Help me with new puppy

[Whooo]

Hi,

I just brought home back some 7 weeks old puppy, the breeder said 2 months old but then I found out he was born 22th Nov 2008.

He is with us for three days now. The first two days I was at home with my wife and I'm not sure if we do things right.

First we put him in his crate and let him out every 1-2 hours or so, or when he whine. And carried him to the place we want him to do his business. After that we let him outside for a while. (some accidents happens since we're not used with the sign of him wanting to eliminate). We decide that we try to do some potty training first before trying to teach him anything else.

First night goes fine, I woke up at about 01:30 herd him whinning and took him outside, after that I took him for a walk a bit. He seems scare a bit but running toward me and wiggle his tail when I call his name.

And the next day at about 04:30 he whines again, this time both of us woke up and after he pee, we took him for a walk a little bit further, sometimes my wife walk ahead and call his name, he will run to her.

Second night, after his midnight pee I decide to take him walk a little bit further (maybe a bit too much) and it seems that some insect maybe bite his paw, since he suddenly biting his right front paw a lot.

This morning (3rd day) when we try to walk him he refuse to go outside. When we walk outside anda call him he will follow, but when we try to walk a bit further he ran back home. Nothing could bring him outside, even with treats and all the pet.

Some other thing we concern is his bitting our heel, barking and jumping toward. I'm not sure what we should do with it. Some people said we're not to allow such behaviour so I try to said, "No" sternly it just work a bit bu as his excitement grows he seems didn't listen at all.

I even go further by hit his back a bit (I must admit I lose my patience there, I regret it a lot, and pet him a lot when he's in his crate to sleep that night).

But it just made things worse.

And this morning is the worse one, specially after I leave him at home with my wife for work. My wife call me and said that he bark a lot, when he was put in his crate he whine and bark like he never did before. Even after my wife soothing him and pet him (usually it work fine before, he just whine and bark for about 15 minutes or so and then calmed down). She try to take him out of his crate but he jump toward my wife and bite her heel, hardly calm down even after few minutes passes. So my wife give up and took him back t his crate, where he whines and bark again.

It goes for hours, but already stopped when I got home. My wife said that he sleep few minutes ago, we decide to take him outside and take him in with us after he pee. He run around but no barking and no whinning. Although we miss the sign for another pee, so he pee at the livingroom.

I admit I might made mistake by taking a puppy when I don't have much experience training a puppy. I just like him the first time I saw him, I asked the breeder and the breeder said no problem taking him home with us at that age. So we did it.

Now I'm worried, not about my house or about all the work cleaning the mess. but I'm worried if the puppy distressed, have bad behaviour and unhappy.

Can anyone help me with this? If possible I'd rather do all the training by myself since, I don't have much income and I use my saving just to get him (and some cash from my credit card). I'm trying to give him good food and make sure he get all the vaccine, check up and all. But I'm not sure I can spend more without send me into financial trouble.

 

[romeosangiovese]

First things first, please don't hit your pup. He really doesn't know any better. It's like slapping a baby for sucking its toes. Pups don't know ANYTHING, they don't know what "no" means, they don't know what their name is, they don't know what "come" means unless and until you actually teach the little thing what they mean. It's unfair to punish the pup for something it doesn't know it's doing wrong.

I toilet train my dog on newspaper in a tray, so I can't really help you with the toilet training thing. There are great threads in the forum on this tho! I will say here tho that unless you catch the dog in the act of peeing/pooping in the house, there's no point scolding him. He won't be able to link the scolding with the mistake.

You might want to check his paw to see if he stepped on something instead? It could be something sharp embedded in the paw pad. Don't push a young pup too far too fast. Every experience a puppy have should be as positive as you can make it. Going out should be fun, with treats and happy high voices! You'll need to do this so your dog gains confidence in itself and trust in you/your wife. Don't punish the dog for not going further than it wants to. That will make him not want to go out more! Take things slowly. Keep going as far as he is willing to go for the next week or two. Then go a little further for another week, and then a little further more. Slow and steady wins the race!

