Puppy Tips Blog

We have been training so far using puppy mats in the house but now she is able to go outside - she has now been going out for the last week but has yet to go outside and waits to come back in any tips???

Well if like most people you have trained the pup to use paper inside, move the paper to outside and praise she for using the paper outside, it worked for me i did have to keep the door open and leave the paper outside from time to time tho.
Good luck

I have a 5 week old female pup.
She is ready to learn house training and other tips needed.
The pupu mother stopped feeding and she is mature for her age.

Routine is the most important aspect of training. From the beginning, feed 4 times per day, at the same times, and put the bowl up in 5 minutes, or when finished.

A puppy will need to go just minutes after eating, so whisk her outside, and stay with her UNTIL SHE 'goes'..Give her lots of praise when she does her job, play a few minutes, and come back in..

If you can spread down a bag of sand, from a garden center, it will give her a good place to go, so you can kind of aim her there, and not just all over your yard..

She should only need to go poop after eating, and perhaps at bedtime..

However, she will need water down at all times, and need to pee frequently..so, outside every other hour for that..and keep a close eye on her..She will need to go during active play, and every time she wakes from a nap..If you watch her, you will see her acting restless, and sniffing the floor, etc when she needs to go..at first, peeing may be just a matter of pausing, and uh-oh, there it is..She won't even be aware…So its important to never scold her for peeing…***this is what makes traumatized pups that refuse to pee outside, or try to hide it in the house..as they get scolded for it, and it becomes a traumatic event***..
Keep the product, Nature's Miracle, on hand, for instant cleaning of pee spots…or ask your pet supply which enzyme cleaner they recommend..

Puppies physiology only allows them to hold pee for about 1 hour per month of age…so expecting any more is unrealistic..a good reason for a playpen or crate at night.. She may hold it through the night, but is likely to need to pee at least once during the night..You can remove the water a couple of hours before bedtime..

By following a routine, and being ever watchful for the first few days, you can have her petty well trained in just a couple of weeks..or less

I house-train all of my pups before they ever leave my home, and I do it an entire litter at a time..it normally takes about 4-5 days, with very few accidents, before they are asking to be let out..
But, if you hang a little bell on the door, or a desk bell on the floor, and show her you are ringing the bell each time you take her out, she is likely to begin ringing the bell when she needs to go..Just be very vigilant, and yet stay relaxed..an accident doesn't mean failure..
Remember, it takes forever to potty train a human baby, and it is so nice that puppies can learn it so much faster, but they are still allowed to be babies, and don't deserve to be stressed about the training…
If you have important areas to keep clean, just keep her away from those areas until she is a bit older..

I recommend using a soft step-in type harness for the walking and leash training, as it is less frightening and stressful..eventually, as trust is developed, you can switch to a collar..but a soft harness takes the fear away from the beginning…Walking stimulates the bowels to move, more so than just putting the dog out..
Here is a great resouce site for all basic early puppy training> http://www.perfectpaws.com/pupstuff.html
each 'blue' heading is a link.

I have recently bought a puppy, she is a very small breed chihuaha size (12 weeks old), I decided the best way to toilet train would be with a crate but I would be grateful of any tips.
She hates being in the crate but I am doing my best to ignore her when she cries, obviously I let her own regularly for the toilet and she is not shut in there all the time. I have only had her two days so I understand she will take time to get used to it.
Any ideas what to do if I catch her going to the toilet in the house? Please don't suggest rubbing her nose in it.

I just went through this a few months ago with my pup.
* Please do not put a blanket or paper in the crate, in only encourages wetting.

*Keep the crate in your bedroom at night.

*Drop treats in the cage so the dog lets its self in the crate.

*I always told my pup ‘go to bed’ when it was time to enter the create, and eventual she ran for the crate willingly on comand.

*Kongs are the best invention on Earth, Hartz also has hollow fire hydrant toys at Wal-mart, fill them with beniful(canned food) and carrots and keep them freezer. I have three! This will help with chewing and keep the puppy safely entertained in your absence.

* Never let the dog use soft toys in the crate.

* when the dog is out keep it on a leash in the house, so you know exactly where the pup is at all times! (most of my dogs accidents happened due to my lack of focus)

*Go out very often even if you do not think the dog needs to use the bathroom, and always try to bring the dog to the same area and a command ‘hurry, hurry’ as the dog goes. And bring treats to reward this behavior, verbal praise is very helpful!

Accidents will happen so please do not be mad at the pup. It takes almost 6-9 monthes build bladder muscles in a puppy!
*Go out every two hour with the dog for the next month, then gradually move up the time. Be careful not to wait too long, pups are prone to infections if they hold it too long.

*Look for signs such as pacing, circling, sneezing, barking, fear, excitment, tail wagging may be a clue it is time to go out.

