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Raskolnikov2089 posted:I'd say my 3 month old puppy was housetrained in about a month. But I work from home, my spouse works from home, we're both COVID cavers and we were religiously taking this dog out, to the point that we had fewer than 10 accidents the entire time. If you're not there to correct, it's going to take longer. It will happen, but 6 weeks is probably wildly optimistic. Same with our dane puppy that is 6 months now. We were pretty much taking her out every 2 hours like clockwork. She picked it up pretty quick but there were a few accidents. You can also be more restrictive with the dogs water. Don’t let them free bowl it till they know to go outside.
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Oct 29, 2022 03:27
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| # ? May 24, 2024 20:50 |
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For the prospective new puppy parents
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Oct 29, 2022 07:42
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Raskolnikov2089 posted:I'd say my 3 month old puppy was housetrained in about a month. But I work from home, my spouse works from home, we're both COVID cavers and we were religiously taking this dog out, to the point that we had fewer than 10 accidents the entire time. If you're not there to correct, it's going to take longer. It will happen, but 6 weeks is probably wildly optimistic. But the more time you spend with the puppy (and let it spend with you) the faster the training will take. And even if a puppy can hold it's bladder for 3 hours, it may not be the most comfortable experience for them. With our girl, I preferred to err on the side of caution and took her out fairly often. +1 to the child gate plan, too. A colleague suggested getting a cheap and cheerful baby playpen and attaching it to her crate as a way of creating a puppy friendly sleep+play zone. It meant we could leave her relatively unsupervised... And also that any accidents/mischief would be contained to the one (relatively small) area. However, over time she's associated her playpen with food + relaxing, so it seems she is relatively reluctant to do her business in there now. * Assuming we aren't in the room, if we are and daring to do something interesting Without Her it becomes "Mother Loves Me Not, For She Has Thrown Me In Puppy Gaol. I Must Howl, Howl For Poor Holly, So Cruelly Deprived Of Her Mother's Care." H13 posted:fuckin' long post warning You sound a little like my creature-of-habit husband, so I strongly recommend the playpen + crate idea for keeping puppy contained. Even if you're able to be with them all the time, you'll still need to take your attention away from them to cook, shower, receive deliveries, etc, and it's a load off your mind when it comes to leaving the house for appointments, coz the limited space means they're also less likely to amp themselves up coz they're alone. While I'm far less of a creature of habit than my partner, it is so nice to have a spot you can reliably keep them where they can't get underfoot or try exploring dangerous things with their mouth. Also... There will be times you will get frustrated with them and need a break. I reckon it's important to have a good, safe place you can leave them while you take a breather. The crate+playpen setup was the majority of Holly's world the first 3-4 weeks we had her, and while she does occasionally dislike the "puppy gaol" aspect of it, she'll also go put herself in there (we hold the door open with a spare dog collar) when she's tired and is happy for us to shut her in and leave her. It's kind of a win-win-win - it helps with keeping puppy safe + fostering independence + maintaining your wellbeing. The first few weeks we had our girl my partner and I took turns sleeping in the same room as her and taking her out in the middle of the night, but we stopped after a week and a half coz she was able to hold her bladder for the night. Depending on what age you get them, this may or may not be necessary. Regarding the yard... My dog is a digger. You get your attention split while she's outside? She'll have begun digging a hole to loving China. When we first got her, she dug a very shallow hole in which she found jagged shards of glass and rocks, both of which she tried to eat.  While I'm sure your yard probably doesn't have hidden hazards like mine, and your dog may not dig at all, the problem with digging is that it's fun and a self-soothing thing for dogs, so if they get distressed coz you're not around and start digging... It may be a difficult thing to stop. So yeah, you may want to consider a sandpit where you can seed it with fun dog things so they're less inclined to turn up your yard, dig up sprinklers, etc. As for free time? Shouldn't be too bad - assuming you've got a decent long term confinement area sorted. If you're worried you can make a game of it to get them used to being separated/left (... Kinda wish I'd done this from the start). When I went to the gym in the morning Holly used to fret quite a bit, but since I came back soon after she learnt "oh this is the bit where she leaves and comes back a little later. Okay, cool, I'll relax with my toys now". I'd say try to keep to your usual routines as much as possible (within reason), coz otherwise they become accustomed to your constant presence and freak out when you try to get back into fitness classes, socialising, etc. One of my routines I am so glad I got Holly accustomed to was vacuuming; the first week we had her, I laid the vacuum out and let her have a sniff, tossed some treats nearby, then put her into her pen and turned it on for a bit, heavily rewarded her for a few seconds of the vacuum being on, lather, rinse, repeat for a few weeks and now she's almost entirely unbothered by it.
