Labradoodle & Goldendoodle Forum
Our new puppy! Pics, description, suggestions?
Jordan and I finally picked-up Wrigley on Wednesday and I thought I would officially say hello to everyone in the Puppy Madness group and just share a little of our experiences with the first four days of our nine-week-old puppy, and solicit some training suggestions !
The first couple of days he wasn't very food motivated, and didn't take to his kongs really. Now, he likes them better, but still prefers his bully sticks which he can chew all day long. Wrigley hasn't exactly taken to his crate as well as we'd like, but he explores it a little during the day and after a little while at night he'll stop yelping. In the last two days he's gotten a lot better with this and settles down within about 5 minutes. He gets up just once at night to go potty, and after two days he started getting house trained once I gave him a liver treat when he went outside (but I think he forgets sometimes to go outside). We're house training with the bells, and he's starting to get that if he rings the bells, he gets to go outside! Really, house training is going so much better than we had expected, as Wrigley will go to the door or whimper or sniff around if he has to go and when we whisk him out he goes on command!
We're wondering if he's maybe starting to teethe already or if it's just puppy curiosity, but he likes to bite and chew everything! Electrical cords, cardboard boxes, wall sockets, jeans, the sofa and pillows. We're pretty good about giving him his bully stick or other toy instead, but he still loves getting his mouth around anything, which is dangerous! His bite inhibition is very good in that he doesn't hurt when he bites (and he loves chomping on my hands and arms), but he does bite a lot which I know we need to work on. He also realizes he's a pretty big pup already (16 pounds!), and jumps up to try to get on the sofa and bed. Any thoughts for minimizing biting (especially electrical cords!) and for not having him jump up? The couple times he's jumped up on Jordan or me we've "become trees" and ignored him, and that's worked pretty fast. As for jumping on sofas, coffee table, bed, we're less sure what can discourage this. The silly boy also likes to rest underneath our tables, chairs, and sofas!
In the mornings his energy level is sky high, and we play with him in our apartment to get some of it out. We've also taken to taking him out around our urban neighborhood in a canvas tote in the mornings for breakfast or to run a little errand so he can meet people. This seems to tire him out mentally and in the afternoon he is a sleepy puppy and lounges around while Jordan works (one or both of us have always been at home). He's also hung out and played with the DirectTV installation man and the UPS guy this week. In the evenings we also take him out in the canvas bag, and last night went to a restaurant with outdoor seating and had him hang out on a blanket with his bully stick while we ate dinner. We didn't think we'd be able to do that for weeks! His energy level at night is also very high, which makes the transition to bedtime a little difficult. He's meeting new people outside and inside our apartment, and seems to like everyone he meets! However, the one time we left him in his crate alone for about 10 minutes while we went out for a nearby errand he yelped and cried almost the entire time! I gave him a special treat for the crate, but this didn't seem to work. Any suggestions? He hasn't gotten to play with any other dogs yet, but we're hoping to start him at puppy kindergarten once he's had all the shots he needs.
As for food, we're weaning him off the Iams that the breeder was feeding, and are trying Natural Balance Instinct, some raw Natural Balance medallions, and TOTW bison & venison to see what he likes. Didn't really take to the raw medallions when they were still cold, but when they got to room temperature he seemed more interested, but still not crazy. So far, he's not food crazy and leaves Jordan and me alone when we eat our food...although he's already figured out where in the kitchen his food is kept! The breeder was doing free feeding, and we've kept that up for now. It doesn't seem to be causing problems with house training or with over-eating, which is nice.
We figure we're doing an OK job, but would love any suggestions for the problems we've been having and for anything that we're forgetting!
The first couple of days he wasn't very food motivated, and didn't take to his kongs really. Now, he likes them better, but still prefers his bully sticks which he can chew all day long. Wrigley hasn't exactly taken to his crate as well as we'd like, but he explores it a little during the day and after a little while at night he'll stop yelping. In the last two days he's gotten a lot better with this and settles down within about 5 minutes. He gets up just once at night to go potty, and after two days he started getting house trained once I gave him a liver treat when he went outside (but I think he forgets sometimes to go outside). We're house training with the bells, and he's starting to get that if he rings the bells, he gets to go outside! Really, house training is going so much better than we had expected, as Wrigley will go to the door or whimper or sniff around if he has to go and when we whisk him out he goes on command!
