

I forgot to mention too, we taught Jada to ring a bell when she needed outside. That way, if you don't see them go to the door right away you can hear them!

[Guest Anonymous]

I love the door bell idea...how did you go about doing that?

[Guest Anonymous]

OH, I let him have as much water as i can. I have put a little water bottle in his crate. The thing I feel most horrible about is that I have to keep him in the crate from 7am until about 5:30 because of where I work. Now, I don't put him in until I have to walk out the door and my husband comes home before me so he takes him out for potty and then takes all of his toys out. When he gets older I have no problem with letting him have free roam of the house but not now. My husband was home one day last week and shut the bedroom door and took a nap. Well, Stealth did not like that. So, he put him in the guest room on the bed and he got comfy and slept there by himself for a good while until my husband got up. So, I thought that I would do that the next day since he was so good...WRONG IDEA! I have to get new blinds, i have to clean the carpets which is happening this sat, i had to put up my breakables when i got home. The look on his face when I saw the room he knew he was in trouble. But, the only thing that I did was not let him play while I was picking up the room. After that I let him know we could not do this and then loved on him because he did not know better.

Thanks for the help on the potty training....I have noticed that if I take him out about 30 to 45 min later than i really don't have any accidents. So, we will continue to work on that. We have only had 3 since Friday. So, while my carpets are being cleaned we are going to the river to play on Saturday! I know he will have fun!

Keep the advise coming because this is my first pup and I need lots of it!

Anyone know how to take care of him after I have him fixed? We are doing that soon.

Thanks All!

Jessie & Stealth

[Taurus and Jada]

As far as the neutering, your vet should go over that with you. With mine I had no problems, but they are big dogs with high pain tolerences... I swear Taurus does not feel pain! They were doppy that night, and then the next day they were fine. My vet uses the stitches that dissolve, so I didn't have to take them back to be removed. My biggest problem was trying to keep them from being too active. Its hard to keep a 7 month old puppy from wanting to play with her older brother....lol

Now for the bells,

this is how we taught it. It might be a round about way, but she allready knew one of the commands ( touch) so we just expanded on that.

To teach touch: Take a treat that smells really good and rub it on the palm of your hand. Hold the palm of your hand up and say "touch" the pup will automatically want to smell your palm because you just rubbed a good smelling treat on it, so as soon as her nose touches the palm of your hand say "good" or "yes" whatever your praise word is, and give her a treat. Repeat this until they get a little better handg of it, and eventually stop rubbing the treat on your hand, and just say "touch". (**note: this also works as a great backup recall exercise because it is fun for the dog. If you say touch in a light hearted voice each time, the dog begins to really like this game. I can say touch and Jada will run from the other side of the yard to touch the palm of my hand.)

Okay, so now your dog knows touch, you can transfer this to the bells. Say touch and put your hand near the bells. When she/ he goes to touch your hand, she/ he will touch the bells. Say "good" and open the door. After a few times they will understand that ringing the bells means they can go outside.

just a word of caution though: Jada started ringing the bells everytime she wanted to go out and play, so the dam things were being hit every 20 mins. I think this is where Sasha idea of using two different doors would come in especially handy. That way you only have them on the "potty door".

I hope that wasn't too confusing. Sometimes its easier to just do something, then to explain it.. :)

[katetsai]

Good to hear things are getting better as days goes on. Puppy do need lots of work in the beginning, and great to hear you have the patients and love for the lucky pup.

When I first got my dog Snoopy, she have no problem with her house training, but she did have separation anxiety. We came home to rip-up carpets (in our brand-new 6 month old townhouse). It was not a pretty sight... we were upset, but what can we do. Eventually we had to put her in a crate when we leave the house, we move from that to just the kitchen, then to kitchen & dining, and on up to the whole house. It takes about 6 month, but no more problem from then on.

As for the nipping, it'll take some time, but just be consistent on telling him NO, soon enough he'll stop.

As for begging, my dog will forever do that... :) I don't mind them doing it, but I do make her sit/lay down and wait for it. I am bad that I do feed her at the table :oops: , but only if she sit/lay down and wait for it. I do make sure it's only a very tiny amount, nothing that'll stop her eating her own dog food.

anyway, some of my own experience and Good luck!

[imported_Kat]

For the biting you can either use a very firm No and walk away from him, or you can push him away from you and ignore him totally, then when he is sitting on the floor and being a good lad (teach him a sit) then reward him.

Don't give your pup a whole glut of water at once as it can tend to give them bloat. It is much better practice to give a puppy little amounts of water often as they don't have any idea with water regulation at a young age.

