Long- Need "puppy Advice" or "to rant"

[Cherry Heart]

Arwen is now 11 weeks. We both really love her, but she can be a monster sometimes. Potty training is still an issue, and I have accepted that it will take more time, but I am not sure I am doing all that I can to help her with it. Since day one we have taken her out after every meal, play time, nap you name it, and we spend about 15 minutes out there with her or more to make sure to give her time to get it all out. She was peeing outside then coming inside and going 2 or 3 more times, it seemed like no matter how long we were out there, how many times she went her tank was never empy. We took her to the vet they said she was fine just a puppy and so we went "duh" we need to give her treats when she goes outside. We started giving her microwaved hot dog treats everytime she went outside and LOTS of praise and so now she will go, get treat, sqeeze out another 2 drops, get treat, and then continue to try this about 8 more times in 5 minutes. I haven't been treating when she squats and nothing happens, should I? Now she is coming in, peeing more, and running over to get a treat. Of course she doesn't get one, it's as if she has learned the reasons WHY TO go outside but not WHY NOT to go inside. I don't want to rub her nose in it, but how do you let her know she did bad? A firm "NO" doesn't even get her attention.

We are also having a problem with biting. We have been using holding her mouth shut and saying "No Bite!" but that doesn't seem to get us anywhere. The past couple days, I have tried to loop my finger in her collar and give a firm look and "NO BITE" this sends her into a frenzy of flailing, snapping, wiggling, just ANYTHING to get away, she just won't calm down.

One last problem is her crate time. She has just enough room to lay on her side with legs out, and turn around. If she pee's she has to sit in it, though it does run off to one side. She is in her crate durning the after noon (2pm-8pm) while my husband and I try and sleep (We work nights) and she is a monster. She jumps up, crys, whines, scratches the floor of it. I have tried putting a hand in it to calm her, she bites me, she has a nylabone and a toy with her to keep her busy, she tries to push the bone under the divider and wont calm down. She wakes us up every hour crying, we take her out, she pees, then goes right back in and it's another 45 minutes of crying. HOWEVER on our days off when we sleep at NIGHT with her in the SAME crate by our bed, she is an angel. She goes into the crate, lays down, sleeps she has for the past 3 weekends slept for over 10 hours at a time without waking herself, or us up to go potty. Shes a doll at night, but won't let us sleep during the day. Any ideas what to do? My husband is going nuts.

[Burnsway]

For the crate issue I would keep her on the same schedule on the weekends and have her sleep in her crate at the same time she does during the week. She is probably just getting use to the one routine when you turn around and change it on her again. Later on she may catch onto your different schedules but a a pup I'm a big fan on keeping the schedules as close to the same as possible.

Later when they get more confident and mature the routines can change a bit more.

[moondog]

Ooooo...you got a SMART one!

For what it's worth, I never actually used treats for potty training.....just frequent trips, much more frequent than recommended and lots of praise for going outside. I certainly hope you're not considering "rubbing her nose in it" if she has an accident inside. If she goes outside and then comes in and immediately goes again in the house, how about taking her out, bringing her in, and taking her out again within the time frame she usually lasts before going inside?

Puppies bite! Again, for what it's worth, I never used any disciplinary tactics (like holding her mouth shut or pinching lips, etc) either. All Rottie pups are like little pirhanas. I kept my little pirhana busy by keeping her chompers redirected and occupied by always having nearby and always using a stuffed toy to keep her cute little mouth well-stuffed. I never tried to discipline her for puppy biting, I redirected it. And I didn't get mad, I made a game out of redirection. She caught on nicely and grew up with a solid understanding of what was for biting and what wasn't.

