New puppy issues

Got a new, young, furry love in your life? This is the place for you to ask all of your questions-big or small! Just remember that you are receiving advice from other dog owners and lovers... not professionals. If you have a major problem, always seek the advice of a vet or behaviorist! Most important is to remember to have fun with your new fur baby.

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Member Since
01/28/2009

Barked: Sun Oct 7, '12 12:47pm PST


	I recently got a 9week old puppy off a friend of a friend. He was giving them away. I know its not the best way to get a puppy but he was threatening to drown them! (I have called the spca in to get the rest of the pups and educate him on how to take care of the mother dog as she was extremely emaciated and obviously not speyed). Anyway, We have had her for 3 days and we are trying to house-train her using vigilance, timed meals and a crate. However, she HATES the crate. She would rather sleep on the wooden floor then in the crate, even with the door open. When shes in there are night she will cry herself to sleep usually for 3-4hrs, even though the crate is right next to my bed. She prefers to sleep on us during the day but we are trying to stop that as she has started whining when we arent touching her, even when we are in the same room. Ive done all the things they recommend for getting her used to the crate but nothing. Maybe its because I have to put her in at night and that's causing stress? What else can i do at night if she hates the crate? The other issue is that housebreaking is not going so well. At night she will pee in her crate and then sleep in it. I guess its because shes used to it because of her early weeks living in a small box. But how to combat this problem? This isnt my first dog, but my other dog came from the shelter/foster family and was already house trained so ive never had these issues!!

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Kali

She's game for- anything that's- fun.

Barked: Sun Oct 7, '12 7:02pm PST


	Ok, Good for you for taking in the puppy and calling the SCPA on the owner. You have only had the pup for 3 days. He was taken away from everything he knows. He probably misses his mom and litter-mates. Try giving him a stuffed animal to snuggle with. Also, put a ticking clock near his crate. It will imitate the rhythm of his mothers heart beat. Is it cold where you are? If so, you can give him a "warm" water bottle wrapped in a towel. That will keep him warm. The potty training thing? Dogs, in general, don't have good potty control until they are between 4 and 6 months old. So a nine week old puppy can't control the fact that he's having accidents. He is still a little baby. He has to go out very often, after eating, after playing, after waking up and many times in between. When he does go potty outside, make a huge deal out of it and give him a small treat. After a while, when he's older, he will ask to go out. It could be a very subtle cue, like a whine, sit in front of you staring, or walking over to the door. You have to look for the cue. He's not going to tell you "hey i'm giving you cue to go out." Potty training take a lot of time and patience. As for the crate training, feed him in the crate with the door open, play with him in the crate with the door open, throw treats in the crate with the door open. Also, so he doesn't lay in his pee, you can divide the crate in half by putting newspaper on half and his bed on half. Most dogs want to be clean. If all goes well, he will walk over to the paper at night and go, then wander back to his little bed with the water bottle and/or stuffed animal and go back to sleep. Pups that young can't hold their pee all night, so be prepared for pee in the crate on the newspaper for a little while longer. Sounds like he got a good home. Good luck with him and keep us posted on his progress.

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Member Since
01/28/2009

Barked: Mon Oct 8, '12 12:45pm PST


	Thanks for the reply. I have started feeding and treating her in her crate and that has helped a lot - thanks. Last night she only cried for half an hour each time i put her in her crate, then settled down. She still prefers to sleep on the floor though and still wants to be near you all the time - is this going to cause issues later or will she grow out of it? I have booked a vet appointment for Thursday to start vaccinations and im going to ask if she can check her for a uti as the peeing in her crate thing is still bothering me as i take her out every 2hrs (so she shouldn't need to pee in there right?) also she quite often comes back inside after peeing and 5-10min later pees again on the floor. Just think its better to get her checked. The vet asked me what breed she is over the phone and I had no idea what to say lol. I know her mother was a staffy cross (but she was taller and not as wide as a staffy) but i dont know who her father was. So i just said staffy cross ash she looks like shes got a bit of staffy in her. Ill post some pics of her later and maybe someone can guess what she is.

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Kali

She's game for- anything that's- fun.

Barked: Mon Oct 8, '12 3:38pm PST


	It depends on the dog whether leaving her will be a problem. Some dogs become very attached to one person. Once she gets used to the crate, you can close the door for maybe 30 seconds or a minute,then let her out. You can make it sort of a game. You can increase the time with the door closed, over a period of time. Don't let her out if she's crying, unless of coarse she has to go to the bathroom. It's a really good idea to take her to the vet. Try and get a pee same to take with you. Please keep us posted. We would love to see pictures of her. Sounds like she got a good home. Good Luck with her.

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Jax (earned- her wings- 5/30/12)

Give me your- toy.

Barked: Mon Oct 8, '12 5:34pm PST


	It shouldn't be a problem if she sleeps on the floor. Maybe she's hot sleeping in her bed. As for the accidents, even if you have her out every 2 hours, it's a lot. Also, If the person you got her from didn't take good care of the pups, then she might not know how to be clean. Does she pee every time you have her out? How much does she drink? Jax came from a horrible place that was really disgusting. Although she was older than your pup when I got her, I took her out every 15 minutes while she was not in the crate. While I watched TV, it was during every commercial. That's one way to get out of watching them. LOLOL It was hard, but I did get her potty trained. She became the cleanest dog I ever had. Your doing everything right, just keep up with it. Hopefully, the vet will say she's healthy as a horse.

