Puppy House-training

[Mpup89]

Hey all,

This is my first post here! I am also soon to be a first time dog owner so I am trying to get as much information as possible. I have read numerous puppy books as well as contact 20+ breeders of Siberian Huskies.

Regarding toilet training and confinement I have taken some notes.

Could some experienced dog owners please let me know If I have everything covered and that it is correct.

• Crate to be used overnight and when I do not have time to give the pup 100% supervision.

• Play Pen for when I am out of the house and the dog is still young (needs to have crate, toys, water and a toilet area)

• Take the dog out to go to the toilet every hour to hour and a half. Use leash.

• Stand still with the dog until it goes to the toilet. Once it has completed going to the toilet make sure to praise and reward the pup. Usually pees very quickly then poos a minute or two after.

• Best time to play with the pup is right after it has been to the toilet. Play with him in the play pen.

• No food or water 2-3 hours before bed. Chew toy with kibble in crate is fine.

• Play with the pup right up until you want to go to bed to tire him and to make sure he sleeps well.

• Toilet right before bed too and first thing in the morning.

• During the night wake the pup every 3 hours for a toilet break. Do not praise the pup during the night, other than a quick “good puppy”.

• If you wake up during the night and hear the dog crying/barking take him outside to go to the toilet. Again, no praise.

• Every 3 nights increase the time between toilet breaks by 15-30 minutes. As long as the pup has not had an incident over those 3 nights.

• Gradually give the pup more space the better he is potty trained. Do not give him free run of the house until you are 100% sure he is well potty trained.

• The pup will sniff, circle when they are feeling they need to go to the toilet. Must pay attention at all times.

• Only allow the pup to chew on a kong chew toy which is stuffed with kibble. This will teach the dog to only play with this type of toy and by stuffing it with kibble will keep the pup busy trying to get it out as well as being rewarded by using this toy.

Thanks in advance! Any help would be fantastic!

Cheers

Michael

[MalteseLuna]

Hey all,

This is my first post here! I am also soon to be a first time dog owner so I am trying to get as much information as possible. I have read numerous puppy books as well as contact 20+ breeders of Siberian Huskies.

Regarding toilet training and confinement I have taken some notes.

Could some experienced dog owners please let me know If I have everything covered and that it is correct.

• Crate to be used overnight and when I do not have time to give the pup 100% supervision.

• Play Pen for when I am out of the house and the dog is still young (needs to have crate, toys, water and a toilet area)

• Take the dog out to go to the toilet every hour to hour and a half. Use leash.

• Stand still with the dog until it goes to the toilet. Once it has completed going to the toilet make sure to praise and reward the pup. Usually pees very quickly then poos a minute or two after.

• Best time to play with the pup is right after it has been to the toilet. Play with him in the play pen.

• No food or water 2-3 hours before bed. Chew toy with kibble in crate is fine.

• Play with the pup right up until you want to go to bed to tire him and to make sure he sleeps well.

• Toilet right before bed too and first thing in the morning.

• During the night wake the pup every 3 hours for a toilet break. Do not praise the pup during the night, other than a quick “good puppy”.

• If you wake up during the night and hear the dog crying/barking take him outside to go to the toilet. Again, no praise.

• Every 3 nights increase the time between toilet breaks by 15-30 minutes. As long as the pup has not had an incident over those 3 nights.

• Gradually give the pup more space the better he is potty trained. Do not give him free run of the house until you are 100% sure he is well potty trained.

• The pup will sniff, circle when they are feeling they need to go to the toilet. Must pay attention at all times.

• Only allow the pup to chew on a kong chew toy which is stuffed with kibble. This will teach the dog to only play with this type of toy and by stuffing it with kibble will keep the pup busy trying to get it out as well as being rewarded by using this toy.

Thanks in advance! Any help would be fantastic!

Cheers

Michael

Hi Michael,

Few comments:

I'm not sure I would restrict water for a puppy, you don't want the puppy getting dehydrated which could happen quickly if it has no access for many hours (2-3 hrs before bed and then 6-8 hrs whilst sleeping).

There are other types of chew toys rather than kongs and a kong may not be great during teething.

I generally praise during the toileting rather than after it's completed, this helps connect the praise with the behaviour (peeing in the right place).

Most pups may also need to toilet after naps/sleeping and play sessions. Watch for the signs i.e. sniffing ground and circling. They can be very very quick.

Don't punish a puppy for toileting in the wrong place. Particularly after the fact.

Good luck - sounds like your very prepared and have been doing lots of research!!

[dancinbcs]

• Take the dog out to go to the toilet everyhour to hour and a half. Use leash.

