Puppy questions

[J]

I have a few questions and concerns regarding our 12wk old puppy. I would post in puppy madness but find few reply as compared to the entire forum.
1. She sleeps all night, getting up between 7-8,goes out, then will sleep until 9 or 10. When is wonderful because I am an insomniac. But during the day she still needs to go out every 20-30 minutes. She is in a large area in the living room with me that is not near the front door. I have to spend the time watching her and as she starts to squat or search, grab her and bring her out. How can I teach her to let me know when she needs to go out? Could I hang bells on her xpenthat she can reach and ring them when I scoop her up or is there a better method? So e times she will go to the bathroom outside, be outside for a while the come I. And promptly squat and pee. Why is this? And when should she be able to hold her urine more than 30 minutes.

2. My husband and I work at home. We have had her for 10 days and we have never left her alone. She will cry when she can't see me. I am an artist and am not ready to let her in my studio yet for safety issues but am getting nothing done in my life. How can I start training her to be alone?

3. We have 4 cats and she is the third dog. When I call one of the other animals to me she bounds over and pushes them aside so she can be next to me. I put her aside so she knows she can not be dominant , but she likes constant attention.

4. She chases after the cats so they will not come downstairs. One of the cats will play with her but she jumps on the cat and plays with her like a puppy which is natural, but the cat is a ragdoll and they are extremely docile, so I am worried about the cat.

I do have a trainer coming to the house tomorrow to start working with me. She is an extremely smart puppy, and adorable so I want to lay the groundwork now. Thanks for all your help, I know this is a long post.

[Amy, Cubbie & Ollie]

Well you are getting a good start by finding a training and realizing that training is very important so congrats on that.  The training should get you going in the right direction.  Puppies have to be taught how to behave as they aren't born knowing what is right and wrong and how they should act in your home. 

1. the potty thing.  Neither of my 2 doodles were that young when we brought them home so I don't really have much experience with the teenie tiny bladders of puppies but I know that generally puppies are supposed to be able to hold it for their age in months plus 1 hour.  so if she is almost 3 months she should be able to hold it for 4 hours but of course that is just a guideline.  Have you had her checked for a UTI?  Those can cause problems with housebreaking.  I'm sure others will have some suggestions for training her checkup comes back clean.

 

2. The crying.  Cubbie used to do that all the time when he was a puppy.  he is still a crier but not nearly as bad.  Many dogs grow out of it but some don't.  When she cries, what do you do?  do you immediately go to her or let her be?  Going to her reinforces that crying.  Are you crate training her at all?  That could help with this and the potty issues.

 

3. pushy.  Ollie is my pushy dog.  When I call Cubbie over Ollie is right there and right in the way.  It is difficult with 2 dogs so I can't imagine trying it with your clan.  lol  I guess my suggestion would be to put her in her crate when you want to give attention to the other dogs so she learns that she has to wait her turn.  Once she gets some obedience training you can use that to work on her stays.  Put her in a stay while you give attention to the others.  Then give her some attention while they others are in a stay. 

 

4. Cats.  i don't have cats so don't have much advice.  Is there a way that you can keep her out of the areas where the cats like to play?  If she can't get to them she can't pounce on them.  Or maybe supervise their play time and if she starts getting too rough remove her and stop the play so she can calm down.  She does need to learn how to interact with the cats so keeping them separate all the time might not be the best idea but hopefully others will have some suggestions.

[Amy, Cubbie & Ollie]

I just saw your picture she is a cutie.  what is her name?  We have that same toy floating around our house somewhere.

[J]

her name is Ruby Dee. I am going to call the vet now about an UTI. Thanks for thinking of that. She is crate trained, and once put in her crate at night she no longer cries. During the day she has a small expen where we keep her food and water, about the size of a big dog crate. The smaller expen is inside of the large expen area, aka our living room. We put her in the small expen and are teaching her not to cry in it. If she cries we do not take her out. When I am not in her sight line, the howling begins. The cats hung out with us in the living room until Ruby arrived. I think I will keep her on the leash for a while at night so they can come down. She is very, very smart and super cuddly. She comes when we call, plays fetch etc. I think the training is important for her this early because she is so smart! Thanks for the help.

[Pam & Trixie]

when I kennel train...If I was not watching the puppy or Interacting with her...She was in the kennel. When you take them out of the kennel the 1st thing that you need to do is bring her outside to her potty area. Praise & treat when she pottys. I actually carry my puppies outside for a while...So they did not stop on the way outside & pee in the house....
Then play time & attention...back in the kennel.