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MIKA&KAI

Akita Pals- Always.

Barked: Tue Oct 9, '12 6:34am PST


	We brought Mika home at 10 weeks,we tried to crate her unsucessfully but left sleep on the floor near my Dear Ones side of the bed,she was fine.Since I was the one who primarily took care of her,she would come to my side of the bed and cry each time she got up during the night. I would pick her up put the leash on her and take her outside to potty. It took less than 2 weeks for all accidents to stop. When we got Kai we also tried crating,he managed his way out and felt much more comfortable on my walk in closet floor,he too learned how to come and get me as soon as he got up simply by my taking him out once an hour at night. It took him a bit longer to potty train but he had come home at only 8 weeks,his signal was to come to me,lick my face until I answered him,then go to the bedroom door and scratch gently. He also taught himself when in other rooms to scratch at the door and let me know he needed to go. I wish I could have crate trained so good for you getting that done. Most puppies in my experience are not 100% reliable until sometime before between 4-6 months and it seems the littles typically take longer. As the above posters said you are doing all the right things and have made an excellent start. It sounds like your pup is in very capable hands,having the vet check for a UTI or other problem is never a bad idea if you are in doubt.

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Bella

1271294

Barked: Tue Oct 9, '12 10:10pm PST


	Last night was good too, less crying. She still doesn't like the crate. I feel mean putting her in there as she didn't have enough time to get used to it before i had to put her in it for the first night and i worry that ive caused damage to her. She does pee every time i take her out (hourly during the day and when i see her signs, and 2hrly at night) and she is drinking a lot, she even licks wet grass! She cant sleep on the floor as she has peed/pooed in the corner and on our bed when we have had her up there for an hour (after toilet time) and i fell back to sleep. She also starting to bite me (not my other half) quite hard. Right now im doing a loud "NO" if it continues i will get up and sit on the couch away from her. Hopefully, that will ease when she starts puppy preschool on the 16th. A bit about where she came from: The house was disgusting! The puppies were kept on a 3 seater couch with a wooden board along the front, there were no cushions on the couch and it stunk of piss (one boy even pissed on his siblings when he saw us and got excited). The mother had to jump the board to feed/clean her pups and really there wasn't enough room for her to comfortably do it so she was only with them when necessary. They had never been outside (i doubt they had ever been off the couch) or even had enough room to comfortably play together. It was horrible and heartbreaking. So in less than a week she has had some major life changes, more so than the average puppy. Is this all too much at once? She only has this chance at puppy preschool as she will be too old when the next one runs, and i really want to take her but i dont want to stress her out. There is a pic of her on my profile, but its not showing up as my avatar for some reason? Also is it ok to play tug of war with her (shes a staffy x)? Sorry for the long post

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Frankie

Cheese? PLEASE!

Barked: Wed Oct 10, '12 11:06am PST


	First of all, BREATHE!! Secondly, dogs and puppies do apdapt well. It may take some time being she is still young but patience and repition go a long way! To show her what is acceptable and what is not, repeat with her what you want her to do. Repeat, repeat, repeat. As for the nipping, she is going to be teething, so make sure you have plenty of safe chew toys for her on hand. When she begins to nip, give her a chew toy. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. If she is being persistant (and some puppies will!), make a deliberate point to not have contact with her. Ignore her. I know it is hard but that is how they learn. Some puppies just learn at their own pace. Do not be discouraged if you hear someone say things like 'my dog was potty trained by the first week we brought him home' or 'my dog took to his crate right away'. Some dogs adapt faster. Give her time. Have lots of patience. And repeat showing her the behavior you desire. When she does something 'bad' a firm 'no!' or 'ah-ah!!' she will catch on. Whatever key 'no'no' word you use, use the very same one, each time she does something 'bad'. Puppies really are like small children and will test your patience. Plus they have an abundance of curiousity, so sometimes you just have to let them be a pup. For the longest time, Frankie always went after black shoes and socks. Eventually we stopped making a big deal out of it, and he did not find them so 'amusing' anymore. It was like once we stopped the corrections, they were not so fascinating anymore.. So sometimes just ignoring bad behavior and letting them see whatever they sooo 'desire' is not that big of a deal is better than constantly trying to 'correct' them. Sometimes constant 'no!' makes them all the more determined.. We took Frankie to those puppy classes and also had in-home training sessions. He seemed to do better with the in-home sessons. Plus as he got a little older (past the 'recommended' puppy class age), he began to learn a whole lot more what is acceptable and what is not. It is a whole new BIG world to them, so you have to have a lot of patience. And even 'choose' your 'battles' from time to time..Do not fret if your pup does not pick something up right away, just be consistant and eventually they do learn. Good luck and enjoy those puppy months. It may seem like it takes forever, but they actually do fly by fast!

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Jax (earned- her wings- 5/30/12)

Give me your- toy.

Barked: Wed Oct 10, '12 1:32pm PST


	Yes, you can play tug with her. Just make sure you control the game, by teaching her to "Drop" (let go of the tug toy). Sounds like she got an awesome home. Good Luck with her.

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Jax (earned- her wings- 5/30/12)

Give me your- toy.

Barked: Wed Oct 10, '12 1:36pm PST


	I just looked at her picture. She's very cute. Since she came from such a bad place, once she has all her shots, make sure you take her places and get her lots of worldly experiences, with people and other dogs. Sounds like she got an awesome home.

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