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Need advice on 11 week old Bichon Frise

14 replies

rosieposey · 17/03/2014 11:40

Ok I am asking for advice on our Puppy who we bought home yesterday.

I have bought a crate and put it in our kitchen for her to sleep in at night and for times when we cannot watch her ( we can most of the time but just on occasion ).

Last night when we got home she had the runs ( i saw her go for a poo before we left the breeders and it was fairly solid ) but she is very loose now and i think it must be because of the 4 hour trip home and nerves ect.

I put down the dried dog food that the breeder gave to us for her to eat last night but she wouldnt touch it. I did so again this morning and she would only eat 1 or two kibbles. I have since made some fresh chicken breast and rice and mixed them up and gave it to her - suffice to say she ate the lot!

Anyway my worry is the toilet training. I bought the crate as its an xs size and just fits her bedding although she only takes up a quarter of it as she is still small. I didnt think it was fair to leave her crated last night as she has loose stools and was going every half hour or so before we went to bed so i left her crate open and put a stair gate up and she spent the night in the kitchen.

I know the howling and barking was to be expected but i dont know what to do about the toilet training aspect of it. I popped her in her crate for 10 mins whilst i had a quick shower ( having just taken her out before hand) and she peed in her bed/crate - i had shut her in though!

I thought the idea with crate training was to put puppies in there for quiet time and so that they would keep their area clean ( provided they are allowed ample outside time ) I don't know where to start and if i am doing the right thing for her ( perhaps she needs a bigger crate with a toilet area but i am not keen on her going to the loo inside ) she also wont stop crying and howling when we leave the kitchen ( i only allowed her in the front room when we are either holding her or watching her ) - we have another dog who is a yorkie cross and they seem quite keen on each other but i dont know if i should be leaving him in with her as company or if she should sometimes be getting used to being on her own?

Sorry for the long post - our other dog we made a lot of mistakes with ( he took ages to toilet train and slept in our bed from a tiny puppy ) I am trying to get it right with our new addition but there is so many different ways of training a crated puppy and i think that given that she has loose stools at the moment shutting her in there isnt fair so she is confined to the kitchen and we are in and out.

Any advice at all would be really, really appreciated - babies are 10 times easier!!!

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insanityscatching · 17/03/2014 11:57

Eric is 11 weeks old. He has a crate that he sleeps in but we rarely shut the door. We take Eric out every hour now and when he looks like he night need to go (sniffing and circling) and in the last couple of days he has whined to be let out so he is getting there. He sleeps through, dh takes him a stroll at 10pm and he goes in the garden at 11pm and I take him in the garden at 6am.
So long as I watch and he is taken out every hour or so he is clean indoors. Initially we took him out every 20 minutes or so maybe whilst she has loose stools every 20 minutes would be the best time frame?

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tabulahrasa · 17/03/2014 12:16

Is she used to a crate? If not you'll have to actually crate train her.

The crate is supposed to make them less likely to toilet as its their bed...but I found when he was little he just didn't have the control or understand the concept of toilet training at all. But at least with the crate when he was in it because I couldn't watch him, at least I could see if he'd been and clean it properly.

I took him out after sleeping, playing, eating and every twenty minutes in between, crated him when I wasn't there, praised him when he went in the right place and he stopped peeing in the crate by the time he was 14 weeks (it gradually tailed off) and he hasn't had an accident inside at all since he was 16 weeks (again gradually tailed off) and he's now 18 months.

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Picturesinthefirelight · 17/03/2014 12:20

It took ages to crate train our bichon

With regards to the kibble are you using a really small puppy kibble. Our pup couldn't handle it at first until he grew a bit so we put a bit of water on to soften it.

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rosieposey · 17/03/2014 16:05

Ah ok - crate training is needed because she probably isnt used to it. Her stools seem a little harder today but we are still keeping her on a 20 min schedule for going outside. She seems to like following our Chorkie boy to the garden and running around with him.

