New Puppy Need Some Help :d

[singeaninja]

Hey everyone,

 

I just got a 3 month old puppy and need some general guidelines to follow. I've found some information online but it isn't as structured as i need it to be. Its my first time raising one and i have little knowledge besides anything i may have googled.

 

I would like to house train her but am finding 'crate training' a tad confusing. Am i meant to keep it caged up and only release for potty and play time or do i let her spend little time in the crate?

The other issue is, that i've been keeping her outside for the last 3 days and she's finding it hard (scared?) to come back in. It takes either lots of calling or disappearing so she comes looking for me to get her inside. I really wanted her to be an 'inside dog' that spends time with the family rather than all alone outside, especially at night.

 

How exactly should i be spending my time with my dog? 

I've thought maybe when im home, blocking of the path outside of a room when im in it and let the puppy roam in the little room? or should i put her in the crate?

Should i be sleeping with the crate also? ultimately i want the dog to be able to share my bed but to avoid accidents i need to potty train her first. Also, when inside or outside for that matter should i keep her leashed? iv found she sticks to me more when on a lead and explores first without, then maybe comes back to me xD

Can someone give me a general example as to what i should be doing?

e.g

wake up, take of out crate to potty outside

bring her back into crate? or let her roam as a 'reward'?

if im home all day do i crate her or let her walk around with me w/without a leash

 

 

Thanks for the long read! All insights are greatly appreciated!!

[NOBELHOWLUC49]

My advice would be to look at the training advice given in this forum. Look at the training given that suits you and your puppies situation and stick with it even when it does not feel like its working. 

 

I'm only new to this forum and already I have picked up ideas and information that I wish I had when I first got my puppies.  They are now 2 years old.  But its never to late..

 

Good luck

[robke]

Hi Nathan both of mine are not crated at home so cannot help you there also having never had pups cannot help you there either but all is not lost there are some wunderful hoomans here that no doubt will help you with your questions even from your neck of the woods...

 

why not post an intro in the introduction part of the forum as well...and after 5 posts you can post as many piccies as you want we love them pic's....

[Elyse]

I can't help with the crate training part, and have never had a puppy, but there is still some advice I can give: 

 I wouldn't ever sleep with a puppy. Just like with a baby, you can roll over and crush them. It might be okay when she is older, but for now, just let her sleep on the floor or in the crate.

I heard you should leash train them when they are young, so leading her around with a leash on in the house would be a good idea. But also let her explore the house.

Puppies have little control over their bladders, so you should put them out after they've had something to eat or drink. You should also expect to get up multiple times during the night to let them out to go potty.

How is the situation with the vet? Has she gotten any shots yet? And any walks? Around this age, socialization is an absolutely must...but she should only be walked (where other dogs have been) after she's gotten her shots. To prevent her from getting parvo. And, walks should be very short when they are young. The general rule is add 5 minutes to the walk for every month of growth...so since she is 3 months, her walks should be 15 minutes MAX (15 minutes for EACH walk). You shouldn't run her yet, just let her explore the world around her. I'd go at a leisurely pace, since I'd be paranoid about juvenile arthritis (my boy suffered with that, its horrible to see them limping around at only 5 years old!)

Also, avoid stairs, and running, as this will cause stress on their joints as well. Running during play is okay, since they can choose when to stop.

Oh, and another important point: you should start basic command training right away. Its good mental stimulation, and can tire them out when it isn't time for walks yet. Teach the essentials, like 'sit', 'stay', and 'come'. 




 

Edited September 5, 2014 by SolitaryHowl

[Emma]

Hi there! Welcome to husky owners! [emoji2]

When mine were pups, during the day If I was at home then for the majority of the time they were not in their crate. For me that was important as I wanted their 'out of crate' time to exceed their 'in a crate' time.

Personally I haven't leashed my dog to myself although some people have to help with things like potty training.

Is she going to be an inside dog? If she is then I wouldn't recommend keeping her outside for days as it will delay potty training amongst other things. Instead let her out frequently every hour or so at first during the day and praise her if she does a wee or a poop. At night if she's crated then let her out to the garden, probably around a couple of times will be needed during the night and then afterwards return to the crate. That should help them to learn that daytime is for play but night time is not! Will take a while to learn that mind you, lol.

