We're getting a new puppy!

[Spacemom]

I'm as excited as the kids are!



Any tips or advice for raising a puppy? House training advice?

[Wcross]

1. What an adorable little critter!

All dogs sniff the ground before they poop. When you see the pup sniffing, take it outside. After it has done its business reward it with a treat and praise. If it poops in the house smack it with a loosely rolled up news paper. The idea is not to hurt the animal, the noise of the paper hitting is the punishment. (smack your thigh to test the pain factor-make sure its not) Also DO NOT smack the pup if you do not catch it in the act. He/she won't know why they are receiving the punishment.

I had it easy with my pups as I also had their mother. She house trained the pups herself. Mother dogs clean up their dens after their pups. At some point they get tired of doing it and start biting the pup on the nose if it poops inside. I didn't have to lift a finger.

[Spacemom]

6. Thanks for the tips

My boys are excited about raising a puppy. We have an older dog who was here before our boys, so they don't know the joy of puppy raising yet. He's going to be a tiny dog.

I'm overloaded on cute. :D

[Scairp]

39. It's a lot like having a new baby

You will be up all night because it will cry out of fear and loneliness. You will either have to sleep with it in the spot you have chosen for a bed, or put it in bed with you. He'll get over it in a few days, and you might consider cage training as well, something that has to start pretty early, for when you go out and for sleeping in at night. Do some reading on it because there's far too much to cover in a post like this. Also, don't freak if it gets sick right off the bat. Puppies often develop diarrhea and vomiting due to environment change, but if it continues past a day, take him to the vet for a parvo test, just to be on the safe side. And make sure you give him the exact same food he's been getting at the breeder's or whoever had him before you. Very important. Allow any small children you have in the house to have lots of contact, without hurting him of course, that way he will get used to them and in the future you won't have to worry that he will bite little kids. I allowed my baby to be in the puppy's face all the time and she is so used to the kid and her antics now she puts up with anything from her. I never allowed her to pull her tail or ears though because it's stuff like that that will make the dog fear children and more likely they may bite them. I also allowed the kid to mess with the dog when she was eating so as to prevent food aggression, just like petting and sitting next to the puppy, not taking her food. Most dogs don't become food aggressive unless they've been starved previously, but it won't hurt to allow it just to prevent problems in the future. Good luck, and congratulations! There's nothing more wonderful than adding a dog to a family.

Edited to add: I also don't advocate negative reinforcement for housebreaking. I don't think it works as well as positive reinforcement. You don't want the pup afraid of you. Any hitting, no matter how light, could make the dog show aggression in the future. You'll just have to learn to watch for the signals when the pup has to go and quickly get him outside, and put up with cleaning up the messes for awhile. It's all part of having a puppy. He'll get the hang of it eventually, they all do.

[femmocrat]

19. OMG! Totally disregard the above advice!

Never, never smack a puppy with a newspaper or your hand, or anything. If you just yell "NO, NO" and whisk the puppy outside, he will understand. Then reward him lavishly for going outside.

Keep him confined to small areas of the house until you trust him to potty outside. Then you can gradually introduce other parts of the house, supervised of course.

[Wcross]

24. The bitch bites her pup on the nose to discourage accidents.

You ARE NOT hurting the pup with a swat from a rolled up newspaper. They fear the sound more than the "pain" of paper hitting them. Yelling NO might work if you have their complete attention. Swatting them personally makes sure they know THEY are the one you are displeased with.

You seem to not have noticed I specified a LOOSELY rolled or folded paper. Also I suggested you test it on yourself to ensure it isn't going to hurt the animal. The whole point of the newspaper rather than yelling is that the dog will know he screwed up. Also, the dog will be better socialized with humans. Sometimes humans get loud, do you want your dog to think it made a mistake if someone gets a little too loud around the house?

I disagree with your approach to house training as much as you disagree with mine. BTW- I never advocated hurting the dog. Your comment " Never, never smack a puppy with a newspaper or your hand, or anything." makes it sound as if a ball bat would be appropriate.

[zanne]

25. I have to agree with femmocrat.

You want the puppy to want to please you, not be scared shitless of you. I housetrained three pups without hitting at all.

[Wcross]

27. Whats the difference?

You are yelling at the thing, is that not scaring the dog as well? I repeat, the paper will not hurt the dog. It is a prop, it makes noise when it hits but causes no physical pain or injury. What happens when you yell "NO" to your kid some day? Poor dog will think it screwed up again.

