Well, she's arrived! Now called Maggie she seemed so calm and gentle the first week...where was all this crying I thought, all this peeing and biting..aren't we lucky I thought!...well Oh boy has she settled in now! I feel I am causing irreparable emotional distress in everything I do with her! She had only one night of crying and she seems to have settled in, only slept in our room for three nights. Obviously having the older dog helps although I am not sure she would agree! I try to give the older one space and calm but Maggie is forever nipping and following her around. not helped but our open plan layout in the house I guess. So, on the positive side Maggie is coming when I call her...and, oh she is doing well on a lead and walking off lead too...and she hs even started bringing sticks back to me when we play so I feel for 9 weeks she is doing well on that score...is that about right? But she is SO SO naughty in all other areas...the peeing is impossible! and I'm here all day! how do people with day jobs cope!??? The back door has been open almost continuously, I've done a lot of reward based training to get her to pee outside, taking her out every half hour and standing with her in the spot...she seems to get it but then seems still adamant about peeing and pooing INdoors. And the nipping!! OMG I had no idea she would have such sharp teeth..clothes have been ripped, hands bloodied...she can be so vicious in her play! I know she has only been with us a week...I am probably expecting too much?!! Also she eats EVERYTHING in sight! We have rather a lot of 'inherited' farm cats who all live outside....she seems to have discovered every single one of their toilet areas at some point plus today caught her munching on a dead bird...we managed to get that off her only for her to find another one 5 minutes later....Is this all normal???!! am I putting her at risk? I'm exhausted! I have never had a puppy before and am realising first hand the leaning curve that you go on the moment one comes in to your life. Its rewarding and she is of course adorable but at the moment I feel she has the reins and I am just feeling frazzled! Does anyone else feel like this?
This this sounds very familiar. Maggie has just had her whole life turned upside down. She's been taken away from her mum and siblings and is trying to adjust to a new, big and unfamiliar world. She has to learn a new set of rules and behaviours. These first few weeks it's important to let Maggie learn the rules. Believe me, it gets better once she's through the crocadog stage and has settled in.
Sounds normal to me , Sam (5 months) enjoyed a good munch on my daughters history homework today , followed by a seemingly delicious cat poo ... . The exhaustion does pass ( or maybe we just get used to functioning in a frazzled daze ) and the nipping does get better . Hang in there , you'll be grand xx
Oh so familiar , to most of us on here , those early days when they can switch from an angel to a devil in the blink of an eye Keep the faith , it gets better eventually
I am sorry. It's tough, but so totally normal. Sometimes having open access to the garden can make it longer to develop the house-training be warned. Have you seen the post on puppies.......I will find it.....
This is the one..... http://thelabradorforum.com/threads/puppy-problems-will-things-ever-improve.1680/ Ther is light at the end of the tunnel. In the meantime, there is wine.........
Very familiar! I would try taking her out every 15-20 mins for a wee and reward highly every time she goes. I wouldn't leave the door open as this can make it more confusing for them. Are you using a proper pet cleaner as most cleaners have ammonia in them and don't clear the smell so dogs will keep going in that spot. Is she limited to one room? I started by having Harley only in the living room which really helped with toilet training. I soon learnt the cue for her finding a spot to wee so would pick her up, run outside then really reward her. It's tiring, but worth being consistent. I think I was lucky with the biting.......it only took 2/3 weeks to stop, but those few weeks were awful. Keep going, it does get better and they really are worth it. Harley is my first ever dog/pup - she is now nearly 3 and has really changed my life
Yup, perfectly normal Lab puppy behaviour! I would start taking her out every 15 minutes if she can't cope with every half an hour. You really have to be on top of them all the time, watching like a hawk. You will get used to her little signals she makes before going to the toilet, such as sniffing and turning in circles, but you have to be quick! She's only a baby and, like a baby, has a very small bladder and doesn't understand why she shouldn't just pee when she feels like it. Do you have her restricted to a small area? This often helps, as the puppy begins to see it as their "den" and they don't want to mess it. For a new puppy, that should be about the size of a play pen and maybe a touch more. When she is consistently dry in that area, you can make it a little bigger and start again - gradually increase the space she has until she associates the expanding space as den. The added bonus is it's also easier for you to keep an eye on her, and she has less mischief to get up to! You mentioned that the door is open a lot. Just be aware that if you are training her to take herself out for a wee, then you may find you have problems when the door is closed - lots of dogs will get to the door, find a barrier and go there, instead. They then have to be retrained at an older age to wait (or ask) to go outside, which is far harder than getting it right first time with a puppy. Just keep giving her lots of tasty treats every time she goes outside, make a big fuss of her and ignore every accident inside. Ensure you clean it well with an enzymatic cleaner, like Simple Solution (I swear I should have shares in that stuff) because regular household cleaners don't remove all the smell that dogs can sense - some even mimic the smell of urine! - and this will encourage her to go in those places again. Just keep repeating, "this will pass!". And buy wine. Lots of wine.