As for the crying during the daytime and sleeping well at night...I think that is a schedule thing like Burnsway said. It is natural for sleep to occur at night and for activity to occur during the day for us and for dogs, so it seems unfair to be annoyed with her for behaving as any puppy would. Puppies need structure and consistency (heck, dogs in general need consistency) and she has no clue why sometimes you sleep at night and sometimes you sleep during the day...she's a baby, and only knows what her needs are, she can't know yours. My dog was up a 4am sharp every morning, ready to spring into action and greet the day. I adjusted to HER, and as she grew and learned, there was more of a compromise on schedule.

I hope you're having FUN with the little monster...no one said raising puppies was a walk in the park!

[SABELLESMOM]

Originally Posted by Cherry Heart

Arwen is now 11 weeks. We started giving her microwaved hot dog treats everytime she went outside and LOTS of praise and so now she will go, get treat, sqeeze out another 2 drops, get treat, and then continue to try this about 8 more times in 5 minutes.

Read this again, slowly. You have successfully "trained" her to the: pee...stop...treat, method. And she appears to have learned it well. She'll look at you, confused and bewildered, but just wait longer. Don't treat until the job is completed.

When puppies nip and bite they will follow and continue to bite anything directly in their line of sight. So first keep your fingers out of her line of vision and change the game. Divert her with a toy. You can toss it, and she may chase it, or even bring it back. You can simply put it in her mouth and let her chomp away. If she won't take the first toy, get onother until she takes it. Give her things she can chew. A large greenie perhaps? She shouldn't be able to get much off at her age yet, so a large one would surely capture her interest.

Crating requires a great deal of patience and you have to ignore negative behaviors. It seems your schedule is a bit topsey turvey and she's clearly not tired at some of the crating times. Wear her out then, before naptime. Start some classes! Do some leash training, work on sits, play tug, fetch and chase this, etc. A good honest romp will do the trick. Then ignore her. She does not need to pee every hour. She can go probably 4 hours at the very least. I'd say even longer. (4 hours is more for 8 week pups)

[poohbearsmom]

Originally Posted by Cherry Heart

Arwen is now 11 weeks. We both really love her, but she can be a monster sometimes. Potty training is still an issue, and I have accepted that it will take more time, but I am not sure I am doing all that I can to help her with it. Since day one we have taken her out after every meal, play time, nap you name it, and we spend about 15 minutes out there with her or more to make sure to give her time to get it all out. She was peeing outside then coming inside and going 2 or 3 more times, it seemed like no matter how long we were out there, how many times she went her tank was never empy. We took her to the vet they said she was fine just a puppy and so we went "duh" we need to give her treats when she goes outside. We started giving her microwaved hot dog treats everytime she went outside and LOTS of praise and so now she will go, get treat, sqeeze out another 2 drops, get treat, and then continue to try this about 8 more times in 5 minutes. I haven't been treating when she squats and nothing happens, should I? Now she is coming in, peeing more, and running over to get a treat. Of course she doesn't get one, it's as if she has learned the reasons WHY TO go outside but not WHY NOT to go inside. I don't want to rub her nose in it, but how do you let her know she did bad? A firm "NO" doesn't even get her attention.

We are also having a problem with biting. We have been using holding her mouth shut and saying "No Bite!" but that doesn't seem to get us anywhere. The past couple days, I have tried to loop my finger in her collar and give a firm look and "NO BITE" this sends her into a frenzy of flailing, snapping, wiggling, just ANYTHING to get away, she just won't calm down.

One last problem is her crate time. She has just enough room to lay on her side with legs out, and turn around. If she pee's she has to sit in it, though it does run off to one side. She is in her crate durning the after noon (2pm-8pm) while my husband and I try and sleep (We work nights) and she is a monster. She jumps up, crys, whines, scratches the floor of it. I have tried putting a hand in it to calm her, she bites me, she has a nylabone and a toy with her to keep her busy, she tries to push the bone under the divider and wont calm down. She wakes us up every hour crying, we take her out, she pees, then goes right back in and it's another 45 minutes of crying. HOWEVER on our days off when we sleep at NIGHT with her in the SAME crate by our bed, she is an angel. She goes into the crate, lays down, sleeps she has for the past 3 weekends slept for over 10 hours at a time without waking herself, or us up to go potty. Shes a doll at night, but won't let us sleep during the day. Any ideas what to do? My husband is going nuts.

