Newbie Questions....

[angelsophie]

Hi wise DOLers,

so it's been 11yrs since I have had a puppy and well looking back there were many things I could have done better. So my new Havanese arrived on friday and he's such a lovely little boy. I do have a few little questions I would like to ask those in the know.

Apologies if its long winded...So far our routine is to crate in his big K9 M/L crate overnight. Hes so tiny in it, he is only 10 weeks old tomorrow. So I have a dog bed in there which takes up half the space with a blanket and newspaper folded in half in one corner. He goes in at 1030pm and after initial whining goes to sleep. He wakes once through the night. I have been slow in getting up so he goes on the paper. I get up and take him out anyway and he has been going wee (it was a poo on the paper). He then whines when put back in but its getting shorter each night. He then doesnt wake till 630-7 am and I have been quick enough to get him out so far. During the day I have a "bunnings puppy pen. It has his airline crate fairly small with flanelette sheets inside. Water, toys, waterproofing on the floor. I have kids almost 4 and 6 and this is an out of bounds area for them. If he crates himself they are NOT to touch him or talk to him. So far I have been feeding him in there 3 times a day and latching it closed while he eats. He cries when I leave him there to eat. Should I ignore it and leave him to eat (he will eat if I am near by ie visible). I wont feed him till after we eat and he has learnt to sit quietly under my chair while I do eat. I make him sit and be quiet before feeding too. He never finishes his bowl do I take it away when he leaves it the first time?? I am keen not to have food out all day. My old dog would have let the kids have the food out of her mouth, sometime she did. When I raised her I didnt have kids and she wasnt as "mouthy" as this little one is. I "pen" him in the loungeroom still with everyone and this is where he goes when we go out, do the school run ect. When we come home he is always calm and quiet in his crate. The longest he has been left is three hours. Should we "pen" him and treat him in there so its not just when we go out. I tried while I had a shower. I dont like the idea of the kids alone with him even wile I shower.....they are all too young to know better.

Is he to young to try peanut butter in his puppy kong he isnt interested in bikkies that came with it? He is mouthy and over excited when he plays. Only tiny scrap of a thing but nippy with faces and ears and hands. What is the best method of discouraging this? He has a magnetic attraction to power cords too. When we pick him up and he is like this should we ignore him? He also likes to eat guinea pig poo and will go for his own ( ) and tips on eliminating that behaviour? Toilet training is getting there....the accidents we have had are my fault.

The other thing is. He is so new and lovely but I am aware of the fact, although I would love to "play" all day it's not something I will be able to maintain. He will always get walked (we are practicing out the front a few time a day with a lead) and always have time to play every day and for grooming so do I encourage him to play on the floor by himself too with his toys. Its what I am doing now he is playing I am typing in the same room.

I honestly dont remember how I did this with my old dog (who came to us at five weeks and only ever chewed one thing - poor Barbie lol)

Also....anyone got best training treats for one this young? We use praise and the occaisional food treat (we got a free samply bag of natures gifts one were are using).

Thanks guys for getting this far into my ramble...look forward to some responses I REALLY want to get this right.

Bec

Night crate

Day "pen"

and my new little man

[kitty]

hey angelsophie... gorgeous pup!!!

i'm a new puppy owner myself (well second pup in my adult life - but one only lived to 4 months ) it's all so over-whelming. No matter how much research you do beforehand, it's still scary!!!

i'll try and answer a couple of your questions.

We also bought a soft crate for our pup, and what we've done is make it smaller by putting boxes in there so there is only enough room for Molly to lay out and sleep. when she needs to go to the bathroom during the night (which is rare) she whines and scratches on the crate. She holds on until we get her outside. Puppies will hold on as long as they can so they wont soil their bedding.

Definately ignore her while he is whining, if you go to him, it will only encourage him to continue because it gets your attention.

With the biting - i'm going through this at the moment as well, and there are a lot of different ideas on how to get it to stop, and some pups wont react to all the options. You can turn your back to pup and ignore him... which teaches him that biting you means play time is over. Or another option is to yelp like another puppy would.... but that doesnt work for our pup.

In regards to the feeding.. put the bowl down for 15 minutes, whatever pup doesnt eat after that gets taken away. In my experience with Molly, her appetite took a week to really settle in, the stress of a new family, away from mum and brothers etc changed her eating habits a little bit.

