Yes I have been keeping him on a lead until he calms down, but once off he will still run up to my niece and nephew who then of course shriek and that riles him up. Glad you are taking the time to crate her and have some time, even if its just for a cuppa! It is so important to get a break. Have you left her alone yet so you can go out and get some proper space? The loose lead training translating to the great outdoors worked for me at the weekend to an extent. He still pulled a bit to sniff stuff, but i was able to correct him or i just stood still until he turned to me. Every time he walked nicely i gave him a bit of cheese. Bribery! I completely feel you re. the loss of freedom. I feel this BIG right now. Puppies are a massive tie and I do find myself wishing he was an adult dog already! :/
Sounds like your leash walking is going really well! we tried crating and training to be left alone, but I couldnt take the crying... we leave her in her pen where her crate is for short periods (like if we need to do kitchen things, bathroom, getting dressed) but there is usually someone else around and she’s never in there for long, probably 5 mins or so. I am waiting for the fallow straps (the softer part of the deer antler) to arrive (she loved the deer antler we gave her but probably too hard for teething pup) I am hoping to use that as a crate only chew so that we can start leaving her for longer and longer periods. We wouldn’t leave her home alone with the fallow strap, it we would use it as a training tool and eventually she can have them at any time of the day. we found that a kong would only keep her happy for 5 minutes before she realised she was in her crate and we weren’t around. We followed the happy puppy instructions, we gradually increased times, we even used our devices to video her while we were outside. We just don’t know if we should be leaving her to cry it out, we worry that it may traumatise her and we have more difficulty training. This is certainly a training area we may need outside help and reassurance with. We would only leave her alone if she is I. Her crate as we don’t trust her in her pen alone (if we are away from the house) and certainly can’t be trusted in the main living area which is her area too. At only 4 months this is to be expected! have you left your pup alone yet? How did you go?
Oh I’ve not heard of the fallow strap! Will have to look that up! Yes we’ve left him alone a few times now. He just sleeps in his crate. We even went out for dinner last weekend and it was amazing. We just make sure he’s been exercised, fed and has been to the toilet. We haven’t left for longer than 2 hours, but each time he’s been totally fine. Maybe you could try a good walk or play session first so she’s tired out?
Wow! Out for dinner! A dream! How did you go about training pup to be alone? Did you follow any steps/instructions etc? Did pup cry much? Did you video stream to see what happened when you were away?
We started off easy, like just leaving the room and coming back, treating him if he was quiet. The first time we left the house it was just for 15 mins to collect a take away and he did cry when we left but was fine when we got back. The next time we did just under an hour when we knew he was tired and he was fine. We have an Amazon echo and can drop in and see him via that. He is usually always fast asleep! We also make a habit of leaving the room randomly throughout the day so he gets used to us coming and going. We do this even when he’s not in his crate and he usually sits at the door waiting for us. We don’t do this for longer than 5/10 mins though just in case!
awesome! We started off doing the same as you, leaving the room for short periods while she is in crate. Treating when quiet. So that’s reassuring. we also leave her in her pen for short periods during the day with a snuffle mat or treat dispensing toy etc. to go to the bathroom, get dressed and other shorts jobs. She is getting better at waiting quietly for us. the fallow strap arrived today so I will trial that in her crate after our walk, just to give her alone time while I’m in and out of the room (we have open plan living, kitchen and dining but her pen is out of sight from parts of the kitchen and dining.) I’ll see how she goes with this and do short spurts in the crate with it during the day and just focus on this for a while. I might throw a kong in there to mix things up too. we have school holidays in four weeks time when my husband will be home each day with the kids, so we might amp the training g up a little then and aim to leave the house for short periods - much like you have done. our day care lady said she should be fine and that it’s ok to ignore her for short periods in the pen/crate as she needs to learn this. we’ll see how we go!! the Amazon echo sounds good. Hmm, maybe I need a different set up here...
Sounds like you are doing all the right things. Everything i've read says "they'll be fine" and they probably will. I get the worry though. My guy was fighting his nap yesterday afternoon and started to chew his bed which he's never done before, but he fell asleep after 5 mins lol. I do think 5 minutes feels like an hour with pups when they are whining or up to no good! Keep us updated on you get on
Well, here’s an update sooner than you would have thought! this morning pups woke up at 5:20am as opposed to her usual 6am - 6:15am wake up. We laid there for a bit while she whined, assuming she would go back to sleep... well bad choice on our part - my husband got up and found that she had unfortunately pooped and wee’d in her crate for the first time ever! At four months old I guess we are pretty lucky. She had what my husband calls the “zippy-zooms” (diarrhea) so we were cleaning and letting her in and out for the most part of the early morning, then she slept on the couch while we ate brekky and had her brekky at 7:30am. Bit of a different morning, so wasn’t sure about crate training. I took her for a short walk after school drop off, then tried crate training with the fallow strap and treats. She wasn’t as into the fallow strap for as long as I had hoped, and over a 15-20 period I dropped treats in when quiet, popped in and out of the room frequently. She did ok all things considered. So I will try another short stint with a stuffed kong later today. Maybe aiming to do this twice more today. I figure shorter more frequent sessions would be better - much like our “stay” training that we are doing at the moment. anyway, wish me luck! (And I hope her bedding dries quickly!) (I think I’ll try the kong in the next session and leave her unattended until she whines - I’ll wait until she stops then drop treats in and walk away and continue this for 10 - 15 minutes depending on how I sense she is going.)