[zanne]

28. You don't have to yell.

Just pick up the puppy immediately after (or when it's actually urinating, if you can catch him), and run outside with him. Eventually he'll either get the point or, like one of my dogs, pee in the house and then run like hell outside.

[Wcross]

30. I think it was too easy for me this time.

As I said, I had their momma in the house and she took care of all that for me.


This is Angel with her pups, she trained them all. She passed away in August but I still have some very well behaved dogs that she raised.

[zanne]

46. Thank God for your Angel.

I remember when she passed away. Hope you're feeling better, Wcross. Sorry if I was a little snarky.

[Wcross]

49. She sure made it easy to raise the pups up.

I am seriously considering adopting another pregnant dog when my heard thins down or at least a momma and all her pups. It is the ONLY way to go as far as I am concerned. She will do a much better job of teaching the pups than I could.
Thank you for your kind words, I miss her but she is in a better place without pain. BTW- you were not coming off as snarky to me, just someone with a valid opinion. I think it would be a very boring world if we all agreed about everything all the time! ;-)

[oregonjen]

29. You can use a specific sound like "uh-uh" only for discipline

Hitting teaches the pup that the hands of humans cause fear. With my dog, if he grabs a kleenex, which he loves to chew, I use "uh-uh" in a tone specifically for him and he knows that his behavior is not okay and he stops and drops it. Potty training was the same. We just put him out and he got the idea pretty quickly. No swatting necessary. No yelling necessary. The kids make lots of noise around our house and our dog has never been afraid. I don't understand why you think that hitting a dog is okay. And yes, that is what you are doing by swatting your dog with a newspaper.

[HamdenRice]

48. I'm not a no-paper purist, but it's not the best thing as a correction

You are right that basically what we are doing is using negative reinforcement, to prevent unwanted behavior. By its nature, negative reinforcement is unpleasant -- whether it's a smack or noise.

But dogs have a more limited ability to connect the negative experience with the person causing it. They are very smart, but don't understand causation. So if you can cause the negative experience without him connecting it to you, you will produce a dog that does not fear you or connect you with anything bad.

If you hit a dog with your hand, it will perfectly understand you are hurting it. Oddly, a lot of leash training is based on the idea that dogs don't connect a leash correction with the person giving it.

People are divided about rolled newspaper. The idea of rolled newspaper started as a substitute for hitting with the hand. They theory was that the dog would think the newspaper did the correction, not the person holding it. I think the trend is that yes, your dog understands that you are using the newspaper. That's why it has fallen out of favor.

I think the best technique is the shake can -- a soda can with pennies in it. The dog really does not seem to connect the loud unpleasant sound with the person using it, often because he can't even see the can. My dog was house trained almost instantly using that method.

[Wcross]

50. That is a neat idea that I hadn't heard of before.

That particular noise isn't likely to occur in day to day life. Coins in a can may be the way to go. As you said the dog must be corrected while in the act.

[zonkers]

53. Agree! Never smack, even softly. Also, maintain a regular feeding/walking routine and

stick with it. Do not deviate if you can help it. This way, he regulates himself to a routine. It is very good to walk your dog as soon as he stops eating. A 10 or 15 minute minute walk is reasonable. I find that many (especially kids) have a tendency to rush walks -- no good. A walk is a special time for a dog -- time with his loved master.

Also, at feeding time, I am a fan of removing food altogether as soon as your dog loses interest in it.

Keep lots of diff chew toys around and rotate them so he never loses interest. This helps you and him deal with teething.

Great book called "super puppy". It's real short and to the point.

[Arger68]

2. I would suggest getting the Ultimate Puppy toolkit

http://www.urbanpuppy.com/home.html

It has really come in handy for my wife & I training our two new cocker spaniels. Definitely have a crate for houebreaking!!

Our pups:

Leia


Luke

[Spacemom]

7. Those are cute fur babies!

I'll check out that kit. I think we're headed to Petsmart tomorrow, and we get the puppy on Wednesday. We'll probably end up with way too much stuff, but how can you not spoil something that cute? :D

[Radio_Lady]

33. Arger, what color are those puppies? I raised two Cockers and have never seen that variety!

They look like what I think was called blue merle with white -- like the Australian dogs.

Beautiful! Are they AKC registered?

[Arger68]

47. They're called chocolate (or brown) Merle, and yes they

are AKC registered, but the American Spaniel Club does not recognize them as purebred. There is quite a bit of controversy over the Merle pattern, see link below if you are interested.

http://www.merlecockers.com/

[Radio_Lady]

56. Great links, Arger68. I was fascinated by Boston Terriers, and I had two dogs that were dark seal

and white. Now I've recently seen TWO with white markings on a beautiful mahogany RED Boston Terriers. But, like the merles, there not recognized.

