some puppy Q's

[Ross/Ali]

Ok, the honeymoon period has worn off with the wee one and he has went from an absolute angel to running absolute riot in the house.

first of all, he is completely ignoring the paper in the livingroom now and has started peeing and pooing everywhere.

secondly, what age do they normally stop biting? he has already eat his way through a cable already - luckily it was one that was unplugged - he is so close to making me bleed when he bites me.

ive tried shouting no at him but he just barks at me as if to say 'who are you shouting at?'
Ive tried the reward way also as described in the 'perfect puppy' book...

will he eventually grow out of these things? any recommendations?
im hoping that when he gets his second jag in a week or so and i can take him out walks he will get better.

[paul]

oh we are going through the same with Luna at the moment, cute at the start but man i forgot how much work it is having a puppy. She is actually getting better at the paper, and when we take or other dog out, we take her to a wee patch of grass where she now knows to pee. So she is getting there Have you got the spray stuff to take the scent of the pee out of your carpet, as if they smell any trace of it they will usually go back to it.

As for the biting, she started to chew cables, but stopped that straight away, just continuously pulled her away and gave her one of her toys that shes is allowed to chew on and praise her for then chewing on that, again she is getting there, but she is a def nibbler,when she started to bite us we just make an alarming sound(ouch in a high pitch voice) and that seems to stop her from biting, so now she is just mouthing now, thank god as her teeth are so sharp.

Sorry i cant tell you more, hopefully someone else will tell you more:) as i really am useless at giving out advice:)


***sorry Paul, didn't realise i was logged in as you ****

[Ashley]

Hi Ross,

The best thing I can suggest is that you use a crate. This will rule out much of your problems with toilet ttraining. We went through a lot of this with Holly... but not so badly since we had a crate.
As for the nibbling stuff... its a case of watching them like a hawk. There are numerous sprays around to prevent nibbling but we never used any of these so not sure if they work or not.

They do grow out of all of this though... honestly. As long as you keep checking them when they do chew on things.

If you catch him doing the toilet, say no!, firmly... but dont go nuts... and dont let him see you clearing it up either. If he picks up that you are absolutely fuming (which I know the feeling of haha) then he will start to do in places that you wont notice so easily.

If you do catch him in the act as well... then as fast as you can, lift him on to the paper.
Whilst he is a small puppy he will need out walks all the time. Lots of praise when hes out to pee as well.
You'll need to walk him every time he wakes up.... everytime you come home... everytime you see him snooping around and looking like he is going to do something. We took Holly out ALL the time... maybe every 45 mins or so when she was a pup and this really helped.

More than anything though... the crate training helped... and within a week she was lasting all through the night as well.

I know you must be tearing your hair out though - there were times I just got so upset about it all! (Drama Queen, I know)... but it does get better!
_________________
Ashley with Holly & Murphy.
I hope to one day be as great as my dog thinks I am right now!!

[Ross/Ali]

Thanks Ashley, we've got a crate and he is good when in there. although he doesnt poo in there.
like you say, as soon as i let him out of there, i run to the back door and let him out to pee.
yesterday was unreal - he done 5 poos that looked like they came from a horse - all but one was in the house!
didnt know whether to get some kitchen roll or Ali's mucking out fork!

Im going to take out shares in Tesco's value kitchen roll!

I sat out the back last night for an hour with him and he just went into the house to do a pee!!!

This morning, i let him out the back door and he was sniffing the ground as if to pee, but he was actually catching the scent of one of the cat's kills .
i couldnt get out of the door quick enough and he picked up the dead vole in his mouth and started running around with it! ARRRGGGHHHHHH!!! here's me running around in the back garden in my boxers trying to catch him.

anyway.... frustration vented! im off out to take Hek out!

[Ashley]

He sounds like a wee terror! Haha. Looking forward to meeting him... I love Cavaliers. John and Marcella were telling me how gorgeous he is!

Honestly Ross, it does all get better and 'quieten' down! Soon you'll miss all of this puppy nonsense. Although, at 11 months, Holly is still very much like a puppy... especially now we have Murphy.
_________________
Ashley with Holly & Murphy.
I hope to one day be as great as my dog thinks I am right now!!

[Lisa/Colin]

it WILL get better, promise!

You just have to be consistent...start as you mean to go on. DO NOT BE SOFT

Once you are able to get him out and about it will be easier, as Ash said take him out every half hour if need be, when he DOES do the toilet outside make a HUGE fuss of him. He'll get the hang of it eventually.

Bring him round and Hektor will sort him (eat him...)

[John Thomson]

Good advice Ross, you have to be firm but fair and above all consistent.

Toilet training is about anticipation.......as soon as Giles wakes up he will need out right away.....same after eating.........you will learn to see the early warning signals and act quickly.

Don't get stressed, this stage passes all too quickly.
_________________
John Thomson
www.cumbernaulddogtraining.co.uk

[Suzanne H]

Sniffing the carpet is a sure sign of wee/poo alert, and as John says you start to know when they're going to do it and can get them out before hand.

We used to also reinforce what he was doing by saying "pee pee" while he was doing it, then praise. they soon learn that pee pee means outside.

As for the biting, I used to yelp loudly then get up and walk out the room and ignore him for a bit. They soon learn not to. Don't use the crate for punishment though.

Also, keep them in the kitchen as much as possible to begin with ie it's easier to clean and near the back door. Puppy gates let them see you while you go about your business. Or if we wanted him to sleep or couldn't closely supervise, we'd crate him. Let him in the living room AFTER he's done his business for a while.

They do whine when you leave them in the kitchen/crate, but if you wander in and out of the kitchen, he can see you're still about...just don't respond to a whine...teaches them to whine for attention. Only go in the kitchen if they're quiet.

We were lucky with they chewing - he got caught once, a sharp no and given a toy instead was enough. And if he was going near something he shouldn't, he got a uhuh! They soon learn, like kids, that it's not a good idea.

Diversion is good!

the longer you have him, the more you notice and can predict what they're going to do and stop it before it happens. But even now, we get unexpected behaviour....