• Stand still with the dog until it goes to the toilet. Once it has completed going to the toilet make sure to praise and reward the pup. Usually pees very quickly then poos a minute or two after.

• Best time to play with the pup is right after it has been to the toilet. Play with him in the play pen.

• No food or water 2-3 hours before bed. Chew toy with kibble in crate is fine.

• Play with the pup right up until you want to go to bed to tire him and to make sure he sleeps well.

• The pup will sniff, circle when they are feeling they need to go to the toilet. Must pay attention at all times.

• Only allow the pup to chew on a kong chew toy which is stuffed with kibble. This will teach the dog to only play with this type of toy and by stuffing it with kibble will keep the pup busy trying to get it out as well as being rewarded by using this toy.

Well done on finding all this out BEFORE you get the puppy home. So few people bother and then end up with problems. Now the first thing to remember is that puppies do not read the books about what they are and are not supposed to do and they are all individuals.

Now for the points I highlighted.

Puppies need to pee as soon as they wake from a sleep, after meals and any time they get excited. There is no real time schedule as it depends on the feed times and activity. Sometimes they will pee three times in an hour and sometimes not for 3 hours. They usually poo within 10 minutes of eating a meal then about 9 hours after the last meal at night so if you don't want them needing to go in the middle of the night give the last of their 3 or 4 daily feeds, 1 hour before bed, let them toilet then play with them until about 15 minutes before you want them to bed down as they need to wind down, not be hyper to sleep. Do not leave food with them even in a kong overnight and I take the water up as well unless it is really hot but not until the last minute. Night time is for sleeping not eating or playing. Leave a safe soft toy in with them to snuggle up to.

The best time to play with the puppy is after it has toileted but not in it's pen. This is the time to give them fully supervised access to the house as further reward for going to the toilet outside. Most of they time they will sniff around if they need to pee again but sometimes they just get a bit hyper or head into corners of the room. Any sign of distraction from you and play can be a sign to take them out. I like to let puppies have access to outdoors when playing with them and encourage them to go out if need be. I teach them to toilet on command by using a word then praising once they start to go, both on and off lead. If they need to toilet during the night, offer the same praise but no games.

Finally, puppy will need a variety of toys, not just a kong. I have never had a dog show any interest in them but some dogs love them. I use a toy basket and praise the puppy for taking anything from it but give a little growl if they try to chew anything that isn't from the toy basket.

[persephone]

:)

baby puppies often need to toilet much more often that ever hour and a half .(.they do not read the articles :p)

Puppies explore their world with mouth/tongue ..so need many different textures to chew ..big bones/ tough fabric ..all sorts of things. Kongs are usually not, IMO enjoyed by my puppies at all...they prefer toilet rolls, and apples and bones :)

Play needs to be on grass /carpet/tiles /sand ..once again pup needs to experience all sorts of textures via its pads/body/tongue.

remember, baby puppies are living and changing .. some nights, depending on food/fluid intake/exercise , night time disturbance- they may sleep all thru. Other nights, they may need to toilet a few times ....

Regimentation looks great on paper

I agree with a nice wind down time before bed..like with kids :) last drink,toilet, relax..then to bed.

make sure you actually 'crate train' puppy ..don't expect to just lock him in and have peace That is not fair on pup. do a search on D O L for "Crate Games" :)

Hope this is a help :)

[Mpup89]

Thanks for all the replies so far! :)

It seems I am learning so much every single day. I hope I can handle it when the real action begins haha.

Could someone please list some good toys other than Kongs? I will still buy one to see how it goes. I have also heard hollow bones are great, especially when they are stuffed with kibble. The books I have read constantly recommend stuffing toys with food to reward them for using those toys so that they still to these sort of toys forever.

Regarding the pup needing to go to the toilet during the night - Is it best to just let them try and sleep through the night and to no wake them every few hours to take them outside to the toilet? Will the pup make distressed noises if he/she needs to go? The pup will be in a crate in my room so I should wake up easily if I hear the pup becoming distressed. Or does the pup just go without making a noise?

Thanks again for everyone's help :)

[minimax]

Your pup will need heaps of toys, just buy a bunch because she/he will probably go through them pretty quickly for a while!

Squeaky ones, colourful ones, cuddly ones, tug toy, ball toy, learning toys, treat toys (like the kong), teething toys — then they discover cardboard boxes and that becomes their favourite ever toy!