What shall i do for tonight - obviously shutting the door to the crate is not the way forward at least not now ( although she doesnt seem to like it at all at the moment, not even to sleep in ) Shall i just leave her in the kitchen to howl again tonight ( she did stop after one hour last night ) but she was on her own or shall we leave our other dog with her for company? I just thought that she should get used to being on her own at night at least for now or should i just make sure she is always left with our other dog for company?

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rosieposey · 17/03/2014 16:05

Ah ok - crate training is needed because she probably isnt used to it. Her stools seem a little harder today but we are still keeping her on a 20 min schedule for going outside. She seems to like following our Chorkie boy to the garden and running around with him.

What shall i do for tonight - obviously shutting the door to the crate is not the way forward at least not now ( although she doesnt seem to like it at all at the moment, not even to sleep in ) Shall i just leave her in the kitchen to howl again tonight ( she did stop after one hour last night ) but she was on her own or shall we leave our other dog with her for company? I just thought that she should get used to being on her own at night at least for now or should i just make sure she is always left with our other dog for company?

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rosieposey · 17/03/2014 16:15

Also what shall i do about her incessant screaming when she is left in the kitchen? She can see us clearly through the gate pottering around the rest of the house and whilst i do bring her into the rest of the house i need somewhere safe to put her whilst i am doing other things albeit for a short period of time. Will she learn to be away from us because that is quite a noise she is kicking up!?

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Dogonabeanbag · 17/03/2014 16:32

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insanityscatching · 17/03/2014 16:33

We've had Eric for three weeks now and in the early days he cried whenever I moved. But three weeks down the line he's happy to potter about after me or to find a spot to sleep until I come back and the crying is long gone. He still greets me as though I have been gone forever when I get back even if I've only nipped to the loo though Grin

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rosieposey · 17/03/2014 17:26

She is just starting to use the crate as somewhere to go when she wants to lie down although if i shut the door she does whine. She just hates being alone i think but I would like to be able to work in the room next to her where she can see me but she doesnt scream blue murder at the stair gate.

Its also a bit sad how when we walk in there she doesnt run up to any of us but skulks away under the table - she only runs about and plays with our grown up dog and he seems to be the only one to get wags from her tail too! This is one of the reasons i am worried about leaving him in with her tonight incase she just bonds with him?

I am probably over worrying things but she seems to prefer him to humans which as she has just left her male littermate is understandable i suppose its just you hear of dogs who prefer their other doggie friends to the humans they live with and she is certainly more timid than we thought she would be - its only very early days right and she will love us soon enough I'm sure.

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Dogonabeanbag · 17/03/2014 17:37

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Floralnomad · 17/03/2014 17:42

Can I ask why you picked her up at 11 weeks , has she been away from her mother / litter mates at the breeders ? Had the breeder started house training ?

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rosieposey · 17/03/2014 18:16

From what i gather her and her brother were the last ones and the breeder was keeping the boy for a friend who was picking up the same day as me and the girl who is ours apparently asked the breeder to look after her whilst she moved house - apparently she messed her around and thats why she had to re-advertise her at 10 weeks and i have her now ( she has just turned 11 weeks)

The breeder said she was paper trained, when i picked her up her and her brother were separated from their Mum but together in the same room ( with a stair gate).

Anyway she is asleep in her crate for the first time without screeching the house down - i suspect tonight might be a different kettle of fish though -DOG she is lovely! Just a wee bit shy and i am glad i have an older dog to show her the ropes and make her feel safe as i just want her to be happy and love us :)

Its chicken breast and rice for dinner - i will try and mix it with a bit of her normal food that the breeder gave to us as i would like her back on dry food but fingers crossed her stools do seem to be a bit firmer now thank goodness!

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daisydotandgertie · 17/03/2014 21:24

Is she really pooing every half and hour?

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rosieposey · 17/03/2014 22:32

no not anymore - she was last night though as she had the runs ( it was nerves i think ) but today has been better and i think she has only had about 4 poos - more solid too.

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