A Few Puppy Related Questions

[saggyhairyarse]

My puppy is 12 weeks old now, we will have had him a month on Boxing Day.

When he wakes up I take him outside and he has a wee on the grass, I give him his brekkie and watch him like a hawk but as I am getting 3 kids up and ready then I am sometimes missing him pooing. Most of the time he does it on the paper (we have paper down in the utility room, and on the upstairs landing) but he is still having accidents. Is this normal for a puppy of this age? (I am also taking him outside regularly/frequently and he now wees outside the majority of the time.)

My plan is that once I can take him out (Xmas Eve) I will get up, give him brekkie and go straight out for a half hour walk which will be about 6.30am and so I am hoping once we get into a routine with that then that will help. Thoughts on that?

The only other thing is that he doesn't seem to like wet food, I am assumming as long as he has plenty of water then dry food is OK.

Bearing in mind I have 3 kids and it is pretty busy this time of year, I have 'trained' him to come, sit, drop and fetch. He seems to understand these basic commands, though obviously he only does the drop/fetch thing when he wants to play!

I guess I am looking for reassurrance we are doing OK as I have no idea what sort of progress should be expected!

Thing is by training him on paper you send a mixed message that it is ok to toilet inside.
He needs to be out a lot more frequently. The walk is a good idea.
I used a crate to help train our girl, she was crated when I couldn't watch her.
She never toileted inside by 9 weeks mostly as breeder had done a good job too.
But we were taking her out every ten minutes praising like mad with treats.
Unlike yours ours hates dry food!
What food are you feeding, some are ok dry from 3 mths some less so

My puppy is 12 weeks and does about 90% outside unless he is excited by visitors and then it drops the vet told me he seems to be picking it up very quickly so I would say it is fine.

My dog is being re-called by name he will sit when told and he will leave if he is chewing something can take a bit more of a fight sometimes depends on how interesting said item is and he has just started learning paw.

So they both seem to be about the same level so I would say it is fine. What puppy have you got mine is a Labrador.

Dry food is healthier and cheaper I have the opposite problem puppy was fed on tins and I am now fighting to get him on dry.

Pets At Home Puppy dry food.

Well, I will step up the outside time, I would say he goes out every half an hour at the moment.

He's a Jack Russell btw.

Oh, and he will get longer walks in the day, that first 30 min walk is what I can fit in before the kids go to school. I am planning on a lunchtime longer walk and an evening walk too.

I think he sounds fine I would try not to worry to much.

Although what I did with my puppy tou are probably going to find me disgusting and laugh at me now but it worked I noticed he was peeing and pooing in the toilet so I waited until one of the kids did a pee in the potty and sprinkled it over the garden.

It worked a treat though since then our puppy has been sitting by the back door when he wants a pee no other signal yet though.

Hi Saggy (your name always makes me smile, btw)

Not good to feed them directly before or after exercise so I'd suggest straight out for a walk, then into crate with a few biscuits while humans eat their breakfast, then puppy breakfast at least half an hour after coming back from walk.

Don't know where you live but won't it still be dark at 6.30am? Otherwise you can take him out for a wee and poo in the garden, then give him his breakfast, then walk him later.

It is hard during school hols - I am up and out with mine at 7.30am although my old girl politely refused my kind offer of a trudge through the snowdrifts this morning. Youngsters were still up for it, though!

A 12-14 week pup like yours doesn't need much exercise anyway - a good run round the garden will suffice if you can't actually make it out for a walk, so don't worry.

Dry food cheaper and also has some benefit in terms of teeth cleaning.

Sounds like you are doing well with him

HTH

Well it will still be dark but there is a lane up the side of my house with a field and orchard so I can pop him up there and maybe down the shop for a paper ;-)

I will take your advice about the feeding/walking. I had read that they tend to do a poo 1/2 hour to a hour after eating so that was why I was thinking food then walk but am happy to schedule it differently! I was feeding him just before I left for school and he then had a sleep so I can carry on doing that, think he has a little snooze.

One other thing, he has just started going in and out the cat flap, my garden is really safe so is it deemed OK to let him go in and out?

Hmmm...I probably wouldn't, tbh. I subscribe to the theory that they need to learn a clear difference between inside and outside if you're going to housetrain them successfully. Also it's amazing how much mischief a little pup can get up to, even in a 'safe' garden. For instance are you sure you have no poisonous plants? Raisins put out as bird food (toxic)? Puppies get stolen too .

There's also the very real possibility he'll outgrow the catflap very soon.

my springer broke 4 cat flaps before he got too big for it.
Locked or not he would still barge through.
Was a damn nuisance and we were very pleased when he got too big
(it did help with the toilet training thou as he would take himself out if we were too slow opening the door but it is a bit of a lazy method! )

LOL Mulled!

Note taken though, i'm not worried about him eating anything as we've only got grass (rabbit has eaten everything else!).