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Hi all, first off I have to say I love the forum, a lot of good information here, and a very helpful society of people as well. My girlfriend and I just got ourselves a new puppy. We recently lost one of our cats and we felt we needed something to break us out of our depression. It was very traumatic to lose our cat like we did. We lost him to diabetes and spent over a thousand dollars trying to beat the damage that, at the time we didn't know, had already set in. Anyway, we decided to wait to buy a new pet so that it wasn't just an impulse buy and us trying to substitute one thing for another. We let ourselves grieve and deal with it, and when we were ready we bought him. He is one of the smartest dogs I have ever seen. We have only had him for three-four days and already he knows his name, lays in his crate for bedtime and only whimpers for about 15 min. and sleeps pretty steady throughout the night.
He is also trying to let us know he has to potty, but sometimes we miss it. We have had a few accidents, but that was our own fault for not watching him better. My biggest concern with him is the fact that in his crate he constantly bangs his head against his food and water bowl. I decided to take the food bowl out of his crate because of him hitting his head on it and spilling it all over the floor. I left the water bowl in there, but I only fill it to about 1/4 of an inch. Just enough so he can get a little liquid, but not so much that he is spilling it and having to pee all the time. My question is, why is he hitting his head on his food bowls like that? I don't want to remove the water bowl as well, because I don't think that is fair to him to have to sit in the crate all night with no water, and while we are at work with no water.
This is the schedule we are trying to enforce with him, please let me know what more we can do:
7:00 A.M. - Wake up, I quickly brush my teeth and get dressed. I take him out to potty. (So far it has been about 50 / 50) he goes sometimes, and other times he doesn't. After about 15 min. if he hasn't gone I take him back in. He gets some run around time and play time. I finish getting ready for work and take off at about 7:45. My girlfriend is half awake half asleep so once I leave he goes and jumps around on her to get her up. She takes him out once more and puts him in his crate around 8:30 - 8:45 turns the T.V. on for him so he can have a little background noise and goes to work. We haven't gotten an eating schedule yet, because we haven't gotten any food for him yet. We have been so busy trying to train him that we are using the food the shelter gave us until this Saturday when we go to the store.
11:45 A.M. – 12:15 P.M.- Somewhere in this time frame I come back home to let him out to go potty and eat. We go out for another fifteen to twenty min. and come back inside. We eat, and have a little play time. After that I put him back in his crate, change the channel to some gentle “elevator” music, and go back to work.
5:00 P.M. – 5:30 P.M.- I return from work sometime in that time frame. I let him out of the crate and take him out for potty again. This time we stay out a little longer and go for a walk around the neighbor hood. We don’t have a large track yet because I want him to get familiar with his immediate surroundings in case one day he gets out he won’t be completely lost. We come back, maybe have a little more play time outside, and go back into the house. He eats, gets something to drink, and we play around a bit more. He busies himself exploring the house and trying to get the cats to play with him some. I maybe take him out once more as needed and then between 6:00 P.M. and 7: 00 P.M. my girlfriend gets home. She fusses with him for a bit and relaxes. At this point we either eat dinner if it is ready, or take him on another walk.
This time, while she is with me we go around a little larger track. Our neighborhood consists of two horse shoe streets, one large one and than a little one inside the large one. When it is just me and him we take the little one, when it is all of us we take the larger one. We will expand his walking boundaries once we know he is comfortable with the area directly around him. After that we return home, and either eat dinner if we haven’t yet, or go in the back yard for some play time. He is getting very good at fetching for such a young dog, so we practice that. I will throw his toy, he runs after it, brings it to me, and drops it about a foot away from where I am. Not to shabby for a puppy that has only been playing fetch for three days. By this time it is about 8:00 P.M. or a little later. We bring him inside for some family time and take him out to potty once an hour after that.
While he is out going to the bathroom whoever is taking him out does not move. We stand still, and let him do his thing. While he is going to the potty we praise him continuously. When he pees we give him a good rub down and pet him and speak kindly to him. When he poops we do the same, but end it with a little treat for him. We don’t immediately take him back in after he is done, we let him sniff around and hang outside for a couple more min. hoping that if he has held anything back he will let it out.
