Guapa

Ok, photos of puppy-monster now posted in poodle forum. Oh what the hell, here is one of them: Isn't he a little beauty?

I have a poodle pup too. He sits when he is unsure of things and just wants to take it all in. He used to do it on walks all the time - I think it was his own prevention method to stop panic. Now he is a 19 week old puppy-about-town and he hardly does it all on walks. He will still sit and watch though around other dogs at the park - as close to my side as possible. Then he ventures off again but always comes back for a bit of "time-out". Hope this helps

Lol, I PROMISE photos coming soon...as soon as I learn how to resize them

I love smelling my puppy's feet. They DO smell like popcorn. Is there something wrong with me or are there others out there?

Just want to say thankyou for all the wonderful advice. i'm starting to realise every puppy is a little diferent with regards to toilet training. One of our problems was that he was being expected to learn two sets of rules - one for home (potty outside) and one for work (do it on paper inside). So I stayed home all last week and that pretty well sorted it out - he now knows to go outside and does so without prompting. I know that not everyone has the luxury of being able to stay home from work for a week (we are self employed) but the constant daily training really fixed the problem. We had one memorable relapse during the week when we we came inside to catch him in the act of pooping in his bed - which he seemed to think was perfectly ok (he tried to play with afterwards and wanted me to share in the fun). This was again our fault - we bought him his bed before he was toilet trained and I guess he now has the association of thinking it's ok for toilet. I think we will have to buy him another bed. You may recall from my previous posts that he had major privacy issues. A walk in the park every day and some time spent with other dogs and pups is sorting that out - he even weed in front of other dogs on the weekend!

I know *hangs head* I'm actually an ecologist by trade. I couldn't help it, he was just having such a good time. Just the once and only the pigeons. I chased them with him *hangs head again*

Thanks for the link Blue Fox...from now on I'm there in poodle world! More good news to report. Phoenix is going regularly outside. I still have to be a regulation 3 metres away from him and not looking, but it's happening. Yesterday afternoon I took him for his first outside walk to the local park. People thought it was hilarious to see him high stepping along side me through a busy city thoroughfare. He was very interested in the park but didn't seem to get the hint that he might like to emulate other dogs and actually do his business there. This evening we visited a big park and he chased birds and had a very exciting time (he was scared by the swans though) but still no public exhibition of relief - he waited till we got home again. But he's done it all in the backyard though for the last two days. Very exciting for both of us

There is a poodle thread!!!?!?!?

Good morning poodlefan I thought that might be the right thing to do. We spend today and tomorrow at home so we'll be outside a lot of the time and I'm encouraging him to use the doggie door on his own with some success - last night he actually went off by himself for 10 minutes (to bury his brisket bone - I watched from the window). I've also taken his paper up, but will put it back down tonight when we go out for dinner. At the moment I'm shutting off his doggie door when we go out for more than 1 hour in the evening - I'm a bit worried that the yard isn't really puppy proof and that he might get himself into trouble in the dark. At work taking him outside might be a bit harder as we are in the middle of a concrete jungle, but I'll try and work something out - take a wee-soaked paper with me perhaps to give him the idea or try and create a little "comfort" area for him round the back of our building. Or I'll try carrying him round to the local park area - needless to say he's not leash trained yet but we're working on it and he is accepting it quite well so long as other people don't panic him

I can add further progress! Yesterday at work he didn't make use of his paper once - apparently deciding to hold it all in for the day till he got home. As soon as I opened the front gate he weed, then we hit paydirt! The pooping process began. I'm starting to understand what's involved for him. The signal is furious small circles with his nose to the ground and lots of loud snuffling. Then he positions himself near a wall or corner, as far from me as possible but within line-of-sight. Yesterday he chose a patch of grass that came up well over his head. This whole process can take up to 10 minutes as he will abort, then start again, then abort, then start again. He does not accept praise afterwards. My job is apparently to be nearby but not involved in any way. This morning we went outside together and the whole process was successfully repeated step by step. No wonder we were having issues before this. I must have driven him crazy standing over him repeating "toilet toilet" like a madwoman

Oh and as of this morning he seems to have learned a new trick - picking up daddy's slipper, bringing it round to my side of the bed and flinging it at my head in an attempt to wake me up. Very sweet

Hi everyone Thanks so much for the advice. You are all so right, we have been feeding off each others anxieties. So in the last 48 hours we seem to have made some real progress. We are: 1. Back to weeing and pooing on paper at the back door - BittyMooPeeb, you are right, he DOESN'T like to wee and poo in the same area so I've put down a larger area of paper at home and two separate areas of paper at work to take care of that and it's working 2. Not going in his bed anymore - we've given it back to him all washed and clean and he hasn't weed in in once 3. Weeing quite happily now in front of me 4. Actually doing his business outside occasionally! Well twice anyway. This morning I took him out as soon as I woke up, took him to his area, only said "toilet" a couple of times, went and sat down on the grass and sure enough after about 10 minutes he pooed in his area (I collect all his waste including paper and put it in the one spot). And jaycee, you are right, he doesn't like enthusiastic praise after doing the deed - it's the only time he shies away from me. In fact he doesn't seem to like any attention being drawn to his toilet activities, so this morning I settled for a couple of "good boys" when he finally came over, then we played for a minute or two, then back inside. I will also take up the treat suggestion today. I wasn't sure what would constitute a treat (it takes him 1/2 an hour to get through one liver treat) but you have answered that question - I'll make some cheese cubes up for him. I'll also download Ian Dunbar's book immediately Thanks to all!!