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Oct 29, 2022 15:54
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We had a play pen to keep brisket in certain zones of the apartment https://www.petsmart.com/dog/crates-gates-and-containment/houses-and-pens/midwest-exercise-pen-5171616.html It clips into a circle or onto the crate, or you can use it as a divider. This meant when we were at work he could get some space. At first he was crated, then the space within the crate and the pen. And then we'd pen off the living room. I gave it to someone else who got a new puppy and they love it. We also got a baby gate because in our old apartment it was just an easy way to keep him out of the kitchen. And now we use it to keep him upstairs when people come over.
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Oct 29, 2022 18:35
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We used Nova’s digging instinct and turned it into a fun training game. Anytime she started digging we cued her with ‘Dig-dig’ and gave her a treat. Now she rarely digs unless we’re with her because she wants to be cued and rewarded for it. Also convenient: I can point at a spot and tell her to dig in the garden and get an excellent hole AND a happy dog. It meant a lot of oversight at first but it paid huge dividends.
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Oct 29, 2022 19:17
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For nuisance digging, someone told me to put some of their poop into whatever holes they dig. It has worked really well for Pickwick. He dug into one of his little holes, hit poo and immediately ran away and wants nothing to do with that spot. He’s pretty quickly figured out that digging anywhere but the pile of leaves he’s allowed to dig in gets a hole full of poop.
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Oct 29, 2022 19:28
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Lmao never heard that, that's a good idea. Chop Chop doesn't really dig much unless he hears/smells/sees mole activity, then he really wants to dig to get at them. I've successfully redirected this into a, i dunno what to call it i guess a space-controlling game: my hands in my pockets (if they're out chop chop thinks we're gonna wrestle) and i stomp into the space he's interested in/trying to dig at, which gets him super amped. Then he keeps trying to pounce at the mole spot, while i keep blocking him with my body and challenging him to try and get through, until he gets so amped he gets the Mole Zoomies and starts tearing rear end around the yard, which i can then easily turn into any other game (fetch, wrestling, chasing each other, etc)
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Oct 29, 2022 20:04
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Took my dog to a group training class this morning, the trainer wants us to use spray bottles to discourage bad behaviors. I've never needed one in the past and I'm not sure switching now would help more than it will complicate his training. When Monty mouths or jumps up I say "No" then turn away and stop interacting with him. The trainer also didn't like that Monty only obeys when I give him hand signals because that means he wont obey commands when he's not looking at me. I don't think it's the hand signals, Monty doesn't need hand signals normally but he will ignore 100% of commands if he is not looking at me. You either have Monty's attention or you do not exist. I'm using a harness and the trainer suggested I switch to a choke collar so I'm not so sure about this person's methods. Her method for loose leash walking is to lead the dog by the collar with a few inches of leash until the dog learns walk at your side. Using a harness with this method I believe my arm will fall off before Monty learns to follow my lead. She showed me a safe choke collar they look like these:  I've tried putting the harness on the wrong way with the clip on the front (under the dogs head) instead of the clip being on his back. This isn't how the harness was designed to be worn, but when he tries to tug against the harness it pulls him to one side and this works wonders.  
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Oct 29, 2022 21:44
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It sounds like you’re doing a great job training and don’t need to listen to that trainer’s outdated advice. I’d use the class to work on focus around other dogs and adding verbal cues to your hand signals (it doesn’t have to be one or the other!), and practice standing up for your dog when she tells you to do something you’re not comfortable with.
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Oct 29, 2022 22:27
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Sanctum posted:The trainer also didn't like that Monty only obeys when I give him hand signals because that means he wont obey commands when he's not looking at me. I don't think it's the hand signals, Monty doesn't need hand signals normally but he will ignore 100% of commands if he is not looking at me. You either have Monty's attention or you do not exist. Tbf this could end up being a real problem especially when it comes to recall.