Edited September 27, 2012 by minimax

[Sandra777]

Agree with minimax - pups needs lots of different toys. Mine pay absolutely no attention to kongs and other stuffed things, they're boring and uninteresting as far as my pups have always been concerned! Depends on the size of the puppy but for a small breed pup cheap soft toys are as good as anything else - for a bull breed pup something a bit more robust would be required :laugh:

If you have the pup crated in your room you will probably hear it when it wakes up, if you are an exceptionally deep sleeper then judge for yourself. Personally I don't wake them up to go outside every couple of hours, if they wake me up they get to go out. If the crate is the right size and the pup has been raised well (ie been raised in an environment where it can move away from it's bed to pee) then it will almost certainly make a noise to go out - but a very small pup in a large crate probably won't.

[Mpup89]

Thanks again for the replies :)

I am getting a Siberian Husky (8 weeks old), so a medium sized breed. So I guess I'll just spoil the pup rotten and get him all sorts :p

Alright, that sounds like a reasonable idea. I will only take the pup out if he wakes me :)

On crate size - One Siberian breeder who has been very helpful with everything suggested getting the biggest crate possible as long as it fits in my car. I was thinking a 42 inch? Will this be too big for the pup while house training him? I do have an old cat cage which I could use early on while the pup is still small. But as the pup gets bigger will he/she be reluctant to change to a new crate?

SO MANY QUESTIONS! hahaha :D

Cheers

[persephone]

So I guess I'll just spoil the pup rotten and get him all sorts :p

That's not spoiling a pup .... it's like buying a toddler human lots of different books and toys which teach hand eye co- ordination & stuff. It is an essential part of an enriched life.

[dancinbcs]

Thanks again for the replies :)

I am getting a Siberian Husky (8 weeks old), so a medium sized breed. So I guess I'll just spoil the pup rotten and get him all sorts :p

Alright, that sounds like a reasonable idea. I will only take the pup out if he wakes me :)

On crate size - One Siberian breeder who has been very helpful with everything suggested getting the biggest crate possible as long as it fits in my car. I was thinking a 42 inch? Will this be too big for the pup while house training him? I do have an old cat cage which I could use early on while the pup is still small. But as the pup gets bigger will he/she be reluctant to change to a new crate?

SO MANY QUESTIONS! hahaha :D

Cheers

A 42" crate is great for an adult but too big for a baby, so just block some off with cardboard or something. Also check carefully if it will fit in the car as not too many fit crates that big. A Sibe baby is very unlikely to fit into a cat crate at 8 weeks.

I hope the breeder is going to be available as a mentor for you as you raise this puppy. A Siberian Husky is a big challenge to take on as a first puppy and you will need someone to ask questions of constantly. You will also need very good fencing as they can climb and jump and if they get out they do not come back like some breeds do.

Edited September 28, 2012 by dancinbcs

[Mpup89]

Cheers for that info. I may have to go one size down then to make sure it definitely fits in the car.

Yep, all of the breeders who I have been speaking to have been extremely helpful and have said they will always be there to answer any question when needed. My fences are about 7ft high too :)

[dancinbcs]

Cheers for that info. I may have to go one size down then to make sure it definitely fits in the car.

Yep, all of the breeders who I have been speaking to have been extremely helpful and have said they will always be there to answer any question when needed. My fences are about 7ft high too :)

Just carefully measure the car and see what fits where.

[Aso]

A 42" crate is great for an adult but too big for a baby, so just block some off with cardboard or something. Also check carefully if it will fit in the car as not too many fit crates that big. A Sibe baby is very unlikely to fit into a cat crate at 8 weeks.

I hope the breeder is going to be available as a mentor for you as you raise this puppy. A Siberian Husky is a big challenge to take on as a first puppy and you will need someone to ask questions of constantly. You will also need very good fencing as they can climb and jump and if they get out they do not come back like some breeds do.

Definitely crate train your puppy, it will make your life soooooo much easier :-) When my bordeaux was a puppy I bought a crate that's the full size for him but had an adjustable barier so you can partition it to the correct size which will only allow him to be able to turn around and stretch out but not much more. You don't want too much space that will allow him to toilet on one end & sleep on the other. Prepare yourself for some other worldly noise too when you first crate train :-) My pup howled and cried like a banshee! Not for too long thank goodness. Another thing that made it easier was a snuggle puppy. I bought one for my pup to sleep with and it came with heat pads and a beating heart inside to simulate a real pup sleeping. He loved it :-)

All the best and beware, puppies grow up way too quickly so enjoy every minute!

