How solve this doggy problem ?

[MillyMollyMoo]

We have a huge garden and therefore thought it would be ideal for a puppy to play in, we still walk him 30/45 mins morning and evening but he likes to snif and wee and gallop as they do in the garden.
However the fence we have on both sides is an organic one ie a hedge and of course he keeps sneaking through and pooing next door both sides.
Plus next door to the right have toddlers who are apparently terrified because he does jump up, I've already had to pay for one pair of trousers he caught with his teeth.

So of course the obvious answer is that he doesn't go out, but we would never have bought a dog if we'd not had a garden for him to play in.
The cost of the shared fence to enclose it would be over £2,000
Hubby's suggestion is to tether him, what do exsperienced dog owners think about that idea ? I'm not so sure.

It does get better but will take some work. However your house will probably always smell of dog.

Puppies to have a tendency to nibble.bite and need firm training to know that its not allowed. House training will take some time as well. I know that training classes are a pain but I'd recommend them.

What kind of dog is it? We have a petit bassett, about the size of a beagle and have managed to keep him in without spending too much or getting rid of our hedge.

What we did was section off half the garden using trellis panels round the bottom of the hedge (on their sides). They're maybe 80cm high and we just banged in some basic posts to fix them to. If there was no hedge then he could jump it, but with the hedge he can't just leap at it like a lone fence and it stops him wriggling through the bottom. It definitely keeps him in as he is often pacing up and down it barking when the cat from next door has popped over (so if there was a way through he wouldn't have hesitated - he'll never be that well trained!). At the end of the section the trellis goes through a flower bed, covered in creeper-type plants and we have a wee arch with a gate to separate the section he is allowed in.

If he is a digger or going to get too big, this might not work, but if he is the wriggler type of escape artist then it should work. You might not need to section a bit off, we did to stop him digging up the vegetables as well. I don't think these panels were very expensive either (and we found the gate in a skip! Good luck!

MMM, it is a big adjustment to make but I'm told it gets easier. I'm on week 3 of having a 19 week old puppy so have missed out on some of the issues you are having but it is a big adjustment.

For dog smell get some little pots of bicarb of soda and a bottle of essential oil and put these all round the house. Can you limit the dog to one area of the house got the moment, ideally with wipe down floors. Making an enclosure sounds like a great idea then you can keep a close eye on what the dog is up to outside, there are loads of berries and toadstools outside at the moment my friend's 12 week old went down with severe gastroenteritis at the weekend, possibly from eating something outside so a smaller space outside might be more helpful at this stage.

I'm sure experienced people will have ideas on chewing and mouthing, I have an arsenal of chew toys which get rotated and help.

There are a few of us who are first time puppy owners I think, maybe we need a support thread!

Would it be totally impossible to find the money for the fence?

I'm not being sarcastic, I just think it's probably your only solution. Children next door plus the dangers from the dog running away really would worry me a lot and I would try to find a cheaper quote and come up with the cash to keep him safe.

minimu we've got a working springer too. Fitted a stair gate to stop her going in to the porch, she jumped it. Bought a much higher dog gate from argos, she jumped it.

Ended up having to put the dog gate on top of planks of wood to make it high enough.

sigh.

You poor thing it does sound as if you have your hands full.

Puppies are hard work and especially with young children you don't have a moment to yourself. But the good news is if you can give some time to the pup in the early days you will have a lovely loyal loveable dog who will be more obedient than the children!

Re the pooing in the house. Take the pup out (in your case on the lead) every hour. When he poos or wees praise and give a food treat. Keep doing this for a week or two and you will have no more poo in your house.

Get a cage for night and put pup in cage he will not wee or poo in his cage unsless really busting.

Mouthing people the minute they do squeal and move away from the dog he will soon learn that if he mouths or nips he will lose contact with people.

Chewing is a phase that they will grow out of But the best thing is to keep everything out of reach that can not be chewed. Yep a nightmare but it will not last for ever I promise. Get some dog toys that the pup can chew and encourage him to chew these.

It will get better but only if you can put some time to it. It is no disgrace to ask for help if you need it. Can you get to a training class that will really help and also tire out the pup.

What type of dog is it? Do hope things get better soon.

Get yourself "the perfect puppy" by gwen bailey - it is fantastic! Read it from cover to cover, and follow it to the letter - it does seem time consuming, but by being ultra consistent, and getting the rest of your family to be consistent, it doesn't take long before it does get easy.
The worst part of getting a puppy is assuming that it'll be easy, and it just isn't, and like having a new baby in the house, it does take some adjustments and time before things feel normal.
I do understand how you feel though - you're not the only person to feel like that when you get a new puppy!

