Puppy training 2 major issue

Plentyofice

Basset hound

1. Eating habits- he is a vociferous eater. Gets fed each morning with my other basset but eats absolutely everything. Tries to eat other dogs food. Will constantly try get up on counters to eat everything. Not remotely snappy or growlly but will try and take kids food etc etc. When going to feed will always try and jump up and grab bowl before it's put on the ground.!!
I believe it may have been where I got him from that this has happened. How do I get him to relax around food?
2. He and my other dog sleep in the utility room. In the morning when anyone wakes as soon as he hears us he barks constantly. I know it's excitement but when 1 of us gets up at 3.00am to get a glass of water he barks and wakes the whole house. Also around food he barks like a looney ??

andreac

How old is your pup?

Plentyofice

14 weeks. Got him at 11 weeks

andreac

Ok firstly, how many times a day are you feeding him? Because a 14 week old pup needs to be fed at least 3 times a day so your pup is probably hungry.

Most young pups have great appetites so will be keen and eager to eat their dinner. You should do a little training with the pup and only give the food when the pup is settled.

With the wake up calls, pups cant hold it in all night, and especially at 14 weeks, they need to be let out during the night for a toilet break so if they hear someone up they will want to be let out, its only natural.

Plentyofice

Thanks for the advice. This issue here is not night time urinating. It's just going baloobas at hearing anyone being up and wanting to be with them , hence the barking non stop. As soon as you go to him he gets relaxed and is grand but you leave and of he goes again. He even sleeps with the light on and with a 5 yr old basset .??

andreac

Plentyofice wrote: »

Thanks for the advice. This issue here is not night time urinating. It's just going baloobas at hearing anyone being up and wanting to be with them , hence the barking non stop. As soon as you go to him he gets relaxed and is grand but you leave and of he goes again. He even sleeps with the light on and with a 5 yr old basset .??

Thats normal for puppies though, esp one thats so young. Its very hard to get them to sleep the whole night at that age and when they hear someone up they just want to be with them.
Also, your pup is probably hungry so wants to be fed as well.

You didnt answer my question on how many times a day you feed it?

Plentyofice

Twice a day. Once at 7.00am and once at 5.30pm (approx)

Zulu

My pup is 15 weeks tomorrow. We feed her the same times as yourself (5:30/6am & 5:30/6pm) & she's doing great. Putting on 1kg per week (and some). She's been sleeping through the night for a few weeks now, but wakes up at 5:30am bang on.

For the barking I got a squirter pistol. When she barked inappropriately, she got a squirt in the face. She learned VERY quickly. Perhaps this will work for you also?

andreac

Well puppies can take a long time to settle into a routine and it can take a few months so you just need to try and keep the routine going that you have.

Its best to try and ignore the crying etc and only go to the pup when its quiet.

Whispered

Plentyofice wrote: »

Twice a day. Once at 7.00am and once at 5.30pm (approx)

Try separating it into another meal in the middle of the day if possible.

I don't think there is any need to leave the light on for a pup and I'd imagine it would encourage it to be awake tbh. But pups rarely sleep through the night, especially when someone is up and about. It used to be so tiring when my fella was a pup, I wouldn't even get up to go get a drink in case I woke him. Now he just stays on the couch and sometimes grumbles about being disturbed. :rolleyes:

I think the most important thing would be to ignore the pup when it's crying.

ISDW

Is there any way you can feed the pup 3 times a day? They need small and often at that age, they can't digest it properly otherwise. I would actually still be feeding 4 times a day at that age, but thats probably just me:D I have a pup that will be 6 months old tomorrow and he is still on 3 meals a day.

moving_home

When my dog was a pup I was feeding her 4 meals a day until she was about 5mths (8am / 12pm / 4pm/ 8pm) and then 3 meals a day from 5mths tol 9mths (8am/2pm/8pm) and I never had any problems with her sleeping through the night. I was not working at the time so it was an easy routine for me to keep. She actually got herself out of the habit of eating 3 times a day as she would refuse the lunchtime meal.

I would advise feeding a small amount at 8pm/9pm (leaving enough time before you go to bed to let her out for toilet) as I think this made a difference in getting her to sleep through the night. Also some play before bed would help tire her out. I used to go for a short walk about 20mins after the night time meal as this made her tired and helped get her to go toilet before bed.

LucyBliss

One of mine was big eater too when he was a pup. Which was great, God bless his hearty appetite and all that. But he also used to try to take the bite out of my grandmother's mouth - literally. He'd know when she was getting her morning porridge and he'd jump up beside her and try to lick the bowl, the spoon, her face, her apron - anywhere where he'd spot something. Needless to say she was not impressed and neither were we so we had to teach him some 'table manners'.

