I’m beginning to wonder if it was absolutely INSANE to let my husband bring another attention seeking, house destroying, pooping and eating machine in the house. Never the less, our newest little addition is also the softest, sweetest and 4th most luvable little thing in the house. Now we just need to figure some things out and I need your help. We’ve never had a puppy for more than a few months and we really want Shelbi to work out for our family. I figure educating myself on some things will make this housebreaking thing go more smoothly.
I’d love a little insight from all of you doggy mommy experts!
The Fleas. It’s summer and our poor puppy has already gotten some fleas on her and now we’re looking into what will be the best medication. I looked at the comparison chart on 1-800 Pet Meds but I still can’t figure out what the best solution is. Have you used K9 Advantix, Frontline, Advantage or BioSpot? Which one has worked best on your dogs?
The Accidents. So far our housebreaking schedule has worked pretty well with crate training. She’s had a few accidents that involved pee but I know it was our fault. The puppy pads in the crate were a BAD idea, she just eats them. So now we’re not sure what to do. Do we put a small pet bed inside the crate, leave it empty, something else?
The Kids. You wanna know what happened below? Kaydee was playing with the puppy and dumped her bottle of water all over the floor, then proceeded to lick it up like the puppy. Our 2 year old is now imitating the dog, from sticking her face on her plate at dinner to lick her food to barking. It’s actually kind of cute but licking our floors or any floor for that matter is not something we want her doing on a regular basis.
About Cat Davis
HI Cat,
We’ve been raising a new puppy since she was 8wks old and she is now 5months. Daisy, our havachon, is very smart and catches on quite quickly – like your lab. As for accidents…consistancy is the key. Ex: eat, crate, out..sleep, crate, out…play, water, out. No stopping inbetween crate and outside – ever. We usually take her right out…put a leash on her and tell her the command “potty” in the spot we want her to go in. Also…some say a soft bed is good in the crate – others say no. My Daisy did pee on her bed a couple of times in the beginning, but I think it was because she couldn’t hold it. So, we removed it until recently and she didn’t have any other accidents. We only had a few toys in there with her. Make sure she doesn’t have a ton of room to move around in crate. Only enough to stand and laydown and turn around. Otherwise, she’ll pick a corner she’s not sleeping in and use for her potty. House breaking can be a looonnnngggg road like potty training a toddler. Just make sure that if you can’t watch her closely, keep her in the crate. If you are consistant, (which seems impossible with kids in the house), you should have luck. Keep us updated!!
Kasey
I think my aunt who worked in a vet’s office uses Frontline on her dogs.
I think you’ll have to experiment. Some dogs like a blanket or something in their crate with them. Others chew them to bits. Everyone I know with a chewer has gotten those Kong toys and the dogs love them. It’s also something they put in the crate with the dog when they leave.
As for the 2yo, I have no clue LOL. It might be a phase. If you ignore her, she might stop. If she keep sit up, maybe praising her when she acts like a big girl, and not a puppy will work. I’ve noticed my boys are better when we praise the behaviors we want them to do rather than telling the “No” all the time.
puppy raising can be so difficult but well worth the work
I feel your pain! We got a new puppy several months ago. He is the sweetest little thing but potty training has been an adventure. When we are gone, I put down puppy pads, which he goes on really well. But when I want him to go outside it is hard for him to do, I guess I am confusing him. But having the puppy pads down have saved my carpet. I dont crate train so this is the best option for me. Hopefully as he gets older he will catch on.
As for fleas, my dogs never get them. I use K-9 Advantix for them. Once a month. Plus we have our yard treated for fleas and ticks each yr too.
Good luck! I am sure he will catch on very soon. And the pic of your daughter, that is priceless!!
Sorry no help when it comes to dogs
as for toddlers LOL Kaydee is too cute love that picture. Oh when she grows up what a picture to show LOL
But we don’t have a dog and my 4 year old is barking and walking on all fores LOL what would you say to that. Yea she is giving us signs what she wants LOL
Frontline Plus works best for fleas. You can get a 6-month supply pretty cheap on eBay. You will pay through the nose if you get it from PetSmart, Petco or your vet. I say Frontline Plus because it’s waterproof and you have a water dog. She will find her way to any sized body of water – be it puddle or pond! I breed Labradors and can tell you they gravitate towards water at any age!
I would NOT put any kind of bedding in her crate. It’s summer, so she really doesn’t need it, anyway. She’s teething and can’t really resist the urge to chew, so she would likely chew her bedding, just because it’s there. A friend of mine nearly lost her little Labrador pup, who, on Christmas Eve a couple of years ago, decided to eat the towel that was in her crate. After an almost $2,000 surgery, her intestines were close to necrotic. The towel (and some bowel) was removed and she was touch-and-go for a few days there, but she is now three and absolutely fine. The moral of the story – unless you have several thousands of dollars lying about, DO NOT put bedding in with a pup!
