Puppy!
 

I know, I know, there are probably already threads like this ...

THE BACKSTORY: My husband and I are puppy-sitting for the summer. My sister rescued a 6-mo. old lab/hound mix off the kill list at a shelter near her university - right before leaving for her study abroad in New Zealand. Right now, the puppy is at my parents', but starting Monday, he will be living with us until August (assuming that my sister does, in fact, come and get him - we have a fenced-in yard and she doesn't). We have been told that while the puppy is a good puppy, it is large, poops a lot, and is a bit slow-witted (probably from being in the shelter for so long). Neither me nor my husband have done the dog thing before, ever.

THE POINT: For all you GC dog-owners out there, what advice can you give us for how to care for this dog?? We want to be good puppy god-parents! (Also, we have a cat - how do we introduce them and prevent a major battle??)

This describes 99% of the men I encounter on the weekends.

1. Find out if this dog has been socialized with cats in the past. If he has done well before it is a good indication he will do well now. Has your cat been socialized with dogs in the past? It might be a great idea to let them meet a few times (supervised) but do not leave them alone together.

2. Is the dog crate trained? If so you will need to return home every 4 hours or so during the work day to make sure he goes outside to use the bathroom. Is he potty trained? If he is going to remain free in your house while gone you may be able to train him to use pee pads (which I wouldn't suggest as he'll just learn that peeing in your house is OK.)

3. He is most likely slow witted because he is a puppy-in a way, he is similar to a child-in that he only learns what he is taught. Its great news for you if you want to train him to heel, sit, down, or hell-just offer his paw to shake. There are few important things when it comes to training a dog-always set them up for success, don't repeat yourself (give one command for each action, make the dog follow through), have a lot of patience, and repeat repeat repeat.

4. Make sure he is up-to-date on his flea/tick meds, the summer season is ripe with fleas/ticks that can spread to your cat if the dog brings them in. On this same note, don't leave him outside for prolonged periods of time-and if you do be sure he has a shady place to lay (all day, even as the sun rises/sets), and an endless supply of fresh water.

Be wary that his first few days in his new home may be unsettling for him & his routine, but he will adjust in time as long you keep him on a routine. He may not eat as much at first, or need to use the bathroom as often. Just keep a close eye on him & don't let him have too much free reign of the house until his routine is settled.

Let me know if you have any other questions that I may be able to answer, I've got two dogs myself (one from a rescue & another from the humane society) and they're such great dogs (as pound dogs are often are!)

I have had a lot of experience with puppies and dogs. Crate training the puppy will save you and the puppy a lot of stress and upset. Rather he lives in your yard or in your house, you will be glad you can crate him when necessary. Almost any 'How to Raise a Puppy' book at Petco, ect. will fill you in on other details. He is still young enough to get on with your cat. The first meetings just need to be under your supervision. You may as well be prepared, it's going take a lot of your time and good nature to take care of him. The larger he is, the more exercise and play time will be required to keep him healthy and in a good frame of mind, (calm and not destructive). I enjoy working with animals and am happy to share my learned information with you.

Ok--now that's funny. :)

In terms of the puppy--patience is key (obviously!) But by and large, its not that hard. Its important to note that if you catch him doing something he shouldn't, you need to correct it right then with some force (I mean get his attention, not hit him or anything.) Dogs are like children in that they are expecting you to show them what is correct and what is not.

If you're interested in teaching him tricks, look for his natual abilities. I noticed that my border collie would almost smile while waiting for treats, so now I have trained him to "Say Cheese" on command (and its really quite funny!)

I have one dog who is crate trained and I have worked with him over the years because he has not always liked getting in. Now he goes in willingly because I have made sure he knows its a reward and not a punishment. It is his "safe place" now and when he wants to get away from the other dogs, I'll find him relaxing in there.

And be prepared to pick up poop--I would suggest daily if its a big dog.

Right now, he's with my parents' cats and they get along okay - he hasn't hurt them or anything like that. My cat has always been a one-pet show.

No, the shelter didn't train him in any way. My impression is that they just left him locked up most of the time and if he peed in there, oh well :( Right now, my parents (who also don't know much about dogs) take him out a lot and also leave him in their garage if they're gone for a long period so it doesn't matter if he pees or poops on the floor ... My sister got a crate for him before she left, but I don't think anyone's used it. I'm going to try to find a book about this and hopefully we can pull it off. Is there any way to teach a dog to let you know when it needs to go outside (like cats do)?


