is this just 'dumb' or fair game?

[antipunt1]

Hi fellows; I have two rather short questions that have popped up recently.

The first question is: is this just dumb or is it fair game?

The puppy has learned to be left alone for whiles in the pen/bathroom. It may whine initially for the first 10 minutes or less, but then it just starts to sleep or chew. It usually follows this pattern when my mother returns from work as well, and watches as my mom cooks. All was relatively well...that is..until yesterday.

It barked/whined a FRENZY yesterday and I'm wondering if this was the problem: our puppy pen is near the TV, which is actually a good thing most of the time. But yesterday my brother wanted to play his Xbox360. Obviously since the puppy has become rather energetic as of late, we decided to leave it in its pen. But it went NUTS and sounded alarms. My suspicion: someone was still in the living room. The sofa is literally a couple feet away from the pen.

My thought is the puppy was going: "You're RIGHT THERE! And you're still ignoring me?!". What should we do? Should we discipline my brother? Or discipline the dog? (AKA: should I make sure my brother doesn't pull a scheme like that or should I just somehow train the dog that even whining in that case is not right?)

PS: The second quick question is at what age can puppies usually go for a walk. Our puppy loves walking around our lake area, but I heard that until it gets its shots it shouldn't really go anywhere except the backyard. I've heard multiple possible answers; ex: it can walk as soon as you get it; you have to wait until it gets its shots at 8 weeks; you have to wait until 14 weeks; etc. etc. I was wondering which is fact and which was fiction

Thanks again Chazhound! :hail:

-boit

 

[Domestika]

As far as when to walk the dog in public....you're going to get a bajillion different answers. I think MOST people tend to agree that after 2nd shots ( remembering to wait 10 days or so for them to be fully effective) is ok.

But there are others who believe that socialization is more important than the risk of disease and will take their dogs in public before they are fully vaccinated so that they don't miss out on that crucial window of openness to new stimuli.

It's a tough one to nail down. I guess it also depends on the prevelance of diseases in your area. Here, for example, there are maybe 3 or 4 parvo cases in the entire city in a year so it's not TOO much of a worry.

 

[Ilyena]

I started going on walks with my pup right from first week of having him home at 8 weeks. That was before any shots at all as where I live the first shots are given at 12 weeks and the second shots at 16 weeks. The risks of catching any diseases here is fairly small however.

I think that regardless of where you live, it's crucial to take the pup outside at an early age. Even if you cannot let him on the ground, then you should carry the pup and take him places so he'll still get the socialization he needs before the socialization window closes.

 

[antipunt1]

Cool thanks guys; regarding the walking question I was feeling exactly the same thing. And I guess I could carry it too if it came across other dogs or other 'dangerous situations' that increase disease chance.

 

[pacopoe]

Yeah, I'd wait on walks until after 16 weeks (rabies shot) but do take the puppy out and about.

See if there's a puppy socialization class you can take him/her to. That way you can be sure of safe sterilization but your pup gets to socialize with others their own age.

Have fun!

 

[TheGoldenRetriever]

I guess it also depends on the prevelance of diseases in your area. Here, for example, there are maybe 3 or 4 parvo cases in the entire city in a year so it's not TOO much of a worry.

^^^ Very true, and it is a good idea to ask area vets and shelters just how prevalent Parvo is in your area.

Not far from where we live Parvo is unfortunatley rather common. Still, we did take our puppy outside and anywhere else we could bring him, stores and parks and the like ... for socialization. We just carried him. We also socilaized him with a couple neighborhood dogs, but only with people we knew well enough to know they are responsible dog owners. He's now had all his shots (more slowly because I like to space 'em out) and he now goes on walks.

 

[lizzybeth727]

About the barking - yes, she was probably barking because she was frustrated that your brother was ignoring her. This is very reasonable, and the best thing to do IMO is to let her out while someone's in the room with her, or else put her in a quieter room. But, once she has already started barking, don't let her out until she calms herself down, otherwise she'll get rewarded for barking and will continue to do it again.

 

[antipunt1]

Thx for the follow-ups on walking; we're about to give it 'shot-set #2' or something rather, in a couple weeks. I'll be able to wait until then too, cause its not too far off!

Regarding my brother's ignoring, thats an interesting view. I totally agree on the bark rewarding. The frustration of being ignored is a new to me, but it makes sense... I guess we should've moved her. It was our fault b/c the whole family was having dinner except my brother [on the xbox], so no one could do a thing about it...except him of course ugh. I'll let him know the next time that HIS behavior may have been at fault.

You're right we could've moved her to the sleepy area as well I guess or let her out. The thing is, its SOO variable its funny. Like sometimes she just sleeps the heck out and if you shake her, she remains down like a dead log! I think that may have encouraged my brother's mistake; he didn't know she'd be super-hyper dog at that moment. We sometimes watch tv with it for 2+ hours and it just remains sleepy head.. CRAZY