I figured it was time to introduce myself as I’ve been lurking these forums for months. They’ve been a tremendous resource so far, but I could use some help with a few issues. I’ll appolgize in advance for what I’m guessing will be a long post. Carl is my red fox puppy who just turned 4 months old. I’ll see if I’m able to post some photos. Overall things have been going pretty well, at least after the initial shock of living with a lab puppy wore off. I have had dogs before but Carl is the first one I’m putting a lot of effort into training. I have a handful of questions about varying topics and would appreciate any feedback. Potty training: If I wrote this post 3 days ago I would be saying how great potty training was going. He hadnt had an accident in at least 2 weeks, even when he had a bad bout of diarrhea. He would whine by the door whenever he needed to go out. However, 3 nights ago he was playing in a carpeted room and just peed without hesitation. I was hoping it as an anomaly, but he has now peed inside 3 times in 3 days. It always seems to be when he’s playing and distracted I suppose. But it’s clearly a regression and I’m not sure the best way to handle it. Crate Training: This has been a bit challenging. Carl is definitely not one of those puppies who enjoys their crate or ever goes in on his own accord. I tried to introduce him gently, but due to some outside obligations probably rushed it abit. After a few screamfests he seemed to be warming up to his crate. But then a couple of weeks later he started crying and barking a lot again. At this point I decided to start over, giving the crate a different name. Things have gone better this time but there’s still always some level of whining and crying when he has to go in his crate. I have a webcam so I can see how he behaves when I am gone. He always gets a kong, which works great at distracting him. But once it’s gone he realizes where he is and isn’t happy about it. He may bark a few times or cry for a few minutes. Sometimes he’ll get frustrated and chew his bed a bit. It always ends with a sigh and then he passes out and is fine. He’s always sleeping on his back with his limbs in every direction, so he seems to feel safe and comfortable in there. It doesn’t seem to be a problem with being in the crate, but being separated from me. He’s definitely a very clingy puppy and still follows me from room to room always keeping an eye on me. I would love to get him feeling more confident and independent away from me. Loose Lead Walking: Carl is quite the puller and still wanting to change directions every second, out everything in his mouth, and sniff every blade of grass. It can be quite exhausting taking him/being taken by him on a walk. Recently a bunch of frogs hatched near my house and so almost every night we run into them. Now he spends our entire walks thinking every spot, shadow, or stick is a frog. This doesn’t count all the dead frogs in the streets that got run over that he desperately wants to eat. I have been doing a combination of the stop and turn technique when he pulls. I have also been doing some heel clicker training off lead. The problem with the stop and turn technique is he quickly caught on to how it works. Now he will intentionally pull and then immediately turn around looking for his treat. The heel training is going well and he caught on quickly. But none of it seems to translate to our normal lead walks when I dont have tons of delicious treats for him. Sit/Down: These were pretty straightforward and I make him sit before doing almost anything (eating, going outside, crossing the street etc). The only issue is he seems to mix them up about as the same command/actions. Sits often turn into downs without being asked for instance. This typically happens when he’s excited. I have also tried to make the sit also mean “stay” as well. I have tried using pippas guide where you stream treats to them every second, two seconds, etc. this doesn’t work at all because after 2 or 3 treats the sit turns into a down, or for some reason he gets up walks to my left side...every time. I think that’s it for now. Sorry again for the long post. Any tips or suggestions would be awesome. I look forward to joining this community
Hello, that’s a lot to address in one go but I’ll offer a few tips to make life a bit easier. Those are all normal puppy behaviours and easily fixed. Some take more time than others but Carl will eventually get there. First the crate.... make it the best place in the world. Feed him in there, give Kongs in there make it a place he wants to be, not a prison but a sanctuary where good things happen. Leave the door open when he’s in there loving life to start. Then eventually you can close the door for moments then minutes slowly building up the time as you go. Loose lead walking is a separate topic all together but remember the walks are for him, not you so let him explore at this point. The world is a huge and fascinating place that he needs to learn. Which brings me to frogs. There will be many metaphorical frogs in your future. He needs to eat and smell and taste them all before he can log it in his mind and move on to the next one. Don’t make an issue out of it and let him explore his world. He will soon forget all about them but he will move on to a new one but not until he’s had a chance to finish off with the roads and frogs. Sit and stay need to be separate commands. And he needs to perform them when you ask in order to get his reward. He need to look at your eyes when he does this to get the treat or no treat (reward). I’m guessing he sees the rewards in your hand and looks there not at you. I’m also guessing it’s your left hand if he’s favouring that side. Try using hand commands. They learn faster with those than with voice commands. Wait till he starts to sit and then quickly use the chosen “cue” at the same time to pair it to the behaviour. Don’t ask for it at first. Wait till he does this on his own. Dogs sit all the time so it’s easy to do. My guy used to give several behaviours to get a treat cause he wasn’t sure what I wanted. I imagine this is the same for you and they just throw everything at you in hopes of a getting the treat he knows you have on your hand. You need to hide them and offer it once you get the behaviour. I could go on and on but it’s very late. Hope this is a start and helps you out. Repetition is key and don’t try to solve everything in one go. Tackle one issue at a time. He sounds like he’s smart and wants to please you but just isn’t sure what you want. Hand commands should help with this. Then you can add vocal cues. And have fun and don’t get stressed. They are exceptional and reading us. Another quick note, when teaching stay only try for a few seconds at first building up over time. A few minutes at his age is an eternity so try to reward and release before he breaks the stay.
Hi Chris, what a beautiful puppy! Here are a few links with more information on the topics above. Shout if you have questions about any of them. It might help to start a separate thread on each topic. Potty training problems Crate Training and Crate Training two different guides Teaching Sit If your pup lies down during a sit, lure him back into the sit position with a treat, rewards, and then shorten the length of future sits for a few sessions until he has had more practice at remaining upright
Hi Chris, Carl is gorgeous and sounds like he's doing great for four months old. Hopefully you'll find the links and advise above helpful - let us know how you get along!
Hi Chris welcome,your boy is absolutely gorgeous and it sounds as though he's doing really well for his age especially. I know how difficult it is as i have an 18 week old female,good luck
An other good way to get a sit out of a down is to gently and slowly move your foot between the paws. I have a fox red as well. Adorable! And back to basics with potty training. Sorry to say. I got pulled into thinking it was all good. Hah! I still do this at almost 7 months with less frequency of course. And when I look at the few accidents we’ve had after really long streaks it’s been my fault.
