New Puppy

[Claire]

OK, I'm sort of abandoning my Italian Greyhound line to have people remind me what it is like to have a new, young, dog. I spent so many years in geriatric dog care that I really don't remember some things. Like chewing. Thank heaven for my 10 year old neighbor who showed up with a chew toy for her. She's part hound of some sort, about 8 mos old, 15 lbs. Thank Heaven also that she is already crate trained, although the crate they "gave" me with the dog (it costs $175 to adopt a dog from Safe Haven, and we upped it to $200 because she has all her shots, is fixed, is up to date with Frontline and heartguard, my vet has accepted her without an exam (this simply means that my vet or one of her associates already did the surgery and gave the Rx and shots). Anyway, the crate is a little on the small side, so I'll go buy one slightly larger and re-donate this one back to Safe Haven. She seems very personable, but obviously will need some training since she decided to poop inside the front door (she'll go out to pee, then come in). One deciding factor is that she looks a lot like our last dog (a JR mix), but is much calmer.

Anyway, any hints about training and such will be a big help. It's been about .... well, almost 20 years since I had puppies.

 

[DaveSoMD]

Best hints: Be patient. Be firm. Be consistent. And reward and praise.

 

[pacanis]

What I always tell people who have gotten a puppy or adolescent dog, after having had an older dog that they have lived years with, is that sometimes you forget how much work it was to raise that perfect dog.
Cesar Milan recommends NOT giving a dog adopted from a shelter situation (or did your come from a foster home?) full run of the house. He says it overwhelms their brain. I would recommend keeping her nearby, too, much like you would an 8 week old puppy. You may not recognize her signs to go outside yet and she may not be on your schedule yet.

Pictures?!

 

[Alix]

Oh I'm so happy for you Claire! Remember to play play play. Young pups need lots of play time.

My one piece of advice is to be vigilant in interrupting behaviour you don't like. It will be tiring at first but well worth it later.

 

[Claire]

No, she was crate trained at the shelter, and will be crated at night or when we are not home. I agree, the more space she has to be bored in when alone, the more trouble she'll get into. I had the good fortune of getting my first dog when we were assigned to Hawaii -- we knew she'd eventually have to be shipped, so a breeder friend immediately gave me instructions on crate training, and it is the best thing you can do for a pet.

Are you ready for this? I don't even own a camera! When you're in your 50s and 60s, don't have kids/grands, don't live near family .... just don't even own one,much less know how to attach! I am going to email computer guy and ask him to bring a camera and help me post, since my friends are all dying to see her. We were determined NOT to get another doggie until we see Michigan (the only state of the 49 we haven't seen). Oh, well.

Although she looks a lot like my last JR, she is much calmer and immediately decided this was home. Today I took her for a walk for the first time (my husband did the duties a couple times yesterday) and she immediately knew where home was; that's a good start.

Yes, after spending the past few years with geriatric dogs, I've kinda forgotten how much energy an 8 month old has! today was Puppy shopping day; I still had a collar and expandible lease, but not a regular one, and I forgot about chewing!!! Holey Moley! Toys to fetch, toys to chew. Neighbor gal brought her over a small donut shaped rawhide chew and she totally consumed it over night!

No, I don't think she's ever been in a home at all. She was at the Dubuque Humane society for as long as they keep a dog, then rather than put her down they asked Safe Haven to take her. We discovered her about a week after she moved there, took a week to discuss adoption (yes, we know the commitment of a young dog), then it took a couple of days for the adoption to go through. But I think she's spent her entire life in a humane society and is really just happy. I suspect she'll gain maybe a pound or so before maturity, but as I said, no way she's a greyhound, Italian, Whippet or Full. She has those kind of "fly away" ears, but isn't delicate at all. Her coloring I would call brindle if she had a black background color. She's white with reddish-brown speckles, a coloring I've seen on hunting dogs around here.

 

[pacanis]

I've seen second chance dogs make excellent pets. It seems like they try harder or something. Always very sweet.

 

[Claire]

yeah, she's my first humane society dog (done cats, humane society or feral adoptions before, my first dog was purchased, and we bred her and her puppy was our second, and we kept them through very ancient age). She seems very, very eager to please. Right now tendency to nibble digits and chins is being dealt with. She knows "NO", and somewhere along the line someone told me to take her muzzle in hand from above to stop biting and excessive licking. It worked with my two other dogs. One actually was considerably smarter than the other, and she learned "no kisses". This one seems pretty bright as well. She's just getting confident. A bit taller than my JRs were, so I have to watch table manners and fence leaping. I'm inclined to simply tie her up, hubby wants to train her to stay inside the fence line. We don't allow pets to be outside when we aren't home, but there's always that one time (some of you know the saga of Keiki).