Please don't expect a pup to be quiet and tame and just sit there and be content to smile at you while you do your stuff all day. A pup that does that isn't really normal. Pups run around, they explore, they nip, they mouth/bite everything, jump around, etc. That is normal! Part of being a pup. You're right in that we should discourage certain of these behaviours because we don't want them to grow up and STILL jump on us or bite us! I would do it by redirecting the dog, ie. showing the dog just what I want him to do instead of what he's currently doing.

The pup is jumping for attention. If the dog jumps on you, get a treat out and lure the dog into a sitting position (hold the treat above the pup's head and draw it a little bit to the back so his head is straight up. His bum will naturally go down to the floor). Keep doing this every time he jumps on you. Make sure your wife and anyone else in the house does it too. You're showing your dog exactly how he should be trying to get your attention - not by jumping, but by sitting at your feet! Praise your dog alot when he sits and give him the treat! Don't expect overnight miracles. Keep at it and you'll find a marked improvement in time.

For biting, when the dog mouths your hands/feet/clothes, grab a chew toy and put it in the dog's mouth. Everytime he goes for your hands/feet/clothes, put the toy in his mouth. Again and again if necessary. When the pup does chew the chew toy, praise him and tell him what a great boy he is! Dogs don't know that they are supposed to chew their toys only and must be taught to do so. If you praise them whenever they chew their toy, they'll know they are doing the right thing and will do it more coz they just want to please you. I have found mouthing/biting to be harder to "cure". I think it's mostly because you have to keep at it until the pup's teething has ended which is probably at 7 to 8 mths of age. Their gums ache and they chew to help relieve the pain. Just direct them to the appropriate thing to chew! It also pays to stand reeeally still every time the pup nips your heels. Shelties love to nip (oh boy do they!). But if they realise they are not going to get anything out of you with the nipping, they'll do it alot less (I doubt it'll ever stop completely tho. haha!)

Given your description, it seems as if your dog is barking and whining for attention. The fact that your wife actually went to the dog to pet and soothe it tells the pup that "Hey! The barking and whining works! I should do it more!!" Instead, ignore the pup when it barks and whines (assuming that it's not hurt or needs to pee or drink water). The pup will try even harder at first and can go on like forever, but just ride it out. When he is quiet, go to him and praise him and give him a treat. You're telling him you like him being quiet - if he's quiet, he'll get rewarded, but if he barks, he gets nothing. Having said that however, pups need stimulation. Even in a crate. They have alot of energy and they usually come in spurts (they can last for some time, definitely more than a few minutes, with sleep separating each spurt!). Give him a couple of toys to play with in his crate. A kong stuffed with treats works wonders keeping a pup quiet. You can stuff his daily meals into kongs and let him use his little head to figure out how to get it out. Don't make it too difficult at first. Make it easy for him to get it out then when he's getting the hang of it, you can increase the difficulty slowly. When he's out of his crate, play games with him. Like fetch or tug. Help him relieve his energy. Don't expect him to sit next to you and watch TV! Romeo didn't do that for a looooong time until he was like nearly 8 mths old.

There's alot of good material on the internet on training pups. Ian Dunbar's book "After You Get Your Puppy" is a great start. I got mine in ebook format for US$10 online if I remember correctly. You can start training your pup now too. Not just toilet training but commands like sit, down, stand, etc. I use the clicker training method and learnt it from reading up on the internet mostly!

Don't worry about not knowing how to train a pup. We all have to start somewhere! It's good that you are seeking help and trying to find out the best way for your pup. There are great people here with amazing doggy-info filled brains you can pick! Just be patient and enjoy this time when the puppy is a bundle of wild fur madly running everywhere and doing every crazy thing possible. It passes all too quickly! I miss those days when Romeo did that!

 

[Chris]

Welcome - We're Here to Help

You desperately need to get "The Art of Raising a Puppy" by the Monks of New Skete. It's here:
http://www.amazon.com/Art-Raising-P...bs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1231772266&sr=8-1

As you've found out, never strike a Sheltie for anyreason. They are incredibly sensitive dogs -- even a harsh word is emotionally rattling to them. Don't worry -- you haven't done irreversible damage. But you DO need to get a guide to raising puppies, and this is the best I know.