I don't think I've ever seen that color pattern in Cockers -- and I've been interested in dogs since 1954.
Of course, it does occur in Collies (where it is accepted but it was very rare). The first time I remember seeing a light eyed dog was in Weimariners. Later, when the Australian shepherds began to be popular, I saw a lot of different individual animals, and always asked about them, especially the ones with one brown and one blue eye. There was one particular movie that had a dog with this feature, but I can't remember the title of that film.

I don't know why, but I love haircolor. Maybe that's why I ended up working for Clairol as a color consultant for the company in the 1980s to the 90s.

And then there's this fantasy dog... I think he's gorgeous! I don't know who he is -- found him on the cover of a Ralph Lauren interior paint color chart and have kept him in my drawer ever since.

[LibertyLover]

3. Aww-what a cute critter

Definitely use crate training. I've used it for 4 of my current 5 dogs and it worked very nicely. Puppies, like children, don't have enough muscle control to properly housebreak until they are about 4-6 months old (it differs in various breeds). The current thinking on housebreaking is not to hit them with newspaper. Again, like children, puppies don't have a great attention span or memory and so punishing them after the fact, unless it is immediately (and I do mean immediately) after the fact doesn't do much good. They honestly don't remember pooping or peeing on the carpet 10 minutes or an hour ago and don't understand why they are being punished. In the instance that you catch them in the act, a stern "bad dog" is what most training people suggest nowadays, followed by removal to where you want them to poop or pee. Another thing is to take their soiled newspaper from the crate and put it where you want them to go so that they can use smell to guide them. As puppies get older, they don't want to soil where they live, so that's where the crate training works well. You use a crate that is not too confining, but at the same time not a palace either. Crating when you are not home prevents a puppy from getting into things they shouldn't. Don't give him rawhide bones to chew on except as an infrequent treat - dogs can't digest rawhide and too much causes intestinal problems (not to mention the problem of origin of the hide - foreign countries use chemicals that are harmful to animals to cure the skins so any rawhide you use should be made in the USA - and you have to check the small print really carefully - one package I saw said that it was made in the USA, but the fine print on the back read that the hides used had come from Thailand and it was just that the chews had been made from them in the US). Pig's ears or cow hooves are ok, but again, infrequently. My dogs love the nylon bones. Greenies are ok in moderation - I understand they are very high in fat, which is not good for puppies' or dogs' digestive systems. Take him to a puppy training class for socialization and for beginning to learn obedience commands (and may you have better luck then we did with our senior whippet who has separation anxiety which makes him untrainable for the command "stay" or the Siberian Husky who wouldn't do anything unless food was involved and even then sometimes wouldn't do the training because, well, he was a Husky :rofl: ). The most important thing however is to give your pup a lot of love, affection and physical cuddling - ours all got that when they were either young or came to us (we have adopted former racing greyhounds) and we found it really made a difference when we brought our daughter home - we continued to cuddle the dogs but added the kidlet to the mix and today they are all really good with her - especially the husky and our youngest whippet. Congratulations and wishing you both many many years of happy companionship.

[Spacemom]

8. I am thinking of using a crate

I have a soft sided cat carrier that I think will work perfect. Cozy but plenty of room for a small guy.

Thank you for all the tips. I had no idea about the rawhide and chew ears.

I don't there's going to be any shortage of love and cuddles for him! :D

I curious about the puppy training pads, I wonder if they really work to help a puppy learn to go outside?

[femmocrat]

20. I didn't have any luck with the training pads or the puppy litter.

Plain old newspapers worked the best for us. The puppy just shredded the pads and chewed on the litter. I guess if you took the time to mark the pads and can catch the puppy and put him on the pad, he would eventually get the knack of using them. It was just easier to roll up the papers. Then we would eventually reduce the area of newpapers until we were down to two at the door.

[LostinVA]

26. For cleaning purposes

you'd probably be best off getting a hard-sided crate.

[Spacemom]

42. Good Idea

I hadn't thought of that. Well, we're headed to Petsmart today, I'll check out the crates too! :D

[XemaSab]

12. Big second on the puppy class

It's really, really rewarding to see the dog LOOKING to you for guidance, and it's a LOT of fun.

[livetohike]

4. Oh, how cute!

Congratulations to you and the whole family. May you have many years of love and happiness together :-).

