New Pup

[Stacey]

Hi, Im new to this site and just wanted to say that we're picking up our new 8 week old golden cockapoo pup on Saturday and cant wait. Have bought crate, vet bed, puppy pads, toys galore - you name it we have it. Any advice on toilet training would be much appreciated. - Thanks:)

[kendal]

hey welcome, do you have a name yet.

sounds like you are all set.

as for the toilet training, as soon a puppy wakes up from a sleep take him/her out too pee/poo, about 15 minutes aftere eating take out for pee/poo. same for after a drink.

also use a command like 'peepee', 'be clean', 'get busy' etc just what ever you want, just say it when pup does its buissness so he.she will asosiat it with the action, it means you can get them to pee on command(can make life easy if your in a hurry)

[Stacey]

thank you so much for that advice. Do i still try and train him to do on the puppy pads also? By the way, his name is Monty x

[kendal]

we only used the puppy pads incase of accidents. its bets if you try and get him so he knows he pees out side rather than in the house. its more to do with the vaccination side of things if you have lots of foxes or unvaccinated dogs using the aria you want him to pee the the vet yould sugest the puppy pads.

it just means your training him twice, once to use the pads then againe to teach him to pee outside. a bit more hastle than its worth, but everyone has there own methods.
if you have a secure garden then its safe to teach him there.

love the name. looking forward the photos.

[DillonsDebbie]

Hi Stacey,
Potty training is a breeze with cocka-poos as they are so smart already, hurry up is a good one say it over and over ....and then lots of kisses, high pitch voices and lots of hugs and good boy or girl......they catch on pretty fast.

[kendal]

lol youv never met my inca, she was 6 months before we got her to pee outside. and she is not three on only in the last couple of months has she cryed to get out.

Gypsy was our first and so easy, inca second so hard, and Echo want to bad.

pop up and intro debbie and tell us about your self and dillon, oh and ofcoars photos are a must.

[Stacey]

thanks for all your advice. Someone said to me that i shouldnt leave any water in the crate at night otherwise he'll never learn to hold his wee in. Is this correct? Should i take the water out just before i go up to bed?

[kendal]

i know someone with pointers who said that as she had big problems with her eldist.

it just depends, we dont always leave watter the the crate.

for the first couple of weeks you will need to take him out in the middle of the night to pee as he wont be able to hold it all night yet.

[Stacey]

Its sure like having a baby all over again !!

[kendal]

lol it is that, but it passes. they are all different. he might be a bit stressed the first couple of nights, as you can exspect considering her is away from mum and litter.

[Stacey]

Do you recommend that i DO NOT go down stairs if i hear him crying. I have friends who have labradoodles and they both went down in the night and now the dog will only sleep on their bed.

As far as his business is concerned, i will make half the crate up with a bed and half with pad and hope that he will pee or poop on that in the night.

[kendal]

no i wouldnt do that, if you do that you will teach him that its ok to poo and pee in the crate, and you dont want that. you will need to take puppy out after about 4 hours. mu mum sad that with our girls she kept them at her bed side in a small colapsuble travel crate, that way she knew if they woke up. she said that she took our girls out alteat twice a night, and you gradualy lengthon the time he can last over night.

once you know he can hold his toilet all night then i would say ignore him and dont go down. make sure you get him to toilet before he goes to bed and you should be fine.

[Stacey]

Hi, im in a real dilemma and am panicking. Everyone tells me to make the crate up with half bed and half puppy training mat. The vet just told me not to put a pad in there at all. Does this mean that the dog is going to foul in his crate through the night on the bedding? Surely it would be more comfortable for the dog to do its business on the paper.

[suepenningtonhyde]

Hi Stacey

We tried our puppy in a crate and she hated it. As she soiled the crate the first night she wouldn't go in again and has been perefectly happy in her own bed ever since which is kept downstairs and not up. She howled the first night we had her but we just ignored and she only did that for a couple of nights. I made sure she had a hot water bottle and lots of cuddly toys to snuggle up to.

I only put puppy pads down if i am not going to be there and through the night as i have to admit I don't get up so if she needs to go she uses the pads which is great. They are incredibly bright and just want to please. i use the term busy and she is 5 months old now and pees on command.

All the hard work will be worth it as they are gorgeous dogs. I have had dogs all my life but never one as cuddly as this!

Love

Sue

[kendal]

the thing is if you let him soil in the crate he will do it all the time, its best to take him out when he needs and work up the time he can hold it. the crate should bee seen as its bed, and not as a toilet.

some dogs dont take to the crate, but most will if you persist, just decide what you want to do and stick with it, dont chop and change to much or it will make training more confusing for the dog.

[Stacey]

Thanks for all your advice. Picking up Monty today

[Stacey]

all is going so well and Monty is doing all his business outside in the garden. Either by me keep taking him or out or occasionally him crying/barking by the back door. However this morning he went by the front door and tried to do a poo. I quickly grabbed him and put him in the garden. I find it strange as he never goes by the front door as there is no door leading to it and it was only because he saw me walking there that he followed. I did however just catch him doing a wee there too. I gave him a stern "NO" and took him straight in the garden. Any reason why he would foul in that same place twice and no where else in the house?

[kendal]

could be the sent, or the fact he has got the idea that he goes out side but doesnt alway give you the worning in time for him to hold it till he gets outside.

glad he is doing well, you need to post photos of him.

[Stacey]

having a problem downloading photos - will endeavour to do it. in the meantime, he is very frisky when playing which is lovely but he is beginning to nip and bite and doesnt seem to know when to stop. hes not really interested in his Kong toys that people have recommended. When we say no, it makes no difference. any advice would be appreciated.

[kendal]

when he gets over exited, say no and stop the game, get up and walk off. or say no and give him a tap on the side not hard that you hurd him but not so light he doesnt regester it.

also start teaching him to leave it, hold a treat in you fingers but dont let him get it, tell him to leave or drop or what ever word yoy want to use, as soon as he stops trying to get the treat give it to him and tell him he is good, repeat this till he dose it first time for like 5 times in a row, then more on to a toy and do the same thing.


as for his kong what are you putting in it, you can put anything in it from chicken, cheese, peanutbutter, dry food, tind wet food etc, something that he realy likes. you can also freeze it so it makes it harder for him to get the contents, and takes longer to eate it.

[Enneirda.]

Dogs don't like going potty in there living area, so if the spot by the door is normally ignored, he'd pick it for when he has to go. You need to clean it with a pet floor cleaner, normal floor cleaners can actually smell like pee (the ammonia) to a dog. I'd also gate it of for a while, he's to young to really understand not to go there so the best way is just to block him.

For his nipping a high pitched yelp (like his siblings would of done when bit) can also help get the idea across that he hurt you in his language. Also try using up his energy with a rough game, like chase or tugawar to take the edge off as much as you can.

[Stacey]

thank you for all your advice - i will certainly take the comments on board. It seems that he is getting more boisterous as the week goes on. I know hes only 9 weeks old but today he seems to have dug up most of my garden, eaten most of the stones and mud and has actually fouled on my stairs carpet and weed twice in the same spot. From doing all his business outside and being quite calm, it seems that he has become possessed!!!!!! what am i doing wrong??

[Enneirda.]

Well, you did buy a puppy lol. You haven't been around them enough if you thought they weren't evil. ;)

Don't let him in the garden withount you, and when you do go out take him on leash at all times.

If he starts to dig, tell him 'no dig' and move of fast. Once he understands to leave the dig site when you say no dig, start taking him out withount a leash.

Eating stones can cause a obstruction, and you definitely don't want that. Start teaching him 'leave it' and until he know it well, give him a slight pop and remove it from his mouth fast.

Clean the carpet with a pet cleaner, and don't take him out without a leash until he understands the place to pee.

When a pup comes home everything is novel and scary, now he's comfertable with you so he's fine being a terror lol. Don't worry, he'll grow out of it. I think. :)

[Stacey]

thanks for that info. i took him out today twice in the garden on the leash and obviously he thought it a game and just wanted to chew it. how do i teach him to walk with it without him trying to chew it the whole time. ;)

[kendal]

if its a nylon lead, then hold the lead with both hands leaving a good bit od space inbetween, hold it out to him so he wants to chew it, when he does pull it shrply to the side, it creats a slight burning sensation on his tounge. after a couple of times or maybe even the first he wont want to put in in his mouth. it wont hurt him its just like if he was to pull you and the lead runs thrugh your hands.

if he makes any atempt to do it on the walk the pul sharply to the side or down this will give him a correction.

its better this than him chewing the lead so much it snaps and he runs into trafic.

[Enneirda.]

I second Kendal, when 'Lo was young she gave up fast when the lead got popped into her mouth for chewing it. You could also get him a thin chain lead, he wouldn't want to chew that. I've heard soaking a lead in bitter apple or vinegar is supposed to work as well.

[kendal]

i wouldnt recoment the chane lead they cut you hands to sheds if your do becomes a puller.

the problem with bitter apple(it is fab and a very good chew deterent) but it may mean the dog doesnt want the lead on because it doesnt want to go near the smell.

[Enneirda.]

The pup is way to young to be a puller, and even if he were there is a cloth handle, so no hurt hands. :) Also, a puller needs classes or a training collar/halti not a cloth leash and patience while the human is being pulled around.

A dog has no need to sniff/play/chew/or pay any atenion at all to a leash, mine ignore it at all times. It's smell really shouldn't be a issue, the dog should be taught that leash=going outside, so no matter the smell they'd still love it. But I do perfer popping the leash lightly into there mouths, in the past any leash soaking was ignored by 'Lo.

[Mom2Jack]

Puppies will be puppies ;)

I got Jack when he was about 10 weeks old and he immediately slept in his crate with no problems. The first two nights he did wake up to do his business but since then, he sleeps fine. I put the crate in my bedroom, so there wasn't any separation anxiety on his part. No food, water or pee pee pads, just him and a few toys and his bed. He loves it, and during the day he will go in there when he needs to 'just get away', so to speak.

When he came home, the weather was really nasty so we had to start with pee pee pads, but now that spring is here I've taken them up. He knows to go outdoors, but will on occasion have an accident in the kitchen... but we are we're working on it! :whatever:

Jack loves to go out, and does fairly well on the leash. BUT he is a puppy and tries to pick up rocks, sticks etc.... I tell him "yuck" and then take whatever he picked up out of his mouth. Personally, I wouldn't leave him unattended in a yard, even if it's fenced in because he's still a baby.

He's learned to sit, laydown and even to wait for his treats if we put them on the floor!

If your puppy is nipping/biting...tell him NO BITE and then put something that he is allowed to chew in his mouth. It will take time, because they are teething. I've also put baby carrots in the freezer, he loves to chew on them too!

[merry]

How did you get Jack to lay down? Dexter picked up sit in like 5 minutes but he doesn't get lay down. I tried having him sit and pulling the treat but it doesn't make him la down. I tried pushing him into a laying position and he looks at me like I am nuts.

[kendal]

get him realy into the treat, like cheese or something realy tasty that he gets realy exsited about. keep it between your thumb and fingers so he can lick it but not get it. when he is sitting and getting realy into it pullit down realy slowly so that his nose fallows it. if you do it to quickly he wont falow it. its all about luring him down then lots of praze when he does it. once he has done it twice he will get the idea and do it quicker.

he will get there he is still young and learning.