New Pup!!

freddie_

Hey All

Just looking to pick your brains with a few questions that will probably sound very stupid to ye.
I have recently got a 10 week old Old English Sheepdog male pup and everything is going great but just a few things i want to find out.
House training is going well, he will go outside when he is brought out but during the night he goes on a newspaper at the back door and he will not dirty anywhere but the newspaper. Is it normal for a 1o week old to have to go a few times during the night? When would you hope that he could hold it at night?

I am feeding him a puppy feed i got from the breeder but he seems to have no interest in it, he will only eat it if i place a small piece of mince at the bottom of it, any ideas?

He is very easy to train at the moment, house train fetching etc, so am wondering when would you start to try and train him to walk on a lead. I know he is too young for walks but when should i start?

Any info on the above would be great or even just any thing you would like to add that might help with raising a puppy.

Thanks

Freddie

andreac

Ok, for starters, congrats on your new pup.

Now, your pup is 10 weeks old, a baby, very young baby, so cannot hold it in for very long. So yes, its completely normal to go a few times during the night. They will gradually build up the time they can hold it over the next few months, so you need to be patient, very.

I would recommend you get rid of the paper as it only confuses the pup. I highly recommend crate training, and that helps speed up the house training process. Lots of info about it on here if you do a search.

I would also stop feeding mince, unless you want to continue that? Well, mince wont do any harm, but if you keep adding things to the food it can make a dog fussy, as then they expect it at every meal and wont eat dry food on its own.

What food are you feeding anyway and how often? Puppies at that age should be on at least 4 feeds a day, so you split the daily amount in to 4 small feeds. Maybe you are giving too much?

You can start introducing a collar and lead now, in the house and garden to get them used to it. But no walks until all vaccinations are done.

Hope that helps.

Hooked

andreac wrote: »

Ok, for starters, congrats on your new pup.

You can start introducing a collar and lead now, in the house and garden to get them used to it. But no walks until all vaccinations are done.

Hope that helps.

This!!!

And heres a copy and paste of my own experience these past few weeks with toilet training...
(WE ARE CRATE TRAINING)


I'm right smack bang in the middle of house training our (now) 12 week old Husky. We've had him a fortnight.

He's had two, yes two, accidents. Both were a pee. Not one instance of the other.

And here's why...

A puppy can only hold its bladder for about 1 hour for every month old it is. As tk123 had said above... And my mate who I met for a few hours today to watch the rugby thought I was insane when I told him... You simply have to take the pup outside.

For the last two weeks, we've been watching Jack for tell tale signs he's wanted to go. And, failing those... He's out every hour during the day... And our alarms were set week one at 2.30, 5.00 and 7.30 am. Couple this with the fact he sleeps in a crate (dogs tend not to go where they sleep), it's working wonders.

With the weather the way it's been, and my grass/yard a mud bath... It's been exhausting!!!

But... After 2 nights, Jack got the jist... And two weeks in, we're done. He knows where the toilet is.

But it now means the alarms are set for 3, 6 and 9am. With a even split of bed at 12, 4am toilet and 8am wake up... (One alarm) only a month away.

Like I said... Exhausting. And my neighbours must think I'm nuts with the chants of 'go pee'....

But a necessary evil.

tk123

Hooked wrote: »

For the last two weeks, we've been watching Jack for tell tale signs he's wanted to go. And, failing those... He's out every hour during the day... And our alarms were set week one at 2.30, 5.00 and 7.30 am. Couple this with the fact he sleeps in a crate (dogs tend not to go where they sleep), it's working wonders.

You might get away without the 2:30am run - my pup was sleeping from 12:00-5:30 from the second week. That said she's very relaxed/lazy and always has been :P

Hooked

tk123 wrote: »

You might get away without the 2:30am run - my pup was sleeping from 12:00-5:30 from the second week. That said she's very relaxed/lazy and always has been :P

I pushed it to 12.30 sleep, 4pm toilet and 7.30 am wake this morning. Gonna go mad and go for a 4 hour gap tonight.

Fingers (and other anatomy) crossed...

Pretzill

I always think, or experience has shown me, that the time of the year you get pup determines the puppy training sucess and this has little to do with pup and more to do with owner. The pee is always where the mistakes happen, even as pup grows - little bladders fill up quickly. Autumn/Winter puppies means lots of night time visits owners wouldn't probably even notice on warm bright summer evenings - my latest little pup impressed me at 9 weeks heading for the back door for poops but this early alertness was sullied by the fact that at now 5 months he's only stopped having a pee indoors mistake!

My first two dogs came to us in May and were a breeze to housetrain - sure they spent lots of late evenings outdoors with us in the brightest time of the year. Don't get too hett up about the house training it does take patience and you will bust a gut praising an outside pee in the middle of the night!

Maybe the food you were reccomended doesn't suit your dog - there's lots of variety out there just remember if you are changing - phase it in.

When he's had all his shots you can walk him outside on the lead - initially U find pups great on the lead it's only when they get bigger they sometimes show an unwillingness to be tethered - this is when you'll get a chance to show him what's expected - walk to heel etc / but make it fun - he's plenty to enjoy on a walk! Hope you and your dog have many years companionship.

moycullengirl

Any tips for me Iv a ten week old who is brilliant during the day with the Toliet business with prompting but at night time he is a disaster everytime I put newspaper or the puppy pads down he rips then to shreds

He is very very good at night once he goes to bed he sleeps but he wakes every morning between 530 & 6 and the is no going back #exhausted

We tried the crate but he got hysterical so we didn't want to traumatise the poor mite

tk123

moycullengirl wrote: »

Any tips for me Iv a ten week old who is brilliant during the day with the Toliet business with prompting but at night time he is a disaster everytime I put newspaper or the puppy pads down he rips then to shreds

He is very very good at night once he goes to bed he sleeps but he wakes every morning between 530 & 6 and the is no going back #exhausted

We tried the crate but he got hysterical so we didn't want to traumatise the poor mite

Did you train the pup to get him used to the crate or just lock him in and hope for the best? Also are you actually taking him out at night or leaving him in? All of the info you need is in the posts above yours tbh

moycullengirl

tk123 wrote: »

Did you train the pup to get him used to the crate or just lock him in and hope for the best? Also are you actually taking him out at night or leaving him in? All of the info you need is in the posts above yours tbh

Thank you no god no we tried putting all the bits in the food, his bed, his toys, everything he just did not like it at all.
No not taking him out at night maybe I need to start Thanks again

tk123

It's tough going but if you put in a few weeks of effort you'll be done in no time.

Gosh_idiots

Maybe he just doesn't like that kind of food? Or it might be too strong for his little stomach. I had a problem finding the right food when mine was a pup. The vet suggested feeding her scrambled eggs with a slice of bread mashed through it or warm weetabix with a little milk all mashed up. Random but it was easy on her stomach! If you were considering it I'd mix it up a bit tho. Give a few portions of both throughout the day (You'll know by the pup how hungry he is!) Mine had no problem switching to dog food once she got older but there's always the danger he'd get too fond of the weetabix/eggs! :P I'd start introducing a collar now too!