puppy talk :)

[spotty_dog]

So she's been home for 2.5 weeks now...Any updates? How's the pooping? Is she settling in? How's the socializing coming? Any photos???

I'm getting the puppy fever bad, please help me tame it. Or enable it. Whatever.

[Ladybug]

Meet Tempy



She's thriving with all the kids, new garden, glorious time of year, birds, chipmunks, unpredicatable sprinkler systems and even threatening blankets. She's so funny and cute. After three weeks I'm getting tired of the pooping thing. My biggest mistake in retrospect is that I let her play outside at her own whim instead of making her take care of her *ahem* business first. She's decided that outside is for playing and frolicking and inside is for relaxing and pottying. Yesterday I was at my wits end. There is no shortage of outside time so no excuse for pottying in the house. It's just the way she perceives to best to use her time outside.

My new plan is to put her on a leash when we go outside (she's started running into the brush between the houses). She did not take well to the leash for the first day, but has since relented and will sit nicely with me…but not poop. I want her to associate the leash with "outside" and "potty." She can run wild and free (within the yard) afterwards. She's definitely intelligent, and she's not particulary stubborn. The new routine just needs to click, and then I know she'll be all over it.

She's very nippy and playful right now. I'm kinda glad we got her at 8 weeks because the kids enjoyed her still being so gentle and "baby." It's mindblowing how quickly she's changing and growing. I'm really glad our human kids don't grow this fast. It would be too hard and too sad.

I'm on call this weekend and running the health clinic (10-12) on sat and sun. She's coming with me. All the students have been requesting her. It's sweet to see them cuddle her and spill stories about their own beloved furry friends back home. She brings back a lot of memories, love and comfort for the boarders. She's also been requested for the math class this week to prove their theory (it's a stats project that they sent out a Monkey survey for) to prove dogs are preferalbe to cats. The instructor gave them permission to bring Tempy to class next Tuesday when they present their project results.

She's sleeping well, but she's up at the break of dawn (5:15) each morning. There's not enough coffee in the world right now. The kids love her, and the fights have diminished slightly, but they are still a part of our daily existence.

[ladymoreta]

Darling!!!

[MsSassyBaskets]

She's so sweet! That fluff!

[Ladybug]

I need wisdom and guidance.

Tempy keeps pooping in the house. She gets peeing outside and will usually do that within minutes of going outside. The only voiding accidents have been when I've waited too long to get her outside. My fault. But we have her outside A LOT. It's beautiful and everyone is outside in the mornings before school and after school. She's just waiting until she's inside to stealth poop in some corner to hide it. She hasn't learned how to tell me she needs to go outside to "Go Potty.

I started taking her out on the leash so 1) she started running off and she's too fast 2) to associate the leash with going potty. She's 11weeks now. She's smart though and already sits on command. I know she can learn this.

So my mom thinks she should be in the crate at all times unless she's going to the bathroom until it clicks. This is hard with the kids. They want her out and try to keep an eye on her. It just takes a split second for her to sneak off and poop though. I have caught her half the time and scared her. I thought I should startle her to stop and take her outside and let her know I was not happy but then she started hiding so I think it was making her think she shouldn't poop ever.

Thoughts?

[rainbabies]

Pick up her poop and put it outside in a designated pooping spot. After she "gets it" she can poop in other places outside. We used the exact same area every.single.time. for a month.

[Sheherezade]

Our second pup was like this. I ended up watching him like a hawk, and keeping him near me at all times. Eventually, I picked up on some vague signals and he got better at figuring out HOW to signal me. It's a process. There was a lot of time together and a lot of going out every two minutes to try. When he realized I'd let him out and be happy if he poo'd there, he was thrilled.


Angie

[rainbabies]

Alison, here's Marley the other day. She's almost 6 months now. Such a good girl. I still really miss Bailey and the two couldn't be any more different. She's so independent. Female GSD. He was needy and constantly affectionate. Male GR. lol😉
I'm happy with her. She's very kid oriented. Very focused on us and very much dh's dog. He's the fun one. I'm all business.(seems that way with the kids, too) 😉 When he comes home from his week away.....HOOLAYCRAP!
I nicknamed her "land shark"
Always moving, always has eye contact, and 99% of the time one step ahead of us when we get to the door. Loves people and is a fetching machine. Very socialized. And loves horse poop😝




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[spotty_dog]

Such a face! OMG! I'm dying. I'm sorry she's no Bailey, but nobody was gonna be.