 

[BarbV]

Welcome to the forum!

First of all, don't beat up on yourself. It's early days yet and any mistakes that you make (and we've all made them!) can be undone! I remember screaming hysterically at Bacca to "COME, COME, COME, COME, COME, COME! - which of course, he wouldn't because I'd scared his ears into full fly - why would he come to this banshee wailing at him?! )

There's lot's of good advice on the website (you can use the search tool to search on keywords - like nip, bite, whine, etc.). There's ton's on the internet, but I admit there is nothing quite like a resource book that you can flip open whenever you have a particular issue going on.

Feel free to post any questions that you have. We'll all do our best to answer from our own experiences (Not all will agree! )

Stick with the crate training - it's really a godsend for when you really need it. Even for things as simple as going to the groomers! Again, lots of resources on crate training so I won't go into it here, but one thing....I wouldn't take your pup for midnight strolls. He has to learn that if he wants out to pee, its for pee only, then pat on the head and back inside. Also limit his water intake in the evening. Before you put him to bed for the night, have a good play, pee, then bed.

Good luck with everything. I'm sure everything will be fine!

 

[elaine2004]

Welcome to the forum!

Please remember when the puppy is nipping at your heels, that's called herding and that's what the pup thinks he's doing. When the pup does it just say no ! or leave it. When the pup does as you want please give him/her tons of praise. YEAH!!!!!! The same for potty training. To help in the house you may want to use and enclosed/ gated area for the pup to move around in during the daytime and keep the crate for bedtime and when you are going to be away for a few hours not too long. Remember it's just a pup so can't hold urine or poo for too long. just try to remember it's just like a baby needs to be on some sort of schedule. Allowed more freedom as they get older and trained and even then remember teething! Puppy proof your home! Just like you child proof your home. Good luck with your training and keep us posted with the pups progress. Pictures , please, we love pictures!

 

[Whooo]

today is a bit better

Thanks a lot to everyone here. Actually I even felt better when I browse this forums yesterday, finding that nipping is normal although it might took a while to correct it. One thing I'm afraid of is, if he ever nip at some neighbor then it would be bad for him.

I went home and try to explain as much as I can to my wife. She's quite distressed yesterday when I left her alone with the pup, she never have any pet before while I had a dog when I was little. It took lots of negotiation and persuasion before she agree to raise a pup (and even interested at doing so, I must've done some good promotion during those days).

We have some nice progress last night, I read somewhere in the internet saying that Sheltie need some brain stimulation to relieve the energy build up in him instead work without thinking (such as walk and walk). Anyway, I try to teach him to sit before I give him his dinner. Took a while but now he know the command sit.

The progress :
- He rarely jump now, more sit than jump (compared to yesterday). He still stand and try to snatch paper or blanket from my hand.

- Still nipping once and a while, but now he is willing to chew on his toy bone. And I ask my wife to wear jeans and shoe all day long when I'm not at home, because she can't controlled herself when the pup began to jump at her feet and tried to nip her heels. So the pup seemed enjoy it a lot to chase her around until she gave up and kept herself safe in another room. Hope today will be better for both of them.

- Crate training isn't working for me for now. Last night I slept soundly and hardly woke up and when I did, I found my pup pee in the crate (and I just washed it before I go to sleep ).

- One good thing this morning, was that my pup willing to walk with us . We don't walk far today, just moving around my house. First he stop at the gate (I don't put leash on him, I removed his collar yesterday), looking at us who stood a bit further. When he saw us walking further he decide to join along.

He keep walking behind us, but surely more than happy to run when we walk toward home, but stopped when we stop and follow us once again when we walked away from home. Quite funny to look at his wiggling walk.


If only he know to eliminate at the right place, then everything will looks perfect for me.

Few more questions :

1. Is it okay to let him without his collar? Yesterday I decide to take off his collar since it seems annoy him. I saw him scratch and shake a lot when he had his collar and looks happy without one.

