puppy help please!

pampootie

We got a 12 week old Jack Russel on Sunday. I love him. But never having had a dog before, I'm a bit on the worried new mammy side re training him! Apologies if this has been asked before, search threw up nothing.

Basically he is very good, far less work than I expected a 12 week old pup to be! The main "bold" thing he's doing at the moment is chewing on sleeves/trousers/shoes and he's taken a particular shine to a pair of woolly slipper type boots I have. This is fine when I'm sitting in with him, I just keep saying no, pulling him off and giving him one of his chew toys, and praising him when he chews on that. Normally this takes several repetitions before he twigs that the chew toy might be the thing to go for. But when I take him out to wee/poo, he does his business and then immediately runs back to me and sinks his teeth into my boot. My concern here is his toilet training, I feel like once he goes outside I'm not getting enough time to praise him for it, as almost straight away I'm having to reprimand him for the chewing. I'm praising him as he goes, is this enough to reinforce that peeing outside is a good thing?!

(reading back i fear this looks slightly insane but i'm genuinely concerned about it so any help appreciated!:o)

player101

Can i make a small and possibly silly suggestion, for the next few days just wear a pair of shoes that he doesnt seem to take a fancy to? then reward him as normal, he is defo just theeting, get him a kong toy and stick some treats in the the middle of it he will chew his little heart out and leave your slippers and shoes alone

pampootie

Not silly at all... Probably more silly of me to keep wearing them when they're obviously so soothing to his poor teeth! I'll give it a go but to be honest he does the same to my oh only its pulling on his trousers!

tk123

They grow out of it! Just keep giving him his toy instead so he knows that's what he's allowed chew - if you rub a little but of peanut butter/marmite/kong paste etc he'll get interested in the toy. Also if he's driving you mad with it put him out of the room and he'll soon realize that you don't want to play that game any more. If he barks when you put him out just wait until he stops (it'll probably only be for a few seconds) and then take him in.
I remember with our guy the first few weeks of bringing him out during the night to go to the loo I was just exhausted, one night half asleep I brought him out to the loo around 11 or 12 before I went to bed and he grabbed on to my pj bottoms on the way back in - I was so tired I just walked in like a zombie dragging my leg behind me with him sliding along the wooden floor lol -he thought it was great fun! Another time I duped him by just stepping out of the bottoms!! One time I came in from training and I'd sprayed deep heat on my ankle earlier in the day... he pulled off my sock got a whiff of the deep heat, barked at the sock and never pulled them off me again! He still holds socks hostage until he gets a treat though but we let him away with that! :rolleyes:

Vince32

Welcome to the wonderful world of dogs

My first was a jrt also and omg they are full of boundless energy and love, you made a great choice.

You can borrow a training book from the library and self teach the dog some basic commands, leave it, sit, stay, come, fetch. just to get you started.
While your there pick up a breed book on jrt's.

The first thing you'll need to do is teach the dog it's name, so it knows when your talking to it

Sit on the floor with some treats, and call the dogs name, when it looks at you, immediately give the treat. Even if it's only a flick of an eye it gets the reward. This teaches the dog that its "name" means "look at me" and that's the most we can hope for as dog owners.

Good luck and enjoy your jrt

Vince32

double post

pampootie

Thanks guys!
So yes reckon he'll get the concept of peeing outside even with the limited amount of praise I'm able to give him before he attempts to eat my feet again?!

DBB

Hi OP,
Congratulations on your new pup! You'll have your hands full for the next while!:D
You're doing exactly the right thing praising pup while he's peeing. However, I'd suggest you teach pup to sit: you can do this through the day in your house by holding a tasty treat, let pup sniff it, then raise it slowly over his head. If you hold it just above his head, just high enough that he can't quite reach it, they will usually lower their butt (if he jumps up, close your hand around the treat so he can't get it). As soon as the butt hits the floor.. bingo! Tell him he's fab and give him his treat. Practise this a fair few times throughout the day.
Now, when you go out with him for toilet break, bring some tasty food treats (little ones, the size of your little fingernail-ish), and as he comes towards you to munch on your feet, show him a treat, and ask him to sit, just like you've been practising inside. Essentially, you're diverting him to doing something more constructive than chewing your feet (it's called response substitution), it's a very passive way to stop pups doing stuff we don't want them to, whilst simultaneiously teaching them a useful skill.
For general puppy advice and management, there is some super advice on the "Training Textbook" tab on this site: www.dogstardaily.com
Are you thinking of bringing him to training classes too? No harm to get him into some good socialisation classes when his shots are finished (although Merial, the vaccine company, recommend getting pre-vaccinated pups out into the big bad world asap, but doing it sensibly, like not letting pup sniff around very public areas where lots of dogs frequent: you can hold pup and let him watch cars, cyclists, kids playing, other dogs etc). Hopefully you're in an area that has good socialisation classes, people here may be able to recommned a place if you haven't found one already!
Good luck!:)

pampootie

Thanks dbb. Tried to start the sit training today but he's so excitable, there's lots of jumping but not much sitting so far! We'll keep trying!

home from home pets

puppies will chew especially as teeth start to fall out Try and re-direct his chewing using a knog ball. This should also help prevent him from chewing furniture out of boredom etc.