Puppy daycare, pawling water, biting leash

[Mike n Mandy]

Hello everyone,

I haven't posted much lately as Remmy has been keeping us busy. He's growing up so fast and is already 5 months old
! It has been a ton of work, but it has been so so worth it, we love the little guy! His personality is really starting to come through and he is such a goofball. We had a few questions and wanted to see if anyone had any suggestions.

1) We were thinking about sending him to a doggie daycare around here. There is one specifically that has wonderful reviews and we hear great things about from people here at the apartment. We were thinking about sending him only a few days a week, maybe 1-3 tops. Does anyone else use daycare? How often do you send them?

2)His new thing is to go to his water bowl and paw out all of his water. Splash around a little bit. It's cute as heck, but makes a mess. Any idea how to put an end to that? (as funny as it is)

3)On some walks, mostly when he's outside to play, he bites his leash. It's not a huge concern because he only does it maybe once a day (and we walk him probably 6 or 7 times a day) and is only when he doesnt really have to pee, just wants to play. Have you encountered this? How do you get it to stop? He is losing most of his teeth right now, so we're hoping that that may be a partial cause.

He's a cutey though! We love that the weather is finally starting to turn!

[Judith and Addie]

He is a real cutie and looks like a love bug!

Just a couple answers.
I do use puppy (or doggy) day care, usually about once a week now, and have since Addie was a puppy- she is 15 month old now. I use it for a few reasons: socialization; someplace for her when I have a lot to do and can't be home for several hours (like half a day or more); since where I take her also boards, someplace with which she is familiar in case I need to board her.

Leash biting is very common in puppies, especially when they want to play, want attention, etc. on a walk. You will find discussions on here about it. There is a spray you can use on the leash as a deterrent, although it doesn't work for all pups. You can also not move forward while Remmy is chewing (and with mine she started to tug of war with it) on the leash. Another trick if Remmy gets persistent about chewing the leash and not walking is to put the leash on the ground with enough room for him to stand, and step on the leash until he settles down. Maybe he is chewing because he is loosing his puppy teeth but there is a good chance that as he is getting more independent, this is one of the things he is doing .

The water bowl thing,I have absolutely no idea.

BTW, about leashes and dogs that chew, you might think about a Lupine leash if you haven't already since they will replace a damaged leash free (keep receipt).

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

We use puppy daycare occasionally. Enzo comes home exhausted, and "slimmed". Great opportunity to socialize in a controlled environment. Just make sure he has his Bordetella Vac.
You may eliminate the puppy splashing with a raised water bowl. It worked with Enzo
Biting the leash is common. A " leave it" command should be enforced.
PS. Remy is adorable!

[Paige and Leo]

How cute! Leo is 11 months old and we have use daycare once a week.  I found one that I like and he likes with a few dogs in his group.  He started going around 5 or 6 months old.  Leo loves the water bowl and puts his paws in it.  So I understand that.  We did a raised bowl for feeding and water.  We used "leave it" for the leash biting. He doesn't do that much any more.  If he is sooo excited he will do it for a little bit but stops after we say leave it. He sits and does the look at me command. Then we go.  Remmy sounds a lot like Leo at that age. :) 

[Laura and Angus]

Remmy is adorable! Looks like a fuzzy bear.

In answer to your questions:

1. We started doggie daycare around 6 months old and it has been a godsend for us. Angus LOVES it. He currently goes 2-3 days a week and is so happy going in and coming out. Granted he's always happy, but still. We loves that he gets some supervised social time and we also love that he comes home exhausted and happy.

2. We don't have the water pawing, but I think the idea of raised dishes is a great one. We also implemented the use of a spray bottle or an air spray that really helped Angus understand what is not appropriate. Water spray did not help us, but getting an air spray canister (it sprays a puff of air - Pet Convincer II) made a world of difference. When he would grab our hands or clothes or bark after the 'quiet' command we would say "No!" and spray a puff of air toward his back hips. It makes a hiss sound that he does not like and that really made a big difference. Now when we say "No" he understands that we want him to stop. Of course, your pup might be fine with just a forceful 'No,' but our pup is a very hyper, strong-willed pupper.

3. The leash biting was a big issue for us when Angus was younger. This lessened significantly as we started training and after he was neutered. But I agree with Judith that you definitely want to stop where you are and correct for the biting. The 'leave it' command had been really really important around our house. I would work on that constantly while Remmy is his current age. The stepping on the leash trick also worked wonders. If you give them only 6 in or so by stepping on the lease, it's uncomfortable for them to stand and eventually they will lay down. We would wait until Angus was more calm and then continue walking. It did not take long doing that before he would stop grabbing the leash altogether.

Good luck! Keep working with Remmy and your hard work will pay off. Of course we're still working with Angus all the time, but we've seen such changes in his behaviors. Positive reinforcement for expected behaviors and correcting inappropriate behaviors is the way to go!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

1) I don't do doggy daycare, but many do.

2) We use a travel bowl because Ned and our Springer still dance in a regular one.

3) To curb the leash biting, you can purchase a chain leash with a leather handle. They won't want to bite the chain. Once the habit is broken, you can go back to your usual leash.

[Rhoda and Asta]

He is a cutie pie.  Asta is 4 mos and he I s starting  to chew is leash also.  We are getting lots of practice with the leave it command.  If he doesn't heed the command,  then I stop and have him sit until he calms down.  He usually drops the leash at that point.  

[Mike n Mandy]

Thanks for the reply's everyone! We're going to start sending him to a puppy/doggy daycare once a week, on Wednesdays, to help break up the week. He loves to play in the park with all of the other dogs here, so we're sure he's going to like the daycare. Plus, it will make us feel better that he's able to get some supervised playtime during the day while I'm at work. (though I do come home everyday for an hour at lunch....the perks of working only a couple minutes away)

We'll also try a raised bowl for the water pawing.

As for the leash, I love the metal leader for the leash idea as well as the air canister. He would love if we sprayed him with water haha and we've already been trying to tethering of the leash until he calms down...to no avail. 

He's a lot of work, but we love him. Putting the work in now makes for a much better dog later. We know and understand that, and appreciate all of your input. All of your doods are so cute!

Thanks again!

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

We bought one of the slow feed bowls meant for slowing down their eating.  It has several raised areas in the bowl.  This stopped the digging in the water bowl.  Our Sophie was the digger.  Once we got this she stopped an after a little while we went back to a regular bowl with no issues.

[Theresa and Doodle Dagny]

So adorable!  He looks just like Dagny who also used to be a horrendous water bowl "pawer" :)

We just had to keep the bowls up until she got a little older, or fill only what he will drink at once and then leave it sit dry until he lets you know when he needs more (or at least Dagny let us know) and eventually he'll grow out of the urge I think.  It's funny that I'm just seeing this question today, because Dagny hasn't dug out her water bowl for at least a couple of months until just last night!  She was having a major puppy fit and went to town on the bowl, lol. So, bowl went up - back down this morning and haven't had any issues today at all. 

[Jessica, Loki and Moose]

I take Loki to daycare once a week, usually Wednesday or Thursday, I agree with the elevated feeding I actually read in an article that dogs should eat/drink at a height six inches below the top of their shoulders... Not sure if that's correct or not it seems high to me but Loki doesn't seem to care. I sprayed bitter apple spray on the leash when he was leash biting a lot and that seemed to help out! Remy is super cute by the way!

[Gracie, Jade, & Barkley]

He is a cutie!
Gracie pawed her water dish. We changed it to a smaller dish and now she can't do it.
Before we would take it away after she was done drinking and would start pawing. I think they must just like to play in th water. :)