Puppy Advice (merged)

lostinrates

tncm wrote: »

Hi.

If you dont trust your dog alone with your child, you shouldnt have it. (the dog that is).

I disagree.

I wouldn't trust any small child alone with a dog (rather than necessarily the other way around). Its no fair to put that kind of responsibilty to a domestic pet. Although I have n children of my own my neices lived with me while a toodler and a baby and the animals we had were extremely loving and patient but I did not EVER leave them alone in a closed room together EVER. I might have popped into a next door room for a matter of moments, bt left the door open, but if it were more than a walk in walk out I would call the animls to follow me.

Paparika

I wouldn't expect my puppy to hold himself in his crate for 8 hours during the night, that's why he has a pen for the night time.

kyh

tncm wrote: »

Hi.

If you dont trust your dog alone with your child, you shouldnt have it. (the dog that is).

sorry tncm I didn't think the OP was asking about children I think that is a differnet thread

Misty_Blue

tncm wrote: »

Hi.

If you dont trust your dog alone with your child, you shouldnt have it. (the dog that is).

Couldn't disagree more. My dog has the most superb temperament imaginable, and he loves kids as his breeder had a lot of grandchildren. I would never dream of leaving him unattended with any child. I call him to me in the park if kids approach him (this annoys the hell out of me, as they shouldn't be doing it without asking me first), and I've had a few parents say "Oh, is he not good with kids?" My answer is always the same - "I trust my dog, I just don't trust your child!"

It makes my blood run cold when I hear of parents saying "My kids can do anything to my dog and he just lets them." When the dog finally has enough and responds the only way it knows how, it's the poor dog who gets the blame.

Tan007 - I'm with you completely about people who let their dogs run at other people. If the dog doesn't have a reliable recall it shouldn't be off the lead in a public place, it's that simple. I hope your pup is ok.

Bromley86

That, grasshopper, is why you fail .

I've only skip-read it, but this article seems to be a reasonable approach to crate training. Note the tough love approach.
http://www.nichols-online.co.uk/html/toilet_training.html

In case you're worried that your crate is too small and need something to compare to, our lab pup was in a crate ~110cm x 70cm.

Paparika

Thanks for the advice.

The cage is a travel cage/training cage suitable for his breed. this serves it's purpose during the day brilliantly.

we've only had him 2 1/2 weeks and started toilet training the minute we got home.
He's settled in his night pen ok, and it does have a bed at one end and paper at the other with a bowl of water as well.

We always get up to find he has had a wee and that's fine it's on the paper and that's what it's there for.

His training cage i don't think is big enough for night time as there isn't enough room to half paper and half bedding. http://www.ukdogcages.co.uk/dog-car-cages/sloping-car-dog-cage-30-inch-single-door.html similar to this one.

so do you think it should be cage daytime and night time?

we thought we were doing ok, and his pen is his safe area.

Smickan

Hiya

I might be getting ahead of myself as I think the person who we've rang wants to back out [told us to ring at half 2 and we've been ringing ever since and noone has answered yet...!] but I'd like some advice please

We got our little boy from the RSPCA a few months ago. He's now back to normal weight and is very friendly but we think he's missing a little friend and would like some company so we've found a little terrier/jack russell cross which is free to a good home from the paper and hopefully we might have her tonight/tomorrow.

.... But I'm terrified about how to socialise them/what do do? I know to keep leads on at first and i'm hoping the other owners would stick around until we find out. Apparently the other dog is socialised and is 1 (ours is 3)

Can anyone please give us some pointers? Thanks

Misty_Blue

If you haven't already, ask as many questions as possible about why they're rehoming the dog, it's medical history and any health problems, any issues it might have (fear of loud noises etc). If possible, take your dog to meet the new one, but have them meet outside of the house and garden since the other dog will regard this as her territory.

One thing that might help is to take some of your dog's bedding or one of his toys when you visit the new one, so she gets used to his scent without the pressure of him being there. If this isn't possible, then if you bring her home don't introduce them straight away. Let her settle first in a quiet room with some bedding of the existing dog. Maybe even make the first introduction in the local park or somewhere neutral.

As regards keeping them on leads, many dogs are actually more defensive when on lead than off. It's obviously easier to keep them apart if you use leads, but it may actually provoke a defensive reaction from one or both of them. It may be better to let them meet off lead but have some water handy to throw if things get out of hand! Obviously though you know your own dog best and can judge this one better than we can.

Good luck if you do get her.

mirrorimage0

from experience, i find it better that the dogs meet outside away from the home on leads and let them suss eachother out first and then walk them into together, it might take a while for them to get accustomed to each other and they are still both puppiesh so they mau play fight a lot, but then i have known dogs to get on straight away,

Misty_Blue

How old is he?

Definitely crate at night. Dogs are reluctant to "go" in their own dens. Let him have access to the crate during the day if he wants it as well, so it becomes his refuge and not a bad place to go.

You're right that's it's unrealistic to expect a young puppy to hold for 8 hours, so one of the most unpleasant parts of toilet training is to get up once for him in the night. Not everyone does this, but by far the easiest way to house train a dog is not to let him have accidents in the first place. The getting up at night doesn't have to last long, since the pup will develop better control as he ages. You mention that he has access to his water at night - I would either remove it completely or only leave him with a very little bit in case he gets very thirsty. Not having free access to water will reduce the necessity for him to pee during the night.

Be very wary of falling into this trap of getting up when he cries. He'll very quickly learn that if he gets bored or restless in the night all he has to do to get some attention and cuddles is cry.