I use a mix of different treats. One of the lovely DOLers make 'happy paws treats' which i have found SO successful in our training. Our pup loves them, and i also use them to scatter around her long term confinement to keep her occupied for a little while when we're at work. I think (from my research) it is important to have a range of treats depending on what you're training and how much concentration it requires. Use Kibble for basic requests, use a highly regarded treat (something your dog ADORES) for harder tricks, or things that require a lot more mental power.

i'm not an expert, but hope i've helped a little bit!

[Stitch]

With regard to the biting - either interrupt the behaviour or distract the behaviour so that the biting itself isn't acknowledged. Difficult to explain - very easy to demonstrate. Don't acknowledge the bad behaviour but reward the good or desireable behaviour.

Similar thing with regard to the excited behaviour - expect calm behaviour and wait for it to occur before you pick the pup up (or whatever). Looking at the pup and showing it attention are all 'rewards' so the pup doesn't get a 'reward' until it exhibits the type of behaviour you are wanting.

An example would be - if the dog was jumping up and down wanting you to pick it up. You just stand there, no talking, no touching, no eye contact and wait for it to settle, sit and look at you. When it does this, and it will if you wait long enough, you pick it up. You just have to initially have the patience to wait for the desired behaviour and the dog will learn very quickly.

Hope this helps, feel free to ask questions if you don't understand.

Edited May 19, 2009 by STITCH

[angelsophie]

Thankyou both for your replies

He did well last night. No accidents in his crate over night I did a 2 am toilet trip when I heard him stir after he woke at 630 decided I needed another hour in bed so I put him in his crate again. No crying and he gave me until 730 so I was very happy with that!

He is the best little boy and will sit when asked already. He just loves to mouth and chew. Carpet, pants legs anything will do. I know its a puppy thing and I tried the yelping and it seemed to deter him and he switched to licking instead. I just want to get it right. I want him to be able to have run of the house eventually during the day as my Maltese did. It's just a matter of how to get him to that point where he will be ok and not destructive I am lost with.

Thanks

bec

[Stitch]

Yelping is another way of distracting unwanted behaviour.

It has been around for a long time and is supposed to replicate the vocalising another pup would do if being hurt during play.

Some pups (like my lot) don't really care if they are hurting their litter mate, in fact they seem to positively delight in it!!

If it works for you then use it - however when you need to distract when the dog gets older, your yelping may not be suitable.

Perhaps try another sound.

[luvsdogs]

Your little fellow is gorgeous.

Definitely ignore the whining in the crate. At www.dogstardaily.com you can download the book 'Before You Get Your Puppy' which takes you through to puppies 1st weeks at home. Then you can get exerts from 'After You Get Your Puppy'. It covers house training, bite inhibition, chew toy training & behaviour problems.

[angelsophie]

Thankyou we certainly think he's cute. Will check that website now.

We have had some progress. Last night he made the whole night through without waking (YAY) and a clean crate. Today when we went out I put him in the pen and he went to sleep before I left the house not a whine in sight....I almost forgot I had already put him in

He will stay sleeping and not get up if I move now (I guess he is feeling much more settled). We are training a few times a day and twice today he managed his sit drop stay with another over excited dog and some unfamiliar kids. He is still digging at the carpet and mouthing and biting my clothing so I have heaps of work to do there.

will head off now to check that website

Bec

[Luke W]

Thankyou we certainly think he's cute. Will check that website now.

We have had some progress. Last night he made the whole night through without waking (YAY) and a clean crate. Today when we went out I put him in the pen and he went to sleep before I left the house not a whine in sight....I almost forgot I had already put him in

He will stay sleeping and not get up if I move now (I guess he is feeling much more settled). We are training a few times a day and twice today he managed his sit drop stay with another over excited dog and some unfamiliar kids. He is still digging at the carpet and mouthing and biting my clothing so I have heaps of work to do there.

will head off now to check that website

Bec

Here's the links to both the Before and After You Get your puppy books:

http://www.siriuspup.com/pdfs/BEFOREphotos.pdf

http://www.dogstardaily.com/files/AFTER%20...our%20Puppy.pdf