My New Puppy

[Sally Crocker]

I am the proud owner of a 12 week old Goldendoodle named Charlie. I'm also a first time pet owner at the ripe old age of 54! I've had him a week and on the whole Charlie is adjusting well. He sleeps all night in his crate without a fuss and tolerates it well during the day if I leave him for short periods to run errands. He is smart, active and very affectionate. Toileting isn't going quite as smoothly as the crate training. I take him outside to go potty every hour to hour and a half during the day and when he does go potty outside it seems more coincidental than by intent. I praise him like crazy when he does potty, but he'll still have plenty of accidents inside. I swear I watch him but that nanosecond I turn away is when he pees or poops. He young and I'm sure he'll get it eventually. My main concern is his poor eating. He weighs 7lbs and barely eats 1/4 cup of the same kibble his breeder used, three times a day. The vet suggested softening the kibble with water which I've done with mixed results. He gets excited when he sees his food but just doesn't eat it all. This morning I added a little sodium-free chicken broth to the softened kibble and he ate almost 1/3, but that's not a lot. He gets his fourth immunizations on 8/29 so if there's no improvement by then I'll ask the vet about it. He is active so maybe I'm overthinking it. Any advice?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Hi Sally, welcome to DK. You will find a lot of help here on all the issues you have raised. Join the Puppy Madness Group, the Food Group, the Training Group. Do some searches using the search box in the upper right corner of every page here. Lots of advice and help.

One thing: All commercial broths, even organic, contain onions, and onions are toxic to dogs. if you need to add broth to his food, you'll have to make your own. :) 

We have lots of advice about feeding in the Food Group, please join us. 

[Sally Crocker]

Thank you. Will do.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Regarding housebreaking, a recent discussion here has some good advice: http://www.doodlekisses.com/forum/topics/general-house-training-que...
Here's my method, which I posted in the above discussion: 

There are three parts to housebreaking: Teaching them that potty outside is correct, teaching them that potty inside is wrong, and using a good odor neutralizer specifically made for that purpose on the spots where she's made a mistake, so that she doesn't return there. I've always used Nature's Miracle. 

Just cleaning it up isn't enough; you may not be able to smell anything, but a dog's sense of smell is 5000 times stronger than ours, and trust me, she can.

In order to teach a puppy that potty inside is wrong, you must catch them in the act. Every indoor accident that you don't see is a missed teaching opportunity, and reinforces the behavior. So you must not allow her to have an opportunity to make a mistake; that means crating her when you cannot watch her closely, or tethering her to you. When you catch her about to go, or actually going, verbally correct her. You don't want to yell, and we never use words like "bad dog". Simply make a fairly loud sound "EH EH!" to startle her, and then rush her outside. If she finishes outside, throw a party. If you are consistent, it won't take long for her to catch on to "Potty inside wrong, potty outside right." 

You also want to always be outside with her so that you can reinforce the correct behavior, i.e. going outside. It also helps you keep track of her "output" and know when there may be a health issue. 

Try to always take her outside through the same door, so that once she understands what is expected, she will go sit by that door when she needs to go out.

A lot of people seem to feel that hanging bells on the door is helpful, but I have never used them and don't see the point, unless your home is so large that it's not possible to keep track of where your pup is at, lol. Bells do not teach them that pottying indoors is wrong and pottying outside is right. It just gives them a way to let you know they need to go once they are trained. You still have to train them. :) To back up what I am saying, I can tell you that I have never had a puppy who was not reliably housebroken by 14 weeks of age, and the last pup I had was fully housebroken by 11 weeks, although I can't take full credit for that because her breeder started housebreaking training before she even came home. 

It's also important to try to regulate her bowels and bladder by feeding at consistent times and sticking to a scheduled routine, even on weekends. So no free feeding, and no sleeping in on weekends. 

I hope this helps. 

Read more here: http://www.doodlekisses.com/forum/topics/general-house-training-que...

[Sally Crocker]

Thank you. I'll keep at it!

[Deanna & Desi & Cori]

Hi Sally,

I am by no means a puppy expert, but I can give you support by commiserating with you. I, too, became a first time dog mommy in my mid 50's. We got our first doodle, Sedona, in 2009. Unfortunately, she died suddenly in November of 2015. We now have Desi (boy, 21 months) and his half sister Cori (14 months). Desi was just seven months old when we brought Cori home so we were in ACTIVE puppy mode for what seemed like an eternity.

All three were/are picky eaters. With Sedona, we tried almost everything to get her to eat - including sitting by her bowl and hand feeding. Eventually, we just figured out she'd eat when she was hungry. She maintained a healthy weight and activity level. Desi and Cori eat well some days, not other days.

Our two girls were much easier to potty train than Desi. We did everything "by the book" but he continued to pee in the house. We'd keep him outside until he'd pee - often twice - and he'd come in and go one more time. Thankfully, he outgrew that behavior before Cori arrived.

Anyway, hang in there with your new baby. Love him and enjoy his puppy antics. Keep up the training and before you know it, he'll calm down and be so much easier.

[Sally Crocker]

Thank you so much. I really appreciate your words of support. Charlie is going to make a wonderful pet companion.