Puppy Newbie - Training And Other Questions

[RPMgirl]

Hello all,

I am now the proud owner of a nine week old Labrador puppy, Lucy. I've got all sorts of questions about training and what's best for the pup if I have to go to work.

My current situation is that 2 days out of 5 I have to go to work which is a 5-6 hour round trip. Apart from that, I'm home most of the day, except for an hour here or there. In a couple of months I may have to work full time hours, but 2 days a week.

I have been reading lots about training and manners on the site and I'm really keen to put in the work so I have a well mannered Lab at the end of it. I don't have any training experience but have booked her into Puppy Preschool in two week's time.

Based on what I've read here I've been able to get her to "come", "sit", and she has been learning "stay" today as well as "shush" (she is going to be in our laundry when we go out and she has been whining when we lock her up. I've been putting her in with her toys, and giving her a reward when she has "shushed" for 5 seconds, then 10 seconds, then 30, 45 sec etc. She seems to be responding beautifully so far.

Now here's my dilemma - we've just landscaped our place with a beautiful new garden and I'm worried that if I leave her unattended outside (which is the plan eventually, so she can roam around) that she'll dig up our garden and generally be destructive. How can I train her to know that the garden is off limits?. Is this an impossible ask? Or is it "silly me" to think that would be even possible (like who gets a new Lab when they've just planted a garden, right? )

I won't be crating her during the day, but is five hours too long to leave her in the laundry (it's a pretty big one though) to go to work?

Thanks for any suggestions.

Liz N

When she's old enough, she'll be getting twice daily walks about 30-45 minutes each and play time with the kids.

[aussielover]

Hey, RPMgirl

you should head over to the lab forum and post some pics of your girl!

You seem to have started off really well! Labs are really smart aren't they, and quite easily trained (if you take the time and effort).

Can you fence off the area in the garden she is to be allowed in? Or you could put a puppy playpen in the garden where she can't destroy anything. Unfortunately my lab puppy leanred at 10 weeks how to escape from the play pen...

I don't think five hours is too long to leave in the laundary as long as you don't expect her to hold on for that long. Leave some puppy pads or newspaper on the floor in case. You could even put some soil in a tray or some turf.

[Kavik]

I would say that Lab puppies and a landscaped garden is pretty incompatible

Is there an area you can fence off for Lucy to be in during the day that you don't mind having her landscape herself?

[RPMgirl]

Hi guys, yes, just wondering if a temporary fence may do the trick.

I, honestly have to laugh at myself for even thinking that there was compatibility in the first place

I will definitely post some pics of Lucy - will have to resize them I can see and Aussie lover, I've headed over to the Lab forum - after all I think you'd all be the experts.

This is only Day Four, but she's just been so loving and so eager to please. I hadn't realized about toilet training (always having had outside dogs as a child), but she's coming along there slowly but surely as well. And when we picked her up from the breeder, she came toddling across and sat in front of me and put her front paw on my knee - and melted my heart on the spot.

Thanks

Liz N

[persephone]

Leaving a pup in the laundry (even with paper etc ) is just teaching her that toileting under a roof is OK - and I am not a fan of it

find/buy a decent puppy pen so she can be outdoors .. labs are built to be solid and energetic and outdoorsy types ..plus a puppy can not develop its senses/muscles in a laundry ..(well, they CAN, but it means the laundry and anything in there will come off second best)

If you do leave her in the laundry- make sure there are no exposed power points/hoses/ cords or anything she can reach !

and I would agree with

I would say that Lab puppies and a landscaped garden is pretty incompatible

Is there an area you can fence off for Lucy to be in during the day that you don't mind having her landscape herself?

[RPMgirl]

Leaving a pup in the laundry (even with paper etc ) is just teaching her that toileting under a roof is OK - and I am not a fan of it

find/buy a decent puppy pen so she can be outdoors .. labs are built to be solid and energetic and outdoorsy types ..plus a puppy can not develop its senses/muscles in a laundry ..(well, they CAN, but it means the laundry and anything in there will come off second best)

If you do leave her in the laundry- make sure there are no exposed power points/hoses/ cords or anything she can reach !

and I would agree with

I would say that Lab puppies and a landscaped garden is pretty incompatible

Is there an area you can fence off for Lucy to be in during the day that you don't mind having her landscape herself?

Persephone, anywhere you'd suggest going to find a decent puppy pen? I had a look at a few pet stores and local produce and they all seemed pretty flimsy (I was having visions of Lucy running the pen around the back yard) - but if you've got any suggestions I'm all ears - I'm in Brissy if that helps any. Yes, every thing is away and out of reach.

Thanks so much,

Liz N

[persephone]

Folks on here seem to use THESE

personally , I am lucky living in the bush- always plenty of netting /posts around, and no aesthetic worries

[black magic]

You can have a lab and a nice backyard RPM girl ;)

We have lovely grass that covers our whole yard, and have had our lab for two years.