We're wondering if he's maybe starting to teethe already or if it's just puppy curiosity, but he likes to bite and chew everything! Electrical cords, cardboard boxes, wall sockets, jeans, the sofa and pillows. We're pretty good about giving him his bully stick or other toy instead, but he still loves getting his mouth around anything, which is dangerous! His bite inhibition is very good in that he doesn't hurt when he bites (and he loves chomping on my hands and arms), but he does bite a lot which I know we need to work on. He also realizes he's a pretty big pup already (16 pounds!), and jumps up to try to get on the sofa and bed. Any thoughts for minimizing biting (especially electrical cords!) and for not having him jump up? The couple times he's jumped up on Jordan or me we've "become trees" and ignored him, and that's worked pretty fast. As for jumping on sofas, coffee table, bed, we're less sure what can discourage this. The silly boy also likes to rest underneath our tables, chairs, and sofas!
In the mornings his energy level is sky high, and we play with him in our apartment to get some of it out. We've also taken to taking him out around our urban neighborhood in a canvas tote in the mornings for breakfast or to run a little errand so he can meet people. This seems to tire him out mentally and in the afternoon he is a sleepy puppy and lounges around while Jordan works (one or both of us have always been at home). He's also hung out and played with the DirectTV installation man and the UPS guy this week. In the evenings we also take him out in the canvas bag, and last night went to a restaurant with outdoor seating and had him hang out on a blanket with his bully stick while we ate dinner. We didn't think we'd be able to do that for weeks! His energy level at night is also very high, which makes the transition to bedtime a little difficult. He's meeting new people outside and inside our apartment, and seems to like everyone he meets! However, the one time we left him in his crate alone for about 10 minutes while we went out for a nearby errand he yelped and cried almost the entire time! I gave him a special treat for the crate, but this didn't seem to work. Any suggestions? He hasn't gotten to play with any other dogs yet, but we're hoping to start him at puppy kindergarten once he's had all the shots he needs.
As for food, we're weaning him off the Iams that the breeder was feeding, and are trying Natural Balance Instinct, some raw Natural Balance medallions, and TOTW bison & venison to see what he likes. Didn't really take to the raw medallions when they were still cold, but when they got to room temperature he seemed more interested, but still not crazy. So far, he's not food crazy and leaves Jordan and me alone when we eat our food...although he's already figured out where in the kitchen his food is kept! The breeder was doing free feeding, and we've kept that up for now. It doesn't seem to be causing problems with house training or with over-eating, which is nice.
We figure we're doing an OK job, but would love any suggestions for the problems we've been having and for anything that we're forgetting!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by nonnie browne on
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Congrats on the baby. Sounds like you are doing everything right. Just like human infants, I used distraction away from cords and stuff until the mouthing behavior shifts. The word "no" is overused in my opinion and begins to be ignored. Real heavy dutry teeting isnt for a few more weeks, this is just like an infant who puts everything in their mouth to check it out.
I read somewhere that using a shoulder to "body block" while not making any eye contact, is effective for jumpers and pawing when you are sitting or eating or whatever. This worked for us very well and at six months, buddy only comes up when invited. The article I read said that the body blocking or "shoving them away without eye contact" was what mom would do which is a message to them - I dont have time for you right now and you are annoying.
In general, I also found that a growl that I now reflexively make, is more effective for buddy than no. Now that he has learned "leave it', we use that but I still growl once in a while and he knows exactly what that means.
Have fun! -
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Permalink Reply by Jackie on
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Congrats. What a cutie. I used a spray called Bitter Apple that I got at Petsmart. You spray it on things you don't want them to bite. It worked with Beckett. We also trained him to ring the bells to go out and I really think it helped get him housebroken. (he never had an accident in the house after a month...he was about 3 months old) Beckett took alittle while to get used to the crate too. He never really took to it. He hasn't gone in it for quite awhile ! He's a year old now. It sounds like you're doing everything right. And things are going well. So keep up the good work.
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Permalink Reply by Adina P on
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When puppy tries to jump on furniture, what I would do is just body block him or gently bump him off.
If you keep a light leash on him (something cheap you don't mind cutting the handle off of..so it doesn't get caught on things) then you can use the leash to tug him off (assuming he's not ON the furniture...only has his paws up on it).
Repeat, repeat, repeat and he will get the message over time. But he's young, short puppy attention span and will need lots of repetition..i.e. consistency. -
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Permalink Reply by Doodle Kisses on
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Check out Crate Games posted by one of our members. I think the link is in the Reviews section of our site. Do a search on the Reviews page for 'crate' and see if it comes up. Looks like a great way to get a dog to love the crate.
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