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I'm adopting my first dog-that's-all-mine, i.e. the first dog I'm going to have to train on my own and live alone with. She's an approximately 6-month-old 15-pound shelter rescue mutt who seems very sweet, calm, friendly, didn't bark, not hyper, etc. and I get her tomorrow! She was a stray so I'm guessing she has no training, but I guess I'll find out. I am reading all this puppy literature and I am getting nervous! All the puppy stuff talks about doing this and that before X weeks of age, and this dog is 6 months old. Not full grown but not a wee baby. Are there any good books/tips/online resources for Your First Days With Your Not Quite Puppy? Any differences at all in crate training/housebreaking? (I found some certified trainers nearby, will surely call them after the weekend)
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May 12, 2012 01:04
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| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 20:38 |
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So I brought this little lady home from the shelter on Saturday: 6 months old, about 12 pounds, dubious parentage. Today her name is Juniper, but it isn't quite set in stone. My first dog! So I don't quite know what I'm doing but am trying to follow all the advice here. Can't start puppy classes quite yet because she has kennel cough, alas. Anyway, I'm having a crate training problem! She doesn't mind going in the crate but she minds STAYING in the crate because I have two cats and she thinks they are the most awesome, fascinating things in the whole world (way more so than treats). If I close the crate door she gets sad, even if the crate is in another room from where the cats are (because she knows the cats still exist somewhere out there). I don't want her to think of the crate as a depressing place so I don't know how to go about keeping her in there without it becoming a punishment to her. She is not very motivated by food or any treats that I've tried. #1 motivator is definitely... cats. If the cats walk past when she's in the crate she's even starting to think about barking, and I sure wouldn't want her sitting in her crate barking up a storm when I'm not home (preferably we won't be having any barking at all thank you). Any tips?
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May 17, 2012 23:04
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So, a couple of housetraining questions. My 9-month old rescue mutt has been with me for about three months now and is moooostly housetrained. I take her out regularly and still say "Go potty!" and praise a lot when she goes outside. She completely ignores treats when she's done with her pee or poop, no matter how high value, so I just act excited. I taught her to ring a bell at the door when she wants to go out, and she picked that up really fast (and of course abuses it by ringing merrily when she just wants to see what that noise was outside... but we still go outside, if we weren't JUST outside) Issues: - What do I do when we're visiting a friend? She peed on my friend's carpet when we were visiting last week. She'd just peed about an hour earlier. She was having a very happy time so I wouldn't say it's stress. My friend doesn't have a bell at the door :P - She doesn't always use the bell. I think part of the problem here is that she's taken to being really paranoid about noises outside at night, and will start barking, and occasionally rings the bell while barking, and I don't take her outside when she does that. So she doesn't seem to be using the bell as much, and last night she peed on the floor. (of course, I did not call attention to it at all and just mopped it up with Nature's Miracle) I don't think there's an UTI issue or anything as she usually goes ~3-4 hours between pees and can hold it all night. I think she does know that outside = pee and poo, but I don't think she really knows that inside = not pee and poo, and I'm not sure how to get her SUPER EXCITED about peeing outside when she ignores treats while in/exiting squat position :/
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Aug 6, 2012 21:10
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