I tried to find some pictures, these are the best I found.

(don't mind the weeds in the garden thats my fault)

Just provide your puppy with a space that she can dig in (we got a clam shell to fill it up with sand, but have never needed to use it) and encourgage her to dig there (hide treats in it)

Set your expectations of what she is able and not able to do straight away.

Cant wait to see pictures of your girl

[RPMgirl]

Thank you for your beacon of hope Black Magic - am going shopping for the enclosure and the clam shell now. How did you train her to stay off the garden? Just hide the treats under the sand? Thanks so much!

[Simply Grand]

I'm not sure I'd leave a puppy unattended for any length of time in the Bunnings compost cage... what do others think? To me they're not that stable and are quite climb-able, with the possibility of getting stuck.

I guess if you somehow secured the panels it might be ok...

Sorry RPMgirl, that's not very helpful of me!! Re. the clamshell, my puppy (well dog now I guess) loves digging in the sand! Yes, hide treats and toys she likes in there and she can search around for them. Be prepared for a mess though

[RPMgirl]

Hi Saxon Pup,

Someone actually suggested securing it with tent pegs, so that it doesn't move. I've just bought it and a clamshell and some sand - when I'm at home I won't have her in the enclosure, just if I go out. Currently she's in the laundry but I'm not having much toilet training luck as yet - but I do realize it's early days and my expectations of her may be too high.. But I don't want her, as Persephone said, to think that toileting there is the right thing either. We had two solid accidents last night and just wondered whether I should get up every four hours or so and check if she needs to go out. It's getting my hubby (who is not as patient as I ) really really cranky and last night I thought he was actually going to hit her - which I don't think teaches them anything, particularly after the fact.

I am really all ears as to any thoughts. I want to do the right thing by the dog, my hubby, my garden and myself I know that once she's through this puppy phase we are going to have a beautiful natured girl on our hands.

Thanks!

[aussielover]

Are you crate training her?

If you leave her in the crate she is more likely to try to hold on through the night.

You should get up to her every 4 hrs if she is consistently having these accidents. Does she cry to let you know she needs ot go out?

[Simply Grand]

She sounds like a lovely girl already!

Yes, I think securing the enclosure is a good idea, so if she does try to climb it won't fall over, and she can't push or drag it around. Hopefully if she has lots of toys and things to chew in there she'll be too busy to think of trying to get out!

At 9 weeks she won't be able to hang on all night without going to the toilet. A lot of people, especially those crate training, do get up every few hours during the night to take their puppies outside for toilet stops. I have to admit that thought doesn't appeal to me! I didn't know about crate training when I got Saxon but even now knowing about it, I'm not sure I'll use if for my next pup.

Saxon slept in the bathroom when he was a baby, and was in there during the day when I went out (it's quite a big bathroom and he was a tiny puppy!). I had a baby gate to keep him in there and put down puppy pads. I found that he was pretty good with using the pads whenever he was confined to the bathroom, and I wasn't fussed if he didn't quite make it because of the tiled floor, but there was no chance of him going off to find a pad if he was free in the house. Whenever I was home with him I had to take him outside every hour to see if he needed the toilet, until I found I could read his body language for when he needed to go and then it was less often. There were many accidents though, they're very quick if you're not paying attention!

My aim was always for him to take himself out the doggy door and go outside so as soon as he was big enough to get up and down the back steps on his own I started teaching him to go through the doggy door whenever I took him out, and then rewarding him whenever he toileted outside (first just with praise, but I found food treats as well worked better). He'd still go in the bathroom overnight but I just ignored and quietly cleaned up whatever he did toilet-wise in there.

Anyway, the point of that long story is that you should still be able to teach her that going outside is the right thing - and from her point of view, the way she earns rewards - even if she does go on pads in the laundry overnight until she is old enough to hold it. But she'll learn quicker if you do get up and take her out a few times a night, and reward her when she goes - she'll start to try and hold it then for a little while, while she waits for you to take her.

It sound like you're doing a good job, don't worry Oh, but you're right, your OH hitting her won't help at all...

Edited July 1, 2010 by Saxonpup

[RPMgirl]

Hi Aussielover, I was hoping not to have to do crate training, more because of the expense of the crate than anything else.

Saxon, I think I'll just get up and offer a food reward if she will do her business. Often we get up and she sits on the driveway staring into space!

Thanks for the suggestion!

[Bubitty]

Hi RPMGirl,

Sounds like you are on top of it! I raised a cheeky golden puppy just last year and these are some things that I found really useful.

*Never give them a chance to toilet inside. For the first week I woke up every 3 hours, carried my puppy outside and encouraged her to wee. It was winter so its was brutal but I thought it was important that she never got a chance to wet in her crate or inside. You should find that after about a week you can taper off to 5 hours, 6 hours etc. By the end of two weeks my baby was sleeping through the night in her crate.