I am very familiar with cats (raised with them), but dogs are very mysterious to me, lol. I'm excited, but I just don't want to mess up the poor thing who has already had such a rough time! Thank you all for your help :)

By the way, this is Sam (my sister named him after the Lord of the Rings) at my parents:

http://photos-c.ak.facebook.com/phot...152290_362.jpg

yes, yes, yes to the crate. get one large enough that they dog can grow into-some people suggest partioning off the unneeded extra space in the crate, because some dogs will go potty in a large crate if there is enough room for the pup to get away from the mess. something like a piece of acrylic with holes drilled in the corners thru which you can run a plastic tie to attach to the crate would work fine. oh, and get the wire crate-it allows more air circulation.

when you take the puppy out to potty, walk him to the area of the yard where you want him to potty, and actually tell him to potty. just a simple "go potty." don't play with the puppy until it potties. you want the dog to know that it is business first. when it potties, praise him-something like "good potty". then it is playtime.

always potty after the puppy eats and before you put the puppy back in the crate.

we found that at first we had to use a lightweight bedsheet to cover the crate because the puppy would protest everytime he was put up. after a while the pup was used to the crate and we did not need to use the sheet anymore.

repetition, patience and a schedule are key. there are many books on puppy care that would be helpful.

the puppy may not know at first to protect his eyes if the cat takes a swipe at him, so you need to closely supervise their interaction for a while. hopefully, they will become the best of friends-one of our cats loves the dog and mama cat does not.

Because of this, I'd say you should definitely introduce the cat to the dog slowly. Its great that the dog has a good relationship with your parent's cat, but your cat may feel differently.



Sam is VERY handsome! :) What a good lookin' dog. :)



The site LionInMI gave is exactly what I used to crate train both of my dogs, they LOVE their crates! My littlest dog will run right inside his crate anytime he gets a chance to-he just loves to lay there. Just make sure its enough space for him to stand up, turn around, and lay back down. If its too big he might start peeing/pooping in there, if its too small he'll be cramped! My 60 lbs. boxer mix is in a Giant Petmate and its the perfect size. She used to have a wire crate but tore the door clean off, and then chewed through the plastic airholes of her second crate (but she has severe separation anxiety that only got better when we got a second dog, Sam may be fine in a wire crate (my littlest dog is.)) A lot of the wire crates will come with the separator that FSUZeta mentioned!

If you're looking to do some general obedience training (heel, sit, down, etc.) then you might look at What All Good Dogs Should Know: The Sensible Way to Train by Jack Volhard & Melissa Bartlett. In fact, I've read my copy a hundred times or more-if you want I can send it to you, just PM me if you're interested.

This is great house training advice. You determine his schedule, for eating & using the bathroom for the most part. Don't free-feed or its harder to house train. So set the food out for 20-30 minutes in the morning, and then again at night. As soon as he has eaten/drank take him right outside. Praise him with a treat (sparingly) or just encouragement & head pat everytime he uses the bathroom outside. Take him out when you wake up, after he eats, before you leave the house, as soon as you get back, after his dinner, and before bed. If you set the schedule he will adjust to follow it. If he doesn't make it through the night, or while you're away from the home, don't "punish" him (none of that "sticking his nose in it".) Dogs succeed through positive reinforcement, so if you catch him in the act you can firmly say "No" then move him immediately outside so he can finish. When he does finish going outside you should praise him.

And don't worry! You can't mess him up too bad as long as you love him & treat him accordingly. :)

I agree with what Lisa said. If he's 6 mos old though, he should be able to last in a crate more than 4 hours, but not all day. Assuming he'd also be sleeping in the crate, make sure you remove water an hour or two before bedtime, so that he won't have an emergency during the night.I'm gonna disagree with this a little. You have to be very careful trying to "correct" a dog, because what you may view as "correction" he will probably view as attention. So, for example, if you try to correct his jumping up on you by pushing him down, the message he very well may get is that jumping up on you is a good way to get your attention. (Good attention, bad attention -- it's all attention.)

The best way to teach him is through positive reinforcement. (You might look for some classes that teach this way in your area.) Step one is to have plenty of treats. Step two is to get a "clicker." When he does something you want to reinforce, you click and quickly give him a treat. Gradually, as he starts to figure out that when he does X, you like it and give him a treat, you'll start to get that behavior more often and can start adding the verbal cues ("sit" or "down" for example).

This is, of course, a very abridged description. This site, from the person who (I think) developed clicker training, gives a very good overview of clicker training. Believe me, it works and it helps develop a great relationship between you.

The flip side is basically time out for the dog. If you're at home and he does something inappropriate (such as biting -- many puppies will do this playfully rather than agressively and have to learn that it isn't appropriate play with humans), then calmly put him in his crate for a little time out. He'll get the message before too long that biting = playtime's over. If you're outside or away from home and he does something like that, or jumps on you, cross your arms and look away from him/up toward the sky or ceiling until he calms down a little. This is, essentially, your portable time out. What you're doing is showing him that the behavior will get him no attention. Again, he'll start to get the message pretty quickly.