We have had a few accidents in the house, but like I previously said, it was our own darn fault for not watching him. I was raised in a rolled up newspaper house as I was growing up, and I am trying to break that habit quickly. Instead of getting the newspaper I grab a few sheets of writing paper roll that up and tap him on the butt once or twice to get his immediate attention. I try not to yell, and I tell him sternly, “NO!” “NO POOP / PEE IN THE HOUSE!”. I grab his leash, and take him outside immediately. We wait around until he goes. He does not go back into the house until he has either done something or proven that he does not have to go anymore.
11:00 P.M. – 12:00 A.M.- I take him out once more before we retreat back to the bedroom to lay down. We all get on the bed for a bit and relax. Right before we actually lay down to go to sleep we take him out once more just to make sure he will be comfortable through as much as the night as possible. We give him about fifteen min. and take him back in. I take him back to his crate and put him in. We turn the T.V. on so there is constant noise, for some reason it seems to soothe him, and prepare for the barking. The good thing is, after about fifteen min. he realizes that we are not getting up to let him out and he admits defeat and goes to sleep. He will sleep through almost the entire night. A few times we have made the 4:00 A.M. run, but he has been very good so far and has not peed or pooped in his crate at all.
Here are a few things I am worried about:
As of now we have his crate in our bedroom. He sleeps with us in the crate all night. When we have gotten to the point where we can trust him to be by himself sleeping in another part of the house, is this going to create some sort of separation anxiety?
It seems that I am out taking care of him a lot more than my girlfriend is. I am the one disciplining him when he is bad, and since I mostly take him out, I am the one praising him when he is good. I am the one that lets him out in the afternoon, and after work. Is this going to create some sort of disrespect for her? Will he listen to her like he listens to me, and further more, will he get aggressive with her later on after he has grown?
My girlfriend has never had a puppy or a full grown dog before so she has no clue what to do. She is constantly giving him treats for no reason, and is afraid to be stern with him. She has way to big of a heart. She does not like putting him in the crate, and can not stand it when he whimpers. I have to force her to leave him alone during the night until he settles down. She will not confront him when he messes in the house, and when he destroys something. She leaves that up to me. Is this going to confuse him on what to do and what not to do as far as, when I am around he acts one way, and when she is around he acts another way or what?
Thank you very much for reading my long winded story, and I hope to hear back from you all soon.
Thanks so much!
Oh, by the way. Our dog is a black lab mix, four months old, male, and his name is Orion. We adopted him from our local pet refuge, and though he has only been in our home less than a week, would not trade him for anything. He is such a good boy.
He is also trying to let us know he has to potty, but sometimes we miss it. We have had a few accidents, but that was our own fault for not watching him better. My biggest concern with him is the fact that in his crate he constantly bangs his head against his food and water bowl. I decided to take the food bowl out of his crate because of him hitting his head on it and spilling it all over the floor. I left the water bowl in there, but I only fill it to about 1/4 of an inch. Just enough so he can get a little liquid, but not so much that he is spilling it and having to pee all the time. My question is, why is he hitting his head on his food bowls like that? I don't want to remove the water bowl as well, because I don't think that is fair to him to have to sit in the crate all night with no water, and while we are at work with no water.
This is the schedule we are trying to enforce with him, please let me know what more we can do:
7:00 A.M. - Wake up, I quickly brush my teeth and get dressed. I take him out to potty. (So far it has been about 50 / 50) he goes sometimes, and other times he doesn't. After about 15 min. if he hasn't gone I take him back in. He gets some run around time and play time. I finish getting ready for work and take off at about 7:45. My girlfriend is half awake half asleep so once I leave he goes and jumps around on her to get her up. She takes him out once more and puts him in his crate around 8:30 - 8:45 turns the T.V. on for him so he can have a little background noise and goes to work. We haven't gotten an eating schedule yet, because we haven't gotten any food for him yet. We have been so busy trying to train him that we are using the food the shelter gave us until this Saturday when we go to the store.
11:45 A.M. – 12:15 P.M.- Somewhere in this time frame I come back home to let him out to go potty and eat. We go out for another fifteen to twenty min. and come back inside. We eat, and have a little play time. After that I put him back in his crate, change the channel to some gentle “elevator” music, and go back to work.
