raineth Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 Sounds like you're doing a great job :) You sound very committed :) Don't forget to use this precious time you have off to work to socialise that pup of yours :) She will need that as much as knowing how to be alone :) She doesn't have to interact with a lot of people or dogs, but she really needs to see and hear other people and dogs and learn to be ok in their presence; ultimately you want her to ignore these things. That way you can have pleasant outings and walks with her :) She also needs to be introduced to car travel, being walked, having her nails trimmed and having a bath. It is also very important to get her used to the noise and sight of children so she is not afraid of them; especially if you are planning on having kids one day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dame Aussie Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 I wouldn't think toooo much about it. TBH all our pups have just been able to walk round the house as they please, been taken out for toilet every hour, or been outside when we are out and have adjusted fine. I haven't taken time off work though, they have been used to me being gone during the day from the very start. Not that I think that's a bad thing at all I think you will be fine, she is very young and still learning, you seem to be very committed and want to do the right thing, and there has been some good advice so far, relax a bit and enjoy her :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt_D Posted June 22, 2012 Author Share Posted June 22, 2012 Good call thanks Raineth. She's will have met about 10 other people by the end of her 1st week. There's been a lot of time out in the backyard where she can hear next doors Cavoodle barking & carrying on through the fence :) Also she has met 1 child already, and there will be more in the coming weeks. I'll start getting her out for walks as soon as she's had her 2nd & 3rd vaccinations (about 1 month all up). She had a good play in the backyard after I got back this morning, then after a good solo explore she wanted to sleep on my lap. So after a lot of putting her back down I could tell how tired she was so I let her get sleepy then put her in her bed inside the pen and she's been there happily sleeping & watching me for 2 hours - completely quiet!! It's way to early to start celebrating now, but I know I'm on the right track to getting this little Dachie weened off me. I think it's just fabulous that she's been sleeping all night through since her 3rd night in the pen. I'm stoked that we're getting a peaceful sleep without the stress of a crying pup waking the neigbourhood at 3am. I'm playing with her paws a lot to get her used to handling (prepare for clipping her nails) and she's had 1 bath already when we brought her home. My wife & I will just stick to this routine and hopefully we'll end up with a well balanced, but totally cherished little hound Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tintin Jac Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 Ummm.....any more pics??? She sounds like a great little pup. Have you thought about taking her to puppy school? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dame Aussie Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 Good call thanks Raineth. She's will have met about 10 other people by the end of her 1st week. There's been a lot of time out in the backyard where she can hear next doors Cavoodle barking & carrying on through the fence :) Also she has met 1 child already, and there will be more in the coming weeks. I'll start getting her out for walks as soon as she's had her 2nd & 3rd vaccinations (about 1 month all up). She had a good play in the backyard after I got back this morning, then after a good solo explore she wanted to sleep on my lap. So after a lot of putting her back down I could tell how tired she was so I let her get sleepy then put her in her bed inside the pen and she's been there happily sleeping & watching me for 2 hours - completely quiet!! It's way to early to start celebrating now, but I know I'm on the right track to getting this little Dachie weened off me. I think it's just fabulous that she's been sleeping all night through since her 3rd night in the pen. I'm stoked that we're getting a peaceful sleep without the stress of a crying pup waking the neigbourhood at 3am. I'm playing with her paws a lot to get her used to handling (prepare for clipping her nails) and she's had 1 bath already when we brought her home. My wife & I will just stick to this routine and hopefully we'll end up with a well balanced, but totally cherished little hound Sounds like it's all going well :) Along with playing with her paws it's a good idea to play with her mouth also, so you can look at her gums etc if needed and have her used to that. I second more pics! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest RosieFT Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 There is almost too much information out there now, it can get confusing. Showdog - can you please clarify for me because I am obviously having a blonde moment! When I was crate training Rosie, if she was put in her crate (after having a play or after being out for awhile and I needed to do something where i could not watch her), she was not let out if she was making a fuss. If she carried on, I would wait till she was quiet, tell her 'good quiet' and let her out. What am i missing with what you are advising re the play pen? If the dachsie is put in her pen for a length of time and is carrying on like a fruit loop but finally quiets down, how come you do not reward that? OR are you suggesting purely because they are planning on leaving it in the pen for 7 hours straight, that the dog needs to learn that just because it is quiet, it does not get to come out? hmmm now i type that it makes sense LOL. My only suggestion is to get the toilet training in hand NOW while you are there. Spend these 3 weeks focusing on that. My parent's bichon and my SIL two mini dachshunds are not, and i believe now never will be, toilet trained. It is a nightmare. Everytime they go in the 'wrong' place it gets cemented in their head that that is ok to go there. You need to help them get it right. I used a crate when Rosie was a puppy and whenever I could not watch her she went in her crate. I was so paranoid about getting a dog that was not toilet trained LOL. After every meal, after every nap - out we would go and used a toilet command. My SIL has one extremely attached dachsie with separation anxiety AND it is quite nervy around anything new - people, kids, places, sounds. Her first dachsie which is 12 months older, has not got these problems, BUT is exceedingly strong willed, toy obsessed (and I own a toy obsessed terrier, but this dachsie is a whole level up on that!). don't get me wrong, they are both very lovely dogs, but not without their problems! My terrier is not perfect by any means, but I am just trying to point out from my limited experience, what a very strong willed breed they seem to be! I would be leaving Dasha in the yard as soon as you can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salukifan Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 (edited) Oops. Double post. Edited June 26, 2012 by Haredown Whippets Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salukifan Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 (edited) You might find it easier to deal with the screaming if you stop thinking of it as "distress" and start viewing it as a temper tantrum because puppy isn't getting what she wants. Dachsies are tough little buggers - if you allow her to call the shots she'll play you like a violin. Yes, play with her but also instill a routine that requires her to deal with boredom and a little inattention so she can learn some self control. If not, you will be setting yourself up for headaches down the track. Edited June 26, 2012 by Haredown Whippets Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt_D Posted June 26, 2012 Author Share Posted June 26, 2012 I'm now back at work and my wife is at home with Dasha for the week. The seperation exercises are continuing and we're seeing some improvement now when we leave her in the pen and go out. We're in a strict habit of not going to her when coming back home. We find she's usually quiet when we find her after coming home, then she's excited to see us, but we wait until she has calmed before getting her out of the pen (not always easy to do I can tell you ). We've also been encouraging her to play by herself a lot more often, and not giving her attention the whole time just because we're at home with her. Tintin - yep she's going to puppy school as soon as she's had her 2nd vacc. shot. Aussie3 - we do play with her gums to show people her viscious looking puppy teeth (remind me of a pirana!), thanks we'll keep that up. Rosie - thanks for the tales of the other dachsies you know of. The breeder did a great job in paper training her. We've just continued the praise and taking her outside every hour or so (esp first thing when she wakes up & after meals). Obviously she will have to use the newspaper in her Pen when we're at work so I'm not discouraging the use of newspaper in & around her pen. We just making a habit of taking her out on the back lawn and she's already got a 'favourite' toilet area that she does her business. She's very good at walking off the lounge (down her little ramp off the lounge :laugh: ) and going on the newspaper on the floor. There's only been 2 or 3 accidents off the newspaperpaper in her 10 days so far! She really does enjoy the backyard. We left her by herself for 10 mins in the backyard but she soon discovered the narrow side paths leading to the sidegates. We were out in the frontyard and she saw us through the gate at the side of the house then started going nuts to get to us. Ended up digging the loose stones enough to get her neck squeezed under that side gate and got stuck . So I ran around the back and pulled her back through from behind... We may have to install something to block off her view of the front otherwise this could lead to dangerous digging and getting free in the front then onto the busy road... Haredown - thanks for the tips. After what I went through last week, I am now a little more 'immune' to her intense cries. It's not as if it's 3am in the morning so we can deal with a little bit of neighbourhood noise during normal daylight hours. Her sleeping continues to be excellent We put her in her bed in the pen, turn all the lights off, then walk up the hall into our room and we don't hear a peep until I get up for work at 6am. I'll attach a few pics from our playtime when I was home with her last week (I can only post 200k worth a time though...grrr) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raineth Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 oh she is precious <3 thanks for the photos :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dame Aussie Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 Love the first pic :laugh: Needle teeth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salukifan Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 Matt I'd suggest you replace the stones under your side gates with concrete if you can. View or not, she may dig her way-out because she can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest RosieFT Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 She is very cute! I love the fact that they seem to have deep bark rather than a yap - which is kinder on the ears! LOL. I think they are lovely dogs, and their coats don't seem to drop much, if at all which is another bonus . Good luck with Dasha you sound like you are doing a great job. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dame Aussie Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 Matt I'd suggest you replace the stones under your side gates with concrete if you can. View or not, she may dig her way-out because she can. Agree with this. Being so little she could squeeze or dig out of the tiniest opening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt_D Posted July 18, 2012 Author Share Posted July 18, 2012 Just an update. Dasha is now 12.5 weeks and has survived the last 2.5 weeks at home by herself while we're both off at work. We've had to change the material around her pen from latice (which she worked out how to climb like a ladder to escape!) to double layered shade cloth mesh cable-tied around the bars of her playpen. She gets a play for 1-2 hours in the morning and then all evening from about 4:30pm. She's now had a double booster shot that includes both her 2nd & 3rd vaccination so we'll FINALLY be able to walk her on footpaths from this afternoon, then by the weekend the vet said she'll be fine in parks and with friends dogs - YAY Due to some inclement weather she has not been enjoying the backyard as much for toilet trips and there's been quite a few accidents off the paper inside (partly becuase of our constant watching her has been slackened a little). So this week we have focused on removing newspaper from the 5 spots she usually wee's, and narrowed it down to one spot by the door and the other when she's in her pen. Poo's are not quite as accurate, but easy to clean. We will keep up vigilance after meals and correct / praise as req'd when she's doing it in the right place. One thing I wanted to ask is about eventually migrating her to our backyard when she's old enough. Right now she doesn't mind being out there & exploring as long as one of us is within sight! As soon as she notices we're not there she'll go crazy and jump over gates and barriers to get back to where we are upstairs. She whimpers & frets and runs from door to back stairs, to side gates until she can find a way in. At the moment she's still so small she can actually fit under the hit & miss batons in our garage and get in that way. I want to train her to enjoy being in the backyard by herself so we can start leaving her out there when we are at work (plenty of shelter and an inside open patio she can get out from the weather etc), but I worry about what her separation anxiety could lead to when she's not contained in her playpen inside. I read somewhere it's normal for pups to be a bit scared of the outside world so maybe it's something she'll grow accustomed to between 6 months - 1yo? Hopefully by then she'll be a bit bigger 'sausage' and won't squeeze so easily around the barriers I try to put up when she's out in the yard. I've also attached a couple of updated wiener pics that a friend who's a pet photographer took of the little hound last week. Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HazyWal Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 OMG Matt she is divine My friend has three Daccy's (she has had them all her life)and they are really gorgeous little dogs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harley Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 Gorgeous photos! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC Crazy Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 Oh how cute is Dasha :) Looks like he has settled in perfectly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Polgara's Shadow Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 (edited) Nawww..crazy cute! And fab photo's! To get her to enjoy the backyard more I'd recommend feeding her meals there. Perhaps start right at the back door and go from there. I'd also feed her tasy long lasting treats out there like bones (necks and wings while she's till so small), stuffed kongs and the like. Your probably a bit limited with the weather at the moment, but you should have enough fine spells to do this when you can. Edited to add.. another idea is to hide treats around the yard for her to find. She'll probably need to be led to find the food to start off with, but I'm sure she'll pick it up quick. Edited July 18, 2012 by Polgara's Shadow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt_D Posted July 18, 2012 Author Share Posted July 18, 2012 Thanks for the feedback - it's really nice to hear. Good call on the food tricks Polgara. I give her frozen chicken necks on occasions to snack on in the yard, but they usually last about 10mins before she's running back looking for us. I might try some additional liver treats around the yard next time I'm encouraging her to be out there. Just hope she finds them before the bloody minor birds do! (ps look at those adorable paws on Vulcan - they look so BIG for him :) ). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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