I can’t speak for training your daughter not to lick from the floor – all I can say is what my mother always did, “A pound of dirt before you die.”
Good luck with Shelbi, she’s really lovely!
I don’t have and advice to offer. I wanted to comment on such on a cute puppy. Kaydee is being silly.
Puppies are awesome. We just had 14 here but managed to sell them all – no more for us. Congrats on the new member.
She is cute but I never had a dog. Don’t plan too either. I’m a cat person. Good luck with the puppy training!
I’ve had dogs almost my whole life (at least four while living with my parents) and here’s what usually is a problem:
Chewing. Paper piddle pads work for older dogs–go for a fluffy towel that you don’t care if it gets torn up or messed on. The beds can be too hot or too intriguing for puppies to want to pull all of the stuffing out of.
Biting. When the puppy starts teething make sure the kids have a place to get to where she can’t. My brother and I used to turn the pillows up on the couch so that the dogs wouldn’t teethe on us. Also tennis calls are ill-advised while their moths are growing because it teaches them to bite things hard and you don’t want that to be the kids’ appendages. Use stuffed toys instead (which can be expensive so we hit up the local Goodwill on occasion for .50 deals).
Housebreaking. I’ve actually got very little input for you here. We’ve always had indoor for sleep/when it’s too hot or cold outside dogs. Our six month old pup has had two accidents ever, but he’s outside for a lot of the day. They are like kids though, their bladders/colons get much more controlled as they get older.
As for the pest control, I like Revolution because it does heartworm too (if you’re near mosquitoes, you need heartworm) but my mom uses Advantage or the 1800petmed store version of that and my mother in law uses frontline. Both are easy but make sure the kids aren’t touching the puppy for a few hours after while she dries (the Revolution is alcohol based and goes straight into the blood system after an hour)
And now I’m done. I hope you’ve enjoyed my novella!
I’ll add my $.02 for what it’s worth, your best advice really comes from your vet…
I agree with the Frontline Plus, again because of your dog liking the water — it wont wash off (I know they say Advantix is waterproof, but not with soap or any additives), Frontline really lasts the month.
I did put bedding in my dog’s crate, but again only in enough room for him to lie down and turn around; because the saying is that “dogs wont pee/poop where they sleep”. We were lucky and didn’t have accidents in the crate. We did have accidents on the carpet, and bought the enzyme spray that deters re-peeing (is that a word???). I agree with Kasey – consistency is the key. We had a routine on times of taking Nano out, and now, I swear he can tell time. I have a timer on my cell phone for my medication, which happens to be 1/2 an hour before he goes out for his afternoon walk, and he definately lets you know when it’s been a 1/2 hour!!
With Kaydee, LOL, I think she is just really excited to have her puppy, she will grow with the dog, and I think grow out of it, too. I’m sure she wont get really ill from licking off your floors, and just ignore the eating like a dog, and remind her to eat with a fork and praise her when she eats like a big girl. It’s a phase, a cute one at that — my boys went through it. Just don’t take her to the Ritz!!
You asked so here is my thought. We have raised 5 indoor dogs over the years and we loved Frontline, and it works very well. If you have fleas in your house you can sprinkle your carpets with regular ole table salt, which is cheap, leave it set overnight the sweep in the morning. The salt will dehydrate and kill a flea immediately. Also put a little in your vacuum to kill any you sweep up if you don’t put it on your carpet, those little boogers will jump out of the sweeper bags. I agree with a bed for your doggie to sleep on in the crate. We always refer to the crate as going to “Bed”, then later you can say “Go to bed.” and away they will go. And again with fleas and beds make sure you are washing the bed every couple days to help get rid of the fleas and use a flea spray on it to kill any new flea eggs.
I do not recommend Bio-Spot simply because it stinks! And on black dogs it leaves a white film on their back and boy the smell lasts for a little over a week.
Have fun and enjoy that new puppy!! What a great addition to your family.