[Llante]

Looks like you have read the same books as I have!! Might I add a question to the mix? Would it be terrible to have an indoor potty for night time? Or is it better to just take them outside durin the night? I only ask as we live 2 storey and backyard where 'poo corner' is isn't very quick or easy to get to (if pup is in our room)

Can I also ask, crate trained pups, do they need a crate as adults?? Or do they grow out of it??

Edited October 27, 2012 by Llante

[Starkehre]

Mpup, well done on your research and efforts.

I am going to make a couple of suggestions. Some of these are additional to what you have and I think they are integral parts of raising a pup and others are opposing ideas on some suggestions you have or have been given by others. This is no way intended to be arguementative or to confuse you for the sake of it, but unfortunately, as with everything in life, you are going to come across different ideas. When this happens you should take them all in and decide what is going to work best for you personally.

Where my ideas are different to yours or others, I will provide an explanation why I do things this particular way in efforts to assist your decision making.

Congratulations on choosing your breed. Sibes are a lovely dog. Please remember Sibes can be a very vocal breed. A couple of days prior to your new pup arriving, I suggest you pop around to any and all adjoining neighbours and take them a bottle of wine or a tin of bickies or similar and some ear plugs. Might a light joke of it and tell them you have a new puppy arriving on **enter date** and it may cry during the day/night. Apologise upfront, and explain you will be putting in a lot of effort in training your new pup, but some crying may be unavoidable. It should not last more than around 5 nights (if you put in the work) and there is a chance they won't hear it anyway. Add that you will bring the new pup in to meet them for a cuddle in a couple of weeks when things settle down.

The reason to do this is when your pup does cry at night and this may occur several times each night, particularly when being put back in the crate, many owners give in with their crating because they are concerned about disturbing the neighbours. If you remove this concern, you will be more likely to stock to your regime. And likewise with your own family. Be prepared that you may be up for some sleep deprivation, all normal.

From day one it is important to start teaching pup to be comfortable and confident in it's own company. Absolutely love, cuddle, train and play with your pup. But remember that for every hour of awake time that you spend with your pup, try to do at least the same amount of time with it being ignored, sometimes with you pottering nearby and other times completely out of sight. You can build it up, but definitely start straight away. If you leave this until day 3 or day 5 or later or if/when you have to go back to work, you and your neighbours will be in for a real shock.

Although I understand fully the reason you might be advised to praise a pup as soon as it starts toileting regarding praise/behaviour, because in pretty much all aspects of training praise is very much about timing, this is one area where I choose to praise the dog after it has completed emptying. To date I have never noticed this confusing any of my dogs or ruining their learning process or other aspects of training. The reason I do this is because I have regularly found that if you praise the pup or dog whilst it is eliminating it will often stop straight away prior to finishing and come to you to be rewarded/praised. (There was actually a thread on this very thing not long ago) And no, I would not remove the praise instead. I would always praise the pup for eliminating on command or when being expected to, at night just make the praise shorter and lower key so pup can go back to sleep without feeling it needs to be played with.

I suggest lifting pup out of the crate and carrying it outside for emptying, more so during the night, but initially during the day also. The reason for this is that pup will not be leash trained for a while and accidents can easily happen before getting outside. You can clip on a leash for use outside if you wish. I prefer to teach on and off leash emptying for when I am in a situation or scenario where either is required. it is frustrating to have a dog that will only eliminate off leash.

I do not agree with demand emptying pups during the night. Many do and I can understand that. The reason I do not demand empty is that many pups (and I probably shouldn't say this, but bugger it, I will go out on a limb and just say it, probably most pups) particularly vocal and energised pups will very quickly learn that as soon as they make a noise you will come to them and let them out of their crate. Undoing a learned behaviour that is undesirable to you is much more difficult than teaching a behaviour that is easier to live with. Another reason I prefer this method is that like small children, puppies often won't demand they are let out until it is too late or nearly too late to the point where you will be unable to get them out in time. I personally always set my alarm during the night, similary to your original post. Slowly stretch out the sleeping time, until eventually the sleeping times join up. Yes, it is more work this way, but in the long run it pays off. And judging by your planned regime you are not afraid of a lot of work... either that or you are not aware of how much work it is going to be :laugh:

I find puppies are sleeping right through from say 10.30 til 5.30am by between week 2 - week 4.

I will also add that if you are not now an early riser, it might pay to be aware that with a new puppy, 5.30am may be your new morning time for a couple of weeks. You can fight it if you want and insist puppy goes back to bed, but I find this is the best time for training. After they have been trained, played, been emptied and had brekky (not necessarily in that order) they will be ready for another nap, probably around 8-10am.

If you can, always set yourself and your puppy up for "a win". It is far easier on you and better for pup's learning if he can be moulded into doing the right things. There will be mistakes, we are only human.