We got into a routine where he'd have to sit and wait for his food to be put on the floor. Then he'd have to wait another few seconds before being allowed to start to eat. This wasn't a dominance thing on our part, it was more of a "Sweet mother of God, stop jumping at me with the bowl of food in my hand!!" thing. We also didn't let him sit on the couch with my grandmother while she was eating. He had to sit and wait. That was hard because he'd try to jump up all the time and we had to sit beside her and tell him no and put him down again and he was very tenacious.

It took time and consistency but he got the message and eventually he was able to sit beside my grandmother quietly as she ate and she'd give him a bit out of her bowl as a reward. Actually he'll sit quietly beside anyone as they eat, and he will wait for his food to be given to him.
He's still a hungry hound though. I caught him the other day with his head in the bag of dog food and he snatched two bits of bread off the grill last week! I took my eye off them for two seconds and that was all he needed! Still though, he dropped them when he was told (though I ended up giving it them to him later on - what I was going to do with half eaten bread?!) so for all his faults, he's not food aggressive, just an opportunist!

tk123

OP you if you put a ball into the food ball it should slow him down gobbling it all up. Also we used to feed 4 times a day at that age, then down to 3 when he was a few months old and then down to 2.

Taceom

[/QUOTE] I used to go for a short walk about 20mins after the night time meal as this made her tired and helped get her to go toilet before bed.[/FONT][/QUOTE]

I was told not to walk a dog for hours after feeding it as it could cause a twisted gut. Urban myth obviously.

ISDW

I used to go for a short walk about 20mins after the night time meal as this made her tired and helped get her to go toilet before bed.[/FONT][/QUOTE]

I was told not to walk a dog for hours after feeding it as it could cause a twisted gut. Urban myth obviously.[/QUOTE]

Unfortunately no, its not an urban myth at all, it can cause bloat. I have friends who have lost dogs to bloat, if your dog gets it, you have to get to a vet immediately and even then theres no guarantee they can save the dog. One of my own dogs bloated last year, luckily I knew the symptoms because of the friends whose dogs had died, so got her to the vet straight away - 10.30pm on a Friday and they had to operate, they finished working on her at 3am and she survived:D

Its more prevalent in deep chested breeds, but I always rest my dogs for at least an hour after they eat.

LucyBliss

I had no idea that could happen. Thanks for that, ISDW, that's good to know.

moving_home

no i wasn't aware of that either so thanks for the heads up! most of the time i would walk her before her dinner now anyways but didn't know that could happen so will make sure i keep her quiet from now on. what level of activity is acceptable?

when i was saying walking her after eating when she was little, it would have been less than a 10min walk on the lead so wouldn't have been overly active anyways!

ISDW

moving_home wrote: »

no i wasn't aware of that either so thanks for the heads up! most of the time i would walk her before her dinner now anyways but didn't know that could happen so will make sure i keep her quiet from now on. what level of activity is acceptable?

when i was saying walking her after eating when she was little, it would have been less than a 10min walk on the lead so wouldn't have been overly active anyways!

Not all breeds are susceptible to it, but as I say, deep chested breeds like Great Danes, Setters and my girl is a GSD cross. It scared the life out of me, her stomach just got bigger and bigger, the vets tried to pass a tube into her stomach to sort it out, but couldn't, hence the operation. She was very lucky though, more often than not it is fatal.

hdowney

would be good if you could post the symptoms so we know what to look out for. cheers

moving_home

double post

moving_home

ok so my wee cocker is probably ok!! thanks a mil!
that sounds so scary - thank god for the vet

Taceom

ISDW wrote: »

Not all breeds are susceptible to it, but as I say, deep chested breeds like Great Danes, Setters and my girl is a GSD cross. It scared the life out of me, her stomach just got bigger and bigger, the vets tried to pass a tube into her stomach to sort it out, but couldn't, hence the operation. She was very lucky though, more often than not it is fatal.

Thanks for all your information. Excuse my ignorance but does a Golden Retriever come under the deep chested breed?

ISDW

Taceom wrote: »

Thanks for all your information. Excuse my ignorance but does a Golden Retriever come under the deep chested breed?

I put a different thread up on it with a link to a site with excellent information, and goldies are on the list of susceptible breeds I'm afraid, but as long as you're careful, theres no reason why your dog should ever be affected.:)

hdowney

ISDW wrote: »

I put a different thread up on it with a link to a site with excellent information, and goldies are on the list of susceptible breeds I'm afraid, but as long as you're careful, theres no reason why your dog should ever be affected.:)

pls and thanks link to other thread. cheers

ISDW

hdowney wrote: »

pls and thanks link to other thread. cheers

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056218761