Tag: puppy101

My poor little guy is miserable right now. He's a 4 month old Australian Cattle Dog who just started teething. His little bottom front teeth are all out but some others are starting to loosen and give him a lot of pain. This has caused his behavior to shift suddenly. He was starting to be a lot less bitey after a lot of reinforcement and redirection and that's all out the window. He chomps and he chomps HARD right now. He's also cranky and whiny and is full volume barking his head off at nothing - when we was a rare barker before. He used to entertain himself playing in his kennel and now he's super needy and still barks when I'm laying with him. It's been one day since I notice his little teeth had fallen out and we have a lot more teeth to go. I have some dishtowels freezing right now. Any other suggestions? I'm stuck between wondering if I should only give him wet food and soft toys so he doesn't aggravate the painful teeth or hard stuff so he can get them out ASAP. I know all he's learned is still in his noggin but it's so defeating to watch him regress so hard in such a short time span.

So I got a puppy two months ago (he's 5 months old now) but he was taught to potty on pads before we got him and doesn't have accidents when they are there. (misses the pad a bit sometimes but can't really blame him).

My problem is that he rarely goes potty outside and almost always inside. I can't take him out every time he goes potty because I'm in college so i can take him only in the morning and in the evening when I'm back. I also can't start moving the pad to the exist because of heating in our house and since the doors have to be closed he won't ask to open them to go on the pad next to the exit he'll just do it on the floor.

He is very intelligent + very very food motivated so we try to give him treats when he does it outside but doesn't seem to work.

So basically, I wanna know will he ever learn to potty ONLY outside? And also any advice with this?

Welcome to the Daily Pup-Date, a Puppy101 Social thread. Feel free to share photos, wags, brags, ask quick questions, vent about the blues, or just update us on your life as a puppy owner. Please upvote this thread for visibility.

I give up. It's impossible to take my 4 month old puppy for walks! Soon as we hit the sidewalk, he runs to this patch of grass and sniffs and eats whatever is there, then to that patch of grass and same thing. Try to get him to move forward a few feet, but he just keeps his head down, sniffing and eating whatever in the new area.

I give up trying to take whatever he ate out of his mouth, I just have my hands in there the whole time pulling whatever out. Dragging him around to walk is just not fun and just stressful. At least in the backyard he'll play with his ball and toys and get some exercise...

sigh well, he deserves a good walk, I'll try again in the afternoon.... Anyone got any suggestions on what to do.

Coming back from the vets today with a £130 bill for routine things got me thinking about all those 'other' puppy costs that people (*including me) tend to overlook.

For me although I knew about vaccines, pet insurance and flea/wormer I'd not properly looked into how much it all cost and have had my eyes opened!

So far, for our little guy who is now 10 weeks we've had the following:

• vet checkup on arrival- £30
• vet consultation and medication for diahrrea - £80
• second vaccine, kennel cough vaccine, flea / wormer - £130

And some costs we hadn't really looked into properly but now need to moving forward are:

• Pet insurance (top level) £45/month
• Flea and wormer top ups £15/month
• Cost of training treats (getting through a lot more than expected and he seems to only value expensive ones)
• Chews (bully sticks and tendons £30 spent so far)
• Day care (optional of course) £45/day
• Puppy training classes £100+ for an 8 week course

Don't get me wrong we knew getting a dog was a lifelong commitment and that raising one wouldn't come cheap. Just think a lot of content out there glosses over some of the real world costs.

For me, this is the HARDEST part. My puppy is very smart and has been doing well at training, but then encounters a family member, friend, coworker, etc who do nothing but excite and reinforce negative behavior.

Ive been working hard at having my puppy not counter surf or jump at your lap while eating. He's learning! but then my husband who KNOWS ive been struggling with this training feeds the puppy off his plate while at the table.

My in laws know i have been working on his impulse biting, but then happily give my puppy their hands and arms to chew on and rough house play with him.

My brother who knows the puppy isnt allowed in the basement, taunted my puppy from the other side of the gate until my puppy jumped and cleared the gate.

The extra work having to explain and re-explain to everyone that i am training away negative behaviors is exhausting. I can see the look everyone gives me too, like im the fun sucking nag who wants her puppy to have no fun what-so-ever. I am SO TIRED of people!

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End of rant.

Okay... so I’ve posted a few times in this blog about my boxer pup being a nightmare and basically saying it’s ruling my life 24/7 and everything.... well, today he’s 12 weeks old. We’ve owned him from 6 weeks (I saved him), and holy shit, his behavior is out of nowhere amazing. 3 weeks ago he would whine in his crate and use his teeth to shake his crate... last night, he slept ALL NIGHT WITHOUT A WIMPER!!!!!!! Like how is that even possible. We do cut his water and food off 2 hours before bed, but I usually take him out at like 2am, but last night, no crying and he slept all night! Yesterday was his first day on leash. First 10 minutes was, get this shit off of me; now he walks by my side. He’s suddenly not going to the toilet inside. He has enforced naps maybe 5 times a day for an hour or even up to 2 per crating, (again, no crying). As soon as he is in the crate, he lays down and sleeps. The puppy biting has calmed down by about 75%. He Eats all of his 3 meals and doesn’t beg for more food. The only thing that wrong is he’s suddenly so itchy, so I’ll probably get something for that. But behavior wise... who the fuck stole my puppy and replaced him with this gem???!!!