How should you be spending time with your dog? Playing with her, training her, but mostly enjoying her and developing a bond that should last a lifetime. [emoji2]

Good luck. Xxx

[Chula]

When we potty trained, she was only in the crate when we were not home or at night. We had two crates, and we'd leave both doors open and would make sure to give treats each time she went in. When she wasn't crated, we always kept her in whatever room we were in using baby gates. This way we could keep an eye and watch for signs that she was going to go potty.

She was almost entirely trained by three months old, with occasional accidents until about five months. She's now free at night, but still crated if we leave for longer than a half hour or so.

[Jase]

Hi Nathan, 

 

Welcome to the forum, you have been given some great advice above, where is Oz are you? 

 

Looking forward to seeing some pics of her soon.

[singeaninja]

Hey all!

 

Thanks for the wonderful replies, i think i have a fair idea of what to do now

Yeap, i'll definitely make some posts in the intro section to be able to post some pics so everyone can see my beautiful baby!

Jason, I live in Sydney, just started to rain -.-

[Jase]

Hi Nathan

 

I will PM you my phone number if you want any help as somethings take too long to type  Lemme know

[zannabianca]

I can tell so far my experience with Iwark he is 2 month old and we have him from 5 weeks and an half.

 

1) Don't let him bite you

2) Potty training asap 

3) Sleep in the same room for us it is Ok but Never on the bed

4) A lot of toys, different materials, different shapes.

5) Play with him a lot 

6) Teach him asap to wait for food, never give him food when excited. I taught to iwark to sit and stay in one week. It is not easy but when you do it, it changes all the relationship. The first day was the hardest one he did not understand at all, I had to try for over two hours before he was calm. After then he was to hungry and too tired to don't listen and from this moment when I tell him sit and stay he watch me and wait until I don't tell him go. 

[Jase]

I can tell so far my experience with Iwark he is 2 month old and we have him from 5 weeks and an half.

 

1) Don't let him bite you

2) Potty training asap 

3) Sleep in the same room for us it is Ok but Never on the bed

4) A lot of toys, different materials, different shapes.

5) Play with him a lot 

6) Teach him asap to wait for food, never give him food when excited. I taught to iwark to sit and stay in one week. It is not easy but when you do it, it changes all the relationship. The first day was the hardest one he did not understand at all, I had to try for over two hours before he was calm. After then he was to hungry and too tired to don't listen and from this moment when I tell him sit and stay he watch me and wait until I don't tell him go. 

 

I am sorry but I have to strongly disagree with your first point. Puppies need to learn bite inhibition and to do this they must use their mouth. Most trainers these days advocate allowing some biting from weeks 8-12 and then a tapering down by week 18.  The reason is that they must learn acceptable levels. Without this the dog - especially a powerful breed like a husky will be dangerous if and when they do bite, not only to humans but also to other dogs.

[zannabianca]

Well,I mean, to learn the way how to bite. I think so it is impossible avoiding to be bitten by your dog when you play with him. But, as in our case Iwark bite very very strong and tend to shake his head in such way that most of the time he lefts us in blood. 

So, because it is not possible to stand this behavior any further, we are undertaking a very strict no biting regime. 

 

So what I mean is: from the first moment, don't let your dog bite you harder than what you are ready to take.Because after is always harder to correct it.

Unfortunately, for us we let him play in such a way for almost a month and now when he bites us so strong to leave scars on our hands, feet, arms, it is almost impossible to stop him, because he enters in the"zone" and don't understand anything and it needs to be physically removed from your arm, because he doesn't stop to bite you and more you tell him to stop more he increases the strength. After then he usually start to attack you back even harder or growl.

 

This is our experience with him, so far, it is not very pleasant and sometimes we are clueless what to do. 