2. How do I know that I feed him enough or too much? Because I think I gave him too much on his dinner yesterday, he refuse to eat this morning, just took a bit and then walked away. Unlike the day before he ate all his food until nothing left and still he licked at the bowl searching for more.

Do I need to worry about him losing his appetites?

3. How to make my pup like his crate? I always have to force him in and then accompany him for a while, depend on his mood this could go for few seconds to tens of minute.

4. I also read that some physical activity is too much for his little body, but he is so active sometimes, suddenly growl at his bowl, jump at it, then running wild, then slipped and bump himself to wall or other things. If I play with him, did he know enough is enough by himself or I need to decide when is enough?

 

[Lahree]

First of all, don't beat up on yourself. It's early days yet and any mistakes that you make (and we've all made them!) can be undone! I remember screaming hysterically at Bacca to "COME, COME, COME, COME, COME, COME! - which of course, he wouldn't because I'd scared his ears into full fly - why would he come to this banshee wailing at him?! )

I took an obedience class with my perfect Honey when she was about 7 months old (that was the age she was when I got her). I was a wallflower, shrinking violet type gal back then and only 23 years old. The woman who was teaching the class was approximately 800 years old with a really nasty attitude. She was a chain smoker with a really horse voice and a face that looked just EXACTLY like a bulldog. She yelled comands at her Min Pin and so I thought that was what I was supposed to do with Honey. So we are working on the "down" and I am literally screaming at Honey, "DOWN! DOWN! DDDDDDDOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWNNNNNNN!" And Honey is looking me, clearly confused, and going , "what the h___? So Ms. Instructor comes over to me, smacks me (yes, I mean she HIT me) on the arm and yells at ME, "This is a SHELTIE! You do NOT yell at a SHELTIE! They're SENSITIVE!!" So, I said to Honey in a totally normal tone of voice, "Down" and down she went. I never, ever raised my voice at Honey ever again. She never needed it. She was the smartest dog I have ever been around. She had such a high vocabulary I still can't believe it.

We all makes mistakes. You are doing the right thing by seeking advice from really knowledgable people.

 

[TaraLynn]

The woman who was teaching the class was approximately 800 years old with a really nasty attitude. She was a chain smoker with a really horse voice and a face that looked just EXACTLY like a bulldog. She yelled comands at her Min Pin and so I thought that was what I was supposed to do with Honey.

That makes me SO grateful of Melissa, our obedience trainer. She's the sweetest person. SO patient, and her voice is NEVER harsh! She's aaaaaall about positive training. No choke chains like mose people around my area, which was one of the many reasons why I chose her over the others. Although some people think it works, I don't feel the need for it.

 

[Whooo]

That makes me SO grateful of Melissa, our obedience trainer. She's the sweetest person. SO patient, and her voice is NEVER harsh! She's aaaaaall about positive training. No choke chains like mose people around my area, which was one of the many reasons why I chose her over the others. Although some people think it works, I don't feel the need for it.

You know what? I'll take the bulldog like, horse voice, 800 years old lady if it work .

I heard of one dog school in my area, I called them few weeks ago thinking they were a pet shop (some internet wrong information). And they said they train German Shepherd dog, I'm not call them yet about obedience training though.

What should I ask when I look for an obedience training class?

Anyway I just call my wife today and she said the pup is quite nice today, he follow my wife around but no biting and jumping. But he still refuse to touch his breakfast but eat some grass once and a while.

The pup name is William. When we call his name usually he came running, but today my wife said, sometimes he just raise his head and then looking at her.

 

[Ania]

Hello and welcome! I have two sheltie puppies right now. Chinook is 7 months and Maia is 3 months. They were both so different from each other. You've been getting great advice here so far. Just be patient, he is just a little puppy.
As far as the collar goes, I don't keep one on them all the time. They wear one when they are outside only. I've read and heard of dogs getting hurt because they got their collars caught and could not free themselves when unsupervised, so I prefer to have them not wear one at home. Mine did not like their collars either! Chinook, more so than Maia, would scratch and try to get it off. But I was persistent and now they sit nicely when I get their leash and collars out. Good luck!