Hi all! First of all I wanted to thank everyone for contributing to this amazing forum! I found so much info here! You guys are great! Let me introduce first and then go to the problem. I have a 3 months purebreed chocolate boy Verdi which is a little demon sometimes, yet very nice and clever pup when he is in good mood I am first time dog owner and live alone. This is a super crazy month and I am not ashamed to admit that I cry a lot, swear and even find myself holding my own breath out of stress. I knew what I am committing to and would not have done it if I was not off work for few months. (And yet I should already start looking for new one, but no time...) So this is truly hard for me to cope with how much attention he needs. I would really appreciate your opinions about carrying puppy to crate and holding him until doors close. He is good to sleep there, go on cue to eat his meal, sniff around for hidden treats, etc. But only when doors are open! When he sees that it is closed, he even drops his frozen kong he loves so much. And this evening (I live in North Europe) I even wrestled with him to get him to bed. He whined and barked for like 2 min and now is snoring... He does not get a proper nap when not crated as follows me or sounds around. Neither I can do anything for myself. And he also gets super hyper when tired and wants a nap. When I leave house and place Verdi in crate for 2-3 hours, I always get a sleepy welcome. So, I assume he was sleeping more or less all the time. I noticed that this going into crate thing was not that a big problem a couple of weeks ago. I was so happy that this was so smooth and quick! Seems too early Sorry for such long read and any typos I missed (not a native English speaker), but please tell me I am not doing any harm to him by tricking him with food to go to crate or even holding him until I close the gate. Thanks!
Hi @Verdi’s mom I think you need to go back a couple of steps in the crate training. The crate should be fantastic place for the dog. And that should be true even when the door is closed. Please read the thread on this site re crate training. Or read https://thehappypuppysite.com/crate-training-a-puppy/ If you are not clear about any step in Jo Laurens' guide, then please come back and ask a specific question. We will help you.
Have you read the many crate training resources available? Here's an article I wrote - it is strongly recommended not to skip ahead, but to progress through the various stages in order: https://thehappypuppysite.com/crate-training-a-puppy/ It is especially important that you are 1) NOT moving anywhere away from the crate until he is really happy in there - you should be sitting against it, working on a laptop or iPad or reading etc 2) that you are practising this at least daily if not several times a day, until he gets used to it... You also need to train 'go in the crate' on cue, as a separate behaviour:
Thanks! It looks true that I jumped ahead... I read the article before buying puppy and now re-read. I will take steps back. He knows that he has to go to crate when I take food and show and tell him, but will also watch those videos. Yet in the meantime - what shall I do when he releases all his demons? He is tired, bites and attacks, humps his toys, pillows and runs like crazy on slippery floor... I never rush away after he is placed to crate. I mostly sit or lie down on the floor. I know I should have prepared better mentally, but you can never be prepared for what you don’t know. Being “single mom” is so tiring mentally! The only thing keeps me alive is that I believe everything will get better... And not only crate. Crate is probably second least worry of mine...
Hi @Verdi’s mom Have your puppy on a houseline when you are there able to supervise the puppy. When she goes "crazy" also called the zoomies, then quietly take the puppy to the crate. Close the door. Do not let the dog out (unless she is distressed) even if the puppy whines or barks. Give the dog some treats when she calms down. You canalso let the puppy out and play with her afer she has calmed down. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Company-An...&qid=1543845995&sr=8-2&keywords=Dog+houseline
We played sniffing game with doors open and closed in the crate and me next to it. I hid whole his meal and some cheese bits under the covers and in toys and he really liked it. Will continue with this next days. Thanks for advises and support! I am a bit worried about the houseline as he might get tangled around the furniture or just himself. He chokes on leash when outside and I still cannot go any further away from my fenced yard he is familiar with as it is super stressful. Of course, we were at vets and pet shop, at my cousin’s, but that was me always trying to hold him so that he doesn’t hurt himself out of excitement. Two millions of ‘sit’ and ‘good boy’, yet not listening.
We also have a 3 month old lab, Daisy. I've also taken time off work to be with her. Our trainer said that we should put her in the crate several times a day for alone time. She sleeps most of the time. We've been doing it now for almost 2 weeks and I feel that it's good for everyone. Hope this helps.
Say my Hi to Daisy! Well, I did not take time off to be with puppy. I was thinking of a puppy for a few months and then I was let go due to some changes in the company (I would have left it anyway as I hated the last year there). So it was “now or never” as I decided not to work at least until next year. And you probably know, you cannot buy a puppy like pair of shoes. So I patiently waited and prepared myself. I do need day time alone even in the house and Verdi also needs to nap undisturbed. Today he was amazing the second half of the day. Maybe snow fight really tired him. And that sniffing game! I even forgive the pile next to the door. I was myself in bathroom... He does it quite often. I go - he goes! Ah, kids
Lol, sounds like you're having lots of fun. I think you're doing a great job with him. I sometimes read the posts from other who have 5-6 month old pups. Amazing how much they improve and settle down. We'll get there too.
You attach the houseline to a harness. The dog cannot choke himself. It reads as if you are using a collar outside. Use the harness outside as well. Choking issue is thereby avoided. Do not allow your dog to pull you. Stand still if your puppy pulls. Reward the dog when she turns back to you and stops pulling.
I was told by both - dog trainer and vet not to use harness until the dog is fully grown as it may deform the skeleton.