 

Now, every time he bites us we remove him from the room and we stop to give him attention at all. (he looks very offended by this)

 

Update1: After writing this post I develop a technique, with my hand when he bite I simulate a mouth and I bite him back and he start to bite less and less strong.  

[Aliciajean1977]

The night times are the worse. My Thor was gettin up like 4-5 times a night to go potty now however after 3 weeks of sleepless nights we get up once it has helped that he is settled on his feed now. I crate Thor only if i go out and at night otherwise he is walked once a day and roams the house when we are in. He has the run of the back yard too but i go out with him as he likes to chew and eat the grass

[singeaninja]

Ok update:

 

Scarlet has still been outside since getting her 6 days ago. Mostly due to not being able to buy a crate and bombarded with uni work. I'm with her a few hours a day at least and am only inside when whatever im doing cannot be done outside. She has adjusted to a leash and walks perfectly with me (in the backyard, 1 more shot to go) however sometimes its a hassle to get it on (have to bribe with belly rubs xD). The only other issue i've been having is her not coming inside. She just sits at the door and watches me. I'm going to buy a crate tomorrow and wondering what i should do? Without a leash she runs back outside whilst with it she just follows and cuddles me. She walks in with me on the leash but i assume thats almost 'forcing' it?

Do i just leash her to me during the day and go to bed with her at night and hope eventually she likes indoors?

[ObsessedWithHuskies]

The night times are the worse. My Thor was gettin up like 4-5 times a night to go potty now however after 3 weeks of sleepless nights we get up once it has helped that he is settled on his feed now. I crate Thor only if i go out and at night otherwise he is walked once a day and roams the house when we are in. He has the run of the back yard too but i go out with him as he likes to chew and eat the grass

 

Exact same issue with me, so what I did was drink a lot of water before I went to bed, that way I would have to get up to go to the bathroom anyways...it took less of the frustration away.

[Aliciajean1977]

Id put leash on outside and walk her inside and shut door too dont close it fully leave her for a few mins then take lead off give her lots of praise and hugs for getting inside and see what she does and go from there. Only do it for bout 5 mins a time each time adding a couple of mins on till she feels confident to be inside

Its what id do if i had 1 that wouldnt go.inside. x

[Rich & Kody]

Welcome to the Forum!

 

When i first got Kody i used the crate only when i was out, when home the door would be open and it was entirely his choice to use it or not, I always fed him in the crate so he new it was a good place to be. Whenever he had to be crated I would make sure he received loads of praise and a treat when i returned. Never use the crate as a punishment it should always be a safe place for them to go, a happy place.

 

Fast forward to today and Kody uses his all the time, when i go out (except for work as he comes with) i never need to lock the door, if he sees me getting ready to leave he is already curled up inside, and to this day i always feed him inside it. Whenever i put the food in the bowl he runs off and is waiting ready and waiting in the crate.

 

Best of luck with the puppy, i had Kody at 3 months and they can be a right handful, but the end result is worth every accident, chewed up shoe and wrecked sofa

[zannabianca]

The night times are the worse. My Thor was gettin up like 4-5 times a night to go potty now however after 3 weeks of sleepless nights we get up once it has helped that he is settled on his feed now. I crate Thor only if i go out and at night otherwise he is walked once a day and roams the house when we are in. He has the run of the back yard too but i go out with him as he likes to chew and eat the grass

 

 

Exact same issue with me, so what I did was drink a lot of water before I went to bed, that way I would have to get up to go to the bathroom anyways...it took less of the frustration away.

Me as well, first nights awful

[Rachael_Astro]

Did you get her from somewhere where she was kept outside/in a shed type environment or was she brought up in a house? Maybe she is just unfamiliar with the indoor environment, if there's anything she might be scared of for example the vacuum maybe have her in another room to get used to the noises?

She might also just be thinking, well why should I come inside! Try a dog whistle and reward her with treats if she comes in, and eventually move from treats to a toy. If she learns that coming inside when she is called means she gets rewarded I'm sure she will get better!

When introducing her to the crate she needs to learn its a fun place to be, I give my dog a kong stuffed with treats. As soon as he sees the kong he leaps straight into the crate now!

Good luck