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Oct 29, 2022 22:45
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You guys have been awesome and I really appreciate the advice so far. I'm also aware I'm taking up a huge chunk of real-estate in this thread so again, I appreciate your patience. Based on the ideas so far, puppy will appreciate daily routines (like me!) and once he has figured out the routines, life becomes easier for all of us, so I'll stick as close to the daily routine as I can. Is this a reasonable routine for the first 6 weeks? - Wake up at 6:30 (Work wake-up time, hopefully then when I go back to work after 6 weeks, puppy's life isn't as confusing) - Immediately take outside to do business. Praise puppy and give good morning belly rubs. - Come inside and make breakfast\coffee. Give puppy his breakfast outside while I eat mine. I can see the yard from my table so I can keep an eye on him. Hopefully he learns that backyard is great and his and is a bit of a starter for separation anxiety. Go outside, play with puppy until he dumps out breakfast, immediate praise and assurances that puppy is indeed good. - Bring puppy in at 7:30. Put him in child-gate\pen area where his crate\toys are. Should have empty bladder\bowels and has had a busy morning so hopefully will be chill and happy to gnaw on random chew toy while I shower etc. - 8:00 nap time in crate. - 10:00AM wake up. Take outside, praise, play, training. - When starting to mellow, inside with me while I do my stuff with a fluffy doofus following me around. Get him used to things like vacuum cleaner, dishwasher, washing machine, guitars, how to behave on the couch etc. Keep a close eye on the puppy so I can figure out what his "tells" are, which bits of the house he is prone to destroy and basically to teach inside manners. - 11:30 lunch for puppy. Take outside. Praise, play training - 12:00 bring inside, nap time in crate. I have my lunch during nap time. - 2:00 - 4:00 (See 10AM routine) - 4:00 nap time - 6:00, Take outside, praise, play, training - 6:30, bring inside. Put in pen while I cook dinner. - 7:00 Dinner for puppy outside, I have my dinner. - 7:30 Outside, play with puppy until he dumps food. Celebrate a successful day - 8:00 Inside, practice inside manners. Hugs time and quiet time. - 8:30 Sleep time. - 11:00 Wake up puppy to pee? - 11:30ish, I go to bed
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Oct 30, 2022 01:13
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Yeah that seems reasonable. What kind of dog is it? You might not need to wake the dog up at 11.
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Oct 30, 2022 02:07
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I wouldn’t get too attached to any specific schedule or plan because every dog is an individual in the end. I had one dog that took ages to potty train, literally months, as a puppy. The next puppy was a totally different creature who potty trained in a week. Personality will matter a lot! It’s good to have a plan, but uh prepare to be flexible.
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Oct 30, 2022 02:16
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Puppy is a Golden Retriever. Picking up at about 8 weeks old. cailleask posted:I wouldn’t get too attached to any specific schedule or plan because every dog is an individual in the end. I had one dog that took ages to potty train, literally months, as a puppy. The next puppy was a totally different creature who potty trained in a week. Personality will matter a lot! It’s good to have a plan, but uh prepare to be flexible. Absolutely. I assume this routine will be modified by puppy. However this idea is good for me to not feel anxious or nervous about looking after another living being for the first time in my life. It helps me mentally adjust to the change in my lifestyle, feel like I'm at least somewhat prepared for the inevitable chaos. I'm at least gonna feel a BIT like I know what I'm doing to make sure puppy is happy, healthy and learning to be an even better good dog.