*My dog has a cow bell on the door and knows to ring for outside time. Everytime I opened the door, I would ring it, then leash the dog and say 'outside'. After a while the dog rang the bell when she wanted to go out. (sometimes only due to boredom, but I took her out anyway!) She know the bell meant outside at five monthes old.

*Taking your dog to Puppy Kindergarten is worth every penny! My dog is confident, plays well with other pups, happy with strangers, and learns new commands quickly all thanks to Puppy-K. Plus, the dogs are so cute!

Look for a trainer who uses positive methods only! Make sure the trainers doesn't use prongs, jerking on the chain, or yelling at the puppy in their teaching technique. Clickers are GREAT.

**Practice 'Come' frequently, it could save your pups life!

Good Luck! feel free to write with questions!
Try the ‘My Smart Puppy’ DVD/Book it is great!

so about a week & a half ago, i got a goldendoodle puppy — any tips on training?

when ever
he/she
bites you
you say
"ow"
it will break his/
her pattern of
biting

help! my puppy craps everywhere. Any tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

i just got through the house breaking stage with my puppy. i would take him out like every 2 or 3 hours or anytime he started sniffing. everytime he done something outside i praise him while still outside and then when we get back inside before the door is shut. along with the praise i give treats for anything positive. when your puppy makes a mistake use the word "no" as punishment and pay no attention to your puppy for at least 5 minutes. won't take long. your pup will understand what it has to do or not to do for your attention.

I have a new mini dachshund puppy and I need help getting her started going outside. I know to reward her when she goes outside, but she will NOT go outside. I cant even catch her going in the house because she doesnt sniff around in circles or have any signs shes got to go. She just moves and I see a wet spot underneath where she was standing. I've tried crate training but she goes in there too. In fact she only goes doo in her crate. I;ve tried staying outside with her for up to an hour sometimes, and she will not go. I was hoping someone may have a secret to training a stubborn dog. Help!
Also any tips on getting her to stop whining at night would be helpful too. Thanks
Ive been trying to do the feeding schedule thing, but she only eats a couple bites and walks away, then I ll take her out for a good half hour and nothing happens, sometimes she won't go til hours after eating., Also its funny you metioned :marley and me" I just started reading that book! I love it. My dog is so well behaved, except these 2 things.

i used to breed akc minis. you have to take them outside phisically. if you have some specimine put it in the grass and lean their head near it, or if you have another dog put them by that dogs marking spot. they get the clue almost instantly, like new kittens in litter boxes. it is not mean so dont worry.

also, take them out every few hours till they get the routine down. once they learn this, they will recognize outside as their territory to do so. good luck!

Bella, my puppy, is part German Shephard and part Golden Retriever and currently 5 months old. She constantly bites and jumps up on anyone and anything. I’ve had her since she was 2 months old and it’s been the same thing. I have chew toys for her, but she continues to chew my feet, my clothes, my furniture, and everything else. Are there any tips on how to get her to stop? I’ve tried a forceful tone, turning my back to her, ignoring her, but nothing works.

The chewing thing is normal because they are teething, but what you can do is buy sour apple spray, which they sell at pet stores, and spray it on the stuff that she usually chews and usually that will stop it.

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I like to have snack time with my dogs.  If I munch on carrots or cucumbers, I give some to the dogs as well.  A lot of people say that their dogs won’t eat any vegetables or they won’t eat anything but meat.  Offer some fresh vegetables to your dog and you might be surprised!

 I don’t like the skin on cucumbers so I always peel them.  My dogs know the sound of the peeler coming out of the silverware drawer. Every time I get the peeler out, all of the dogs come running to meet me at the garbage can.  They all wag their tails and I hear an occasional whine.

They all follow me to the counter where the plate is to cut up the cucumber.  Again, as I am cutting up the cucumber, I hear some more whines.  Once I am done cutting it up, I find five slices of equal size and I hand them out to the dogs as they sit and wait for their bite.

I sometimes like to snack on the baby carrots that come in a bag.  I put some in a bowl and I always add extra for the dogs.  I give each one a baby carrot and they find their own spots to sit and chew on them.  They eat the carrots just like they were eating a bone.  I feel good about giving them carrots because they are not fattening, they are good for them, and they help to clean their teeth.  I give each dog about three or four carrots.  Just remember to not overdo it with your dog.  I think my dogs would eat carrots all day long if I let them, but I don’t want them to get a belly ache or have diarrhea. 

Any time you feed a new food to your dog, you should feed them only small amounts at first so that you can see if it upsets their stomach.  Also, if you give them too much new food at one time it can cause them to have diarrhea.

