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Question:

hi, > I have a couple of puppy questions regarding my 12-week old male sheltie. > My first problem is housetraining.  We have been crating him at night and > during the day while we are at work.  He pottied in the crate initially (we > started at about 9 weeks).  Now, he stays in the crate without pottying.

Well, for starters, I think he’s too young to stay in his crate that long — even if he’s learned not to pee, he’s still just a baby and it’s not good for dogs that age to spend a lot of time alone.  Do you have anybody who can come over to see him in the day?  If not, consider hiring a pet sitter for a few weeks to come once per day, or take come vacation, or something… > He HATES his crate.  I read several books describing dogs who voluntarily > go into their open crates to sleep.  Not this dog!  We tried all of the > various methods to introduce him to the crate slowly, but he hates it so > much that he snipped at me the other night when I put him in it.  

Is he fed every meal in his crate?  Is he always given a liver treat for going into his crate?  Do you spend time tossing balls into his open crate so he can run around in and out of it without being closed in it?  To a certain extent, I believe that if a pup doesn’t like his crate, too bad.  It’s for his own safety that he’s confined to it, basically.  Of course it would be nice if all dogs loved their crates right away, but that’s not the case.  He’d probably like it more if he didn’t have to spend so much involuntary time in it, and he might get used to it as some more time goes by.  My 8 month old puppy Panda has finally resigned herself to her fate and is generally pretty quiet and good when crated, but it took her a long time to be OK with it, and when she was your pup’s age she went nuts in it. >  Back to > my housetraining question–I take the dog outside and spend a long time > waiting for him to figure out what to do.  Sometimes we spend half an hour > outside, going to his usual spot and nothing happens.  Then we go back > inside and, immediately after he steps in the door, he pees.  Sometimes he > pees a gallon outside (right after we take him out of the crate), then he > goes back inside and pees on the floor within 10 minutes.

First, he should be on a leash, so that he can’t wander around and sniff interesting things and look at butterflys and take his time.  He should be leashed so that he remains in the potty area, with no playtime until after he goes.  Then praise him as he’s going, and then he should be taken off the leash (assuming you’re in your backyard) and allowed to romp and play and look around, with you staying with him, of course. You don’t want him getting the idea that peeing means the end of exciting outdoor-with-dad time.  Peeing means he gets praised and rewarded with playtime. If he won’t go after about 15 minutes, he needs to be rushed right back to his crate.  Being in his crate will encourage him to hold it, and you can take him back out again in 10 or 15 more minutes.  You might want to carry him at this point since he might have to go the minute you open his crate door… But he should not have any free time in the house unless he has just peed. > Also, when people talk about "supervising puppy while out of the crate," > what exactly are we supposed to do when the puppy can squat and fire off a > squirt before we can even get off the couch?  I’ll admit that we have > probably made a few mistakes.  While we are home, we let him go anywhere in > the house (except the living room and dining room, which are blocked by > gates.)  We know that this is probably a mistake, but he would bark > uncontrollably in the kitchen if he were kept there while we’re here and we > enjoy spending time with him but we typically don’t hang out in the > kitchen.  What should we do?

Well, hang out more in the kitchen for specific play times with him, and then keep him leashed up to you and even in your lap or on the couch with you when you want to be in a different room.  My pup was *never* on the carpet until she was reliable in the house; if I needed to take her to another part of the house, she’d be rushed thru on a leash so she didn’t have a chance to go potty.  Once in my bedroom she’d be kept up on the bed for some playtime; she wouldn’t go on the bed, although your pup may differ in this respect.  Several times per day she got a good playtime with me and my other dogs in the part of the house that has a vinyl floor.  If I needed to do something in the other room and I couldn’t take her, it was back into the crate. As a result, she has never ever had an accident on the carpet, although she had a few on the vinyl at first.   She’s just now been allowed to have a few moments of unsupervised time on the carpet, although she’s been loose on the carpet under my supervision for a while now.  And I think that not having had any experience ever peeing on the carpet has really helped her, since the other day she did have an accident in the house (her first in months!), but she ran to the vinyl part of the house to have her accident instead of just going on the carpet.  I have to say that it’s probably been easier for me since I have a huge family room, dining room and kitchen that are all vinyl floored… and that’s where I spend most of my time.  But when she was your pup’s age she wasn’t allowed loose on the vinyl floor either unless I was directly watching her.  She was leashed up to me if I was busy on the computer.  Most pups will tend not to go potty if they can’t get up and move away from where they are spending time to go — at least once they reach a certain age — so that’s why being leashed up to a person helps.  But it also helps because it forces you to remember to be vigilant. Of course a puppy can squat and go potty in a matter of a second, but to prevent that from happening the owner needs to spend a lot of time with the pup and figure out his schedule and get him outside before the inevitable event.   I do agree with you that all that freedom for your pup has been a mistake, but he’s still young and you can easily change your routine now.   > The other problems include barking (and yes, we give him constant > attention) and biting.  I have read that the biting may be due to the fact > that we took him from the breeder at 8 weeks, so he hadn’t learned how > sharp those little teeth are.