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Oct 30, 2022 02:52
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Another benefit of puppy jail is, you have an excellent training tool, which is you being inside puppy jail with them, and leaving when they do bad behavior. When we were training out biting, we'd play until hands were bitten, at which point I'd say the no no word, and get up and leave puppy jail. You would think I was murdering the dog, the way he screamed. But wouldn't you know it, when I came back 5 minutes later, we were able to go a bit longer before hands were bitten. Wash, rinse, repeat. Plus the way my leaving reinforced the no-no word. He absolutely hates to hear it now, and I've never had to do anything truly negative to build that association. It meaning "end of playtime, now Im stuck in my playpen by myself" reinforced it hard. H13 posted:schedule Your nighttime schedule is missing "let puppy sleep on your chest while you watch TV". You don't get that for long. Raskolnikov2089 fucked around with this message at 21:37 on Oct 30, 2022 |
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Oct 30, 2022 21:33
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Raskolnikov2089 posted:Another benefit of puppy jail is, you have an excellent training tool, which is you being inside puppy jail with them, and leaving when they do bad behavior. When we were training out biting, we'd play until hands were bitten, at which point I'd say the no no word, and get up and leave puppy jail. You would think I was murdering the dog, the way he screamed. But wouldn't you know it, when I came back 5 minutes later, we were able to go a bit longer before hands were bitten. Wash, rinse, repeat. This is a very excellent point. quote:Your nighttime schedule is missing "let puppy sleep on your chest while you watch TV". You don't get that for long. This is an even better point. I will be training my dog to hug. I assume it's genetically ingrained into most Golden Retrievers ANYWAY but it will be emphasised. Yes I will be covered with dog fur, especially when shedding, but that's okay because I got to hug a Golden Retriever. I'm okay with that. As I said earlier, these schedules are making me feel better\more confident about what I'm doing with the good dog to help him be an even gooder dog. In terms of "easing off" that schedule into a more "people friendly" lifestyle what I'm hoping for: First 6 Weeks - The schedule as posted above. Next 10 Weeks - I'm back at work as a teacher. 10 week term. My Dad has suggested he might be okay (read: loving thrilled) to go over to my house at lunch time to feed the puppy, take him for a walk (and spoil rotten) and do a "shift" for me so the puppy will only be alone for 1 of those blocks in the previous schedule. On Weekends, I'll do my usual routine of getting up at 9 instead of 6:30 so that puppy can learn that routine. After that, he'll be 6 months old. SHOULD be house-trained by 6 months yeah? Plus he would probably be okay with being left home in the backyard while I'm at work for the day? Dad would likely still go over and walk him on occasion because he's as bad as I am, but the folks do travel so it can't be a depended-on thing. Would hire a dog-walker if I needed to. Does this sound like a reasonable timeline of happy puppy fitting in with the lifestyle of a single bachelor who has a full-time job?
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Oct 31, 2022 06:48
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At 6 months old it’s still a baby and leaving it outdoors by itself unsupervised is a very risky move, even disregarding the potential for someone to just come along and take the dog out of the yard.
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Oct 31, 2022 08:58
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History Comes Inside! posted:At 6 months old it’s still a baby and leaving it outdoors by itself unsupervised is a very risky move, even disregarding the potential for someone to just come along and take the dog out of the yard. Fair enough. How likely is he to have good indoor manners at that stage so that he could be in the house by himself? Note: I assume all of this will be much more obvious when I have the good dog because I'll be able to see his progress and make a judgement call, but I'm just trying to make a rough plan for the sake of my brain.
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Oct 31, 2022 09:46
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H13 posted:Fair enough. How likely is he to have good indoor manners at that stage so that he could be in the house by himself? I wouldn't leave him outside alone but I wouldn't give him free roam of the whole house either. Confine him to a dog-proofed space like a crate, an exercise pen or a room where you can minimise the amount of damage he does. Of course it will be personality-dependent but chances are at 6 months he will be trying very hard to get into mischief. It's great your dad can come over to check in on him at lunch – how long would he be home alone for at a time?
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Oct 31, 2022 12:17
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Volcano posted:I wouldn't leave him outside alone but I wouldn't give him free roam of the whole house either. Fair enough. I think at this point, I'm probably overcomplicating things for myself a little bit. Puppy was born a few days ago, I haven't even chosen my puppy yet and I'm already trying to predict what he'll do in 6 months time. - I've figured out what my day looks like for the first six weeks. - Breeder will tell me what food to give the good dog and how much. - I'll buy a crate, toys, bed, leash, gates, clicker and a pen - I'll start that routine for myself now so at least I'm not struggling with the routine at the same time as the puppy And I'll try to settle in, make it as chill as possible 'cos if I'm sitting there nervous the whole time, the puppy's gonna be nervous the whole time... Like, I know it's gonna be an awful lot of work. There's gonna be at least a period of time where I go: "What the gently caress have I done to my life" But...I think I'm as prepared as I can be for the first experience of owning a puppy. Obviously there'll be things for me to discover along the way that I'll go: "gently caress I wish I knew that" but I don't want to be freaking out the whole time, I want to enjoy having a puppy, so...I'll try to calm my stress and anxiety and focus on the positive. And the positive is that after 2 years of being on loving wait lists, I'm finally getting my good dog. This is a good thing, this as an exciting thing and boy is he gonna get hugs.