Even if she falls asleep after play time in 'her area' if she wakes up & you are not watching her...There is a good chance she will get up & pee before you even notice she is awake.
Some puppies catch on quicker then others...But they all catch on eventually

[Jen and Annie]

Hey there - Congrats on the new puppy.  The first few months are the most challenging.  This is what worked for us:

1. Puppies do have small bladders, and we found that if we didn't MAKE her hold it, she would go pee every 30 minutes too.  Our breeder had her started on paper training, which is hard because the puppy gets to go potty whenever they feel the urge.... What we did was crated her for 2 hours at a time, and as soon as we opened the crate, we picked her up and went straight outside.  When she peed outside, we threw a party like crazy telling her how good she was. Treats and praise. We tried the bells, and Annie caught on quickly that if she rang the bells she got to go outside - that is a possibility, that she'll ring the bells if she wants to go out, whether she has to pee or not.  When she wasnt in her crate, it went like this:  wake up, go outside.  just played, go outside.  ate or drank, go outside.  If you are able to catch her in the act, and bring her right outside - make sure you are praising her after she finishes outside - she will catch on that outside is the place to pee - since she doesnt get praise when she pees inside.

2. Could you bring the crate or small expen into your studio, that way she can still see you but stay out of trouble?  Annie has to be right by my side no matter where I am - for me, I love that she is so loyal, but I could see where someone could find it annoying or bothersome to never have a moment alone.  

3. I think doodles are just attention seekers.  Annie always has to be closer to me than her sister - and god forbid I am giving the other dog attention, Annie has to squeeze her way in.  I don't mind it, and the other dog doesn't mind it either - For you,  I think having the trainer come to consult will be able to help you with this. 

4. I don't have cats either, but I think animals have a way of sorting things out between themselves... If the cat that plays with her has had enough, I'm thinking she will let her know... OR will stop playing with her because she's being too rough.  OR you could only allow cat/dog playtime when you are supervising - so you can correct the puppy when she gets out of hand...

Best of luck, you're in the crazy stages right now - and it will get better... I promise.

[Veronica Z.]

Oh my goodness she is soooooo adorable! Congratulations! :)

I definitely agree about the UTI. My puppy had one and it was making housebreaking impossible and ultimately led to a bladder stone and emergency surgery. Good luck with the training!

[Oliver & Elizabeth]

Wow! This sounds a lot like my house a few months ago! Trainers are great, I liked that they kept us on track with training. By the way your puppy is so cute! Doesn't that make "tough love" even worse?! :)

1. Getting her checked out for a UTI is a great idea! Our potty training experience was very similar to what you are going through (every 30 minutes, not going outside but going inside 10 minutes later). So frustrating, but things got better and now he uses the bells! Our method: we made Oliver’s favorite treats (steak pieces) and used them exclusively for potty training, and we would take him out every hour or whenever we saw him starting to squat. We would say “go potty” and the second he went potty he would be given his favorite treat and we would go back inside immediately (no playing). If he went inside we would quietly clean it up and no treat. He learned pretty quickly because he would only get his favorite treats when he went outside, and the quicker he went the quicker he got his treat (his potty breaks now last less than a minute). While he was getting the hang of this, we incorporated the bells by touching him with the bell, opening the door to go outside, and saying “go potty.” Until he was potty trained we kept walks/play outside and bathroom breaks totally separate.
2. Oliver still whines when I leave him but it stops much quicker now. We got him used to it by putting him in a xpen with his toys and leaving him for increasingly longer amounts of time. He would cry but we just ignored it slowly it gets shorter and less frequent.
3. No experience on this, Oliver is an only dog (but has a sister cat).
4. The cat chasing and wrestling has been our most difficult issue to correct. The best method we have found is using a spray water bottle, when Oliver starts chasing the cat or jumping on her we say “no” and spray him with water (trying to not get the cat with the water is tricky LOL). It’s helping to decrease the frequency but I’m also hoping that this will improve as he gets older and less rambunctious in general.

[J]

i feel so much better after reading your responses. It seems as if we are on the right track, taking her out constantly. When I put her in her small expen (but larger than the largest crate) and work in the same room, she still cries and wants to be near. I am going to start putting her in and increase the time each session until she realizes I am here, and she is okay to play by herself....I adore her, but want to be able to leave the house without her at some point!!!! But oh, how she has captured our hearts.

[Lori, Quincy & Frankie]

When Quincy first came home, he never wanted to leave my side.  He would actually cry when I went into the shower, even though he was right outside the glass doors!  Once they steamed up and he could not see me he would cry.  I used to open the door and laugh!  eventually he stopped crying but he still comes in the BR with me, but lays there quietly waiting for me to finish and come out.  Here's a hint- I always point the blow dryer at him for just a bit-gets them used to it early.  He does not mind it all now when I give him a shower and have to try to dry his massive coat.  

sounds like you are on the right path and believe it or not, this too shall pass!  meantime enjoy your girl.  I could not find her picture (?)

[Oliver & Elizabeth]

Have you tried leaving her in the xpen with a Kong filled with food/treats? Oliver seems to miss me a lot less when he has a Kong filled with peanut butter and some crushed treats to play with! LOL

[Lori, Quincy & Frankie]

Quincy now runs to his crate whenever I hold up a Kong even though it means I am off to work and he will be crated for several hours until his walker or I come home.  gotta love those cream cheese or peanut butter kibble kong treats!