Hello fellow black and tan pirhana owner!

First of all, patience is your number one priority. Remember, a pup is a CLEAN SLATE, to which you shape behaviors, teach house manners, and guide through development.

Biting is normal (NORMAL) puppy behavior. This is an issue of redirection. A simple 'No bite' with a redirection to a lively toy, then a little round of play will save your ankles and hands. There's NO need to yell at a pup, a calm voice and perserverence, and yes, patience is necessary. I don't like to squash my pups' trust in me, nor it's confidence, I simply show the pup what's appropriate to chew on. It's very common for a pup of strong character to dislike correction. I have had to gently remove Miss Yrsa's jaws from my calf, and that oh-so-tender spot on the inside of the knee (OUCH) on several occasions; boy-howdy, she bites harder than any other pup I've had in this house (!!!!!), she too, comes back at me if not redirected in speed of light time. ... however, my voice is never raised, and in the past few days, she is showing me that the phrases, "Accck, No bite", and "No cat" mean that she gets to play with me and a toy, or receive a tasty treat! She is coming around and responding more and more each day, thanks to patience and consistancy.


Regarding house training. Firstly, your pup is not old enough to physically control it's bodily functions, and won't be for another week or so.

Consistancy IS key. A pup doesn't understand, or even care that you'd like to sleep in on your day off. A pup NEEDS a steadfast schedule to live by, in order to get it's body clock on your time. I don't give treats for pottying, and certainly not in mid stream, as that would disallow the pup to finish what it started. I praise the pup gently each and every time she goes in the right place. *IF* I catch her squatting in the house, she is quietly scooped up, and taken to her potty spot in the yard. No bitching, no yelling, and NEVER EVER EVER rubbing a pup's nose in their waste. That's not only disgusting, it's extremely counterproductive in regards to your pups growing relationship with you. *IF* I don't catch her in action, I simply move the pup from the room to the porch and clean up the mess quietly with absolutely no fanfare involved.


If you allow your pup ANY attention while it's exhibiting raucous behavior in the crate, you are, whether you like it or not, rewarding that behavior. Bad attention is better than no attention in a pup's mind. Barking is a very self rewarding behavior..... so, what do I do in this situation? Luckily, my current pup is not a crate screamer (she IS an expen and garden screamer), but Deiter sure was Satan in a crate... the temper tantrums in the crate went on for well over a month, to the point where we'd cover his crate and leave the house for a while to get away from it.
I make darn sure the pup is empty before being crated. I crate the pup, and carry on with my own chores around the house. I ignore the screaming. Once the pup calms down, and gives me a few seconds of silence, the pup is allowed out.
If you're attempting to sleep, then move the crate to a room in the opposite side of the house, close the door, and get some sleep. Sticking your fingers in the crate after the first couple of nights with you (for reassurance) is still rewarding the bad behavior. Ignore what you wish to do away with, reward the behavior you want. I never reward jumping up, flailing, screaming, or any other behavior I wish to extinguish. I DO reward 4 paws on the floor, with either a treat, or freedom, or both.


It's up to us to rear our pups in a thoughtful and intelligent manner. By rewarding the behaviors we wish to keep, and ignoring the behaviors we wish to extinguish, it's really not that difficult. (Do you see a theme here? )
Sometimes summoning up the patience can be trying, especially when one is running low on sleep... Chin up, you can do it.

[Cherry Heart]

Thank you all for your advice and reasurence. I am expecting this little girl to be the smartest fastest learning pup in the world, but that's just first time mom wishes and being neive. I may have read the books and played with alot of pups, but this is my first to take care of 24-7. I am trying to use patience with her, and I think I am doing well with it, my HUSBAND on the other hand is the one trying that patience. I didn't find out till just this week that he only acted excited and wanted her because I did. That alone has changed alot. I now know I am on my own with her, he wanted a dog, trained and trust worthy, the next few months will be hard. After a nice long talk I am looking at her in a different way.

I am noticing things that I over looked before because of his lack of patience with her. When I tell her no bite, she DOES let go, she just goes back to it right after, that would be ME not redirecting fast enough. When she gets over excited she starts snapping randomly and jumping. I try to give her a toy but she just wants to snap. I guess that will be my cue to take her out on the 20ft leash and let her run and snap at the grass. The potty training is doing okay. I think there were only 3 accidents today, they really do seem to come out of nowhere though. I am leaning alot, one: that puppys and working nights don't work, two: puppy's are just as difficult as human kids!.

One last thing. My puppy really doesn't seem to like out doors. It's been between 70-85 degrees this week , and as soon as we go outside and she's gone pee, we try and take her on a walk or play with her (we only walk 3 houses down and back so far) and she just flops over and wants to sleep. Once back inside, shes all for playing. Is this normal? Is it just the heat? We do keep the house air conditioned at all times.

[poohbearsmom]

A kiddie pool is a wonderful thing. Even the big dogs love ours! Miss Yrsa LOVES to splash around and chase plastic containers, floating metal bowls, balls... she'll even stick her whole face in the water to pick up a plastic kitchen spoon or a stick laying on the bottom of about 3-5 inches of water!!! She LOVES blowing bubbles, too.

Notice I don't go out and buy tons of expensive toys.... I use what's around the house that's going to be indestructable, or was heading to the recycling bin anyway, mostly. This encourages her to explore different things with her mouth, get used to carrying different elements (metal, wood, plastic... etc..) for future training, and it's virtually free fun.

It also keeps puppy COOL in the heat. If, like me, you don't have grass, set the pool up on your deck or patio; if it gets slick when wet, simply lay old towels around for traction, like you would in a bath tub. (remember to dry those ears out after getting wet in addition to the rest of the pup!)

Don't forget to take her out in the rain to play, either... it encourages her to ignore it during those multi day storms when it's time to potty.

Don't forget to take her out at night at this age as well - there IS a difference in environment, and this will help build her confidence.

Be aware that you don't FORCE your pup to do anything, but instead, gently guide her through new situations - don't BABY her - GUIDE her (!!!!!) and you'll be amazed at how quickly she'll grab hold of new situations as each one comes along.

Encourage her to explore each new thing you introduce to her - encourage her to walk confidently alongside you - encourage her to have FUN and learn to be a happy dog.

It's taking the time and using ones' imagination at this age to proof and imprint confidence in as many different situations, environments, and weather possible that will help you build a reliable happy dog.

[Canadianrotti]

Rottweiler puppy = land shark!!!

We all feel your pain and frustration, and I can sympathise with the spouce thing, same thing happened here. The funny thing is now I am spending too much time with the dog!!!

The potty thing, as the others said, it will take a little time for her little light to go off, and she will "get it". I was bringing Raelin outside every half hour it seemed for the first few months (make sure you oil the heinges on the door).

It soulds like your are going in the right direction with the biting. Just remember that EVERYONE has to follow the same rules with your pup!!! This is a real hard one to do. We had a rule of dog toys only in her mouth. That means no hads, no feet, NO SOCKS etc. As tempting as it can be, don't do it, you will regret it later on.

As for the crate, buy some ear plugs and leave her be. Keep your hand out of the crate (unless you want to sleep like that for the next several months), and she will catch on.

We have all been there to some level with our pups, so don't feel alone in your strugle. I am sure that you will have the smartest pup in your class, I don't doubt that one bit (we all did )

You can do it, she will be 2 y/o before you know it, and you will be wiching she was a puppy again!!! Good luck