Here’s a second u Here’s a second update for the day! we did a second crate training session with a kong. Pretty much went the same way as earlier. She didn’t finish the kong so we left it in her crate. later in the afternoon I put her in her pen with a puzzle toy (so good - Nina Ottosson, look them up - great for her mind training) then I looked around and she put herself in the crate and finished the kong! I shut the gate and she spent about 10 minutes or so in there until she finished it! right now she is working on her second kong in her pen by herself! (All part of her daily food allowance) anyway, I couldn’t be happier about day 1 of re visiting her crate training
Hi Gertigoo, Nice to hear from you. We are finally having success with the loose lead walking. I made some special liver cake (disgusting) which cuts down to little cubes. She has this only for heel work. We use a clicker and reward a loose lead and the eye contact as it says in Pippas book. She was always good at this in the garden but rubbish outside. In a week we have gone from mad pulling to lovely walking down to the end of the road and back, around 400 yards. We will introduce distractions soon. Liver cake recipe from Google. We use her collar for heel walking and harness when we go for 'proper' walks so she gets the idea they are not connected atm. Eventually we will combine the two. Not sure if this would have worked if we had done it sooner, I can only manage to concentrate on a few behaviours at once. Best of luck xx
RE liver treats I used this recipe but put oat flour instead of wheat. I think any flour will do. https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/265868/homemade-dog-liver-bites/
I have 5 month old Yellow Lab. We brought him home when he was 8 weeks old. Took him only one week to toilet train, no accidents since. My wife was always home for first 4 weeks that helped a lot. Biting stopped at 9-10 weeks and from day one we trained him not to bite, jump or pull clothes. We have 2 kids 5 and 3 year old, we also trained him not to chase them. I think the best way is to start training them from the first minute you bring the puppy home. The Only issue that he pulls when he sees dogs outside and we currently working on it. Good luck guys
Hi. How did you go about training not to jump? I have tried to tell people to ignore him if he jumps, but of course NOBODY listens cos a puppy is irresistible.
[QUOTE="I have 5 month old Yellow Lab. We brought him home when he was 8 weeks old. Took him only one week to toilet train, no accidents since. My wife was always home for first 4 weeks that helped a lot. Biting stopped at 9-10 weeks and from day one we trained him not to bite, jump or pull clothes. We have 2 kids 5 and 3 year old, we also trained him not to chase them. I think the best way is to start training them from the first minute you bring the puppy home. The Only issue that he pulls when he sees dogs outside and we currently worktime on it. Good luck guys[/QUOTE] Hi, do you have a shorthaired lablador? How long did it take you to toilet train your dog?
Hi. My Mac is 12 weeks and let's get the bad news over with first, he still bites and jumps and I am struggling with that. Now for the positives . Mac took to crate training and often decides for himself that it is time for a nap. I put his food bowl into the crate and sometimes I drop treats into the crate to let him have fun finding them. Also toilet training has been very good. The weather helps because the back door is always open . Training is easier than I expected. Sit stay etc. Walking with him has been good so far and there are many times each day when he makes me laugh. A work in progress. Jumping and biting gets you down but it's part of the job apparently
I’m glad I’m not the only one. Your post resonated with me. I am a single girl with a 10 week old lab and I work from home full time. Her potty training is going well, for the most part she naps in her playpen snd lives her night time crate. I’m struggling with the biting snd fur some reason I feel like my life is falling apart. I haven’t left her alone yet in 3 weeks - I’ve been taking her with snd doing curbside picks or taking her in Lowe’s or Home Depot with me. My house is a disaster snd I feel like I can’t clean it, do laundry, shower, etc I don’t know why. Just overwhelmed I guess snd hoping in a week or two I feel more grounded. I’m exhausted most of the time. I guess getting a puppy at 52 years old I underestimated the amount of energy it takes! I’m looking forward to 16 weeks when I can bring her to doggy daycare snd have a Saturday to myself for 8 hours! Is that aweful?
Sounds like my Sophie! She doesn’t retain interest in any toy (I’ve tried 30!) and she’s good motivated so training inside is good, but once we get in the yard it’s like I don’t exist And she’s into eating everything, leash pulling, choking herself, nothing I do works. I have to pick her up to go back inside and she’s not fond of that so I’m hoping I’m not making her fearful of me. But if I don’t pick her up, she’d eat bad stuff.
