Some Questions Before Getting A Puppy

[Nushie]

Hi,

I just have some questions about toileting. I want to have it all sorted in my head before we get a puppy.

The place we are currently renting has a large balcony which in the long term we would like to put a pet loo on so that it is outside. But to begin with do we put the loo in the play pen so when the puppy is unsupervised it is there with the puppy or outside where in the long run we would like it to be and take the puppy out to the loo every 1hour to use it. If that is the case, what do we do when we are not home and have to go to work? Do we bring it inside and put it in the pen? I just feel that would confuse the puppy, but on the other hand if we leave the puppy with access to the balcony, it is a large space and i dont want to encourage it to use the tiles. Or do we leave the loo in the play pen full time and once the puppy is confidently using it on its own, then move it outside?

When we are home is taking the puppy to the loo every hour alright (after waking, eating and playing it would be straight away) but in general is every hour okay?

At night i would like to crate the puppy in our room so that it is close to us and i can hear when it gets restless. How often should i take it to the toilet? I was thinking every couple of hours, 2-3 maybe?

Would really like any advice and pearls of wisdom you all may have. As much as i am looking forward to getting a puppy, i am also extemely nervous. I have so many questions!

PS: When i re-read the post it sounds a little weird cause i keep saying "the puppy" and "it" - thats because i am banking on a male puppy and my other half wants a female. And he keeps telling me not to call our puppy to be "he" so i dont get my hopes up. We are willing either way and would rather have a dog that suits us instead of pre-deciding on a gender.

[poodlefan]

Will the puppy have access to the loo when its an adult and you're at work?

Is your balcony secure.. could a dog fall off it?

[Nushie]

We are looking at getting a pig in mud dog door so that the dog will have access out to the loo when it is older and it can come and go as it pleases.

Balcony will be secure before we get the puppy, there is a gap about 5cm either side of rail (solid frosted glass look stuff) where the rails join the wall at each end. We are intending to block those off at least until the puppy grows up as we dont want to risk its head getting stuck.

Also have a question regarding baby gates. Does anyone know a good brand suitable for use with a small dog? We have stairs in our place and the living area / where the puppy will be the majority of the time is upstairs. So we want to block off the stairs to prevent falls etc.

Thansk again

[Bluefairy]

Hi,

I can help with the baby gates. I have a Safety 1st one in my hallway, that separates the kitchen, laundry and lounge from the bedrooms and bathrooms. I used this for our Aussie Bulldog and she never tried to jump it or even lean on it. I had to get an extension piece as the gate I bought wasn't wide enough from wall to wall, but I rang the company and they had one sent out for a small amount within days.

The gate has been up for the last year, and even though my Aussie is no longer with us, I will use it for the our new puppy which is coming on Sunday. Our cat won't even jump over it...weird. But its been great as the Grandkids can't even get past it. It is fantastic quality and I highly recommend them. I got mine from KMart. Its all metal and very strong.

Good luck.

BF

[Nushie]

Thanks Bluefairy, i will have to check out Kmart this weekend.

[Simply Grand]

I got this baby gate from Toys R Us for my small dog. He was tiny when he was a baby and would have been able to the get through the ones that only have vertical bars:

I sometimes have to fiddle a bit to get it secure, it just works off pressure, doesn't actually attach to the doorway so once Saxon got older and bigger he could sometimes work it loose. I ended up sticking a little bit of cardboard covered in rubber non-slip stuff to the stoppers to make it a tighter fit and it has stayed put since. He wasn't heavy enough to move it at all though until he was about 6 months old.

[Addicted to Dogs]

Nushie

Check out the information regarding housetraining at http://www.dogstardaily.com/training/puppy...m-amp-doggy-den and http://www.dogstardaily.com/training/errorless-housetraining. You'll also get all sorts of spin offs from an approach based on this one including your pup learning to chew appropriate toys and also be happy and comfortable when left alone.

[Whippetsmum]

Hi Nushie,

Re: Puppy Loos

I just bought a puppy home on Saturday and she was "newspaper trained", there were several spots in the puppy den that she could choose from. She's adapted really well to the puppy loo, and started using it on the first night, we had both 1's and 2's on the tray. We just put newspaper in instead of the grass layer. She had a second paper only spot that she didn't get praised for, so she learned pretty quick that the loo was the place to go. She's using it 90% of the time, and the other 10% goes next to the tray which is inside on the tiles. I'm putting a little bit of paper around the tray today and will reduce this over the week so that she gets more accurate. After that it working, I'll put the grass layer in with the paper on top. I'll let you know how it's going.

[Nushie]

Hi Nushie,

Re: Puppy Loos

I just bought a puppy home on Saturday and she was "newspaper trained", there were several spots in the puppy den that she could choose from. She's adapted really well to the puppy loo, and started using it on the first night, we had both 1's and 2's on the tray. We just put newspaper in instead of the grass layer. She had a second paper only spot that she didn't get praised for, so she learned pretty quick that the loo was the place to go. She's using it 90% of the time, and the other 10% goes next to the tray which is inside on the tiles. I'm putting a little bit of paper around the tray today and will reduce this over the week so that she gets more accurate. After that it working, I'll put the grass layer in with the paper on top. I'll let you know how it's going.

Thanks Whippetsmum,

I was thinking of putting some newspaper on top of the grass (but maybe instead of will be easier) so that he can get used to it as he will be newspaper trained as well.