Thank you so much for this! I am sure of course that it will all pass...its such a steep learning curve to start with for all concerned! This was very interesting and encouraging! Thank you for posting the link. and yes you're absolutely right about the wine...and I live in France....I knew there was a reason!
Thanks for the tip about the door...will keep that in mind. I think today was just a particularly trying day. As well as all the farm cats out in the garden I've got two cats who are pets and then the older dog...i just feel they are looking at me as if they all hate me at the moment! Unfortunately the house is open plan downstairs and that maybe causing a few problems,its a big open space for her. But i upped it to 15 minutes after reading your message...i think that might help a lot. I'd heard that about the cleaner but not sure if the one I have passes. will check out the options. Thank you for the advice! Have definitely noticed an upturn in my wine consumption in the last few days!
Thank you! Lots of comments about stepping up on the time between pees! I think that may be the trick! I think the biting was just getting to me today and the rip in a favourite shirt! I know it will pass....Its a godsend being able to moan about it though to other puppy owners or those who have been there already! She doesn't have a 'tell' as yet about when she wants to wee but I will keep an eye out for that too! Thanks!
You are so right....I am not sure who felt more traumatised by the separation me or her! I kept projecting human thoughts onto how the poor thing must be feeling loosing her sisters and brothers like that...we have a houseful of animals and no one wants to play with her...she looks so confused and bewildered sometimes! I was super proud of her this evening though as she showed her new retrieving skills off for some friends who were amazed...(they of course knew nothing about the biscuit stash in my pocket!) She is being brilliant and I see improvements everyday. Jolly nice to have support from people on here though. Thanks! Crocadog very apt!
I have the same. I just used furniture and obstacles to block her in. I got a couple of old doors to span the bigger gaps, which we had to step over for a couple of weeks. Not the best interior decoration, but it's only short term
I didn't like to jump in with my first suggestion being wine , gin or beer , but hey it seems its always puppy o'clock somewhere , cheers everyone
As you now know, you have a very normal puppy and us 'old hands' have all been through it. On the upside, as well, as exhaustion I lost over half a stone in weight in Molly's first few months with us ( lack of sleep combined with ALWAYS on my feet) Toilet training is seriously hard work. You need to take them out every 20 minutes or so. The harder you work at it the quicker they will get the message. Lucky you, you are doing it in the summer, we went through training in a British Winter The biting is natural and shocking (not a nice gentle Lab I hear you cry). I thought I'd got a 'wrong un' until the glorious day at about 18 weeks when it stopped. Today I would trust those nashers anywhere. In the meantime sturdy jeans, long sleeves and trainers is the way to go. Finally, make sure you clean up accidents with an enzyme cleaner specifically made for the job, Simple Solution etc. Ordinary cleaners do not remove the smell for a canine nose and shout at the dog "This is the place to pee" and obedient little soles they do!
The honeymoon is over! But it won't be long before you are looking back at puppyhood and wondering whether you can fit in just one more Have a small puppy toy or teething chew in every pocket, so that as you walk in the room you can put it in her mouth (she'll still prefer your hands/arms/clothes but persevere with putting toys in!) Wear skinny jeans and tight sleeves so that she can't hang off clothes. Start training 'sit' so that you have an alternative behaviour to ask for. enjoy! (I'm the nutter who has a new puppy every year!) . .
Welcome to the puppy club! I'm almost an old hand as my Bailey is 10 weeks old today. Just these last few days the pee accidents have lessened considerably and even the biting is settling down. Bailey sleeps through the night now too! You'll find this forum helpful and kind. They have helped me today when I was worrying about Bailey not eating his whole dinner. Good luck and keep the sense of humour!
So much good advice here on the forum and the Happy Puppy book. We are out the other side on the crocopup and pee-monster stage at 6 months but it did feel unbelievable at the time (I appeared to have forgotten about how my last two pups were!!) All the above advice is what we followed - up the taking out, reward for every pee and poo outside and ignore the mistakes inside. A puppy pen was a godsend for us both for housetraining and to pop him in when the biting got too much. Lots of chew toys help and soon the Kong will be your friend! Reward for drop and you should be able to get inappropriate items (there will be many!!) from your pup - worked well for us and even yesterday he picked up a manky dead hare on a walk and presented it to me for the drop command and a treat (my last lab would have run away and wolfed it down!) Good luck it will fly by I promise!! By 5-6 months you will suddenly find the biting, accidents etc suddenly disappear! And yes, wine!!!! Sam and Mole
