Hi there, I'm new and have a few questions. We have a 12 week old female black lab puppy. She is our first pet. We're feeling a bit overwhelmed with all that goes with a new puppy as there is so much more to it than my husband and I expected. We also have 4 children so its a busy household. We are using the crate for night time and for the most part she is happy enough in there but there's no consistency to how long she will sleep. We put her in around 11 and some nights she has gone till 6/6.15. Last night she woke at 4.30 so I brought her out, she did a pee straightaway and I put her back in the crate and sat in the chair beside her as she was giving out a little. I sat there for about 15, all was quiet but when I headed upstairs she started again so I tried to take her out to check for toilet again but she wouldn't go out. She then proceeded to chew in a mat for a few minutes but then went on lay on a cushion on the ground, ready for sleep. I lifted her back into the crate, stayed a few more minutes and left. She slept then for about another hour. I don't like hearing her whine in case she genuinely needs the toilet but also don't want to be giving her bad habits. We have her 3 weeks now and while there's definitely improvement in her sleep, we're knackered! She is a lovely girl and fairly calm most of the time. We're working on training but worrying we're doing it all wrong. She will sit almost always, stay and down sometimes. She can have a crazy half hour too nipping, barking etc. She also eats her poo a lot. I'm fairly vigilant but she can turn around and eat it the minute she's done it. I leave the crate open during the day and she goes in and out but also naps anywhere she fancies too which I don't mind. I had to leave her home alone last week twice with the longest time being 1.5 hours. She whimpered a bit and was ok, I texted my neighbour and she said all was quiet. Anyways, sorry for that essay but if anyone has any relevant advice, id really appreciate it. Thanks.
Hi there! My Sophie is 12 weeks going on 13 weeks and I got her ay 7 weeks. What I did was start keeping a checklist of when she pooped and peed to determine her habits. I soon realized that unlike most puppies, Sophie never had to poop immediately after eating, she usually poops about 8 hours later. What I did for night time was set a timer for how long I thought she could hold her bladder for the first 2 weeks - we went to bed at 9, and I set alarms for midnight, 3 am and 6 am. When that was working, I slowly changed the duration. Now she only goes out once during the night and it's at midnight. From midnight on she can last until 6 am now. and when she does need to go, she whimpers. Once you learn her "habits" it makes ia a bit easier to decipher the "I have to go potty" cry from the baby whimpers. I've learned the sounds are different and can tell when she really needs to go out. I was like you at first and took her out a lot because I was unsure. Hang in there, it gets better. Sophie was potty trained in 2 weeks but her biting is another story and making me really sad and depressed. Its getting worse instead of better and like you, I fear I've started on the wrong foot with her by maybe doing training wrong, and I feel like now I've created a beast that I need to retrain. I have enlisted a professional. I'm a single fur mom with a full time job and a side business and I'm struggling to keep it all together without professional help for her. Hang in there though, potty training takes time but it will happen.
Thanks for your reply. We're trying harder with the house training this week as all along we've more or less had the back door open and she goes in and out and we praise her when she goes outside. That said, she has done a poo inside already this morning....! She is nipping a lot more the last few days too which scares my 8 year old daughter. If it gets too much we put her out and close the door. She slept till 5am this morning but it was 5.45 yesterday but 2 days in a row of sleeping through is OK and hopefully in time she will sleep till 6/6.30 am. We're in the process of changing her food as she seemed to be pooing an awful lot on the last one she was on so hopefully that will make some difference. Are you using a crate for Sophie? I have Bonnie in one at night but I leave her free rein during the day. I'm letting her home alone today for a few hours and hoping it will go OK. I had to leave her a few times last week but I have to say I was a bit nervous. Having a puppy is so much harder than I thought but I'm sure in time these early days will be a distant memory.