My best advice is to either buy or get from the library the book "How To Be Your Dog's Best Friend" by the Monks of New Skete. I have raised all of my dogs since 1979 with the tips in this book.

Have fun!

[Spacemom]

9. Thank You!

I'll check of our library has that book. My boys want to check out everything they can find! :D

[Radio_Lady]

36. OT: Not to hijack your thread, we have a new puppy in the family too.

Ginger, a registered Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, female, now about 12 weeks old. I walked her today and I'll be able to be involved in her life without actually owning her (we travel too much to have a dog full-time.)

Good luck with your dog!

[oregonjen]

37. Hey there!

We have a Cavalier as well. Could you pm me with details? Which breeder did you get her from? What color?

Congratulations!! :bounce: :hi:

[Tyler Durden]

5. We STARTED with the crate...

2 days after Brigette and Charley hit the house, Deb had them on the second floor, on the bed with her.

Vinnie never even saw the inside of a crate. Bed from day 1.

We have too many life forms in our house.

[Radio_Lady]

31. I had two Boston Terriers before there were light weight crates...

But then we had one Cocker Spaniel in a one-bedroom apartment fourteen floors up in New York City. Buffy was my first "baby" born before my daughter came along in 1968. The Safari crate was Buffy's bed. Later, when I remarried, we still kept the crate arrangement. It worked fine for us even for the next dog, another Cocker Spaniel.

I don't like dogs in bed with me. Hell, I already have a husband that snores! What do I do with him?

[Tyler Durden]

45. My wife and I both snore; the dogs are pretty quiet...

...when they're asleep, that is.

[Radio_Lady]

57. Good! I'm coming over to sleep with your dogs.

Lord knows, I can't stand sleeping with MY husband anymore.

[Kali]

10. feed the best food you can afford, or better yet make your own

the vast majority of chronic health problems (skin, eyes, ears, digestive) are food allergies.

Good advice Natural Health for Dogs and Cats by Richard Pitcairn (recipes too if you decide to try that approach)

I haven't had a house puppy since crate-training became popular, but would give it a try if I was getting a new pup, makes a lot of sense.

I wouldn't bother with puppy pads and the like - training to go in the house and then having to retrain to go out seems sort of stupid to me.

[Felix Mala]

51. I make my own. It's better than anything you can buy and costs

a fraction of what premium dog food costs.

6 cups rice or oats
1/2 cup meat (chicken, beef, lamb -- no processed meats like sausage, cold cuts or bacon)
1 cup veggies (canned carrots, beans, squash)

I finely chop meat and veggies and add to rice. One batch lasts about a week. All this stuff at an Aldi's store is about $5. Not bad versus $20 for a bag of dried stuff.

[oregonjen]

11. Use a baby playard to put pup in when you can't watch him

The crate was always in our bedroom, so having a playard in the family room/kitchen to put our pup in really helped. I could make dinner and know that he was safe not getting into anything and not going potty around the house.

[Jack from Charlotte]

13. Crate train and use positive reinforcement...........

I've never hit a dog and can't imagine having to. The main error I see people make over and over is giving a command more than once. like... Spot, sit. sit. Sit. sit....

Congrats. You just taught your dog to sit after saying sit 5 times. Way stupid. Say it once..... and watch. Then push the butt down while saying it again. That's it.

[oregonjen]

17. I agree, no hitting necessary

I don't care what the "reason" is and that it won't hurt. No reason to make your pup scared of you. The newspaper hitting crap is just that, crap.

[xchrom]

14. for the new puppy...

Dear God, you have given us care over all living things; protect and bless the animals who give us companionship and delight, make us their true friends and worthy companions. Amen.



Dear God, protect and bless all beings that breathe, keep all evil from them, and let them sleep in peace. Amen.
--Albert Schweitzer, "Memoirs of Childhood and Youth"


Blessed are you, Lord God, maker of all living creatures. You called forth fish in the sea, birds in the air and animals on the land. You inspired St. Francis to call all of them his brothers and sisters. We ask you to bless this pet. By the power of your love, enable it to live according to your plan. May we always praise you for all your beauty in creation. Blessed are you, Lord our God, in all your creatures! Amen.
--Franciscan prayer

[Spacemom]

23. I get my love of animals from my mom

Dear God, protect and bless all beings that breathe, keep all evil from them, and let them sleep in peace. Amen.
--Albert Schweitzer, "Memoirs of Childhood and Youth"

That was read by a good friend of my mom's at her funeral service. It says it all so well.