Hi @verdi's mom I have never heard of or read about such an extraordinary claim. To be sure, don't use a harness when it changes your puppy's gait. But the answer there is find a harness that does not change the puppy's gait. Not to give up on the harness. Can you ask your trainer and vet to produce evidence of such a claim? Leaving that to one side, using a collar on a puppy who pulls can damage the dog's neck. And if you are choking the puppy he is not learning to walk on a loose lead. So what are your going to do about teaching your puppy to walk without pulling? All you are left with is teaching the dog to walk properly without any lead at all. You will have to do that in a fenced off area or inside your home. Here's the first installment on heeling. Let your puppy know you have a treat. Don't say anything to the puppy. Start walking in a large circle clockwise. If and when your puppy comes close to your left side say 2 metres, mark the behaviour with Yes (I think in your case it might be sì ) and give the puppy a treat. Rinse and repeat 3 or 4 times. At the next training session start walking again in a large circle. This time, only mark with yes if the dog comes closer to your left left, say 1.5 metres. Then treat. Gradually over the course of the training sessions require the dog to come closer and closer before you say Yes and treat. Ultimately the dog should be left leg (10 cms) before you say yes and treat. When you get to that stage send me another message and I'll write out the next installment. Let's put the heeling to one side. There is one thing that also needs to be addressed. You have to socialise your young puppy to new situations in such a way that the puppy feels comfortable about new things. The socialisation period closes at about the week 16. You can carry your puppy around to this but for some things it would be easier if your puppy was on a harness.
Thanks @Michael A Brooks! Trainer is coming over on Thursday and I will discuss all these matters with him. He is a reputable one and the school is using only positive methods. He was very vocal about socializing puppy and I know I did not do my best. My friends with kids are not willing to come over as they are afraid that puppy will scare hell out of them and traumatize for whole life if he scratches or nips them (true words). Others say they have too much stuff at home to hide from dog to let us in. Even my parents! Yesterday I had to negotiate Christmas at our country house and that I will take puppy gates and everything else with me. Verdi had his final shots last week and I was trully afraid to let him on the ground anywhere outside my yard as we have dogs and cats running free. And who knows how healthy are they. Small wild animals like hares, weasels and foxes also show up in the suburbs I live. I will let you know how we progress! It is so good to have all this support from you guys!
Hi @Verdi’s mom I will be interested in what your trainer suggests. Socialisation does not necessarily mean meeing people, although that would be highly useful. It could mean going to a park with a road on the boundary and watching bicycles, motor bikes and cars passing by.
Well, I call these 'puppy zoomies' and it tends to happen in the evenings. When your puppy is in this state, he cannot think or use his brain properly - so giving him cues (like Sit etc), tends not to work because he can't focus and is over-excited. Saying 'Ow' when he bites in this state of mind, will have no effect - because he can't process your response and adjust what he's doing. It's not that he is being bad, his brain is just overwhelmed. So it's really about management - but the good news is that he will grow out of this to a large extent. (Some older dogs still do it a bit, but it's much more manageable.) What to do? You can either get a really huge child's toy - bigger than the puppy - and just let him go crazy playing with that - sometimes a cushion works equally well. The point is - make the toy so large that he is not going to bite your hands or you, the whole world is the toy... Secondly, if it is too much and you want him to calm down, then take a frozen Kong from the freezer (you should always have a supply in there) and give him a Kong in his crate. Licking is a calming behaviour and he will soon calm down licking the Kong, and by the time you let him out, he will be in a very different mood... Humping is perfectly normal, I wouldn't be worried at all about that. But equally, don't laugh at it and smile and make a 'thing' about it, because that can be quite reinforcing for a dog and you can inadvertently teach them to hump more, for your attention! Just ignore it and if it becomes something he does too frequently or too much, then just distract him onto a tuggy or a toy. With the slippery floor, you need to be careful of that because his joints are still developing and ideally he needs to have traction under foot and not have his legs sliding away from under him. This is bad for his hip joints in particular. You can buy some more mats or rugs for the house, and you can also buy vet bed which has a grippy rubber backing to it, so it will stick to the floor - the vet bed will be much cheaper than rugs and is also washable so if he toilets on it by accident or pukes, you can put it in the washing machine! He should only be wearing the house line when you are supervising him, never when alone. Remove it when he is in his crate. Because the line ends in a blunt end, rather than a handle, it doesn't get snagged on things and tends to pull free. If not, you can untangle it. A house line is a fantastic tool for puppy - it helps with toilet training because you can just grab it and lead the pup outside - and it helps with interrupting unwanted behaviours without having to grab the actual body of the puppy (often leading to hand shyness or reactivity towards people reaching for the dog and physically making the dog move). Michael is totally right that a harness is the BEST option for a dog. Harnesses do NOT affect the body or skeleton of the dog - IF they are well-fitted harnesses which allow full freedom of motion. Unfortunately there are some 'stop pull' harnesses which function by affecting the way the dog can move legs or by riding up under the front legs/armpits - these are not recommended and may well affect the dog's movement. The brands of harness I'd recommend for a little pup would be: Perfect Fit: https://www.dog-games-shop.co.uk Haqihana (these are made in Italy and are recommended by Turid Rugaas - do a google search for them - I especially like the multi-coloured one, it looks like some designer Paul Smith piece!!). The Haqihana doesn't have a front-fastening attachment, only a back - but for a pup, that is probably fine (since he isn't strong enough to pull you over yet!). I'd recommend the Haqihana over the Perfect Fit for a puppy, just because they are more expandable/adjustable for a growing pup. If you then need more control when your puppy is a bit older and you find he is too 'strong' in the Haqihana, try the Perfect Fit. Spend some time every day practising loose-lead walking. Emily Larlham (kikopup) has a fantastic online loose-lead walking course with lots of videos to follow, here: https://dogmantics.com/loose-leash/
