SHEPPO Posted August 22, 2007 Share Posted August 22, 2007 Hello all, 2 weeks ago my GF and I picked up our new dog, a 9 week old, male, pure breed Staffordshire Bull Terrier (staffie). He's now 11 weeks old and going pretty well... After the first few nights of seperation anxiety that all puppies get when they leave their littermates, everything seemed to calm down we thought, "great he's settling in", he'll bark a little then go to sleep till about 6:30am (when i get up for work). Now the last few mornings when we've let him out of the laundry (where he sleeps) i've noticed small little streaks of blood where he's been paw'ing the door. nothing dramatic, and definately not life threatening, just slightly alarming. His paws arent bleeding in the morning, so i assume he's doing this during the night when we're asleep. I am guessing the blood is coming from where the nail goes into the toe, and we wash his paws 2 times a day to eliminate chance of infections. My question is, how can i stop him hurting himself? Or will he just figure it out in time (not too long i hope)?? He's very well behaved, nicely mannered and a real good pup (as far as pup's go), and we'd like to eliminate this behaviour soon before he thinks it's acceptable. Note: we're adopting the "tuff love" attitude overnights as advised by the breeder/vet/friends, where we dont attend to his cries untill its morning (6:30am). He has a nice warm bed, toys to play with, nice size room that's safe, a chewing treat, and water. The room has no sharp edges that we can see or feel (i checked). Any help on the matter would be appreciated. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shellbyville Posted August 22, 2007 Share Posted August 22, 2007 (edited) My advice would be to buy him a crate, and train him to sleep in there. They are not too expensive and really do come in very handy over the entire dogs life. You could keep the crate in the same room you have him in now. Make it nice and cosy, with his bedding, favourite toy etc, even put a blanket over the top to give it a 'den' like feel, and teach him this is his place. Lock him in the crate last thing before you go to bed. At least you will know he is safe and can't hurt his paws scratching on doors etc. My dogs all love their crates, and I think consider it their 'safe' place. If you don't like the crate idea (which I think is the best option) you could try putting some form of a barrier so he can't scratch on the door, because it may become a habit and staffies like any larger dog, can do a fair bit of damage if they are given the opportunity. Hope this helps, others may have other ideas. Good luck with your pup! Edited August 22, 2007 by shellbyville Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miranda Posted August 22, 2007 Share Posted August 22, 2007 I agree, buy him a crate, to cause bleeding the puppy must be scratching frantically and if he continues he will loosen the nails or rip them off completely and this will cause profuse bleeding and lameness. He will also totally wreck the base of your door especially when he gets bigger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHEPPO Posted August 22, 2007 Author Share Posted August 22, 2007 we're trying to avoid a create if possible, so would there be any other suggestions?? i cant see how putting him in a create will stop him paw'ing the create's door/walls and doing the same damage he's already inflicting on himself up against a smooth door. however if things dont change for the better, soon, i may have to go the create option as a last resort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KitKat Posted August 22, 2007 Share Posted August 22, 2007 Does he get toilet breaks thru the night? Is that what he is after perhaps? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHEPPO Posted August 22, 2007 Author Share Posted August 22, 2007 he does not get toilet breaks, we've been thinking this may be the cause. i was under the impression attending to him overnight would do more harm than good (giving him attention when he's crying out for us), as we were advised not to baby him when he's seeking attention at night time. am i doing the wrong thing here and should be attending him, for toilet breaks?? the room he is in is large (for a laundary) and his newspaper for toilet trips is about 2m from his bed, and he is going on the paper, so it's not like he's in his own mess, but it may be the cause of his distress. what's people's thoughts on this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogsfevr Posted August 22, 2007 Share Posted August 22, 2007 Would you like to sleep with aturd in your sleeping area?? I dare say the pup is scratching to go to the loo & if you dont respond to what he is asking your missing part of the crucial toilet training signal which means he will learn that toileting inside is whats expected . The laundry can be a cold,drafty room & not all pups settle into that sort of routine. The crate will stop the sratching but if your not going to address the pups call s for toileting you may have a problem no matter what. There is tough love but there is also educating Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Boss Doggy Posted August 22, 2007 Share Posted August 22, 2007 Hi Dave Sounds like you're providing everything he needs except the one thing he needs most at his age... companionship. The tuff love method can be very traumatic for some pups, especially highly people oriented breeds like staffies. Ignoring a puppy's cries is only useful if the pup is demand crying or isn't really upset. Don't let your pup cry until he works himself into a state. He needs to know that if he needs you, you will come. It's just like a baby, how long would you let a baby cry for before attending to it? If you are worried about rewarding crying, then wait until he is silent for a second before going in. Ideally your pup would be allowed to sleep in your bedroom with you, as part of your family. All most dogs want in life is to be with their family and it is the most often neglected need. Is there a reason why you don't want your dog inside with you? My advice would be to buy a crate and put it in your bedroom. Don't just put the pup in and close the door though, you need to crate train him properly (I can post how to do this if necessary). Definitely attend to your pups toileting needs, as toileting inside won't help his toilet training. The more he toilets inside the better he gets at it! Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHEPPO Posted August 22, 2007 Author Share Posted August 22, 2007 we'll try toilet breaks tonight. how often should we be getting up for them? every 2-3 hours or more frequent? he has the ability to sleep 3 hours in the day without waking up and needing to go to the toilet, so every 3 hours should be ok yeah? he's 11 weeks old and goes every 1-2 hours when he's awake. lastly, is it a good idea to remove his water bowl from his sleeping area? i've heard conflicting reports about this and it's all the more confusing!