OK, back to the fun stuff.  If I cut up broccoli or cauliflower, I give the dogs some bites after I finish cutting it up.  They enjoy the crunchy fresh taste.  It is a nice change from dog snacks.  I also give them bites of raw potato when I am cutting them up.  They love potato slices and it is funny to hear all of the crunching noises!

If your dog refuses to eat any vegetable at first, it might be because the texture of the vegetable feels funny to them.  Don’t force them to eat it, but let them see you eating it and then offer it to them again the next time you are cutting some up.  Sometimes they will eat it just because they see you eating it and they get curious.

My daughter likes to give our dogs bites of corn on the cob.  Believe it or not, she has taught them to chew the corn off the cob, but not to eat the cob.  She holds onto the ear of corn tightly between her hands in front of her and the dogs will chew off a bite just like we do.  She gives each dog a turn to chew off some corn.  Once in a while one of the dogs will get excited and try to pull the whole ear of corn out of her hands.  That’s why she hangs onto it really tight.

I also give my dogs some fresh fruit.  They like apples, pears, and oranges.  Some of them like bananas and some don’t. I think some of the dogs don’t like it because of the mushy texture of the banana.   The fruit is very wet and refreshing for them.  They like it better than a tough old dry dog biscuit.  Fruit also contains natural sugar instead of processed sugar like in their dog treats.  Believe it or not, dog treats contain a lot of sugar. 

I did try a dog treat once that was made out of dried sweet potato chips.  I don’t recommend it.  My dogs chewed off chunks that became very sticky.  The chunks got stuck on their teeth and on the roof of their mouths.  I had to help some of the dogs pry the treat out of the roof of their mouths before they choked to death.  A very scary experience!  I threw the rest of the bag of dried sweet potato chips away.

I have heard that you are not supposed to feed your dog tomatoes, grapes and onions.  First, I don’t think my dogs would eat raw onions and I don’t plan on feeding them any. As far as grapes, I heard that too many can be toxic or poisonous to your dog.  I occasionally give my dogs a grape, but no more than one for a snack just to be safe. 

I’ve heard that tomatoes could cause your dog to choke on the skin.  I haven’t had a problem with this.  As a matter of fact, last year our dogs would run to the garden and wait for me to get them each a grape tomato.  They love grape tomatoes!  They have eaten quite a few at one time and there has never been a problem. 

Towards the end of last year, when the tomatoes were almost gone, we would let the dogs hunt for their own tomatoes.  They would crawl through the plants looking for a tomato to eat. It’s kind of comical to watch four dogs on a treasure hunt for tomatoes!  Only four dogs were in the garden because we didn’t have Macy last year.  We will introduce her to the garden this year.

You might want to try using fruits and vegetables for rewards during dog training.  I have tried it, but the dogs get so excited that I can’t get them to calm down to work on tricks.  I can usually get them all to sit for a short time before I give them a treat in the living room.  They all get so desperate for a bite of a real treat!  It would probably work better if I tried it one on one with each dog.  Maybe I’ll try it and see if it works.

I give my dogs a variety of fruits and vegetables.  If you don’t feel comfortable doing this, then stick with the normal dog treats.  Just remember, don’t give them too many of either one.

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Welcome to my puppy tips blog. I have been raising dogs for the last 15 years. I have bred dogs and raised puppies, I have taken in abused dogs and raised them, and I have taken care of older dogs until the day they passed away. As you can see, I have a wide range of experiences with dogs.

I currently have five dogs. I have had three of them since they were just puppies. The other two I got when they were around two years old. Their ages right now range from three years old up to ten years old.

The oldest one is Princess. She is a ten year old Toy Poodle. I got her when she was two years old. She was abused and extremely underweight. She was in very bad shape. It took a lot of TLC and patience to get her healthy again. She still has some psychological quirks that we all accept as part of her background. She doesn’t like her belly or tail touched when being petted. She also gets annoyed when any of the other dogs try to get near her.

The next one I got was Little One. She is a Toy Poodle and she turned three years old in mid-February. Then there is Dusty. He is also a Toy Poodle and is six weeks younger than Little One. He turned three in April. I got both of these guys when they were just eight weeks old.

I got both of them from the same breeder. I brought Little One home when she was eight weeks old. At that time, Dusty was only two weeks old so I had to wait six weeks before I could get him.

The next one is Sidney. She is an Australian Blue Heeler. She is four years old. I got her when she was two years old. She is a very high-energy dog.

The last one is Macy. I got her when she was three months old. She is now ten months old. She is a Pomeranian and she is a ball of energy!

As you can see, I have quite a mix of dogs and they all have their own personalities and quirks. I have learned a lot of puppy tips and tricks over the years and my intention is to share all of my puppy tips with you.

I also look for new puppy tips all the time, so when I find new ones, I will post them here as well. I hope you find this blog both useful and entertaining. Talk to you soon!

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