After a long time considering we have finally decided to get a puppy to add to our family...and have settled on an Irish red setter. I have paid the deposit and our little one will be ready to bring home on Nov 18th. But I'm now getting really nervous as I am a complete novice. I have a 9 year old and a nearly 2 year old. I work p/t and have a big house with front and back garden and a large park on our doorstep. But am I doing the right thing? What about toilet training....do I use a cage or not....please help with any advice. I feel that I should be really excited but now getting anxious that the little man won't like being with us :'(
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Advice please
- Thread starter Lily1234
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Rest assured that you puppy will like being with you and being the centre of attention.
Cages are very useful tools. You might like to ask your breeder to pop your puppy in one, on his own, for a short period every day. Ask the breeder, too, if you can either send a piece of bedding to them or if they could give a piece of the puppy's to bring home so that he has a familiar scent to sleep with.
I think it is Joanne F on here that has written an excellent piece on cage training, but for now just think of it as your puppy's refuge. He must be left alone if he is in it. Children should be instructed that he needs his own den and is not, under any circumstances to be disturbed if he is in his crate. Put is somewhere quiet, handy for toilet training but out of the busy area of the house.
House training is all about the puppy wanting to toilet outside. This means he must find it rewarding to go there and no where else. The first few weeks are very time consuming because his bladder and bowels will be very small. Imagine changing a baby's nappy after every wee and poo and you will understand how often you will have to visit the garden with your puppy. Do not be tempted to let him use paper or pads as a substitute for the garden.
To ensure he wants to go in the garden he will have to be rewarded for doing so. This means being with him and giving him a high value treat immediately he wees or poos. Be pleased and give him lots of praise too. Unlike children you cannot tell him that the wee he did five or ten seconds ago was the reason for his treat. He must get it as he finishes. Keep an umbrella by the outside door along with some treats.
He will show signs of being uncomfortable when he needs to toilet. This may be just a distracted look or he may circle or whine. Sometimes he will just do it with no apparent clue given.
The danger times are after eating, after sleeping, after playing. Visits to the garden should follow all these activities. You may need to set an alarm for the night time visits in the early days. Be very boring until he has performed or he will try to draw you into play sessions. Just out, wee/poo, back to bed.
After a while you will begin to see him look for you when he needs to "go". This is because he is considering just doing it but wants to gain the reward that only comes with a toilet in the garden. It all becomes a little easier once he has grasped this.
Any mishaps should just be ignored. Any chastisement just causes anxiety and anxiety prevents learning. Chastisement can also cause other behaviour problems.
A good book is "The Perfect Puppy" by Gwen Bailey.
Have you enrolled him in Puppy Socialisation Classes. They are vital for him to grow into a well balanced adult dog. Look for ones run by a member of the APDT. The course will cover house training, play biting, stealing, jumping up, obedience training etc. All the other puppy owners will be going through the same sleepless nights etc and you will not feel so daunted. If you are experiencing any particular problems then the trainer may come to the house to give you individual guidance.
Cages are very useful tools. You might like to ask your breeder to pop your puppy in one, on his own, for a short period every day. Ask the breeder, too, if you can either send a piece of bedding to them or if they could give a piece of the puppy's to bring home so that he has a familiar scent to sleep with.
I think it is Joanne F on here that has written an excellent piece on cage training, but for now just think of it as your puppy's refuge. He must be left alone if he is in it. Children should be instructed that he needs his own den and is not, under any circumstances to be disturbed if he is in his crate. Put is somewhere quiet, handy for toilet training but out of the busy area of the house.
House training is all about the puppy wanting to toilet outside. This means he must find it rewarding to go there and no where else. The first few weeks are very time consuming because his bladder and bowels will be very small. Imagine changing a baby's nappy after every wee and poo and you will understand how often you will have to visit the garden with your puppy. Do not be tempted to let him use paper or pads as a substitute for the garden.
To ensure he wants to go in the garden he will have to be rewarded for doing so. This means being with him and giving him a high value treat immediately he wees or poos. Be pleased and give him lots of praise too. Unlike children you cannot tell him that the wee he did five or ten seconds ago was the reason for his treat. He must get it as he finishes. Keep an umbrella by the outside door along with some treats.
He will show signs of being uncomfortable when he needs to toilet. This may be just a distracted look or he may circle or whine. Sometimes he will just do it with no apparent clue given.
The danger times are after eating, after sleeping, after playing. Visits to the garden should follow all these activities. You may need to set an alarm for the night time visits in the early days. Be very boring until he has performed or he will try to draw you into play sessions. Just out, wee/poo, back to bed.
After a while you will begin to see him look for you when he needs to "go". This is because he is considering just doing it but wants to gain the reward that only comes with a toilet in the garden. It all becomes a little easier once he has grasped this.
Any mishaps should just be ignored. Any chastisement just causes anxiety and anxiety prevents learning. Chastisement can also cause other behaviour problems.
A good book is "The Perfect Puppy" by Gwen Bailey.
Have you enrolled him in Puppy Socialisation Classes. They are vital for him to grow into a well balanced adult dog. Look for ones run by a member of the APDT. The course will cover house training, play biting, stealing, jumping up, obedience training etc. All the other puppy owners will be going through the same sleepless nights etc and you will not feel so daunted. If you are experiencing any particular problems then the trainer may come to the house to give you individual guidance.
