Puppy Tips Blog

Our GSD puppy (3 months old) loves barking at our cat (9 years old) - drives me and the cat insane! The cat just stares at the dog, but the dog carries on barking. The pup has met another cat and went up to it, never barked, and later ignored it - no problems at all. Why pick on this one?
We are using the NO command and she gets it with other things, but not particularly with the cat. All ideas welcome!

Fill a large plastic bottle with pebbles or pennies.
When the dog barks at the cat, correct him by saying 'NO' firmly first and them shake the bottle loudly in front of his face.
Do this every time. It shut my puppy up and is a great cure for this behaviour.
When you've done it a few times, say no with out shaking the bottle to give him a chance to obey without correction. Give him 2 seconds to obey, then shake it again if he dosn't obey you.

This can also be done with a water spray bottle, but if you live in a cold climate I don't recommend it. The dog ends up soaked too. The pebble bottle works great.

Good luck!

I got 2 new puppies, witch is 1 more then I used to when potty training…or any other training for that matter. I just looking for some good tips for training multiple dogs at the same time. Potty training is what I worried about for right now….but any other tips are more then welcome!! Thanks!!!!

Crate training is miraculous! If you don't have a crate, just wall off a very small area of your house (it really needs to be small) and when you can't watch them to get them outside to pee in time (or if you don't yet know their signs that they are about to) then keep them in their crate or small area. Make sure they sleep in this area too! The point is that dogs don't urinate or defecate where they sleep, so they won't go in their crate unless you leave them in there too long. For puppies you'll need to take them out every few hours, even at night. Since you have two, it seems like having one in the crate and one out might be easiest for a while, so you can really keep an eye on the one that's loose and catch him/her before he pees, and count on the other one not to. Keeping the loose ones in ever-widening open spaces also helps (same den theory at work here). Also you probably know already but punishing them for peeing inside doesn't ever work. Our trainer always told us, "punish YOURSELF if they pee inside, because you weren't watching them!" Good luck and have fun! I bet they are so cute!

My fiance and I have just adopted an 11 week old pug mix puppy. He was already neutered when we got him. Since we've had him he has been out of control. Anytime we have him out of his crate or the kitchen(his safe room) he marks every where. I thought with him being so young and neutered we wouldn't have to deal with marking for a while if ever. We don't know what to do. We correct him, take him outside regularly, and clean up his mess with the special odor-removing spray, but he still does it. He also has a total disregard for his crate and will potty in it whenever he's put in it. We get up several times during the night to take him out, but he still goes in his crate. We are at our wits' end! Please help us! Any suggestions are welcomed!

It is possible that the pup has a urinary tract infection if he is going as often as you say. Call the vet and get that checked out first.

Is he actually lifting his leg and peeing on things? If not, he isn't marking - he's peeing. Pups need constant supervision and confinement when they can't be watched. Unfortunately, pups who are in cages for long periods of time when so young can learn to accept being in their waste. If the crate you are using is an appropriate size, you may be better off using a very large crate or keeping him in a small area, such as a powder room or Xpen. He will probably still have accidents but he can stay away from it. You need to "reboot" that desire for him to stay clean, then go back to using the right crate again.

You don't say how long he is crated, either. A pup this age can not be crated for more than two hours and keep his crate clean.

If he really is lifting his leg and marking, I suggest you contact a private trainer. You are soon going to have much bigger issues on your hands than urine in your house. It is highly unusual for a dog this age to be marking.

Our doberman puppy is 12/13wks and we have had him for 3 weeks,
he has not had the best start in life, and we are now busy undoing all the bad stuff done to him, coming along well this week with house training etc,

but since we have had him, he had chased our cat, the cat is a big wimp and all he does is hiss and bop him on the nose! even when puppy has him pinned to the ground

I am training him that we are the leaders, not him, and have tried….. saying no, telling him off, water squirt when chasing, holding him/the cat/both so they can sniff each other/destracting him/rewarding when doesnt chase, but for weeks now no matter what we do he will chase and bite,

the cat will roll onto his back, and puppy will bite him round the neck, he was in a litter of 11, so i thought it may be rough playing, but no matter what i try i cant break the habbit, and we are worried that if we dont soon he will grow up doing this and kill or really harm the cat
any tips please?