5:00 P.M. – 5:30 P.M.- I return from work sometime in that time frame. I let him out of the crate and take him out for potty again. This time we stay out a little longer and go for a walk around the neighbor hood. We don’t have a large track yet because I want him to get familiar with his immediate surroundings in case one day he gets out he won’t be completely lost. We come back, maybe have a little more play time outside, and go back into the house. He eats, gets something to drink, and we play around a bit more. He busies himself exploring the house and trying to get the cats to play with him some. I maybe take him out once more as needed and then between 6:00 P.M. and 7: 00 P.M. my girlfriend gets home. She fusses with him for a bit and relaxes. At this point we either eat dinner if it is ready, or take him on another walk.
This time, while she is with me we go around a little larger track. Our neighborhood consists of two horse shoe streets, one large one and than a little one inside the large one. When it is just me and him we take the little one, when it is all of us we take the larger one. We will expand his walking boundaries once we know he is comfortable with the area directly around him. After that we return home, and either eat dinner if we haven’t yet, or go in the back yard for some play time. He is getting very good at fetching for such a young dog, so we practice that. I will throw his toy, he runs after it, brings it to me, and drops it about a foot away from where I am. Not to shabby for a puppy that has only been playing fetch for three days. By this time it is about 8:00 P.M. or a little later. We bring him inside for some family time and take him out to potty once an hour after that.
While he is out going to the bathroom whoever is taking him out does not move. We stand still, and let him do his thing. While he is going to the potty we praise him continuously. When he pees we give him a good rub down and pet him and speak kindly to him. When he poops we do the same, but end it with a little treat for him. We don’t immediately take him back in after he is done, we let him sniff around and hang outside for a couple more min. hoping that if he has held anything back he will let it out.
We have had a few accidents in the house, but like I previously said, it was our own darn fault for not watching him. I was raised in a rolled up newspaper house as I was growing up, and I am trying to break that habit quickly. Instead of getting the newspaper I grab a few sheets of writing paper roll that up and tap him on the butt once or twice to get his immediate attention. I try not to yell, and I tell him sternly, “NO!” “NO POOP / PEE IN THE HOUSE!”. I grab his leash, and take him outside immediately. We wait around until he goes. He does not go back into the house until he has either done something or proven that he does not have to go anymore.
11:00 P.M. – 12:00 A.M.- I take him out once more before we retreat back to the bedroom to lay down. We all get on the bed for a bit and relax. Right before we actually lay down to go to sleep we take him out once more just to make sure he will be comfortable through as much as the night as possible. We give him about fifteen min. and take him back in. I take him back to his crate and put him in. We turn the T.V. on so there is constant noise, for some reason it seems to soothe him, and prepare for the barking. The good thing is, after about fifteen min. he realizes that we are not getting up to let him out and he admits defeat and goes to sleep. He will sleep through almost the entire night. A few times we have made the 4:00 A.M. run, but he has been very good so far and has not peed or pooped in his crate at all.
Here are a few things I am worried about:
As of now we have his crate in our bedroom. He sleeps with us in the crate all night. When we have gotten to the point where we can trust him to be by himself sleeping in another part of the house, is this going to create some sort of separation anxiety?
It seems that I am out taking care of him a lot more than my girlfriend is. I am the one disciplining him when he is bad, and since I mostly take him out, I am the one praising him when he is good. I am the one that lets him out in the afternoon, and after work. Is this going to create some sort of disrespect for her? Will he listen to her like he listens to me, and further more, will he get aggressive with her later on after he has grown?
My girlfriend has never had a puppy or a full grown dog before so she has no clue what to do. She is constantly giving him treats for no reason, and is afraid to be stern with him. She has way to big of a heart. She does not like putting him in the crate, and can not stand it when he whimpers. I have to force her to leave him alone during the night until he settles down. She will not confront him when he messes in the house, and when he destroys something. She leaves that up to me. Is this going to confuse him on what to do and what not to do as far as, when I am around he acts one way, and when she is around he acts another way or what?
Thank you very much for reading my long winded story, and I hope to hear back from you all soon.
Thanks so much!
Oh, by the way. Our dog is a black lab mix, four months old, male, and his name is Orion. We adopted him from our local pet refuge, and though he has only been in our home less than a week, would not trade him for anything. He is such a good boy.