Day 4 in the mad house! It feels like we are going backwards with Izzy! Struggling with toilet training, maybe my fault not taking her out as often as should. Has anyone tried puppy pads? The nights are getting better, and ive bought a kong today so that should help during the day in the cage. Going back to toilet matters, but how long does it take for food to go through her? Trying to find a pattern but its not working! On a positive note, Pippas book arrived today so going to start reading that and picking up tips!
Re: Day 4 I do hope the Happy Puppy Book helps iron out some of your queries. I think Puppy pads can sometimes be useful, but at the end of the day it is a stop-gap, and if you go to the bother of teaching her to use a puppy pad you are as well to go the whole hog and train to toilet outside. Otherwise you are going to have to teach her again and move her newly learned skills outside. I think it is a good idea to perhaps make a little chart and write down when you feed and when she wees and poops to try and get a handle on her toileting times. Take her out every 30-40 mins and praise her really well and treat her when she goes outside. Try not to fuss TOO much if she goes indoors - just quietly and calmly clean it up. Kongs are great! Buys you a bit of peace and quiet!
Re: Day 4 It DOES get better...I promise! With Bella, we took her out right away after any of the following: * waking up * eating a meal * after a good play session We also watched her like a hawk - anytime her activity changed or started to go in a completely different direction - out the door. Yes, it means a million trips outside, and a lot of false alarms...but it worked. We also carried a clicker and treats in our pockets....every time she squatted to pee we clicked, good girl, treat...good dogs potty outside...good girl...treats....YEAH.... Make a HUGE big deal about doing it right...and nothing more than an whoops...when you get it wrong. Pretty quickly we figured out that her way to alert us was to STOP what she was doing....do a perfect SIT and stare at us.... if we didn't "get it" she would head off in another direction and do what she needed to do....but as soon as we figured out her alert...we would pop her outside and she would do her stuff out there. And we would PRAISE like crazy. She now knows to ring the bell, and we know to watch her carefully... As far as "schedule"...well...it's different for each dog I'm guessing...but Bella does a pee and poo first thing in the morning....a couple pees throughout the day....and then works up for a pee and poo late afternoon....another couple pees in the afternoon/evening....a pee and poo before bed...a pee overnight...and then it starts all over when we get up. She is 14 weeks and gets 3 meals throughout the day.
Re: Day 4 Keep taking her outside every 30 minutes. It's a real pain and I found it quite tiring but it does pay off eventually. As for lack of routine Inca was pretty similar. I tried desperately hard to find a pattern, some days she was quite routine but others it just seemed totally random. As the others have said all puppies are different but hang on in there and it will get better!
Re: Day 4 I second sunsetpines. In the early days, we watched Rue very carefully 24/7 and when she would stop what she was doing and start sniffing/wandering, we would immediately take her outside. You will feel like you have no life for awhile, but it's worth it in the long run. We also used a lot of treats/praise, which made her more eager to use the restroom outside. And when she would have the occasional accident inside, we would still immediately take her outside. It'll get better, hang in there! Izzy will get there!
Re: Day 4 You never would believe how all consuming a pup can be until you get one. Hang in there, you will soon be past these early days and you will be able to take a breather. It is exhausting work, just a matter of gritting the teeth and bearing it at times but you will get there before you know it! Keep taking her out frequently, praise and treats when she goes outside, ignoring and using the enzyme-destroying spray when she has a house accident (here in Canada I use Nature's Miracle but it's probably different there), and she will clue in sooner rather than later.
Re: Day 4 A good night! No accidents in the cage, out with her every 2 hours, sleep in between. Very pleased. Raining today so not looking forward to the in and out, but must be done! Also on a positive note, Izzy can now sit when told to!
Re: Day 4 Hey Wendy, me and Bella are on day 5! I'm with you on this weather :-\ I've found she will wee straight away when taken outside but I need to hang about for at least ten mins both morning and night until she has gone for a poo - otherwise she will just wee outside and then poo on newspapers when she's back inside. She's sleeping through from 12-6 with no accidents but if I get up in the night for the loo, she wakes up and let's me know she wants to go too! 6am is sooo early though but she will go back to sleep after toilet, breakfast and some play. I live in an upstairs downstairs house so it's tiring walking up and down stairs carrying a pup a million times a day ha my back yard is also full of leaves and mud/ stones which she keeps attempting to eat, watching her like a hawk!! ;D I can't wait to move in may! Bella is responding so well to clicker training - she's learnt sit, down, leave, spin and high five already!! So think I'm going to use it outside for potty and see if that helps speed things up
Re: Day 4 Im glad someone is on the journey with me! Izzy is sleeping at the moment so i have chance to do somemore swatting up! We are at the vets this afternoon for her first vaccinations, so her first outing! Im impressed with the clicker training, its something im going to look at. Im just using treats at the moment.