I use K9 Advantix because it takes care of ticks also. So far as housebreaking I agree set a routine for her – up in the morning, out, eat, out, nap, out play, out etc etc. I taught one of my dogs to go on command. It took alot of work but she did learn. Like potty training a toddler it takes time. I found that if I made a big deal – lots of praise and sometimes a treat – when she did go as asked it seemed to reinforce the training.
hey mama!,
your puppy is gorgeous! both advantix and frontline worked for us, it just depends on how much you want to pay for it. it is cheaper on those websites than going to the vet to get it because your purchasing them in bulk. as far as the puppy pads, bad idea. puppies just chew on them, shred them, and then eat them. doggies wont pee or poop where they sleep/eat. if her kennel is too big for her, say she has enough room to pace and run back and forth more than just sleep, she will poop/pee in the kennel. if you want to put a bed in there that might stop her from peeing/pooping. However your best bet is to just put a towl in there and make the kennel a little smaller with cardboard until she is large enough she doesnt need it. I crate trained my german shepard. Shes now almost three and has free run of the house at night and during the day. shes also mostly indoors, we walk her at least 5 times a day. good luck.
i don’t own a dog but wanted to say that dd is too funny. u got your hands full
I thought I was the only person to feel that way. I’m 38 weeks and 4 days pregnant…my dog is also driving me INSANE.
We have a 2 year old Chihuahua, his name is Buckeye, and boy are we having the hardest time in the world training him. He doesn’t seem to catch on at all. Don’t know if he has a learning disability or what. I’m due to have my first child anytime between now and next Saturday…let me say our dog have made my pregnancy experience a living hell. Our dog is potty trained but still has accidents every blue moon, which is not ok with me since we just moved into a new home about 6 months ago. He’ll poop “anywhere” in the house. He likes to tear tissue and paper. He pissed in our bed. My husband enjoyed sleeping with the dog…I never did, but I sure put a end to it once my $500 mattress got distroyed. Now it has a big yellow stain. Omg! Just a few weeks ago we left him out of his crate when we left the house, when we came back home there was poop on our couch! I was grossed the “f” out. I haven’t been able to look at my dog the same since. He’s now banned from being on the couch. I have to tell him over like 8 times a go to “get off the the couch!” It’s now clicking in his brain. He knows better because whenever we enter the living room he’ll jump off the couch and either run to his bed which is in the living room or he’ll run to his cage. So, I know that he knows he’s disobeying. He’s sneaky. Now we have to work on replacing that as well. He also chewed my $200 Ipod subwoofer wires. Ended up throwing it away. I was so pissed. I’ve been feeling like I’m the only one making serious effort to completely house break our dog. For almost a year now I’ve been trying to train the dog to stay off my bed. He still to this very day jumps on my bed from time to time. I get extremely frustrated because I don’t won’t his nasty ass on my bed. He also scratches on our bedroom door when it’s shut and cry. My husband responds to our dog need for attention. I don’t at all. The dog will cry until my husband give him attention and he’ll jump on my husbands lap and try to make him pet him. He also follows my husband all over the house like a hemoroid.
I have never had to repeat myself so much in my life. I think that certain dogs are worst than toddlers. Like my dog for example. I regret bringing a pet into our home. Bad mistake that I can’t erase because my husband is now attached to him. I begged my husband to sell him before we moved into our first house together. My husband begged me to let him keep him…he was looking like he wanted to cry when I mentioned it. I didn’t won’t getting rid of the dog to effect of marriage. Sometimes I wish I could my own house that’s dog free. My husband and I married 2.6 years ago. We got married when I was stationed in Sicily. When I first came home we had an apartment. Things were more pieceful prior to having a pet. My husband and I argue “all the time” over the dog. I feel like he loves the dog more than he loves me. He hugs him and kiss him. My husband and I “never” kiss and we only hug every blue moon. There’s other things lacking in our marriage now, that I’m not going to mention.
All the barking is driving me crazy. I haven’t been able to completely relax during pregnancy due to all the noise. All I’ve been wanting for the past 9 months is piece and quiet while I can enjoy it. Now there is going to be both barking and baby crying in a few days. I’m more concerned about how my baby is going to be able to rest piecefully.
As far as potty training goes he goes potty to the command “go pee” and “go outside.” We put his food up around 6PM and just leave out his bowl of water, since dogs must have water to drink at all times. It’s best to put the dog in it’s crate at night before bedtime and when your away from home. We bought him a kitty litter so he won’t have accidents in the house, but he won’t potty in it.
Our mistake: Being kind enough to leave him out of his crate at night at bedtime or when we leave the house. This is when accidents can possibly happen.
I don’t know how things are going to be having a newborn and a annoying dog.
I feel your pain. I have a 6 month old Yorkie that is driving me nuts. While I have wanted one of these dogs for years, potty training the dog is not working. I keep it in the crate at night and let it out in the morning. As soon as I bring it back in, it will go in my house. It also likes to chew on clothing and toys, but the potty training issue is the worst. I hate cleaning it up. Also I have a 1 1/2 year old son that sometimes finds it before me.