The one thing I do need to work on is his separation anxiety. When I leave the room or leave him in his play pen, he goes mental. If he’s in his play pen, when I return he’s pushed the cage so much that he traps himself. Hopefully before he gets to 1 year, I can leave him out on his own around the house...

Things DO get better though and I’m so relieved 😌

My puppy 7.5 months old has just settled himself in his crate for a nap all by himself!! Third time in a week. He’s normally happy to go to sleep there at bedtime 10pm, but for naps we’ve always had to put him in there and he whines for 2 mins before sleeping. I’ve left the crate open and he’s been going there for a nap when no one is looking! I’m soooo proud, just wanted to post to those struggling with crate training and naps it will happen eventually, be persistent there was not a day that we didn’t crate nap at least 3 times a day and he has never not slept over night in it.

Take care :)

Hey Everyone! I want to start by thanking everyone here for being so supportive and willing to help new owners! I would not have made it through my first 3 weeks without you guys! To pay it forward, I wanted to share back what I've learned. I have a 16 week old Bouvier that is cute as a button and such a sweetheart! I've had her for 8 weeks now and things are going very well! Our in-house etiquette is amazing. Nipping and biting has almost stopped completely (she hasn't gone into heavy teething yet, but I know it's coming). Naps and sleeps are going really well! We're working very hard on socialization, as COVID has made that very difficult in my region. We're finally allowed to meet friends, so I'm starting that ASAP and getting her used to meeting new humans! (I know I'm late to that party, but we're doing the best we can with the circumstances.)

What I learned so far:

Go at your own pace: Training videos are extremely helpful and explanatory, but don't expect your puppy to do everything on the first try. Those videos are made to help, but also to get views and make the dog trainer look good. I fell into the trap of information overload and expected my puppy to pick stuff up on the first try. While she's really smart and often catches on quickly, it's unrealistic to expect her to be the perfect. Puppies also get frustrated very quickly, so keep training sessions short and if you see any signs of frustration, quickly do a couple commands they know very well and end the session. Don't get discouraged, it's just that their attention span is very short. Learn to go at your own pace.

Set firm boundaries and be consistent: DO NOT LET THEM OUT OF THE CRATE IF THEY'RE WHINING. My heart broke multiple times every day when I had to let my puppy cry herself to sleep. But stick with it, and soon enough, you'll have a puppy that goes in quietly and naps when it's crate time. Boundaries also passes into everything you do. Understand what you are allowing your puppy to do and what you will not allow them to do. If you let them on the couch today, they're coming on the couch tomorrow. If you feed them from the table today, they'll expect it tomorrow.

You are the boss: I learned this after about 8 days of letting my puppy tear around the house like crazy, that she needs enforced naps and structured play, training, and nap time. I learned that I had to take back control of my/our lives and add the structure that she needed. Having a schedule is key. Puppies need SOOO much sleep. If they are going crazy looking for something to get into, it's probably nap time.

Patience is key: Puppies are short sighted and have no attention span. Their brain is also a blank canvas that we need to shape and educate on literally EVERYTHING. They'll learn quickly, but will have no preconception of anything. Be very patient with new behaviours and keep your patience as best as you can.

What you give your puppy, you get back 10-fold: If you give them calmness, you will get calmness. If you give them jumping around and going crazy, you will get jumping around and going crazy.

If you don't already have a puppy:

Use the same blanket everywhere for the first couple weeks: I did this by accident, but it helped so much! We had a blanket over my gf's lap when we brought the dog in the car on the way home. When we got home, I threw it in the door of the crate just to get it out of the way, and what do you know?... 5 minutes later she's lying on it, in the crate!

Throw all your expectations out the window: Literally everything. Your world is going to flip on its head. For the first couple weeks you'll feel like you have no time for yourself or anything else in your life. You will have this little scared puppy that quickly turns into a landshark and wants to bit everything and everyone. This is normal! No matter how many videos I watched and research I did, I didn't find any where that explained how to actually live with a puppy for 24 hours/day lol. Don't worry, you'll figure it out, but it's nothing like you expected.

Make sure your entire household is on board: Ensure that everyone in the house is ready to get a puppy and that you're all on the same page about training techniques. Puppies need consistency and everyone should be in agreement of how to treat the puppy. This is down to crate training, obedience training, capturing calmness training, what is allowed during play, what to do when the puppy is acting up, etc..

Potty and crate training happen as soon as you get home: Take the puppy out every hour and give them treats when they go potty. Start playing in and out of the crate, giving them treats in the crate. Closing the door and walking away for 2 seconds, opening the door and continue playing. Get them used to the sound of the door closing and opening. They'll whine when it's nap time, and that is normal. They will fall asleep soon enough. It's SOOOO hard to crate train, but it will go fastest if they start on day 1.

These are just the things that worked for me. I'm happy to share my experiences, but all dogs are different and figure out what works for you :)

If you have any more notes for new and future pawrents, feel free to share!! I appreciate everyone here who's shared their experiences, as I learned so much from them.

Hi guys, we have an 11 week Toller puppy. She loves people and thus far has been really well socialized with adults.

We want to socialize her with children too but we don't know anyone who lives close to us and has them. She has met a couple kids who live in our building, but not very many. The breeder's grandchildren also spent time with her before she came to us.
Any suggestions? I've thought of bringing her to a park or playground and just letting her observe on the leash... that might work better now that it's getting warm out. Thank you!