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Oct 31, 2022 12:29
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I would wait a solid year before giving your puppy full unsupervised alone time. Puppies need limits and when I say slowly let them have more freedom as their prove themselves good I mean this like a long process that ends with you having an excuse to leave family events early because oh no the dog!
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Oct 31, 2022 12:42
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We didn’t leave my dog alone in the house outside of her crate until she was 2 years old, and only then with a camera and with a lot of slow buildup. We learned things that we had to protect extra - like ensuring the pantry door was actually latched, and the trash can less than half full - even with a mature, very calm dog. We’ve only very recently been allowing her through her dog door to go outside as well, again with a camera + sound monitor to alert of problems. If I’d left her alone outside or in the house before then, she definitely would have eaten sticks or blankets or my couch or something.
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Oct 31, 2022 18:55
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Dog was getting better in the crate, was able to leave her alone for 30 minutes but suddenly she can't go in it anymore without screaming. No idea what happened.
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Nov 1, 2022 02:52
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Michael Transactions posted:Dog was getting better in the crate, was able to leave her alone for 30 minutes but suddenly she can't go in it anymore without screaming. No idea what happened. How old is your dog?
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Nov 1, 2022 15:55
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Andoman posted:How old is your dog? 4 months old. She was able to stay in the crate last night so idk 
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Nov 1, 2022 16:14
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Michael Transactions posted:4 months old. She was able to stay in the crate last night so idk Too young to have hit the rebellious teenager phase then. Could be that something spooked her, hopefully will be ok again in a day or so if that is the case …. In the bra time plenty of treats in and around the crate will help.
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Nov 1, 2022 17:00
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It’s totally normal for puppies to go through weird stages. It’s not a linear progression straight to “good dog”, you’re going to have setbacks. Just go back to basics and work through it again until it sticks.
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Nov 1, 2022 17:28
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Yeah I think she got freaked out because I moved the cage from the bedroom to the living room. I too would be freaked out if my bedroom moved around like Howl's Moving Castle
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Nov 1, 2022 19:11
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Hug your pups for me thread, I’m saying goodbye to my OG pet island dog today. Major has been on my farm since before I had sheep and it’s going to be so strange to be here without him.  Sometimes you get the dog you need and not the dog you think you want.
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Nov 3, 2022 18:20
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I'm so sorry  We lost our first doggo this year and it was very tough. Sending internet love to you.
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Nov 3, 2022 18:39
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Condolences
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Nov 3, 2022 19:06
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I'm sorry to hear this.
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Nov 3, 2022 19:54
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This brought tears to my eyes. I'm so sorry 
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Nov 3, 2022 20:33
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Michael Transactions posted:Yeah I think she got freaked out because I moved the cage from the bedroom to the living room. I too would be freaked out if my bedroom moved around like Howl's Moving Castle That is probably it then. One of my dogs still runs to where their crate used to be (like 4 years ago) if I say “ rate time” even though there is no longer a crate at all .
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Nov 5, 2022 09:57
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My dog asks for her bed by going to the corner where her crate used to be (i piled her bed on top of it when not in use) and crying pitifully. They love their routines.
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Nov 5, 2022 10:07
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Last week Pongo made it very clear that he would like his blanket before going to sleep on his bed, please, because the blanket was all the way in the basement on the couch down there he is allowed on.
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Nov 5, 2022 12:23
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Tarkus is clearly missing some old toy we don’t have anymore because he’s been snuffling around in his toy box and then clearly distressed that whatever he’s looking for isn’t there.
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Nov 5, 2022 12:33
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Instant Jellyfish posted:Hug your pups for me thread, I’m saying goodbye to my OG pet island dog today. Major has been on my farm since before I had sheep and it’s going to be so strange to be here without him. Gonna miss Major <3 I've been lurking PI since like 2008 so it's sad to see him go.
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Nov 6, 2022 23:48
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I am so sorry.
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Nov 7, 2022 01:57
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Has anyone done a DNA test for food allergies? We think maybe she might have some but if a quick dna test would pick it up that would be a lot easier.
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Nov 7, 2022 20:06
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