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shellbyville Posted August 22, 2007 Share Posted August 22, 2007 (edited) Maybe if you take him to the toilet about 10 - 11pm or just before you go to bed, then maybe once again at 2 or 3 am and then again as soon as you get out of bed. You will probably only need to get up through the night for a little while, puppies quickly learn to hold until morning. Be patient and consistent and he will soon get the idea. I suggested a crate because that is the method I use to train puppies and have had success with it. I find that puppies generally won't go to the toilet where they sleep and will hold until they are let out. I usually take the puppies to the toilet once during the night like I suggested above. If you can teach him to go to the toilet outside as soon as possible and not provide newspaper as an alternative you won't have any bad habits to try to break, he will get the idea that he has to be outside to go to the toilet. Good luck! Edited August 22, 2007 by shellbyville Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlitznBear Posted August 22, 2007 Share Posted August 22, 2007 We take our 14 week old staffy pup out usually every 1-2 hrs during the day but in the evenings after walks and dinner every half hr - hr until our last trip out before we go to bed at around 10ish. Mostly in the evenings after 8 we have to wake him and get him out of his crate to take him out to go toilet but as soon as we bring him in after going toilet, he goes straight back into his crate, gets tucked in and told "bed time". My OH then gets up at 6am, again wakes him up, goes to toilet and then put straight back in for "bed time" untill mum and kids are up at 730am. This is our routine and you too will find a routine that works for you and pup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHEPPO Posted August 22, 2007 Author Share Posted August 22, 2007 we go to bed about 10-11pm, Mack (the puppy) sleeps from about 8pm onwards with us in the lounge room. i think a 10-11pm toilet trip, then 3am, then 6:30-7am when we wake up would be ok, since i wake up about 2:30-3am myself from his noise some nights! during the day we take him outside for toilet trips, and he is now starting to go outside by himself! ahh we're proud when he does that! it's only the nights where we're worried, and its when he gets a little frantic and ends up hurting his paws. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KitKat Posted August 22, 2007 Share Posted August 22, 2007 Sounds like toileting is his issue at night - many pups get really fustrated about not being able to toilet elsewhere - particularly if they've had their toilet training already started at the breeders or the pup is a naturally clean puppy. My GSD's as pups would get a toilet break before i went to bed...even if this meant waking them up. They'd then wake me at around 3am-ish by yipping or some such which would wake me up and i'd take them outside - stay calm and don't start playing with them etc else they'll try and get you up to play as well...lol. Once they've been to the toilet tell them they are very good and then pop them back to bed. When you wake up go thru it all over again. As the pup gets older they will be able to last longer - but by letting them signal to you that they need to go is great as it sets them up to signal you when they need to toilet. Eg will walk over to door and sit, will give a specific yip, will scratch at door etc and this can last them a life time - makes it much easier for an indoor dog Perhaps also start a 'toilet word' so that you can also get them to toilet on command - very handy for car trips/trials/shows/visits etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHEPPO Posted August 22, 2007 Author Share Posted August 22, 2007 well we decided to try somthing a little different last night as i was so dog (no pun) tired and so was my OH, that we kept him with us untill about midnight as we fell asleep on the coutch. then woke him, toilet trip, into his bed in the laundary, and we went to bed. i woke up at 5:45am and woke the dog up, he had gone toilet in the laundary on the newspaper, but it was MUCH less than other nights, and he wasnt frantic, no bleeding paws, and he looked like he'd slept well. we also lowered the water level in his bowl down to about 1-2mm so he can only have a few licks if needed, this may have also helped?? i think his "tanks" :-) can hold about 3-4 hours before he needs to go toilet, so we may try working with that philosophy for tonight. 7pm-11pm-3am-7am or somthing like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KatLek Posted August 22, 2007 Share Posted August 22, 2007 well we decided to try somthing a little different last night as i was so dog (no pun) tired and so was my OH, that we kept him with us untill about midnight as we fell asleep on the coutch. then woke him, toilet trip, into his bed in the laundary, and we went to bed.i woke up at 5:45am and woke the dog up, he had gone toilet in the laundary on the newspaper, but it was MUCH less than other nights, and he wasnt frantic, no bleeding paws, and he looked like he'd slept well. we also lowered the water level in his bowl down to about 1-2mm so he can only have a few licks if needed, this may have also helped?? i think his "tanks" :-) can hold about 3-4 hours before he needs to go toilet, so we may try working with that philosophy for tonight. 7pm-11pm-3am-7am or somthing like that. sounds a great improvement!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlitznBear Posted August 23, 2007 Share Posted August 23, 2007 Good work!, its so much easier and less stressful for you and pup when you settle into a routine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doghouse Posted August 23, 2007 Share Posted August 23, 2007 Staffys are really family dogs and love to bond with the family as a pack so perhaps keeping him with you as much as possible is a 'better' idea if you dont want to crate him.. we didnt and ours sleep on the bed with us much to my loss of blankets.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHEPPO Posted August 23, 2007 Author Share Posted August 23, 2007 another good night! YAY did the same thing, up will midnight, outside for toilet, then to bed. woke him at 6:20am and he was fine, no hurt paws! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KitKat Posted August 23, 2007 Share Posted August 23, 2007 Yay!!! Great to hear!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHEPPO Posted August 27, 2007 Author Share Posted August 27, 2007 just a quick final post on this matter.. Mack has been a perfect lil pup the last 3 nights and he's finally settled in nicely. Quiet, sleeping, 11:30pm till 6:30am! he also goes to the toilet on command now :-) thanks for all the help and suggestions, my OH and i are very appreciative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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