Eight weeks is generally considered an OK time frame, as far as bite inhibition goes.  He just needs to have his lessons reinforced with you.  Now, if you’d have taken him at 5 weeks, I would agree that he definitely didn’t get enough time with his mother and littermates.  But 8 weeks is the normally recommended time.  Some puppies are much more driven to bite than others are.  Especially herding breeds, like your sheltie, since they have that nip-at-the-sheep instinct, and sporting breeds who like to carry things in their mouths.   > My last question regards correction.  I certainly can muster a stern "no," > but he thinks I’m just playing and barks and runs around.  No matter how > loud or deep or "scary" I try to make my "no," he just plays.  We have > tried, as recommended, to turn him on his back, say "no," and not let him > up until he’s still–doesn’t work.  We tried what is supposed to be the > ultimate correction method–holding the sides of his neck and gently, but > sternly shaking (just as dog mothers do) while saying "no"–doesn’t work.

Yeah.  NO is a hard one at this age, because pups can just think "Oh, he really likes this game, he’s getting all riled up too, I think I’ll continue since it’s such fun."  It really takes obedience training for some dogs to learn what no means.  And pups who are highly driven to mouth their owners are also usually very assertive and dominant and tend to just get more pissed off if they have their scruffs shaken… I have found that holding my pup out away from my body, off the ground, in a way such that she can’t get her little mouth onto either of my hands or any other body part, and telling her to calm down, really worked well.  She would struggle — oh how she’d struggle — but as soon as she calmed down I’d praise her and let her back down.  She was highly driven to bite me, and her puppy temperament test showed that she was not all that into pleasing people and that she was dominant.  So a lot of mouthing work was to be expected.   I also used time outs a lot.  If she’d bite me after I held her up like that, I would simply leave her on the vinyl side of the baby gate and I’d step over it and walk away from her. If you can’t arrange that in your house, you can put a hook in your wall somewhere (hopefully on vinyl) and have some play sessions with him right next to that hook.  When he mouths you, try holding him like I suggested, and then if he does it again, immediately leash him to that hook and walk away.  When he’s calm, come back and praise him and let him off.  Walking off teachs him a very valuable lesson — the play only continues if he behaves appropriately.  Being left alone is a very powerful motivator for a puppy or even a grown dog.  Try not to use his crate as a punishment, but it’s OK if there are times when he’s obviously in need of a nap for you to send him to his crate for a while.   Anyway, my little terror of a puppy is now a wonderful, sweet older pup.  I think it took about 3 weeks from the time I got her at 8 weeks until she was able to remember not to put her mouth on me at all.  I also worked with some kibble or treats in my hand, telling her off, and giving them to her when she stopped trying to get them and just sat down to wait.  It was always cute to see her think about putting her teeth on me, and then change her mind, when she was younger.  I had some toddlers come over the other day and I was very very proud of my pup when she simply smelled their chewed-up-cracker-covered little hands and didn’t attempt … read more »

Response:

I have a couple of puppy questions regarding my 12-week old male sheltie. My first problem is housetraining.  We have been crating him at night and during the day while we are at work.  He pottied in the crate initially (we started at about 9 weeks).  Now, he stays in the crate without pottying. He HATES his crate.  I read several books describing dogs who voluntarily go into their open crates to sleep.  Not this dog!  We tried all of the various methods to introduce him to the crate slowly, but he hates it so much that he snipped at me the other night when I put him in it.  Back to my housetraining question–I take the dog outside and spend a long time waiting for him to figure out what to do.  Sometimes we spend half an hour outside, going to his usual spot and nothing happens.  Then we go back inside and, immediately after he steps in the door, he pees.  Sometimes he pees a gallon outside (right after we take him out of the crate), then he goes back inside and pees on the floor within 10 minutes. Also, when people talk about "supervising puppy while out of the crate," what exactly are we supposed to do when the puppy can squat and fire off a squirt before we can even get off the couch?  I’ll admit that we have probably made a few mistakes.  While we are home, we let him go anywhere in the house (except the living room and dining room, which are blocked by gates.)  We know that this is probably a mistake, but he would bark uncontrollably in the kitchen if he were kept there while we’re here and we enjoy spending time with him but we typically don’t hang out in the kitchen.  What should we do? The other problems include barking (and yes, we give him constant attention) and biting.  I have read that the biting may be due to the fact that we took him from the breeder at 8 weeks, so he hadn’t learned how sharp those little teeth are. My last question regards correction.  I certainly can muster a stern "no," but he thinks I’m just playing and barks and runs around.  No matter how loud or deep or "scary" I try to make my "no," he just plays.  We have tried, as recommended, to turn him on his back, say "no," and not let him up until he’s still–doesn’t work.  We tried what is supposed to be the ultimate correction method–holding the sides of his neck and gently, but sternly shaking (just as dog mothers do) while saying "no"–doesn’t work. Sorry this post is so long, but we just don’t know how much we should expect of him at 12 weeks.  Thanks in advance for your replies.  If you would prefer to e-mail, remove -spam from my e-mail address before replying.

Response:

To get to your dog before he goes, tie him to your waist. When he starts to go in the house, tell him no, and carry him outside. When he goes outside, priase and reward him. When he is outside, you CAN wait him out. It may not be easy or convient, but it can be done. The biting is a plea for attention. Have you tried yipping like a littermate, and the ignoring him. Turning him on his back is not effective nor is shaking him. You are not a mother dog. If you yell NO at him when he barks, he will probably think you are barking too, and he is doing the right thing. Punishment is effective-IF-you can always catch him in the act and use the same punishment every time. Punish after the fact and he probably will not know why you are mad. At only 12 weeks you have an infant. He has a lot to learn andt it will not happen overnight. What is he doing that is possitive and how are you rewarding him? Have you tried the Sheltie List-Good luck Nancy

Response:

this is a normal puppy situation, his bladder may not be strong enough to have as much control as you like. one way you can show him his crate is a great place to be, make it fun not a punishment.  when he enters the crate give a treat with lots of praise and when you take him out of the crate give him lots of praise.  good luck – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – >I have a couple of puppy questions regarding my 12-week old male sheltie. >My first problem is housetraining.  We have been crating him at night and >during the day while we are at work.  He pottied in the crate initially (we >started at about 9 weeks).  Now, he stays in the crate without pottying. >He HATES his crate.  I read several books describing dogs who voluntarily >go into their open crates to sleep.  Not this dog!  We tried all of the >various methods to introduce him to the crate slowly, but he hates it so >much that he snipped at me the other night when I put him in it.  Back to >my housetraining question–I take the dog outside and spend a long time >waiting for him to figure out what to do.  Sometimes we spend half an hour >outside, going to his usual spot and nothing happens.  Then we go back >inside and, immediately after he steps in the door, he pees.  Sometimes he >pees a gallon outside (right after we take him out of the crate), then he >goes back inside and pees on the floor within 10 minutes. >Also, when people talk about "supervising puppy while out of the crate," >what exactly are we supposed to do when the puppy can squat and fire off a >squirt before we can even get off the couch?  I’ll admit that we have >probably made a few mistakes.  While we are home, we let him go anywhere in >the house (except the living room and dining room, which are blocked by >gates.)  We know that this is probably a mistake, but he would bark >uncontrollably in the kitchen if he were kept there while we’re here and we >enjoy spending time with him but we typically don’t hang out in the >kitchen.  What should we do? >The other problems include barking (and yes, we give him constant >attention) and biting.  I have read that the biting may be due to the fact >that we took him from the breeder at 8 weeks, so he hadn’t learned how >sharp those little teeth are. >My last question regards correction.  I certainly can muster a stern "no," >but he thinks I’m just playing and barks and runs around.  No matter how >loud or deep or "scary" I try to make my "no," he just plays.  We have >tried, as recommended, to turn him on his back, say "no," and not let him >up until he’s still–doesn’t work.  We tried what is supposed to be the >ultimate correction method–holding the sides of his neck and gently, but >sternly shaking (just as dog mothers do) while saying "no"–doesn’t work. >Sorry this post is so long, but we just don’t know how much we should >expect of him at 12 weeks.  Thanks in advance for your replies.  If you >would prefer to e-mail, remove -spam from my e-mail address before >replying.

Response: