# Newbie with puppy questions



## GillianB (Mar 14, 2018)

Hi Everyone!

Am new to the site and have a few queries which some of you may be able to help with / advise on/ sympathise with and offer some encouragement !! lol

We have a 10+ week old Cockapoo (Amber), whom we bought just over two weeks ago. All in all, she seems to have settled in really well. She took to her cage quite naturally with no prompting (result!). She has slept every night since arrival with the occasional whine early morning, which has really been for a wee and then she returns to her crate until about 6.00 am

She eats extremely well, has no fads. We have kept regular meal times with appropriate amounts of food (never over fed), she has never begged for food and sits/sleeps quietly in her cage when my husband and I have our meals.

So what's the problem(s) ???

Her biting/mouthing is starting to become a bit more than just playful. We have tried the distraction techniques and "puppy yelping", but being a very intelligent dog, she has got wise to this very quickly. We are keen to instill positive training, but there are times we just have to say NO. 

Toilet training was going well (still poos outside), but she has started to wee more indoors, even though she knows where the puppy pad is. We take her outside as regularly as we can, however she still has "mishaps" indoors. We do use an appropriate stain/odour remover, but need to stop her from peeing indoors. It all started so well.....

Then there are the scatty/crazy moments where she is goes totally loopy! How do we calm her down??? Distraction and calm play does not always work. 

I know most of this is basically typical puppy behaviour, though we would like to try and coax Amber in to a good behavioural routine before any bad habits set in.

We have already set up some puppy training for the future, but until that kicks in, we would be grateful for any helpful tips and advice in the meantime!!

Thanks in advance!


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## cfriend (Dec 22, 2016)

First off congrats on your new puppy! Seems like you were well prepared when you got her! Sounds like you were one of the lucky ones in terms of crate training. Our first pup was the same never minded her crate but Zelda (my current cockapoo) took way longer. 
I know you are well aware that mouthing is completely normal  I can just say be patient it is a stage will take many months to completely pass. Chose a method (distracting is good, substituting is good, stopping play is good, just saying No isn't really a problem it just doesn't contain much information for the dog i.e it doesn't tell her what she should be doing instead) and stick to your chosen method you will soon see results but it like I said it will take a long time for it to be completely over  patients is key for everything puppy. 
Again toilet training is similar you will need a lot of patients. I would get rid of the puppy pad. It is more confusing than helpful. Just stick to much praise and play outside after she relieves herself. Puppies don't even have the muscles to hold in pee until around 16 weeks so don't expect too much of her at this point. It really is up to you to take her out often enough that she doesn't have to pee inside. Some puppies get it sooner than others so don't discourage if it's taken longer than what others say. 
Honestly, I really enjoyed the moments when Zelda when crazy it was hilarious to watch really (we call them zoomies) and they are also just typical dog behavior and they usually stick around well into adulthood. They can happen for various reasons either a pup is super excited and happy or they are overtired because they haven't gotten enough sleep (kind of like little kids) or they haven't gotten enough exercise. For the two latter reasons the solution is to either make sure she has enough down times when she is sleeping (a puppy can sleep up to 20 hours a day) or make sure she is getting enough mental stimulation (physical should be limited at this age) especially around the morning and evening hours when they are most active. Again good luck with your new puppy, enjoy every moment of it it will be over before you know it!


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## GillianB (Mar 14, 2018)

Thank you cfriend for your reply. Sorry for the delay in acknowledging it.
It's always reassuring to hear similar stories from other owners. We are lucky to have a garden for her to get through her "zoomies" !! Should have named her Bolt !!

Amber is a very affectionate puppy, but can get over-zealous with me which leads to the "biting". She accidentally bit me through my jeans on one occasion (nothing serious), so I just stood up and walked away, as advised. The "lunge-biting" attempts also need to be controlled and, again, if she does this, I walk away if possible, without her clinging to the bottom of my jeans, which can be awkward. It's knowing how to control these moments and anticipating when they might happen. Of course, distraction is one of the best techniques.

I know we will get through this stage and we need to be patient. She is a quick learner, and hopefully these issues will become less. Our trainer is back tomorrow, so we shall see if she notices any difference from her previous visit.

Thanks for your reassuring comments.


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## beckymnd (Oct 17, 2017)

Hey! As cfriend says, it sounds like you've been really lucky with the crate!! 

Biting / Mouthing - this will likely go on for another couple of weeks, but with good management it can be stopped in good time! With Dexter, we kept him in the living room when he was younger, and always had toys to hand. If he bit at us, we would immediately swap whatever he was biting on for a toy - physically push it into the way between teeth / object of mouthing  We found by about 11/12 weeks he wasn't mouthing at us anymore. 
We've been really lucky with this too, as absolutely EVERYTHING in our house is still intact, he only chews on his toys 

Toiletting indoors - Good job on the cleaner, but again as cfriend mentioned, drop the pee pads, as they slow down the learning process. Have her go outside, and only outside - she'll pick this up quicker. Have you got her access to the house limited? 
The way dogs learn is that they instinctively do not want to toilet in their 'den' (her crate, to begin with). You will want to gradually increase this space over time, to make her see your whole house as her 'den'. Use baby gates to limit access to the house, and if you do let her follow you, consider using a house line, so you can keep a check on her. 
Dexter is now 6 months and we still have the baby gate on the living room just to keep him confined when we're in there, we can't 100% trust him yet not to potter off and toilet! 

Zoomies! - Keep frozen Kongs in the freezer stuffed with fun things, such as soaked kibble & topped off with pate or cream cheese. Or wet food. Consider purchasing a 'Snuffle Mat' - these are GREAT for giving mental stimulation. The trick here is to catch the zoomies just before they happen, and do a short training session for example, or give her a Kong or Snufflemat to work off some mental energy. 
Zoomies are absolutely fine, and we let Dexter out in to the back garden to burn off late night steam, but it's not always convenient, for example if it's pouring with rain! In which case, I make a special effort to play with him, and use the time constructively with training. 

It all really does just take time, it certainly feels like FOREVER when they're super young, but trust me, they really do learn quickly, and sometimes you become a little blind to it until someone visits and comments on how well they're getting on 

Dexter is now 6 months, and biting / nipping stopped around 12 weeks, zoomies are still a regular occurrence but they're a LOT less stressful for me as I come pre-prepared each night for them! & toiletting is getting there. We only have accidents now when he's overly excited.


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## GillianB (Mar 14, 2018)

Hey Beckymnd! Thanks for your great encouragement!

Good news - we have actually dispensed with the puppy pad, well over a week ago  !! Amber has learnt to go to the back door and with a scratch and small yap, it's her signal to be let out!! Wheyyyy! Not totally perfect yet - still one or two wees in the house, but the improvement is great!

Mouthing is soft, but the biting issue still remains - working on it!!

Amber will be 12 weeks old tomorrow and has had her vaccinations now, so we are looking forward to taking her out once lead training has been established - again, work in progress!! We would prefer to take her out on a harness rather than a collar. Any advice on this score, please?

It will soon be "zoomie" time, so will try and use the energy to the best advantage.

Will keep you (all) posted!


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## beckymnd (Oct 17, 2017)

Awesome job with the puppy pad! 

You could perhaps introduce some doorbells with her if she's already picked up on going to the back door! These are like a strap with some metal bells on - they tend to save your door from scratches, but of course the biggest bonus is you can hear them in the house! There's plenty of instructional videos on YouTube for training with them! 

RE: Biting, we would also let out a little yelp if the mouthing turned to biting, and briefly held our arms crossed over our chest if it was our hands he was biting 

I would definitely recommend a harness over a lead, we have a fantastic pet shop here in Bristol that specialise in harness fitting. They'll try some on the dog to find the best fit before you buy etc. It's probably worth seeing if you have a similar local pet shop that'd be able to assist. 
I originally had an over the head harness for Dexter, (the neck goes over the head, then straps clip around the chest), but I found this SUPER fiddly as the neck had to be re-adjusted once on, and with his long hair the straps would get stuck.
I've now got him a 'TTouch' harness. It has plastic clips on both sides around the neck, AND both sides around the chest, so it completely stops the need for having to re-adjust straps or put it on over his head. I tend to keep one side of both clips still together, and fit it like a step-through. 

For walking i'd definitely recommend trying to avoid retractable leads (there's lots of articles on them online) & go for a 6ft lead for road walking / training, and purchase a 10m lead for in the park / recall practice 

Good luck!! The first few days out of the house are GREAT fun, just bring a lot of patience with you & give her plenty of time to sniff about and explore!


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## GillianB (Mar 14, 2018)

We took Amber to our very good local pet shop, who selected a harness for her. She was very good in the shop whilst she was being fitted, so we went ahead and bought it.

We took Amber for her first walk yesterday, but she refused the harness , so we just took her out on collar and lead. She loved her first venture out  - a short walk around the block! She was surprisingly very good too! There is a lot more she needs to learn now that she is going out, but as has been said, patience is the key and we will continue with all the advice and training that has been given so far.


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## beckymnd (Oct 17, 2017)

That's awesome  With the harness, it's worth doing it step by step and building up a positive association for her. For example, sit down each night and gradually start putting it on & praise and reward in small steps.
If it's one she needs to put her leg through, you could also work on a 'paw' command - Dexy now sits still, and gives me a paw to pop the harness round it ^_^


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## GillianB (Mar 14, 2018)

Well, it’s been Amber’s first official week out and, boy, has she loved it 😃😃. !!
On her second day out we took her to our local park and let her off the lead for the first time. We were a bit nervous at the outset, but we needn’t have worried as she did not stray far at all. The park was really quiet, only one or two,other dogs about and none came bounding over at all. Amber loved the freedom 😁! We took her there again today, but this time she was more nervous as more dogs were around, some barking, some running; all the same, she still enjoyed the romp!

Would still like to get her to accept the harness - she acts like a bucking bronco with it. Best to go back to basics here and re-introduce it slowly,I think.

We are working on the separation as best we can, though I think it will take a long time. 

One thing for sure, she sleeps soundly through the night and now wakes up nearer 7.00 am! 

It will be interesting to see how she fares when I am back at work next week and it’s just hubby at home....... Another hurdle to overcome... we shall see!


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