Use the No Free Lunch method to get some control over him then have a leash on him..and collar of course..lol. When he goes after the cat, grab the leash as close to the collar as you can. Pick his front feet off the ground ,by the leash, and shake him mildly, do not cause brain damage, and say in a harsh, firm tone NO!! BAD DOG. Get harder if he continues, some dogs are highly prey driven and will kill small critters. I would toungue lash him for several minutes if he doesn't look/act submissive. The words don't really matter but you have to have a harsh, disgusted tone of voice. You can also buy an air horn at Wal*Mart and when he is chasing but b4 he has the cat, say NO CHASE! and blow the horn. I fostered 2 dogs that killed cats, one had jumped out a second story window breaking his leg on his way to killing a kitty. One was a 10 mos old Pit and the other, the broken legged one, was a GSD, who was 4 ish. I put both on pinch collars and worked obed in the cat room of the shelter I worked at and made them ignore running kitties. Both lived in my house with cats after that. But I got on them hard, I used the pinch and pulled them off the ground with it and toungue lashed them for several minutes and shook the collar. Since I was the pack leader the point got across quickly. I start doing obed training at 8 weeks or as soon as I get the dog. My first GSD was started at 8 weeks, entered and passed his test at a fun match at 4 mos and got his first leg on his CD at 6 mos and 1 day. Pups can learn obed. they just need frequent short lessons.

I just purchased an 8 week old Basset Hound puppy. He is a little harder to crate train than my other dog was and barks/howls all night long! Is there anything I can do to stop this behavior?

I am not opposed to puppy training classes but I don't know of any reputable trainers. Any help is appreciated!

At that age he can be crated for about 3 hours. (The rule of thumb for how many hours he can stay in his crate is his age in months plus one). I have a 10-month old pit bull. I got him when he was 8 wks old. You have to get up in the night just like he was an infant! He is still a baby. I set my clock in the night to get up at appropriate intervals, to feed him and let him go "use it".

Take a nap in the afternoon, it will help. Don't get discouraged. It really won't be that long before he will sleep five, six, seven, eight hours.

When my pit bull was several months old he developed a BIG booming voice, and he uses it when I put him in his crate at bedtime. So I have one of those sound machines that plays white noise or soothing sounds in the room where the dogs crates are. It masks minor sounds that may wake them, and they don't hear me in the other part of the house either. A whirring fan or radio playing soft music or static would work as well. Sometimes he howls for a few minutes, but soon he settles down and goes to sleep.

Our black lab/golden retriever puppy is about 16 weeks old. We bought a dog training book that says to hold a treat up to his nose because they can't bark and sniff at the same time when he is barking. But that is not working because he might think he is being praised. What do you suggest we do?

NEVER EVER BEAT THE DOG, OR HIT IT when it barks or else it will turn aggressive. I know alot about dogs, and usually you ignore the dog or look at them straight in the eyes and say no in a stern voice and then ignore them but don't put them in a time-out, because their cage is eathier their home, or when they crap in the house. just ignore the dog because all they want is attention and that's why they're barking or because they're trying to protect their property! GOOD LUCK! contact me if you have any questions at shopacholic009@yahoo.com

I got a puppy a few months ago. She is a pit bull mix. I realize most people think pit bulls are mean dogs, but she is a sweetheart, very energetic, playful, and well socialized. She is about 4 months old now. The only concern I have is her behavior with one of my cats. She constantly chases the cat (naturally), but then when she corners the cat (named Bella), she will sort of hover over Bella and lick the back of her neck. I am not sure if she nips while she does this, I think it's just licking. The reason this worries me is because I am afraid one day she will take playing too far, and will grab Bella by the back of the neck and shake her until Bella is dead. Has anyone else seen this behavior? Is this normal, or am I just freaking out over nothing? I love my cat to death and I wouldn't be able to handle it if something happened to her.

Take charge and don't LET her chase the cat. It's your cat, not hers, act like it. Get between her and the cat and make her back up…walk into her and use strong body language and make a sharp sound I use AAAHK or HEY ! No is overused.

It may be "natural" to chase the cat but it doesn't mean you have to allow it.

I have 2 young Whippets 11 and 14 months and a 14 yr. old Persian. From the first day I never let either harrass the cat !
They can sniff her gently and touch her, but NO chasing ever and no pawing at her. She is NOT their toy, she is MY cat.

Teach your puppy now what is acceptable behavior and what is not. I tell my dogs "easy" and they slow down or soften their play.

Whippets can kill cats and will if allowed….super strong prey drive. But I've had multiple Whippets and cats and I make them all play by MY rules.