Anyway, she was afraid to fall asleep yesterday, but is getting secure, and is sleeping on her blanket (all my dogs loved crochetted afghans, and she's no exception) by my feet. Hubby says when I was gone that's what she did as well.

 

[jacky77]

aww..warms my heart.
i agree with the praise and reward poster.
awww no kisses!! that's my favorite part of coming home to my pup...

 

[babetoo]

i don't think it is fair to tie a dog up all the time. surely you did not mean that. how tall is your fence. or you could get the fence line charged device. my son got one for a beagle that wandered and could get out , no matter how many times he fills holes. this works , i understand it is not much of a shock and his dog avoids the fence line.

 

[jacky77]

i also don't agree that leads are a good idea. i'm also a firm believer that zapping a dog is a good idea either. Teaching a dog to stay in it's area is key, there is a lot of time and training involved. Personally i feel like you should be able to keep your dog inside if you can't watch them. Practice a lot of recall and i'm sure the pup will listen in time.

 

[Claire]

Nope, I don't mean I'll tie her up all the time. I won't tie her up much at all (just when we're visiting people who don't have fenced in yards). When I said tie up, I meant that we're going to walk her in her yard on a leash until she knows her boundaries. It just would have been easier if she couldn't jump the fence! She's definitely NOT an Italian Greyhound, although she might have some of that in her. She's a hunting hound, like someone already said, a sight hound and will be gone in a heartbeat if she's chasing something. Unlike some people we know, she'll never be outside if we aren't home, and usually outside with her.

 

[Claire]

OK, here's the real question, a biggie. I live in an old (1854) shotgun style house. She seems to have decided it's OK to poop right inside the front door! My husband insisted he didn't want to crate her at night, but I think that is going to go away because as soon as she's out of sight, she poops on that one spot. I know a part of it is that she can smell where she went before. Mom used to rub doggies' noses in the poop then kick them out. It was actually effective for her. I never found that to work. But maybe there is something to be said by making her smell her mistake (yes, the one time she actually pooped outside she was praised and rewarded, but still wants that one spot). The house has 3 outside doors, two of which lead to the fenced yard where we'd like her to go. But she insists on pooping inside the front door. We've had her for, what? 48 hours? and she's pooped there three times already (in other words, more times there than outside!). She pees outside with no problem, and we're starting to let her roam the yard without being tied. But she simply refuses to poop in the fenced in yard. HELP!

 

[CWS4322]

I am the foster dog person (and a founding member) of a dog rescue organization (one of the many hats I wear). I've taken in dogs that came from horrible situations. I treat adult dogs as if they were puppies--in other words, I crate train them, potty train them, etc., as if they were puppies.The first thing I do is crate the dog. I use a crate and take the new dog out every two hours. When I say I take the dog out, I mean that I put the dog on leash, and take the dog outside to the "potty spot" (which I will seed with pee and po from other dogs). I will say "get busy" and wait, when the dog does go, I say "yes," and reward with a treat. The dog then goes back in the crate for two hours. I have yet (after 10+ years and over 100 dogs) not be able to (a) crate-train a dog, or (b) condition a dog to go on command. I also remain "neutral" (in other words, don't smother the dog because it came from a bad situation), and set the boundaries from the get go.

 

[pacanis]

From my earlier post:
"I would recommend keeping her nearby, too, much like you would an 8 week old puppy. You may not recognize her signs to go outside yet and she may not be on your schedule yet."

And I would recommend cleaning the area better so she can't smell it anymore.

 

[Claire]

Actually, I do recognize her "need to go" signs, I just haven't been able to get to her fast enough, and my husband doesn't recognize them at all. I just ... not kidding ... re-broke my foot slipping on some poo when my husband didn't stay out with her long enough. We definitely need to get on the same sheet of music. If she comes back in right away, and you know she should need to go, then you stay out with her until she does something. I guess what I really need is a retraining lesson for my husband! Tonight I'll send him to bed and keep the dog crated all night, something he's had problems with before (he's good at crating when we aren't home, it's just at night that he doesn't get it!). So he lets her out, she's good for about 4 hours, then jumps up and craps all over the place. She has diahrea that is, I'm sure, caused by nerves (although she doesn't seem to be nervous at all, very calm and seems happy to be here, and no, we have not changed her food yet, she's still eating whatever they fed her at Safe Haven; eventually I'll mix some of the more readily available food into the food she came with, but not until she firms up).

On the positive, when I put her out in the wee hours it was snowing like crazy and she stood up on her hind legs and tried to catch the snowflakes! My first "Oh ^%#$$$%^&" of the day was quickly followed by my first, "isn't she adorable" smile of the day. I just wish I hadn't hurt my foot!

Yes, I do need to get on my hands and knees and rewash that area before we go to bed tonight. It's hard, the house is old and there are cracks between the boards. I'm wondering if some lemon juice in the water will help (she can scent through regular soap and water).

