This is my first time owning a dog, and it would be very helpful if someone can provide me links to websites that teach you how to take care of puppies. I am very stumped on how to paper train her, as well as comfort her at night when she starts crying/whining.
paper train her? that i can't help with cuz i never had to do that....but the comforting part..let her sleep with you, put yourself in her place...she goes from mom and 5+siblings to sleep and cuddle with to all alone, it's very traumatic for a little babie.
Yes, paper train. The women that I adopted her from told me that she would be easy to paper train. Since she is a puppy, she can't hold her bowel movements throughout the night, and since I want her to stay inside most of the time, she said I could train her to do her business on the newspaper at night until I can take her outside in the morning. I tried her sleeping with me, but she just wet the bed. I find that really unsanitary.
this is going to sound really weird, but it might work, if you really don't want the puppy in your bed. supposedly, if you wrap a clock (the kind that goes tick-tock, not the digital kind) in a warm blanket, the puppy will be "tricked" into thinking it is another dog (or whomever). supposedly, the muffled ticking feels like a heart beat through the blanket, and puppies find it comforting. it sounds kind of heartless to trick a puppy into curling up with a clock, as a substitute for something warm and, well, living... but if it'll pee in your bed and you're (understandably) not down with that, at least the puppy will have something to curl up to. i don't know what's supposed to happen when you eventually take the clock away... i'm not sure if the dog could form some sort of attachment to it or not. kinda makes me think of peter pan, and the ticking croc.
I can help with this I think. Our dogs sleep in crates so we know they aren't getting into anything or crapping all over the house while we are asleep. When they were puppies we sectioned off the crates. The front half was paper and the back half was a cat bed type of thing. Dogs instinctively keep sleeping/playing areas separate from where they go to the bathroom... so doing the half and half thing works for them. Also, with the crying and whining... we bought a bunch of stuffed animals for babies and put them in the crate. That way the puppies had something to chew on, play with and snuggle with. They still whinned for about 2 weeks, but we just let them whine all night. Its horrible to listen to and impossible to sleep, but they will eventually get used to it. During the day, we had a separate crate outside that only had papers in it. After about a week of having the puppies we could tell when they had to go to the bathroom, so we'd take them outside and put them in the crate with paper until they were done... and of course they get a treat afterwards. Having the crate outside allowed them to get used to the fact that they will have to be outside to go to the bathroom, but the papers were familliar (from in their sleeping crate). One other piece of advice I would give you, now, while he/she is still a puppy... tie a ribbon to a large bell and hang it from your backyard door. Everytime you take the puppy out the door, ring the bell. Eventually start touching the puppies nose to the bell to make it ring when you walk outside. This teaches the puppy to ring the bell when they want to go out and play or go to the bathroom. It saves accidents and barking. It took our dogs about a month to fully grasp this concept. Peace and good luck
Like Immortal said my dog slept in a crate until she was about a yr old. It kept her from tearing up the house, or pooping/peeing on the floor when we couldnt let her out. She loved her crate and had no problem staying in it at night and even while were gone to the store or something during the day. We still use the crate now but its normally just for her to hang out in. I normally let her sleep with me. here are some sites that might help... or at least get you started. http://www.about-dogs.com/puppy_crate_training.htm http://www.golden-retriever.com/crate_training_in_brief.htm http://www.doglogic.com/cratetrain.htm
They also have these puppy pad things you can buy that are supose to have somekind of sent on them to attract the puppy to potty on it. I have never used them personaly, but I have herd that they work. Another bit of advice, if you haven't already start obediance training. Expecially since it is part wolf. If you don't have the money for obediance school, you can do it on your own. Go to your local library they usually have a few books on obediance. And you can train for as little as 30 mins a day. (with a puppy I wold split that up into 2 15 mins sessions, they have short attention spans) This will be the best thing you ever did for you and your dog.
Thank all of you for all your great advice. I think I will try out the crate training idea first instead of doing the paper training. Merenwenelanesse, the websites you gave me helped me out a lot. I appreciate that a lot. ImmortalDissident, thank you so much for the bell idea. That is a pretty clever idea.
Crate training is the best way to go I think. Good for you for being open to it. A lot of new dog owners aren't. I wish I had crate trained my pup. It would have saved a lot of hassle! This link was given to me a few weeks ago from another forum and it's great. Probably the best link for training a dog I've found. http://www.k9deb.com/nilif.htm Good luck! Post a pic if you can. Saje
Crate training is the #1 best thing to do when you have a puppy, in my opinion. Yes, difficult at first, but the dogs end up loving it as much as you do. My girls hang out in their crates from time to time, and I don't even have to ask them to go in there when I am leaving the house anymore, if they see me getting ready to "go bye bye", they automatically go settle in their crates. One dog goes with me a lot of places since she is my service dog, but if I leave her at home she likes to stay in her crate. They do sleep in the bedroom with us at night though and sometimes in the bed.
Hi, working with alot of dogs i have some advice. First def stop paper training...she is a big breed and usually is only used with small breed dogs. If you get her hooked now to go intside she will think that its okay and continue to pee indoors. Take her outside every 2 hrs or so, and when she sleeps put her in her crate(make sure her crate is just big enough for her to lay down comfortably in,you dont want it too big to start off with). Now being that shes a pup shell only be able to hold it for 6 or 7 hrs. So get up early and let her outside, REWARDING HER WITH A TREAT EACH TIME This does wonders for them, and keep it reg so she has a routine. I would also give her a treat when you put her in her kennel, she might whine for a while, even though its hard just ignore it. If you give in and let her out she'll learn that if she barks/whines shell get let out and it will be a battle. I also found it easier if you put her kennel away from where you are. Like in a seperate room, or downstairs. I know that with my dogs we have to have them away from us, if i had them in the same room they wouldnt stop whining because they wanted to be by us, and could see and hear us. Hope this helps some Congrats on your new furbaby!!