Girlsareloud typical of springers! But love mine to bits

MMM - I disagree with those who say that a secure garden is an essential aspect of having a dog - it's only essential if you want to be able to let your dog outside unsupervised. plenty of dogs live quite happily without unsupervised time in a big garden. my db, for example, has an un-secured courtyard garden and a (happy) bouncy springer spaniel.

the immediate solution is not to let him out on his own. take him out regularly, and play with him. practice his recall - in the garden - again and again and again. get a good book (I liked the Haynes Dog Manual but I know lots of people recommend Gwen Bailey's book too) and learn the principles behind training - you can then use them to teach a command that means "don't you dare go under that hedge"

but in the longer-term you need to decide whether to secure the garden (or part of it) or not let him out unsupervised. even as a placid, good, well-trained adult dog you still won;t be able to trust him.

£2,000 might as well be 2 million at the moment I'm afraid plus I'm damned if we're paying for a fence that next door would benefit from too (what I haven't mentioned is I regularly find their kids playing on our play system in our garden so you can see where the dog gets confused.

I'll have a look for that book, thank you

And thanks for the advice.

I'll come and fence 240 ft for £2K!

I've got that book but I don't think my puppy has read and understood it yet

I am in the same place as you - "WTF have I done?! He'll have to go!". I'm working through it though. Still clueless as to how to stop him chewing the children, jumping up and biting mind you. Squealing/ignoring only works the first time. Putting his harness on for a walk is like putting your hands in a cheese grater.

He is adorable though [sigh]

Which is really no help to you is it? Luckily 2 of my 6 neighbours re fenced to keep their large dogs in, one welcomes visits from Dill, one has fixed the holes in his fence to stop foxes/badgers and the other is my fence and needs replacing anyway. Oddly, this would be the worst for him to go through and he hasn't been near it

For biting people and jumping up, stand up straight, fold your arms and look the other way. When they realise that it's a one sided game, they'll stop - praise them when they sit down quietly

Too be honest seaglass we've tried that, it's quite hard to ignore him when he has your arse cheek between his teeth and with the children he goes for their faces.
DH is the only one he will behave for, we all count the minutes til 6pm

Hi there

As others have said, its hard work having a puppy around the place, especially when you have children to take care of as well and are used to a well ordered, clean and tidy home. Minimu has given some excellent advice already. I would just add a couple of suggestions.

1. Ask at your vets about puppy classes and take him along. They are useful in socialising your dog to other dogs and people, helping you learn how to teach him basic training and also as a good place to ask more experienced dog owner's/trainer's advice about any problems you might encounter.

1. As a temporary measure, until you have got a handle on his behaviour and he has grown bigger, would you consider investing in a puppy playpen, something like these? You can get cheaper versions if you google and you can also buy the individual panels so you can create something more suited to your individual needs. You could then be sure that he was safe and unable to escape whilst outside. It would also be useful to reward him for toiletting in the pen as he would then start to get the idea that it is better to 'go' outside in that area and if/when you decide to do away with the pen he will (hopefully) still do his business in that area rather than all over the garden he shares with your children.

1. I would definitely get him a crate and possibly surround it with an indoor pen as well, so that if he does get bitey and the squealing reaction doesn't work you can just pop him in there for a couple of minutes of ignoring ie non-attention/non-reward time. Puppies need quiet time and naps in exactly the same way as babies/children do and having a crate as his own secure space would mean he has somewhere to retreat to and also somewhere you know you can put him and be sure that he is not messing or chewing etc.

One thing though, never shut him in a crate as a punishment, he needs to see it as his den and a positive comforting environment. The idea of putting the crate inside an indoor playpen is that he can have his toys, chews etc in the playpen and this can be a safe/secure place for him to be whilst awake and when he needs to be separated from the dcs when over excited and nipping so that he can calm down.

Sorry, I'm rambling a bit and trying to fit too much into one post, I'm exhausted to be honest, but could pop back tomorrow if you have any more questions you think I might be able to help with, or if I need to explain anything better.

I am sorry you are having such a hard time with your pup. Having a dog should be a pleasurable thing for the whole family, when the negatives outweigh the postives, you have to do something about it as things could very likely get worse if you don't get them under control.

Just a quickie cos it's late.

These pens are a bit like the ones moosemama linked to, but much much cheaper. Obviously not as sturdy but might do the job?

I've ordered a similar set up with lots of extra panels to use til we sort out our garden. It's massively huge too, mostly protected by chicken wire kind of hidden in very dense holly bushes, but there must be a gap somewhere cos I've seen a dog get in somehow. Like you it would cost thousands and thousands to erect a new fence around the garden and we'd have to take out the holly, which is over half the height of our house.

I think we're going to put up a nice-ish looking picket fence around our main lawn (huge) so he can have free reign in that. Then he won't be able to destroy plants/vegetables either. We'll obviously make sure it's high enough - puppy is miniature schnauzer so not a huge breed.

Defo agree with the crate idea too- I've been using ours whenever pup is home alone and if I can't keep an eye on him & kids at the same time.

I'm using our old BabyDan Baby Den in the house Dill's house training has improved no end. The ignoring biting/jumping doesn't work for us either. It doesn't bother him that he's getting no response, he just gets to enjoy his leg chewing in peace.

Have to say, I ordered a Savic crate from CanineConcepts and their service (and price) was wonderful.