We are so blessed to have a house full of animals and one more to love is going to be so much fun! :D

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

15. ADORABLE!

No advice, as I'm a cat person - just love the little critter to pieces!

I did use the doggie "wee-wee" pads for an elderly cat with litter box issues - I'm sure they'll work great for your little pup, too. Hey - maybe I do have advice!

[tandot]

16. I used the crate training on my baby and he only had one accident

in 10 years, when he was sick.

However, I was able to let him out to do his business every 4 hours. And, after he was outside, I watched closely when he was out of the crate for play and cuddle times. I had a book on crate training that showed exactly what to do. Also, it might have helped that he was fixed at 12 weeks of age. He needed eye surgery and the vet recommended to do it all at the same time.

He/She looks adorable. Congrats!

[Radio_Lady]

32. My two Cockers had problems with submissive wetting when they got

excited. We found the crate helped solved that problem. Some people thought it was cruel to keep a dog "locked up," but those dogs had plenty of time with the kids and in parks and backyard with a swimming pool.

Funny, neither dog ever complained!

[NMDemDist2]

18. are you home all day? if not, the crate training is a good idea

they really can't control it until they're at least 3 months old so 'accidents' are a way of life.

if you are home all day, take him out the minute he wakes up, after he drinks, after he eats etc etc

with a new puppy I spent half my day taking her outside LOL.

once she learned the doggie door though, she did really good and the accidents dropped to nothing in no time.

have fun, there is no smell sweeter than puppy breath :rofl:

[cally]

21. I've had my new puppy for about a month

The Humane Society gave us a booklet on training that really works. Most of the material can be found here at the Marin Humane Society website. I also recommend crate training and positive reinforcement.

[Mutley]

22. Lots and lots of patience.

Some dogs pick things up quick, and others don't. If yours ends up needing more time, just be patient. It's so worth it in the end.

I actually miss my dog being a puppy. Never thought I'd say that. :D

[TK421]

34. How the hell are you?

:hi: I haven't checked into MySpace all that much...but how have you been?

[Radio_Lady]

35. Spacemom, is that a Chihuahua? Hard to tell at that angle.

That puppy will be like having a white or beige sweater.

You'll have to get it into the tub frequently to keep it clean.

Ask me -- I'm the proud owner of a house with white tile, white grout, and beige carpets. It's a struggle to keep anything that light -- completely clean! But, of course, that color would match the flooring and those short hairs would just add to the patina!

[Spacemom]

43. Yes, he is

Chihuahua that is. I don't know if he might get a little darker. He's the same color as his mom now, but the daddy dog was a bit darker.

[Radio_Lady]

54. Well, his coat looks pretty light in the photo. So, for now, we'll say he looks like his Mommy.

But maybe he has his Daddy's eyes? We can't leave fathers out -- they're people, too!

Thanks for your comments!

Nice to meetchu on the DU!

Sincerely,

Radio Lady Ellen in Oregon

[susanna]

38. I am sooooo jealous.

We lost my squirrely-girl back in January, 2006. We keep looking at the little critters, but still can't bring ourselves to do it yet. It's going to take time, I guess. She was pretty special.

My angst aside: Good for you! Love her/him well, and CONGRATULATIONS! What a cutie. :-)

[Spacemom]

44. Thank You

I'm sorry about your loss. Keep looking, there are always so many out there to love. :hug:

[SeattleGirl]

40. Aw, what a sweet looking puppy!

:loveya:

[GoddessOfGuinness]

41. Don't do what I did...

I felt sorry for our little Wolfgang when he was a pup, and let him snuggle on my chest. It was fine for about 30 minutes; but then he had to pee. :(

[Felix Mala]

52. I can't determine the breed from that photo. Is it a goat?

[Radio_Lady]

55. Feles Mala, YOU BAD! That's not a goat! Where is your SARCASM emoticon?

:sarcasm:

(You don't REALLY think that's a goat, do you?) Some goats have horns and this one is way too pig-headed... oops!

Jeeze, this is a weird site: http://felesmala.org/

OT: What does your screen name mean? I'm a 68 year old married grandmother and I'm not stalking you... just interested in languages.

Sincerely,

Radio Lady Ellen in Oregon

[applegrove]

58. What a wide eyed cutie!

[redqueen]

59. Awwwww I just LOVE chihuahuas!

:loveya:

Green with envy here!

They're stubbonr little pups... lots of personality and a strong will... might be a little harder to pottty train than some other breeds, but other than that I can't think of much to tell ya.

My kids' dad got them a half aussie/half lab... it's a NIGHTMARE! :D