Today we let Nugget out of the kitchen for the first time. He is 13 weeks and I felt quite confident he wouldn't pee on the carpet. What I didn't count on was that he would go crazy! I only let him into the dining room but he immediately started frantically chewing EVERYTHING. I tried several times throughout the day but it was the same thing every time. He ignored my "no's" and was intent on destroying things, to the extent of snapping at me when I tried to move him. Does anyone have any advice for me? He has been particularly bitey for the last few days - would it be wise to wait for that to pass? I'm tempted to confine him to the kitchen forever!
Lol. Oh dear! I shouldn't laugh but you've just bought back a few memories. We had a weimaraner pup called Arnie many years ago. I am not exaggerating when I say it was like releasing a tazmanian devil into the sitting room! Exactly like the cartoons, he was literally doing the wall of death around the room! Suffice to say he didn't stay in there long, but he certainly took some catching. I think you should keep trying, little and often, he will settle down.....eventually.
Do keep trying - he went beserk because it was new and exciting. There's only one way to deal with that and that's to give him more exposure so it's familiar and nothing to get worked up about. Have him on a lead if you need to and use lots of treats. He also needs to learn that the whole house is a living/sleeping/eating place and not a peeing place and he won't learn that if he's not exposed to it. I guess he's been taken to lots of new places outside the house..?
New places are so exciting for furry brains . Things will get better as it becomes more 'normal'. I would remove all items, where possible, that you don't want him to grab (a bit like having toddlers ) and perhaps introduce him into the room when he's quieter. Perhaps have a few toys ready to play with him to take the focus away from the new environment. Although he is pretty well house trained keep an eye out for accidents in case he forgets when excited (just like a toddler ). Things will get better as he becomes accustomed to the greater freedom
It's a result of him being confined, not his fault - so more confinement in the kitchen isn't the answer! When Charlie was little, we'd wait for him to go to sleep on his blanket in the kitchen, then my OH would pick up the 4 corners of the blanket and carry him through to the front room and put him on the sofa. Bless, he didn't even wake up! And we'd also let him on the carpeted areas after he'd had a pee and a poo and was 'empty'. Not for long, because we didn't want any accidents (there was just one, on only expensive silk rug we owned - of course! )
No advice, just sympathy! I thought our kitchen stair gate would be there for a couple of weeks tops,we are now 11 weeks in and no sign of removal! She has short spells of freedom, but isn't getting much better with chewing stuff or with the cat, so for now it stays!
Thanks so much for your replies - "like releasing a tazmanian devil into the sitting room"... perfect description lol! And jessieboo - it's nice to hear I'm not the only one stuck with the kitchen gate. And I'd forgotten to mention the cats... I have 2 and the poor things look at me with reproach every time Nugget leaps on them. I'm quite sure they hope the kitchen gate stays forever! Well, I will do as suggested - try for short periods, and often.
Just to add, Oban is 8 years now. The kitchen gates were taken down at age one but now the oldest cat is on special food for hyperthyroidism and you know how cats like to nibble, leave, come back and nibble some more. I don't want the dog eating that food so he is gated out till I pick up the dish. It's also handy to gate him IN when he comes home dirty and needs to be hosed off, kept in the kitchen till he's dry. I only wish OH had made nicer looking gates.
I was planning to keep Xena in the kitchen full-time for a few more weeks, but this thread has made me reconsider. Would you all recommend short periods (immediately post-wee) several times a day in the new room? Maybe a couple of 20 minute explores? Or shorter sessions but more of them?
Jubilee was also wild when she was very young, so she was on a leash and harness in the rest of the house. Sometimes, she was tethered to me while I did housework . She progressed to dragging a long line and then a short leash. She finally graduated to no leash when she was about eight months.
Yes, definitely allow a puppy time in new places around the house when they are empty - don't push the time out too far, or you risk a wee on your carpet! My new puppy comes into the other rooms in the house all the time, when she has just had a wee and a poo. I have small puppy crates in the living room and other spaces, and she comes in but to settle in a crate, not explore the wires at the back of the TV etc. She also comes up on the sofa for cuddles and to play with a small toy, and she does her little bits of training in different rooms.