You guys are wonderful. Thanks for all the advice. I'll report back in a couple of days with his (and my) progress

Poodlefan, everything is starting to click into place. Do you think I should be taking him into work with me or leaving him at home on his own? At work he stays upstairs in the office, but I visit him every hour and spend a bit of time playing with him and his toys. If he were to stay at home he would be on his own for about 8 hours at a time. He would be confined to a couple of rooms at the back of the house and would have access to the backyard via his doggie door. I thought I might start him at puppy preschool in about a week's time. I don't know much about crates - isn't he a little old for one now? Forgive my ignorance, I will have to read up on them...

Thanks poodlefan - all makes good sense. I've recalculated his age - he is actually 15 weeks old. Might explain why he is so skittish/nervous around everything?

BigDaz, twice a day seems to be it, unless he's hiding them somewhere As for praising him when he does it outside - well I have to catch him in the act first, which is almost impossible In 11 days I've only actually seen him poop 4 times

Hi Persephone - he came from a breeder, who breeds show dogs. He was an outside puppy, in a large cage enclosure about 4 metres by 4 metres. He was with two remaining littermates, his father was in a separate enclosure close by and his grandmother (who was whelping) had free run of the entire shebang. His mother is an American. He did have lots of early contact with people...his younger cousins were being reared indoors as was he, he was beautifully groomed (now a bit scruffier a week later lol) and has very good manners - you can touch his ears, muzzle and paws easily and he doesn't hog his food or get protective around his brisket bones. Gareth, you are right, on re-reading my comments I do seem to be over-analysing things, but toilet time does seem to make him quite anxious - he just won't toilet outside, holds on and then does it inside when we aren't looking. He seems quite timid about everything - although I understand he is in his first "fear period"? Kavik, thanks for your insight - I can see that different dogs have quite different preferences! Should I give him his (clean) bed back?

We brought home our beautiful male pure bred black minature poodle 11 days ago - his name is Phoenix and he was 13 weeks when we got him, 14 now. After a week of settling in and bonding with us, he is now proving to be a real handful. I would appreciate any advice forum members can give me on the most basis aspects of puppy training, particularly in the area of toilet training. When he first came to us he was pretty well paper trained, but not outside trained. So we have tried to do the right thing but I'm afraid we just seem to be making matters worse. For a start, he refuses to be out of my sight, perfectly understandable since he came to us so late and probably feels that his survival depends on his not being separated from his new pack. And in fact this behaviour is now starting to relax a little - but I digress. The thing is, he seems to have the most incredible privacy issues when it comes to pooping. He absolutely will not poop in front of anyone. Which means he will hold it until our backs are turned, and then basically do it wherever he can. I've managed to get him to do it outside a few times, but he has to be totally relaxed, within sight of me but not too close and preferably me looking the other way - and we have to have been outside for at least half an hour if not longer. We know he needs to poop twice a day, but it has become a real battle of wills as to when he will actually do it. We are trying to create a routine as best we can, but our work gets in the way. In the evening after dinner we watch for the signs (him skulking off while we are otherwise engaged, for example in the bathroom ourselves), but have now taken to escorting him outside every hour on the hour, repeating the mantra "toilet" over and over, but nothing...until after we ourselves have gone to bed. The morning poop is now being done during the day in our upstairs office (we bring him into work as we own our own shop - all his toys come with us, as well as a brisket bone every day, and I spend a couple of hours during the day engaging him in play). With all our attempts to get him to poop, we now seem to have buggered up his peeing routine as well. He now refuses to pee outside and waits for attention to be off him before he does it IN HIS BED. And it doesn't matter where his bed is, that's where he squats. Take last night for example. We did the "toilet" routine outside about 20 times...nothing. So we laid paper by the back door as usual (where he used to go quite happily), brough his bed into our bedroom which is where he spends the night (on the floor), got into bed...and bingo! Right in his bed! Not only that, I only worked it out after he spent 15 minutes pushing his bed to the other side of the room, presumably so he wouldn't be offended by the smell of his own pee during the night. Needless to say as of this morning we've removed his bed (it's in the wash) completely and he won't be seeing it for a couple of months. We installed a doggie door on Sunday and got him used to using it, but since he refuses to go outside without me it hasn't yet been of much use. I'm sorry this is so long-winded, but I'm at my wits end and frightened of making things even worse as every day goes by. Plese help - even the most basic of advice will be of assistance!