I have Sophie in a crate at night and during the day, I work from home but she is into too many things so I setup a large playpen with a bed and toys in my living room. She spends most of the day in there aside from short pee/train/play breaks every 2-3 hours, and a longer one at lunch and dinner. She is in a very aggressive biting stage right now so when she bites less, I let her out more, but if she starts biting or acting crazy, she goes back in. I don't use the crate for her time outs because the crate at night is the one thing that's going very well. In fact, last night she vomited from eating something outside I think and I had to clean it up at 1 am. I was so tired that when I put her back in the crate after I cleaned it, I accidentally left the door unlocked all night and she didn't even try to get out! If I left her loose though she would damage too many things with the chewing or hurt herself. Someday. I found a wonderful trainer who is coming over Thursday to work on my with the biting. She thinks I'm not using correct communication styles with Sophie and she's confused or afraid and that's why she's biting me more. So fingers crossed!! I had crying meltdown yesterday as she bit me hard pretty much every time I let her out of the playpen! rough day but I love her so much and this site has really helped me keep my sanity knowing it will get better with effort and time. Hopefully your potty training will get better very soon!
I'm having a bad day today too. Puppy blues are very real. I'm a stay at home parent and between 4 kids home for the summer and the puppy I feel like I'm losing my mind at times.
Hang in there. I learned it's a day to day thing. This morning she bit me on the leg as soon as I let her out of her crate for the morning but since then she's been a sweet angel. Yesterday she was a demon-dog. I'm sure my exhaustion of trying to do this alone also probably has me more frazzled and tired and what might seem not to bad under normal circumstances, for some reason had me in meltdown mode yesterday. I'm also getting more creative with a fresh mind today. For example, I think her biting is mainly from me pulling things from her mouth to prevent her eating them. Today on my walk, I encouraged her to carry the item as we walked and then once we got back to the door, I dumped a handful of treats on the ground and as she went to eat them, I quickly removed and hid the chunk of mulch she had in her mouth. Also tomorrow morning since she bites me immediately after getting out of the crate with morning energy, I'm going to try giving her the leash to "carry" to the front door and teach her what she was trained to do and maybe it will keep her teeth off my legs. Let me know how your puppy progresses too please.
It must be sooo hard doing this alone, hats off to you. My older boys are 15 and 13 so I also have them and my husband as back up if I want or need to go anywhere. I did leave Bonnie alone for just over 2 hours earlier. I stuffed and froze a kong so I gave her that as we were leaving, I left her crate open and she had access to kitchen and living room as we have open plan. I came back to a puddle of pee but all else was ok. She wasn't giving out when I left or came home but I must check in with my neighbour to see how she was in between. Ill also be interested to hear how you and Sophie are getting on. Bonnie can get a little bitey at times but its never too bad but I do put her out when she is bad with it.
I have also had a bit of success with letting Buster "carry" things on a walk - if I find a stick and let him carry it, he will walk for a little while without trying to bite my legs. Still looking for a solution to biting inside, especially my feet.
Thanks for your reply. We're trying harder with the house training this week as all along we've more or less had the back door open and she goes in and out and we praise her when she goes outside. That said, she has done a poo inside already this morning....!
I’m not sure if you’re in the US or not, but I bought Sophie Pork Chomps. She loves them! Sophie would bite my feet and ankles bad when I sit and watch tv, so I started rewarding her with treats when she layer in her bed snd stayed there. She doesn’t stay long (5 min) but after trying ALL sorts of chew toys and natural chews, nothing holds her attention except these Pork Chomps! Since I got her those, she’s not attempted to but my feet in the chair. She’s tried to bite me a few other places/times but her biting has been better (somewhat gentler and less often) since I got her those. Maybe try finding something your pup loves to chew. I’ve tried everything-so it was a lot of trial and error!
Thanks for the tip! I'm in Canada, not sure if we have Pork Chomps but will look. The trick is definitely finding something they like to chew which I haven't found yet. So far he isn't very interested in anything that I've tried. Had a few days that were not too bad, but today was just terrible - biting constantly all day. Will look for a something new for him to chew tomorrow
Nancy since I had the dog behaviorist over and started adding more rules to our routine like she has to sit and wait for any food, treats, toys, going out the door (I was doing sit but not wait)...Sophie has seriously reduced her biting. There was one day that she bit me so much I was afraid to interact with her and cried all day. It seemed aggressive. Now that I understand dog behavior, I see that I wasn’t doing certain things that set me apart as a leader. She still is biting on occasion (maybe 3-4 times a day) but she’s a different dog now. Maybe try adding some more rules to your routine also and see if it helps.
Thanks! Changed the routine today, adding much more structure - much better day, hoping it will continue!