For the peeing, take him out regularly as he is still a very young pup and it will be difficult for his bladder to hold for a long period of time. Lastly restrict his access around the house so that he is only in one room at a time. This way you can keep an eye on him and also he will feel less intimidated by having so much free space and is less likely to pee. Ten hours is way too long for a puppy to be crated. A puppy needs regular exercise to ensure that he will grow properly so please arrange to get a neighbour or someone come into the house during the day.

[courtnek]

well, as far as nipping. with some dogs (not all) when they nip, if you turn your head away and yelp (like a dog would) they usually stop and look confused. In doggie world, the yelp would mean they have overextended their play limits and caused injury. Instinct usually tries to prevent that.

if they settle down, then they can be petted, praised and treated, but as soon as they nip again you yelp again and look away from them. DONT look until they have settled down. Before you treat, or praise, order a sit and make them do it. they learn two things. nipping is not appreciated (learned instinctively) and NOT nipping and settling down to a reward for obeying a command brings good things. it's kinda a double whammy, but it tends to work well.

as far as begging. I partitioned mine off in another room with a NO BEG command as soon as they started. Where they can see you eat, but they get nothing from the table. if they lay down and behave, I then gave them some leftovers in their dinner. Now, they can both lay under the table without beggin, knowing that they will get some if they're good.

[Queen Bitch]

Instead of having him be in the crate the entire time, invest in an X pen. Get one that is big enough for his crate to fit in. And I second the not allowing him to have free access, especially when he is messing in the house.

[Guest Anonymous]

I like what I hear so far! What is a X Pen?

Also, when a friend came over with her choco Lab (which is 2 days older than Stealth) they love to play. However, we don't want them to play to much because he has tried to lets say "Pen Her!", I know they will be good playmates when they both are fixed. The only concern about other dogs like Baylee is that last night they were really agressive with each other. How can you tell when you need to take them apart? They love the interaction. We take them on weekends to the river and I know he is going to love the 3day holiday with Mommy and Daddy being home! What do you all suggest?

And again, no accidents in the house. I got my 1st 2:30 am wake up for a potty...and I am so HAPPY! HUGE TREAT THIS WEEKEND!

Again, Thank to all who have responded....we are working one day at a time.... I am also checking into a Doggie Daycare for a few days a week- he gets craft time, playtime, heated or a/c'ed kennels, pool time and other things...I think that might be good for maybe 2 or 3 days aweek...It is less than $20 a day...What do you think about that?

Thanks All-

Jessie, Tim and Stealth

[Taurus and Jada]

How old is the pup again? Sorry I can';t remember... If he has all his shots then I say daycare would probably be alot of fun for him. (and would make you feel better that hes not sitting in a crate for so long.

As far as the rough housing, that ones tough to judge unless you're right there. Just watch them carefully, and never leave them unsupervised. (which im sure you know ..) My two play VERY rough, but its just playing. It took me a while to figure out what was play and what wasn't. I haven't had any problems thus far (*knocks on wood*) but I am always there supervising their playtime together. Most of the time rough play is fine, and if one of the dogs gets too rough for the other, trust me, they'll let them know. Then the one that was too rough will just tone it down a bit...

Heres a picture of my two playing rough...



( as you can see there mouths are always wide open when they're playing, but they love it.!! they are the best of buds.... :lol: )

[Guest Anonymous]

He is 3 months old!

What about running to the road? He is learning about that and cars...and will stop in his tracks to look....a few times with having him off of the leash he will start heading to the road....we have about 1 and 1/2 acre and we try to keep him in the back....

Thanks,
Jessica

[Guest Anonymous]

If anyone has IM's and would like to talk there just to let you know mine are:

AIM- JessieandTimmy
Yahoo & MSN- Jessieholsinger@yahoo.com

Thanks again!

[katetsai]

My dog plays rought too with her best buddy Griffy. As long as the other owner is okay with the rough play, then let them go at it. When Snoopy play with Griffy, they sometimes even make growling noise, although we know it's just how they play. I agreed that always supervise them, so nothing is out of control.

Great to hear about all the progress, keep at it!

[courtnek]

oh hell, mine get into it all the time, over bones. the sit on the floor and snarl and snap at each other, neither making contact. it's the contact to look out for. Most of the time it's posturing "get outta my face!" "Leave that alone, its MINE!" "GO AWAY"...if their mouths touch, theres never any damage done. If you order them to stop, and they wont, then you have an issue. my order is CHILL OUT!!!!!! and they both get a two-fingered snap across the muzzle. I am just reminding them who;s boss, the "snap" does not hurt in any way. then they are sent into time out. one to a room. they know the timeout command too. usually they can work it out on their own, I just cant take the noise after a while....

:wink:

[Queen Bitch]

An X pen is an excercise pen, it is pretty much a doggy playpen.