Does anyone fancy a "puppy survival" thread part 2

[Soubriquet]

Here we are again

Just jump in and join us

Thanks blue. Training this am. Signed up
For another 6 weeks. Wish they did a lifetime deal! Can't see us stopping anytime soon!

I had in my mind when I got BiteyPup that I would go to formal training for at least a year. That I can see now is way too short

I was thinking a few months. Now I think a few years!
But today she did a wait whilst I walked to the other end of the hall. Then a recall. A few weeks ago I couldn't take more than a step or two away at best. She wouldn't do it twice though!

I love training classes to be honest - stops me being lazy and it's a nice way to meet other owners. I still meet up with other owners I met at class with my 10yr old dog!

He does help with the garden Bitey - well he considers digging up my lovely climbing plants as helping!!!

It's not a chore skeleton! She loves it. She has a play with friends at the start and end. She gets my completely undivided attention and liver cake too!
I get great advice and a chance to chat to other people and cuddle their dogs too! Really enjoy it!

Mrs madam is going to have to go to the vet again this week

She seems to have hair loss around one eye.

Totally random and it's getting bigger day by day

Another angle

Oh no. That looks sore. Is it bothering her?

Not at all! She will let me stoke it and give it a good feel over without a bother

Ouch that looks sore Soubriquet

Skeleton ours likes to 'help' in the garden as well, either by trying to eat everything or sticking his head under the watering can.

Poor Lexa I hope it's nothing serious and easily fixed.

Bluepuppy is going to his first whippet meet up on the weekend. The weather is meant to be a bit dodgy (cold and raining) but hopefully a few other brave souls turn up.

Hi all. We collect our new puppy on Saturday and I am very excited. She is a mini Daxsie and will be 8 weeks.

I have a question about toilet training - well loads actually but will start here - I have seen on this thread that people let their puppy out at night to go to the loo. I don't think we will hear her even if she does make a noise and want to go. For those that don't use pads, what do you do, come down at regular internals through the night to let them out?

Or is it better to take her out last thing, settle her, and put a pad down near the door until she is able to wait till the morning?

All help welcomed.

Thanks

8 weeks seems very young indeed. Ours was over 10 weeks. Any reason the breeder is letting it go so early?
Re night. I slept next to my pup for the first three weeks. She was very much like a baby. Ie she didn't know night time was for sleeping and wouldn't just sleep. She also didn't like being left. Puppy by your bed or sleep downstairs for now.
Avoid pads. They just teach pup it is ok to pee indoors. Then they have to learn not to. So back to square one.

Have a look at dog training advice and support on FB @Iamblossom. Lots of advice on toilet training.

Leaving for new homes at eight weeks is the norm for most breeds other than the tiniest toy ones like Chis.

The various guides linked to on this list are excellent and well worth reading. They cover toilet training, night time, crate training (which also encompasses training your pup to be ok on their own), biting, etc.

I didn't use puppy pads as I didn't want to toilet train twice. I used a baby monitor to see and hear him as we sleep in a different room. They are quite cheap to buy and I still use mine even though he is over 8.5 months old. When he was very young I also set an alarm to take him out frequently in the night after the initial settling in period, gradually extending the time in between as he got older.

I should say I still use the baby monitor to make sure I hear him if he is upset or ill in the night as he can now hold his pee through the night.

We got our pup at 8 week and also our older dog too, seems to be the standard age round here.

Agree with baby monitor or coming down at night. That being said, she's a baby. Don't feel like you're 'making a rod for your own back' if you have the cage upstairs to begin with. I think lots of dog advice implies you have to mimic what you're aiming for with your adult dog with your pup but I've found avoiding issues to be the best approach. Our pup slept upstairs (on our bed!!) to begin with and now he's much more confident and has taken himself off to his own bed with no input from me.

We've had our pup for 6 weeks or so, he was 8 weeks when we got him. He's been toilet trained more or less since 10 weeks. This is what we did:
The minute we got home we went out into the garden and when he did a wee we made a big fuss and gave him a treat.
They sleep a lot and I took him out when he woke up and every half an hour from waking (at that stage he want awake for long spells... still isn't!). I repeated the phrase wee wee wee wee every single time.
I took him out at 11:30pm and 3:00am and then at 6:00am. We've only had one poo in crate episode. I still do 11:00 and 6:00. I still say wee wee wee wee when I think he should poo or pee (and he often obliges)
The biggest challenge for me is leaving him alone for any length of time and I wish I'd paid as much attention to that as I did to toilet training!
Good luck!

Thanks all.

I don't think we would have the puppy upstairs. For one thing she is a daschund and not supposed to climb stairs when she is little, plus the upstairs will remain the cat's lair who currently sleeps on our bed.

Heidi that sounds like the approach I will take. So you shut the puppy in the crate to sleep? I will do the same as you I think with your approach. Just worried about her getting upset if she soils the crate and has to stay in there for a bit until I come down to take her out.

I am expecting a book to be delivered today will see what they suggest.

The link above just took me to Facebook not a specific puppy training area, can someone please link again?

Thankyou

I expect it was the group I mentioned. Dog training advice and support.
We had the same issue re stairs. Mine is a giant breed and can't do stairs. Plus we also have cats. That's why I slept downstairs with her. If they mess their crate they learn it is somewhere to toilet.

Well yes that was my next question (I have loads)

Heidi - when you would come down at night would the puppy have dirtied it's crate? Would you clean it up there and then?

Would you put water in the crate with it at night?

You keep saying "come down at night". Someone really ought to sleep near the pup. Of course you clean up any accidents ASAP. You wouldn't leave it to traipse through its own excrement until morning?!
I think maybe you should join that group and have a read. You can't just shut a pup in a crate and leave it all night. I slept with mega girl for three weeks. To start with so she could actually see me. Then I gradually withdrew. The alternative? Screaming puppy. One of her litter mates apparently cried for three solid nights. They have left the only home and family they have ever known. Everything is new. They need you to help them settle. The puppy stage can be bloody hard!

Mine is in a crate at night and has only soiled his crate once when I slept through an alarm when he was tiny. You need to clean it up throughly otherwise the smell encourages them to toilet in the same spot. Try and give them enough toilet breaks to avoid soiling the crate as Wolfie mentioned.

Opinions will differ on having water in the crate at night (I leave water available all the time in the day but not in his crate at night). Some people think it is cruel to remove water, others think it encourages them to tank up on water and thus pee all night. Personally I encourage my dog to drink lots during the evening. Water is not put in his crate at night but neither does he drink any first thing in the morning so I am comfortable doing that as he is not thirsty (probably because I make sure he gets lots in the evening). So I would say it is a personal decision about availability of water in the crate overnight.

Actually thinking about it. Wolfie pup never once did a poo in her crate. Quite a few wees mind. Even though I was right there! To start with they really don't know to go outside to toilet.
I didn't used to put water in the crate as she only ever went in there to sleep and it was deepest winter. I do now the weather is hotter and she's bigger and settles in the crate.