*Clicker train the dog. Find things to train her to do. TRAIN TRAIN TRAIN! It will exhaust her and prevent her from forming any bad habits. You can train basics like come, spin, watch, heel and also manners things like wait, calm (train them to sit still calmly on the mat). I cannot press this point enough, the more you train, the more busy and tired puppy will be which means when you are NOT there puppy will be sleeping and leaving your things alone

*I know you can’t walk her yet but stick a lead on her, take her outside, sit her on a towel and get her used to noises, cars, lawn mowers. I did this twice a day until she was able to go on walk. I just find that it lets them get used to things and the outside world

*When you leave puppy, leave her with things to amuse her. I left mine with giant bones (that she couldn’t choke on), frozen banana cups, peanut butter smeared on old drink bottles, scatter food around the yard for her to hide and seek, give her a raw egg to crack etc. I find that this completely eases any anxiety they may have about you leaving and keeps them busy tucking into things. This plus strenuous training sessions will help keep your landscaped garden nice!

Just to encourage you, I think a landscaped garden and a lab pup can be perfectly do-able! My puppy in the photo (Bitty) only ever ripped 6 tissues in her life so far and she is only 14 months old! And she is a cheeky, bouncy pup! Not one of the quiet sleepy ones! So you can do it!!!!!!

[aussielover]

Yeah I'm not a fan of getting up to my puppy either. Thankfully she has pretty much been able to hold on all night from 8 weeks. She has had a few accidents overnight if she gets worked up barking though.I spoke to someone today who stills gets up for their 18 month old lab 3 times a night!

I agree with Saxonpup that you can still toilet train your pup even if you are using puppy pads/newspaper overnight or during the day while you are away.

We haven't had any accidents for a week now (my pup is 12 weeks old) in the house, at work/uni or overnight and I used the puppy pads overnight for the first few weeks.

[RPMgirl]

Hi RPMGirl,

Sounds like you are on top of it! I raised a cheeky golden puppy just last year and these are some things that I found really useful.

*Never give them a chance to toilet inside. For the first week I woke up every 3 hours, carried my puppy outside and encouraged her to wee. It was winter so its was brutal but I thought it was important that she never got a chance to wet in her crate or inside. You should find that after about a week you can taper off to 5 hours, 6 hours etc. By the end of two weeks my baby was sleeping through the night in her crate.

*Clicker train the dog. Find things to train her to do. TRAIN TRAIN TRAIN! It will exhaust her and prevent her from forming any bad habits. You can train basics like come, spin, watch, heel and also manners things like wait, calm (train them to sit still calmly on the mat). I cannot press this point enough, the more you train, the more busy and tired puppy will be which means when you are NOT there puppy will be sleeping and leaving your things alone

*I know you can’t walk her yet but stick a lead on her, take her outside, sit her on a towel and get her used to noises, cars, lawn mowers. I did this twice a day until she was able to go on walk. I just find that it lets them get used to things and the outside world

*When you leave puppy, leave her with things to amuse her. I left mine with giant bones (that she couldn’t choke on), frozen banana cups, peanut butter smeared on old drink bottles, scatter food around the yard for her to hide and seek, give her a raw egg to crack etc. I find that this completely eases any anxiety they may have about you leaving and keeps them busy tucking into things. This plus strenuous training sessions will help keep your landscaped garden nice!

Just to encourage you, I think a landscaped garden and a lab pup can be perfectly do-able! My puppy in the photo (Bitty) only ever ripped 6 tissues in her life so far and she is only 14 months old! And she is a cheeky, bouncy pup! Not one of the quiet sleepy ones! So you can do it!!!!!!

Thanks Bub, this really does encourage me - big time.

A few questions - without wanting to sound super dense - what is clicker training? I've seen it mentioned but wasn't really sure what it was.

I've put a lead on her and let her wander around with it to get used to it. I'm going to try the Triangle training that is listed in the Obedience section - I have a fabric adjustable collar with a ring for the lead on it - when "back tie" is mentioned, what does that mean - that the pup is tied fairly firmly with the lead and ring at the back of the head.

Sorry for the inane questions - I'm pretty green at this, but keen to learn!

Thanks!

[RPMgirl]

Aussielover, your little MIndy sounds like she's going great guns - and your experiences have been most helpful - thanks a million!

[W Sibs]

I am going away this weekend so I can have a solid 8 hours sleeps with no interuption... I've haven't had a solid 8 hours sleeps since I got Emmy.

First thing I asked the place I'm going too was how comfortable their bed was.

[RPMgirl]

Yipes CW-EW - sleep well

Well I've fed her, toileted her (1 and 2 and it is now 6.45pm - will go back at 9.45 pm and check her and take her to toilet and give a food reward if compliant.

I have a plan - thanks so much DOLiners!