Re: Day 4 We are also at the vet for her first injections later, completely forgot that we were actually supposed to be there this morning! :-[ I blame puppy brain I've been using u tube a lot to learn how to teach certain commands. Good luck this afternoon!
Re: Day 4 Hi I am now on day 8 with 9 and a half week old Amber. Our days are up and down and exhausting at the moment. We have established a night time routine of bed at 9.30 up for a toilet break at 3 am and then sleep until 7.30. I have tried to keep her awake longer in the evening but she is very tired and snappy and a quiet hour before I go to bed is welcome. During the day I would say we get outside for 80% of our toilet breaks. I am trying to work out her signs for when she needs to go. We are doing some clicker training in doors and outside when the weather allows and have just met the recycling lorry at the end of the drive and the driver said hello. We have just had a weigh in and Amber has put on 1.2Kg since last Thursday . Interestingly I have lost about the same amount!! Paula
Re: Day 4 Wow that's a good routine you've got going Paula!! I think I've also lost weight, good exercise all this playing, cleaning up and walking up and down stairs carrying a pup!
Re: Day 4 The vets went well, she was very well behaved. A nightmare in her cage in the car though! Thankgod its only 10 mins drive! Gosh Paula, i wish Izzy slept so well! Best ive had is 3 hours. Ive got puppy brain, im tired and sometimes a bit stressed, so its nice to come on here to talk. Luckily im not working at the moment, but after xmas i really must look for something part time, as shes costing me loads! Im also lucky to have a very generous partner!
Re: Day 4 Hi Wendy, glad to see things are improving. Just wanted to reassure you on the car journey, we have been there! Inca was a very bad traveller when we got her and we were seriously worried that things would never improve! We have taken things very steady with her and I would say we reached a break through a fortnight ago. A good job as we are driving down to Yorkshire and Warwickshire for Christmas! Now she only whines when we put her back in the car after a walk and I would say it's more a whine of frustration for stopping her fun than anything else. She is soon asleep again!
Re: Day 4 Glad the vets went ok, so did our trip although Bella was brave enough to start barking at a big German shepherd who was whining she was in her travel crate though so safe ha! Not sure she would have done that if she wasn't!! Have you tried the travel crate that straps on to the passenger seat? Bella is next to me then so I can stroke her and give her treats for being calm on travels. It has a little clip inside that you clip to their collar too so although I can unzip the top bit she can't climb out. The breeder also suggested a harness and to clip her onto the passenger seat on some vet bed. I'm also off work for a whole month which I'm loving with her and getting lots of training in , but also keep going out so that she gets used to it when I go back!!! :'( not sure how people can work when they first get a puppy due to sleep deprivation!!!!!! : How do we upload photos?? It keeps saying file too big?!?
Re: Day 4 [quote author=CDM link=topic=9146.msg131313#msg131313 date=1418942402] How do we upload photos?? It keeps saying file too big?!? [/quote] If you mean for your Avatar, you just need to resize to the maximum number of pixels it says (I usually do this in "Paint" but there are picture editors will do it for you too) For pictures to go in your posts you need to upload it to a picture sharing site such as Flickr or Photobox, then click on the share button for the photo in the host site, copy the code (usually a "BBC code") then paste into the box here. Check out the Technical and Info threat on the forum for more help,
Re: Day 4 [quote author=drjs@5 link=topic=9146.msg131352#msg131352 date=1418974684] Check out the Technical and Info threat on the forum for more help, [/quote] Info threat ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Re: Day 4 [quote author=sunsetpines link=topic=9146.msg131464#msg131464 date=1419008499] [quote author=drjs@5 link=topic=9146.msg131352#msg131352 date=1418974684] Check out the Technical and Info threat on the forum for more help, [/quote] Info threat ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D [/quote] Ha Ha A freudian slip if there ever was one..... I had a very stressful morning, you wouldn't believe