Bailey has always been in the same room as us - we do have a time out area when the crocopup becomes too much. If he is in a carpeted room one of us is with him. Must say it is a constant battle with keeping electrical wires away from him when he's in a determined mood! He's now stretched out on the settee with his back feet against my leg snoozing away!
I'm the opposite, Molly started off with a fair bit of freedom and this has gradually been reduced as she became more chewy and crazy! She's now mainly in the playroom which leads out to the garden and has a stair gate separating the kitchen. Its now a dogs playroom, kids have been evicted!
My puppies have free run of all downstairs, I never confined them to one room. However, I was vigilant and in the beginnng kept my eye on them. If I had to go out or upstairs, then I popped them in their crate for a very short time. This meant that no particualr room was that exciting, except in the evening when they drove me mad when I wanted to sit down
I let Axel have free roam of the house from day one, minus down stairs because I didn't want him doing the stairs until he was older because of his joints. I just kept the bedroom doors closed until he was fully house trained. Now at 6 months he goes in and snoops and comes out. We did have his crate for time outs and I almost always put him in his crate for naps the first couple weeks as I wanted him comfortable in there. So never had problems with the crate either during the night or when I would leave for work. I have never had problems with him chewing on furniture from day one thanks to my little Pomeranian. The first night we had Axel he did try to chew on the dining room chairs and table and the couches but Odie would come running and bark and growl at him when he did. So he learned from day one to not do that. Electrical wires we were diligent with "leave it" and he lost interest after the first week. The hardest thing was the house training as there was a big area to watch out for but if he would leave the living room I would follow him and if he started to sniff outside we went and sure enough he would do his business. But there were still a lot of accidents eventually though by 14 weeks his accidents were only at the door. He knew to go there but could not hold it while I came running. By 16 weeks he was finalllllly house trained. I never thought of confining him to the kitchen as I can't because our house is "open concept" but I feel it worked well for us this way
Although Jinx, our lab pup is only ten weeks and has run of house when we want (downstairs only as no carpetting there), we have a 12 month old GSD and we've found baby gates to be invaluable. It keeps them where you want but lets them see what else goes on around the house. We still use gates to keep Luna (GSD) in kitchen when getting a delivery etc as she tends to scare the beejezus out of folks lol. I'd second using a lead when letting pup through so you can control it bit better. My sympathies are with you and hope it improves soon.
Bit by bit get him used to his home. But be prepared, although he knows he should go outside to pee he may get caught short or pee with excitement. It's also not uncommon for a puppy to pee outside and come running in to do a poop, or the other way round. Even though Homer was well potty trained there were a few random poops upstairs when he was about 4-6 months old, he had completely clean downstairs for a while. We just cleaned them up without any fuss, it was a short phase and soon stopped. It will happen - Vanish carpet cleaner is a wonderful thing.
When our pups were very young they spent the day in a dog pen in the kitchen when we could not watch them and out in the kitchen if we could. When a little older, We would mostly keep the pup in the kitchen, and let her (we had one pup at a time) in the rest of the house under supervision. By about 4 months, they had the run of the house most of the time, although we still have a pet gate in the kitchen so we can keep one or both dogs in the kitchen if we need too. None of our dogs ever chewed furniture, but they have been known to chew up other things that weren't toys. When Tilly was a pup we let her chew up plastic milk cartons and cardboard boxes. It took quite a while to stop that habit when she grew up. Cooper is part wood chuck, and will pick up firewood, or sticks from the yard, or scraps from the shop, and chew them to pieces. Fortunately the Hoover picks them up pretty well. We still have a problem with Cooper picking up small objects and chewing them up. She seems to have a literary bent, since she just started on volume II of The History of England. Wasn't much of a read anyway. She is bored right now, since she is still in semi quarantine from other dogs because of her possible kennel cough. She hasn't gotten as much exercise as she is used to.
