At the end of my tether with dpup - help needed

[Mymumstillreadsmymail]

I need some help. First time dog owner. Dpup is 18weeks old.

Two main issues...he is still having accidents in the house. But they are not if he is excited / left alone etc. we can leave him for a couple of hours, come home and nothing. He goes out for his last wee at 11ish and not let out agin til 7/8 am and nothing. But he keeps weeping on things.

Only our kitchen and hallway have wooden floors everything else is carpet. We have to keep him in the kitchen a lot (will come back to that in a minute). However once he has been outside for a wee/poo we let him straight back in downstairs to go wherever.

He has a bed in the kitchen and a bed in the lounge nr the fire. He keeps seeing on his bed in the lounge. As in going straight upto it and weeing on it. It's not like he's asleep and it's an accident.

We don't let him upstairs as whenever he goes up he will do a wee/poo. Yesterday I heard him upstairs so went up. He had done a poo on the floor and a wee on the bed. I took the duvet off ready to go to launderette today. This morning I also heard him run up the stairs. Followed him straight up and found him weeing on the duvet again (it was folded up on the floor ready to go) so he had obviously gone straight to it.

I let him out into the garden once an hour to go to the toilet, and after eating I always keep him in the kitchen for 10-15 mins then into the garden before allowed back in the house.


Our second problem is that he wants to chew everything. The Christmas tree is a nightmare and coming down on boxing day! I sound like. A broken record saying no. The problem is he enjoys the chase of when he gets something. We have tried stopping babbles fr treats/his toys. But it's. A ever ending game. I could play with him for thirty minutes as soon as I finish it is back to the tree...or anything else. Nothing can be left below his height or he has it off the table/shelves/shoes anything that he can get to is in his mouth. Our saing grace is that so far he has shown no interet in chewing furniture. But it is very tiring and quite difficult with two dc. Whilst they were still at school it wasn't so bad as I shut doors to rooms and generally he would follow me round. Now they are off there is lots of people to follow round and doors left open so many opportunities to eat everything in sight and wee/poo.


I take him for a walk every day. Maximum I am doing is 20-25 mins because of his age but he would happily do more. He pulls ahead of me on the lead the whole time. Have pracised recall in the garden but i'm not confident yet off lead anywhere else. Have been to two puppy training sessions but they have all stopped til mid jan now. I think he needs two walks a day as he has so much energy. which will Be easier when kids back at school.

Can someone help me please? :( not had a dog before so feel clueless

[Mymumstillreadsmymail]

Sorry for all typos on phone and it auto corrects!

[NetHuns]

Haven't got much advice on the toilet-ing problems...but our Dpup is the same age and us still a chewer...it shall pass

[Mrsjayy]

Hi he sounds like a normal puppy the peeing and pooing could be scenting or marking or stress or just because he can speak to your vet about it. The chewing and naughtiness is puppy behaviour sorry , start saying NO or LEAVE It if he chews on anything he isn't meant to my family walk my dog so can't help with that . It does get better be firm with him what age is he

[Mymumstillreadsmymail]

It just feels like he runs round looking for things to chew, even in the evenings. Last night I was wrapping presents (on the ironing board - thanks MN) he wouldn't even lay on the floor in front of the fire or by my feet with one of his toys, he was just attacking the tree (leaping up at it!) I had to put him back in the kitchen again.

[basildonbond]

Puppies can be very wearing - think of them as hairy toddlers and you won't go far wrong

First of all join the dog training advice and support facebook group - it's run by qualified behaviourists and is a mine of useful advice. There's lots of advice in the files on puppies and all of it's worth reading

With puppies you need to prevent unwanted behaviour from happening in the first place do they can't keep doing it - and getting better at it ... So you need to puppy-proof the entire area where your dog is allowed. If ypu don't want him upstairs use stair gates to stop him going up - put everything chewable and/or breakable out of his reach. Instead of saying no, teach him an alternative behaviour instead

Try teaching him some simple tricks - look at kikopup's videos on YouTube- as keeping his brain engaged will help

You need to treat him like a beginner when it comes to house training so read through the house training files on the Facebook group and follow it to the letter - it works!!

With recall you need to get a harness and longline and go somewhere relatively enclosed, arm yourself with tasty treats and make sure he knows it's always worth his while to come back to you

Good luck

[Mrsjayy]

He is 18 weeks just saw that he is just a baby really they are like human toddlers can't leave them for a minute .

[Mymumstillreadsmymail]

I wondered if he was marking. He also try's to hump one of his toys - should have said in my op. has been doing this for last month or so. This seems young to me? My friend had him for a few hours last week. He left her tree alone, but then she has a dog that he was playing with so may have been distraction. But she said he tried to mount her a couple of times (but he's only 18wks?)

[Mrsjayy]

I think you are expecting to much of him all at once

[Mrsjayy]

I think you are expecting to much of him all at once

[Mrsjayy]

They can hump to dominate I think or just because it feels niceare you going to get him done? Do you have a crate for him we got our dog at 6 months he was a nightmare. We crated him gave him a time out they can over tire

[Mymumstillreadsmymail]

Mrsjayy that's fine, as I said I haven't had a dog before so I wasn't sure if that was the case. I shall join that fb group. Unfortunately can't have a stair gate as we have open stairs so nothing to attach to.