I do gate the dogs away from the cat or use crates when I'm not home….esp. with multiple dogs I want to make sure my cat is ok. My dogs are only around my cat when I'm home and she also has a tall climbing post with a bed on top, so she can watch them and stay out of their way.

Give your cat places to get away or a cat door to another room. I don't know that your puppy would ever attack the cat but she could injure her by accident…why take that chance.

Put the puppy on a leash at first if needed to keep her under control around the cat.

I have watched her and made sure she goes when she wakes up, after she naps, after she plays, after she eats, and right before she goes to bed at night. I also give her lots of praise and an occasional treat at times. A few times I have put her in my office with a gate while I am doing things around the house. I leave her in there with a pad to go on and toys and her crate to sleep in. She will pee everywhere else put not on the pad like I have been training her to do. Sometimes she doesnt even sniff around for her scent, she will just go wherever she is at that moment.She also was laying on my couch one day and went while she was laying down. I don't know what else to do. I may have too high expectations. How long do these puppies usually take to break.

She might have a UTI- you might check that first. Otherwise, I fostered dogs for rescue and my process was as follows:

1) Get a crate large enough for to stand and turn around.

2) Leave him in the crate when you cannot supervise her.

3) When you take her out of the crate- make outside (or the pad- or wherever you want him to go) her first stop.

4) Use the same spot to eliminate. Praise when she does it right.

5) Make sure you get in a walk- it'll stimulate her to go.

6) Common times to eliminate are a) after sleeping b) after eating c) after a play session.

The most important thing is not to leave her unsupervised in the house. If you want to use the pads (and I don't recommend them)- put him on the pad when he get out of the crate, put the dog on his sanctioned spot until he eliminates.

Sometimes samples of his own scent (rub the pad over a spot where he has gone) will inspire her to go.

Remember dogs are pack animals- especially pups. So if the pup is with you, then wanders to another room- there's a good reason for his privacy quest. Too many times, they'll wander off, eliminate, then trot back to the owners happy that they've just gone, feeling great, and the unsuspecting human praises the cute pup- thus encouraging the bad habbit.

One more thing- make sure you chemically clean any spot in the house where he has gone. Dogs can smell the animal protines in the urea long after it has passed our sniff/sight test- and if you don't clean it properly- you've given him another sanctioned spot.

Honestly- it doesn't take long if you stay on top of it. But you cannot leave them unsupervised. Trust me- it's better for them- and you- in the long run.

Good Luck!!!

I am going to get a new puupy in about 2 weeks. But I dont know how to paper and house train the dog at the same time. And I know how to house break a puppy already. I just need help with both!

Don't.
Pads and Papers don't work. Get a crate and housebreak the dog properly to go outside. Cleaning up poop and piss on the floor for any size dog really sucks.

My 4 month old puppy needs a bath! I have never given him one and I was wondering if anyone had any tips? Like how to keep the dog from being too scared, or staying in the tub?
Thanks.

Hi. I also have a four month old puppy. However, I've given her a bath many times before this. Here are my tips though.

1. GET IN THE TUB WITH HIM!!! Trust me, it will relax him. So put on a swim suit and get in the tub with him. He will be much calmer that way.

2. Fill the tub up all the way. Fill it up enough so that he can swim around. Puppies get scared when their paws slip against the tub because they don't understand why. Dogs know how to swim, though, and they feel much more comfortable doing that. My doggie loves to swim around in the tub! Don't fill it up too little or he'll be slipping and sliding everywhere whether he means to or not.

3. Make sure the water isn't too hot. This is obvious, but keep it a little cool, because that fur can get pretty warm already.

4. Use a puppy shampoo. People shampoo can sometimes irritate dogs' skin. I know some say its fine, but others it gives their pets dandruff. Better safe than sorry, in my opinion.

5. Be gentle! Don't scrub him too hard. Don't let any soap near his face or ears. That would be a bad first experience that would probably make him not like baths in the future.

6. Give him treats afterwards!

All in all, good luck! This is what I have done with my four month old wiener puppy, and she loves baths! She even whines to come in with me whenever I take baths! Have fun! And, no matter what, you will get soaked when he shakes all the water out of his fur. I always dry my puppy off, but she still splashes me anyway. Haha.

For real though, dogs love playing in the water, and the only reason they would ever be scared of it is due to a bad experience with water. So just make sure its fun for him, and make sure you're not manhandling him or getting shampoo in his eyes or anything else. Climb in there with him for a swim, he will love it.