I just picked up my 8 week old Boston Terrier yesterday from the airport. And we're so excited to have a new member to our family.
We've been reading about crates, pens, feeding schedules, housetraining, etc.
And just have a couple of questions that we would love some advice/insight on.
We try to feed him regularly but his attention span doesn't keep him at his bowl for more than 2 minutes. He eats a little and starts to wimper. We're feeding him in a large pen that's lined with newspaper and watching him eat. Should we be feeding him in his crate? I know we're supposed to get a crate just big enough for him to sit, stand, and spin, nothing too big.
When it comes to after eating (normally we give him like 20 minutes to eat, then take it away), how should we go about the house training, we read about lining the area with newspaper, praising for when he goes then gradually taking newspaper away reducing the area, but what happens when he doesn't go on the paper?
Also should we have like 2 pens, 1 for feeding and play and the other for potty? the pen we got is adjustable and fairly large so i thought 1 side for bed , food, and play and the other for potty.
Finally is the question of newspaper, wee wee pads, doggie litter, etc. We got a package of wee-wee pads as a gift, but they don't stay on the ground very well, most of the time, the little guy just bites it and walks away. We also got doggie litter and a doggie litter pan as a gift too, should we be trying that?
I'm sorry for the long questions, but i want to make sure we are doing this right, i don't want to tramatize him or mistreat him in any way.
One more thing, sorry, at night when we sleep, should we put him in his crate or let him roam is pen area? i thought a better bond would be made if we crate him and place him next to the bed when we sleep. Also when we go out is it better to crate or pen the puppy?
thanks in advance to anyone who can point us in the right direction...
We've been reading about crates, pens, feeding schedules, housetraining, etc.
And just have a couple of questions that we would love some advice/insight on.
We try to feed him regularly but his attention span doesn't keep him at his bowl for more than 2 minutes. He eats a little and starts to wimper. We're feeding him in a large pen that's lined with newspaper and watching him eat. Should we be feeding him in his crate? I know we're supposed to get a crate just big enough for him to sit, stand, and spin, nothing too big.
When it comes to after eating (normally we give him like 20 minutes to eat, then take it away), how should we go about the house training, we read about lining the area with newspaper, praising for when he goes then gradually taking newspaper away reducing the area, but what happens when he doesn't go on the paper?
Also should we have like 2 pens, 1 for feeding and play and the other for potty? the pen we got is adjustable and fairly large so i thought 1 side for bed , food, and play and the other for potty.
Finally is the question of newspaper, wee wee pads, doggie litter, etc. We got a package of wee-wee pads as a gift, but they don't stay on the ground very well, most of the time, the little guy just bites it and walks away. We also got doggie litter and a doggie litter pan as a gift too, should we be trying that?
I'm sorry for the long questions, but i want to make sure we are doing this right, i don't want to tramatize him or mistreat him in any way.
One more thing, sorry, at night when we sleep, should we put him in his crate or let him roam is pen area? i thought a better bond would be made if we crate him and place him next to the bed when we sleep. Also when we go out is it better to crate or pen the puppy?
thanks in advance to anyone who can point us in the right direction...