Three other things. Bring a blanket or towel that he's been on into the house a day or two before he gets there and let your cat become familiar with his smell.

Read the book The Other End of the Leash for a good understanding of how dogs "read" or misread us and how we sometimes misread dogs.

And if a messy backyard is starting to be a problem, you might look into DoodyCalls or a similar outfit. ;)

I think the "portable time out" will work for when you're home too, don't want to start using the crate as punishment or he'll never properly crate train, and might end up hating the crate (essentially dissolving any crate training effort.)

The clicker suggestion is awesome, I've always wanted to start using a clicker but its an epic fail on my part that my dogs don't respond to it. I wasn't consistent enough, it really takes a lot of time & patience!

You could also institute a rule that whenever you let him out you immediately scan the yard to clean up any messes just made. That way its always clean & you aren't spending a Saturday afternoon trolling your backyard with boots on & plastic bags tied to your hands. :p

It certainly could, and we use it that way for pretty much everything except biting. That gets (or got -- he's much better) a trip to the crate. But because we stay calm about it, it's not punishment as much as it is "playtime's over." The crate is a "safe place" -- he learns that he can't get in trouble there, and it gives him a minute to calm down.

Interesting, although I'm sure it's another one of those things that doesn't alway swork for every dog. Our puppy (7 mos now) responded very quickly to it, and you can see in his eyes his brain working -- "okay, what am I doing that they like? Is it this? This? Oh, Oh, its' this! Got it!" Too funny.

I take the clicker to the supper table to reinforce sitting patiently while we eat, I take it on walks to reinforce a loose leash. It's been great for us, and once you get used to it (and remember to do it), it really doesn't take any extra time or anything.

Very true. :D

That is totally opposite of what i've been always told to do with dogs. When I was at the Vets, they had a movie (or television show not sure which) but they were talking about puppies and how to train.

First of all, dogs HAVE to bite/chew. If you don't teach them when it is appropriate to do it, then it can lead to a volatile situation.

Dogs learn by playing with other dogs. So when your dog starts biting the other dogs, they will let your dog know when he's biting too hard. For people that don't have other dogs (like myself), we have to be the one to teach when a bite is too hard. You don't scold the dog, because he'll either not correlate the scolding w/ the bite or he'll learn that biting/chewing (since a lot of the time a puppy is essentially teething) is bad, and it really isn't.

So if your dog bites you too hard, you let out a yelp---one that is similar to what a puppy would do, and immediately give the dog a chew toy. This way the puppy learns that 1) biting that hard is unacceptable, 2) he'll learn what he's suppose to chew.

My suggestions:

1. Crate train. Your pup should be able to get in the crate on command. My husband and I crate my dog at dinner and when we are gone for the day. I always offer a small treat when my pup gets in...so now whenever I say crate crate...she hauls tail for her crate!

2. Take treats outside with you when you take the pup potty. As someone else mentioned, your dog should be able to go on command, because you never know when you'll be in a rush. After you dog does his business, praise like crazy and make a BIG deal about it. I still do that and my dog is 2 1/2!!

3. Set boundaries in the house. If your dog is a chewer, invest in some bitter apple and spray in areas that the dog shouldn't bother.

4. Get plenty of dog/chew toys because dogs at that age will chew!

5. Always keep clean water available and have a cutoff for the last feeding.

6. Don't give your dog any foods that will make it sick like

-Chocolate
-Onions
-Grapes
-Mushrooms
-Macadamia Nuts
-Raisins
-Garlic
-Yeast
-Sugary stuff

My dachshund puppy just turned one. I got him when he was 9 weeks old, so I've experienced all the joys and not so joys of puppyhood.

Do everything that has been suggested!!!! This is really great advice.

I keep my little dachsie in a very large crate during the day when I'm out and at night when I am sleep. This gives him a corner to sleep, one to eat and one to poop if I don't make it home in time. Now, this logic is counter to what a lot of books and people will tell you, but since I can't make it home during the middle of the day to let him out, he can get some relief if I don't make it home in my usual time.

Another point that someone mentioned is to de-flea your home. That means the dog, all carpets and the yard. DO IT!!!!!

Puppies are very playful and have lots of energy!!! No matter how tired I am and if the weather is nice I take my dog for a walk everyday in the evening and let him out in the backyard to run around for about an hour in the morning.

Oh, and take lots of pictures!! I took a picture of my dachsie the day I brought him home. He was half the size of my shoe. Now he is so much bigger.

I know -- I've been told that, too, but (1) it didn't really work for us (maybe 'cause I really can't yelp :D), and (2) our trainer, who has degrees in animal behavior and approaches everything based on research, told us to do it the way I described. They both get there, I guess, depending on the dog.