Dogs have an innate need to please humans, so remember whenever puppy exhibits an undesired behaviour it is generally always human error, and puppy is not being naughty, puppy is just being a puppy that has not been taught to do things as you would like him to do yet.

Please let us know when you find your breeder, new pup is imminent and arrives. We would love to see photos.

:)

Edited October 27, 2012 by dyzney

[Starkehre]

Sorry, one other thing, I would not recommend blocking your crate off with cardboard. Puppy will chew this and then you have taught puppy to do just that.

If you wish to purchase a smaller crate for when pup is young, that is fine, a good idea but not necessary. If you choose an adult sized crate use a steel divider or a heavy duty plastic upturned tub that is high enough for pup not be able to climb up on top of.

In my experience using an adult sized crate works fine as long as the owner can be vigilant and ensure pup knows it will be taken out prior to it needing to eliminate in the crate. This is done by ensuring you always let pup out prior to it having to eliminate in the crate.

We deliberately use adult sized crates for out puppies because this way we know first hand whether or not it can be done when advising customers on this exact question. And out adult sized crates would be bigger than yours as we have Rottweilers. We find that the pups that eliminate up one end of their crate do so because they either would have been the pup that would liminate in it's crate no matter what you do (and this is not common, but not unheard of either and may have something to do with how they were raised) or owing to human error, not actually the crate being too big.

That said, diving a larger crate is a good idea if you can do it properly.

Edited October 27, 2012 by dyzney

[Starkehre]

Looks like you have read the same books as I have!! Might I add a question to the mix? Would it be terrible to have an indoor potty for night time? Or is it better to just take them outside durin the night? I only ask as we live 2 storey and backyard where 'poo corner' is isn't very quick or easy to get to (if pup is in our room)

Can I also ask, crate trained pups, do they need a crate as adults?? Or do they grow out of it??

Dogs and puppies don't "need" crates under most circumstances. I find crates are a brilliant tool to assist raising and training your puppy at home.

So puppies do not grow out of crates. If you have the need or desire to use a crate when your dog is an adult, then do so. If not, then don't. Some reasons why you use a crate into adulthood would be for trialling, showing, camping, car travel, bed at home, convalescing etc. It is more of a personal choice rather than a "need" reason.

Edited October 28, 2012 by dyzney

[minimax]

Looks like you have read the same books as I have!! Might I add a question to the mix? Would it be terrible to have an indoor potty for night time? Or is it better to just take them outside durin the night? I only ask as we live 2 storey and backyard where 'poo corner' is isn't very quick or easy to get to (if pup is in our room)

Can I also ask, crate trained pups, do they need a crate as adults?? Or do they grow out of it??

Adults don't "need" crates, but a crate trained pup will usually love their crate and see it as a good place to be. One of my dogs hates hers though, and I really don't know why I still have it, but the other goes in there with his chews or sometimes takes a toy in there if he wants some peace and quiet.

[persephone]

..just thinking on all this .. do Sibes do well as apartment dogs, with no yard etc ?

[Mpup89]

Thank you all for your responses.

I now have a Siberian Husky. I got him at 9-10 weeks and he is now a few days short of 14 weeks.

It has very much been a love/hate relationship but he is definitely getting better each day.

His toileting is generally very good. He knows to only use grass in the backyard. I have not had an inside accident on carpet for a few weeks now.

However, when he has been naughty in the past I had been throwing him outside (which I now know is not a good idea as there is too much fun out there). I have now turned the laundry into his time out area. The problem I have found with this is that for some reason he pees in there on the tiles almost every singe time I throw him in there. This is now making me not want to send him to timeout because it means cleaning once again, something I do not want to be doing 4-5 times a day.

Also, I only have him in there for 1-2 minutes so it's not like he has to hold on for long?

Does anyone have any ideas for me with this?

Here are some photos of him. His name is Zack :)

http://sphotos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/155237_10151204728606141_995176064_n.jpg

http://sphotos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/250445_10151208538951141_201322045_n.jpg

http://sphotos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/385618_10151208539341141_1015837543_n.jpg

http://sphotos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/400218_10151228940926141_296566798_n.jpg

http://sphotos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/282332_10151228941011141_2084287347_n.jpg (All tuckered out after his first walk! I have since got a proper water bowl too haha :p)

http://sphotos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/69759_10151228941061141_2116721760_n.jpg (His first night at home. No longer sleeps on the bed!)

http://sphotos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/544678_10151244939751141_11213627_n.jpg (On his first holiday, couldn't get enough of the stairs in the house)