I will be much happier when the tree comes down, I will leave it til the 27th because of dc.

[Mymumstillreadsmymail]

I will read up on neutering the breeder didn't recommend it. Lots of our friends have bitches so I suspect if we are going to be looking after their dogs/vice versa occasionally we may need to consider it.

[tabulahrasa]

Humping is just excitement...it's basically, I'm all excited and I don't know what to do with it.

Puppies do have a witching hour, the same as toddlers - where they're just a complete PITA, usually just before they conk out, where they're tired and a bit overstimulated.

Christmas trees are from a puppy's point of view, basically huge toys with little toys attached - what's not to like? Lol

[Mrsjayy]

The doghouse was great when I first got my dog keep posting for advice and support a first puppy is like a first baby not a clue what you are doing. Consider a crate put him in for a short while just to give you a break and he can calm down and have a sleep try and not screech at him that just winds them up keep your voice low when you are saying no. And not to many words either iyswim , what breed is he.

[Mrsjayy]

Well exactly shiney bauble s it just all far to exciting for them

[Mrsjayy]

Again speak to your vet about neutering mine was a rescue so came with no bits so I don't know any different.

[Mymumstillreadsmymail]

He's a king Charles cavalier spaniel - thank you all for your advice!

[AvonleaAnne]

We have a 10 week old puppy. I've got a play pen that I pop her in when I can't keep an eye on her (not for long periods just when I'm cooking or brushing my teeth etc). This means that she doesn't get to do naughty things without me being around to at least try to teach her the correct behaviour. I'm hoping this will pay off eventually!

[needastrongone]

The humping is normal, excited puppy behaviour. It has nothing to with being dominant or sexual interest. Having him neutered may or may not change that behaviour.

It's kind of more about ensuring they don't have opportunity to 'fail', and managing their environment, than anything else. He's a small baby really, in a human world, and has no idea what we consider right or wrong.

It's very hard work, the puppy stage, I do understand, we have two young dogs and these are our first ones. But it doesn't sound like he's doing anything other than normal puppy behaviour.

Consider training classes too. With a positive trainer.

With both of our dogs (2 and 1), one of us honestly never left the kitchen, where they were initially allowed until we were confident they would have no accidents. It was very tying and demanding, but really, for a very short period of time.

If you don't want him upstairs, they maybe think of how he doesn't get the opportunity to go upstairs? Ours are only allowed in the living room in the evening, with us, so the door is closed until then, otherwise they sneak in!!

He may also be smelling where he toileted before, which is strong stimulus for him to go there again, so maybe clean his bedding etc?

Can you distract from the tree with a game, attention or more exciting toy. With lots of praise for doing so?

A clicker is a useful training aid. Training will tire him out. Lots of short little sessions.

Perhaps teach the 'leave it' command. And 'wait'. The self control commands are very useful.

This post is a bit disjointed but I am multi tasking pre Christmas, sorry

[mummyoftoddlers]

I spray white vinegar on anything I caught the dog chewing on apparently they hate it and it did stop her and also had a playpen as previous poster suggested

[needastrongone]

Oh - consider crate training.

Also, they get 'naughty' when over tired. Just like toddlers, they don't know when to switch off, so a crate will help with that, if trained to it correctly.

[Booboostoo]

The soiling is probably a stress reaction. Try Adaptils collars/diffusers, clear everything thoroughly with specialist products and to really stop the behaviour watch him like a hawk. Crate train him and when he is not in his crate have him on a lead with you so he does not get the opportunity to walk off and soil.

The chewing sounds normal, flood him with loads of appropriate chews.

To use up excess energy train him. Getting their brains to work is as good as getting their bodies to work.

Please reconsider neutering, it's the responsible thing to do.

[tobee]

Hi. My cockapoo pup is 19 weeks and I'm a first time owner. He sounds pretty similar to your pup although substitute wee/poo for biting still. However, we have always gated him in the living room and only fully supervised access to the rest of the house as we have medical equipment that needs to be strerile.

Puppy is constantly eating/running off with stupid things. After wretching and vomiting some un identified bits the other day we took him to the vet. The nurse very seriously talked to me about dealing with it as he may not grow out of it. You have to completely ignore him when he has these things in his mouth or he will see it as a chase game. We tried to get slightly dangerous things off him but he just loved running from place to place to outwit me.

So when he managed to get the phone this morning, even though I could hear his teeth were dialling random numbers, I just looked completely bored by it and didn't react. It did work. But took about 10 minutes. Hopefully he will get the message soon.

[Mrsjayy]

We had to be really careful with the crate as dogs trust thought he was in it constantly so we put him in for naps I know it sounds daft but he did sleep off his excitement. The playpen sounds a genuis idea though especially for a small puppy .

[needastrongone]

Personally, I would teach a very strong 'leave it' command. As an example, our friends spaniel, when she was young, found some stashed drugs when she was out walking. She nearly died, as they couldn't get them off her. A solid 'leave it', or even 'drop' would have been so useful. It's equally useful for mine when they catch furry things like rabbits