Ladybug, you've got to make her successful, and then you've got to make success REALLY valuable. Pooping indoors already has a really strong reward history: she goes, she feels relief. And she's even figured out the extra criteria: she goes *where people aren't*, she feels relief and nobody scares her. So she's smart! But you have that patterning to overcome now.

The crate is the way to break the pattern. You really do need to be super strict about it. Kids can't have her out unless she's empty. Period. She is in the crate, or she is outside under absolute eagle-eye, with or without the leash (probably preferably with, so she can't self-reward with interesting sniffs until after she's done the deed.) You will get a poop even if it takes all day, but then you will give her THREE liver treats AND freedom to explore the yard. She's smart! It will only take a few repetitions to make it obvious that outdoor pooping is WAY more rewarding than indoor pooping.

Here's the exact breakdown of how to make it happen: http://www.dogstardaily.com/files/Housetraining_3.pdf

[peggyfromwastate]

Yes!!! Dogstardaily!!!

We had to make the crate ridiculously small for our Labradoodle- the breeder had them all going potty on the pavement bc she did not have grass there. So she was really comfortable going pee, poop, sitting in it even. We had to make her crate so small she could not manage to potty there without literally going on herself. Then we would take her immediately outside, and reward a ton when she peed or pooped outside. After that inside in a very small, enclosed area. I used my kitchen with baby gates. I would feed her, play with her for a bit, then about 20 min later outside to go potty. You can gate off a small area of the yard if you have to- mine don't like going when on lead. It's distracting to them. So that's another option.

Hang in there-- they do get better, it's just super frustrating in the interim.

[spotty_dog]

So...any puppy updates? [MENTION=1048]Ladybug[/MENTION], did you get the potty training mostly sorted? [MENTION=1084]rainbabies[/MENTION], is that gorgeous girl having any teenage shenanigans? @Vishenka, did you decide to get a pup?

I think the last I mentioned here, I was somewhat set on looking for a miniature Poodle. But after more family discussions and going to some dog shows, we shifted gears. Smooth Collies had been on my short list since before we lost Mieke, and there's actually a top-notch breeder right here in my area, but I was worried about barking and size. Then we met some and they didn't always bark and were smaller than I expected. So I put my name in the hat for a litter due in July...but she had a singleton puppy. :\ So now we're on the list for a litter that will be bred probably this week, putting the puppies ready to come home around December possibly. The breeder/owner has actually been my online friend for 3-ish years, and the mom dog is super petite at just 45 pounds. Fingers crossed this one works out! I'm scared but excited!

[Bittersweet]

Aw you could have a Christmas (maybe) puppy. I hope it works out.


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[spotty_dog]

Aw you could have a Christmas (maybe) puppy. I hope it works out.


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Me too! I can't believe we're going to end up having gone over a year without a dog (we put her down a couple days before Christmas.) But I'm kind of glad because the process has really made me feel like we're making a good choice for the whole family, plus it's been kind of good to have a break from pet-care concerns.

[rainbabies]

Hey! Miss Marley continues to be a great girl. She's a smart, energetic, annoying puppy. Lol!
She's really a great dog, but she's just so different, ya know? She loves swimming, going for rides and has continued the tradition of eating horse poop
She's a fetching machine. I swear the continual loop in her head is, ballballballballballball....
She truly loves(!!) being included in everything we do. Very loyal. Loves everyone she meets. The only time I don't trust her is when she's in the car. She's very, very protective for some reason. She's getting spayed/micro chipped, next month. She nibbled on two pine baseboards and chewed a small hole in the kitchen throw rug. That's it! Very happy with her.

We need [MENTION=1048]Ladybug[/MENTION] to update on her cute sheltie.

Dd1 with Lucy (in the towel) and Marley after a swim:



And here's "miss eye contact at all times herself" :


And ds bought her a go pro harness. Too funny. She hasn't a care in the world wearing it. Lol



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[scrub-jay]

I have to jump in here too! Our Labradoodle pup is a little over 16 weeks now, still confined to the kennel for a few more weeks as her knee heals. She had the pins removed a few days ago and will start rehab soon (5 minute leash walks) and we couldn't be happier. Because she's been confined to the kennel day in and day out, we're looking forward to getting to really know her soon.