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Thank you for that kind compliment Gypsysmum!
Crate training is not something that can be rushed. Being separated from his mum and littermates is really traumatic so he will get upset at being separated from you if you just put him in and leave. First, the crate needs to be the best place ever for a dog to be. So great treats, toys, happy voices and heaps of encouragement in the crate. Let him go in for super tasty things (chicken?) but don't shut the door. His bed should be in there too. Some pups like soft toys, and a tee shirt you have worn so with your smell might help too. Only when he realises the crate is a great place should you close the door or the pen. You should start to get him used to being alone though, so once he is going into his crate happily, leave the room for a few minutes (2, 5, 10) and build up slowly.
At night, it's a good idea to have his crate in your room to start with so he knows you are close by. You can put a hand down to stroke and comfort him if he gets distressed. Please don't ignore him, you wouldn't ignore a crying child and leave him in an empty room. Comforting him when he is distressed is fine and will strengthen your bond. Unfortunately many people make the mistake of allowing a puppy to cry in the hope that they grow out of it, when actually all they have done is cement in the puppies mind that being left in the crate (or alone, or whatever is causing the crying) is indeed a terrible thing, and for many dogs this fear becomes a learned habit. At this age, puppies need reassurance, not isolation.
Gradually you can start moving the crate away to outside the bedroom door, near the room you want him to sleep in, and eventually into that room. With puppies learning, everything is done in little steps, and if anything starts to fail, you go back a step and stay there longer.
Also in your room you are more likely to hear him if he moves and needs out to toilet. With young puppies it's too long to expect them to hold on all night (their little bladder and bowels aren't big enough or strong enough) so as Gypsysmum said, set your alarm for a couple of times in the night.
To add to Gypsysmum's advice on toileting, take him out frequently during the day, after waking, eating, playing etc and every 45 minutes to an hour. If he has toileted indoors don't get annoyed in case he becomes anxious about your reaction to toileting, and slinks off to do it in a place where you aren't about - you want him to tell you he needs out, not to avoid you.
I also don't like puppy pads. They give mixed messages about whether it's ok to toilet indoors.
Please use reward based training. Dogs learn more quickly when a good behaviour is rewarded. A good puppy class should help. Never punish bad behaviour because at any given time your dog (like us) is doing a lot of different things at once - listening, watching, smelling, walking, itching, scratching, weeing - so he cant isolate the one thing the punishment is for. Instead if the reward is for the good behaviour he will be able to identify it more easily because it's more consistent. Victoria Stilwell has some great tips at www.positively.com.
Crate training is not something that can be rushed. Being separated from his mum and littermates is really traumatic so he will get upset at being separated from you if you just put him in and leave. First, the crate needs to be the best place ever for a dog to be. So great treats, toys, happy voices and heaps of encouragement in the crate. Let him go in for super tasty things (chicken?) but don't shut the door. His bed should be in there too. Some pups like soft toys, and a tee shirt you have worn so with your smell might help too. Only when he realises the crate is a great place should you close the door or the pen. You should start to get him used to being alone though, so once he is going into his crate happily, leave the room for a few minutes (2, 5, 10) and build up slowly.
At night, it's a good idea to have his crate in your room to start with so he knows you are close by. You can put a hand down to stroke and comfort him if he gets distressed. Please don't ignore him, you wouldn't ignore a crying child and leave him in an empty room. Comforting him when he is distressed is fine and will strengthen your bond. Unfortunately many people make the mistake of allowing a puppy to cry in the hope that they grow out of it, when actually all they have done is cement in the puppies mind that being left in the crate (or alone, or whatever is causing the crying) is indeed a terrible thing, and for many dogs this fear becomes a learned habit. At this age, puppies need reassurance, not isolation.
Gradually you can start moving the crate away to outside the bedroom door, near the room you want him to sleep in, and eventually into that room. With puppies learning, everything is done in little steps, and if anything starts to fail, you go back a step and stay there longer.
Also in your room you are more likely to hear him if he moves and needs out to toilet. With young puppies it's too long to expect them to hold on all night (their little bladder and bowels aren't big enough or strong enough) so as Gypsysmum said, set your alarm for a couple of times in the night.
To add to Gypsysmum's advice on toileting, take him out frequently during the day, after waking, eating, playing etc and every 45 minutes to an hour. If he has toileted indoors don't get annoyed in case he becomes anxious about your reaction to toileting, and slinks off to do it in a place where you aren't about - you want him to tell you he needs out, not to avoid you.
I also don't like puppy pads. They give mixed messages about whether it's ok to toilet indoors.
Please use reward based training. Dogs learn more quickly when a good behaviour is rewarded. A good puppy class should help. Never punish bad behaviour because at any given time your dog (like us) is doing a lot of different things at once - listening, watching, smelling, walking, itching, scratching, weeing - so he cant isolate the one thing the punishment is for. Instead if the reward is for the good behaviour he will be able to identify it more easily because it's more consistent. Victoria Stilwell has some great tips at www.positively.com.
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Hi I have just brought a Peruvian hairless puppie it is 2 months old an it has just vomited clear liquid can anybody give me any advise plz
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Puppies will vomit from time to time. If all else seems well then just monitor and see how the puppy goes. If there are any other signs of being off colour then do make an appointment at the vet's. Puppies can deteriorate very quickly.