 

[pacanis]

Assuming she doesn't have coccidia or some other parasite that does not always show up in a stool sample, if she has diarrhea you should not feed her for 24 hours, give her nothing but water. Let her system empty itself and settle down. That could be why she is having poop accidents, otherwise you would think she would be peeing inside, too.
Then after 24 hours you can either go the rice with boiled hamburger route. The rice will help bind her and the hamburger is for taste, but more importantly it is easy to digest and easy on her system, and start introducing her food slowly back to her, or... you could also give her canned pumpkin, either on its own or mixed with the cooked rice. Canned pumpkin is a natural stool tightener, but be warned, if she does have an accident, it will be orange and may stain. I also like to moisten the kibble and help get it started breaking down. Anything to make it easier to digest.
That's what I would do anyway. And if things don't clear up I would either run a stool sample to the vet or just ask him for some albon or something to treat for coccidia. I have had two puppies that both had diarrhea problems and we treated them as if they had coccidia (even though the tests were negative) and the problem immediately went away.

 

[DaveSoMD]

I agree with pa. It sounds like something other than behavior. Be aware that if it is more "medical" she may have an accident in her crate if you keep here there all night.

Try the rice route and see if that helps. I have had success with that and the canned pumpkin.

 

[Chef Munky]

We hose broke all of our dogs the same way. Tabasco sauce, vinegar, and paper towels if the had an accident.

Everyone was house broken in 2 weeks. I found dogs were easier to train then humans..

Go and pick up the dog ( Not in an angry way) Never call them to you when you find the spot. You go get them.

Bring them to the spot and sit the dog in between your legs. Hold them in that spot so they can watch you do the routine.

Dab the paper towel into the spot. Open the dogs mouth. Put the towel in and hold the dogs snout closed. A firm " NO!" from you.

Take the towel out. Still holding the dog in place. Spray the area with vinegar. Dab another paper towel on that.
Open the dogs mouth, place it in and hold it closed. Again a firm NO!. You just told the dog that's your territory not hers.

Last step. Dab a few drops of Tabasco on another towel.
Let them taste that like the others. They won't forget.
Release the dog, say nothing more. Have a bowl of water ready for them after they have been disciplined.

If you find that they have moved onto another area. Do the exact routine again. It's your house. Never do it when your mad or call them to you when your like that.

Get a doggy door and teach them how to use it. The first few days of learning that cool trick they are just fascinated with it and love having some freedom to explore.

Munky.

 

[jacky77]

hmm, put some of her poop in the yard, maybe it's a smell thing or maybe it's medical. I wouldnt' shove her nose in her poop or do anything that may scare her to poop. she may be waiting to poop at the last minute and waiting to go outside but then pooping right by the door. Crate training is one of the best methods and atleast will assure no household accidents or messes, which will make you happier. If there is a medical issue, take the pup to the vet and make sure it's not worms or something that should be treated with antibiotics. If your dog is puking up it's food that's when i'd try a boiled potato and chicken or boiled chicken and rice meal. It seems that the pup is pooing, but may be realizing it too late. Don't punish the behavior, clean the spot up real good-nature's miracle works wonders.

 

[CWS4322]

If she has "soupy stools" and recently came out of a shelter, I'd take a sample in to the vet to make sure she doesn't have a parasite, etc. And, I know it sounds cruel to keep her crated except when you take her out, but the method of taking the dog out every two hours (and yes, I set the alarm to get me up to do this throughout the night and throughout the day), the longest it has taken me to housetrain a dog using this method has been 3 days. I then change the schedule to 3 hours, then 4, then 5.

If you want to train her to "ring a bell," instead of "pawing at the door" hang the bell by the door, and ring it when you take her out. Then, move to putting some PB on the bell so she rings it, when she rings it, you take her out (no matter how many times she rings it), and you stay out with her until she does her thing. Don't make "doing her business" a play session. Take her back in, even if it is only for 5 minutes.

I use a flexi instead of a short leash when I take the dog out. This lets the dog "circle" the area where I want the dog to do it's business.

Also, you can establish a routine where you (a) take her out first thing in the morning (b/4 feeding), (b) immediately after feeding (you'll have to stay out with her 10-20 minutes), and (c) after she's had a nap, (d} about 10 minutes into play, and (e) any time you take her out of her crate. Believe me, I've had lots of experience with male Saint Bernards that were "yard dogs" and have been able to housebreak them within a few days doing this. None of my foster homes want to have a Saint in the house that lifts his leg on the furniture/wall/fireplace. Trust me, Saints have HUGE bladders.And, you haven't lived until you've had a Saint have diarrhea in your bedroom at 2:00 a.m. (Been there, done that, don't like that).