Training a new puppy

[Frequitude]

My puppy just hit 4 months. Some thoughts...

Crate Training
I absolutely recommend crate training. It helped train him to learn to go to the bathroom outside. Make sure there is only enough room for him to lay down in. If its too big he'll learn to sleep on one side and go to the bathroom on the other. To me, crate training meant:
1) Put him in his crate
2) After 30-45 minutes put him outside to pee
3a) If he went to the bathroom he got playtime for 15 or so minutes then back in the crate (i.e. back to step 1)
3b) If he didn't go to the bathroom I put him straight back in the crate (i.e. back to step 1)

We were pretty strict with this for about a week (other than the few times we gave in just to play with him because, well, puppies are cute). After a week he was pretty much house trained. Other than periodic accidents when we weren't paying attention he'd go sit by the door when he needed let out. Now he just gets locked in his crate when we leave the house or go to sleep at night. He does so with no issues and no barking. When we're home we leave the door open and he goes in from time to time to rest. Also, we never use the crate as punishment when he's done something bad. That'll just create negative associations and make life difficult.

For the night shift I recommend putting the crate beside your bed. He'll sleep better knowing you're there.

Pee Pads
Does your apartment have a balcony? If so train him to go out there instead of pee pads. Pee pads just teach him to pee in the house.

Trust me, his bladder will grow
The first few weeks were hell. He'd have to go to the bathroom every hour and could hardly hold it. This meant my girlfriend and I rotated waking up every hour in the night and going home from work every hour to let him out (we lived close thankfully). Gradually this got better and now he can hold it through the night.

Walking
Exercise is the single best way to have a calm puppy who'll sleep through the work day and nights as best as possible. We walk him in the morning, at lunch (this will eventually stop), when we get home from work, and most importantly before bed (let's you get a good sleep).

Feeding
He's a great dane, so gets 6 cups of food per day. We feed it 2 cups at a time, 3 times a day. I believe 3x per day feeding is recommended for puppies regardless of the amount. Do not let him eat as he chooses. A routine is critical and you need him to learn that he better be good for you because you control his food.

Sleeping
I don't know if they "need" a certain amount of sleep per se. Ours is a large breed so he's much lazier and likes to sleep. The only thing I'd recommend is to not let him sleep in the evening before bed. Then he won't sleep through the night. The evening is the best time to play with him and walk him so he tires out.

Socializing with people
Walk him lots on busier streets so he can meet as many people as possible. 4th street was perfect for this. A well socialized dog will be much better behaved around strangers later in life.

Puppy School
We did Pupstart at Clever Canines. I definitely recommend it. Heck, I probably learned more than he did. It was also great to have hime socialize with other dogs.

[zyzz]

Here's some pics

[GoinAllTheWay]

Haha! Look at it's little pink belly!

Is it bad that I prefer puppy photos over baby photos?

[zyzz]

Originally Posted by Frequitude

My puppy just hit 4 months. Some thoughts...

Crate Training
I absolutely recommend crate training. It helped train him to learn to go to the bathroom outside. Make sure there is only enough room for him to lay down in. If its too big he'll learn to sleep on one side and go to the bathroom on the other. To me, crate training meant:
1) Put him in his crate
2) After 30-45 minutes put him outside to pee
3a) If he went to the bathroom he got playtime for 15 or so minutes then back in the crate (i.e. back to step 1)
3b) If he didn't go to the bathroom I put him straight back in the crate (i.e. back to step 1)

We were pretty strict with this for about a week (other than the few times we gave in just to play with him because, well, puppies are cute). After a week he was pretty much house trained. Other than periodic accidents when we weren't paying attention he'd go sit by the door when he needed let out. Now he just gets locked in his crate when we leave the house or go to sleep at night. He does so with no issues and no barking. When we're home we leave the door open and he goes in from time to time to rest. Also, we never use the crate as punishment when he's done something bad. That'll just create negative associations and make life difficult.

For the night shift I recommend putting the crate beside your bed. He'll sleep better knowing you're there.

Pee Pads
Does your apartment have a balcony? If so train him to go out there instead of pee pads. Pee pads just teach him to pee in the house.

Trust me, his bladder will grow
The first few weeks were hell. He'd have to go to the bathroom every hour and could hardly hold it. This meant my girlfriend and I rotated waking up every hour in the night and going home from work every hour to let him out (we lived close thankfully). Gradually this got better and now he can hold it through the night.

Walking
Exercise is the single best way to have a calm puppy who'll sleep through the work day and nights as best as possible. We walk him in the morning, at lunch (this will eventually stop), when we get home from work, and most importantly before bed (let's you get a good sleep).

Feeding
He's a great dane, so gets 6 cups of food per day. We feed it 2 cups at a time, 3 times a day. I believe 3x per day feeding is recommended for puppies regardless of the amount. Do not let him eat as he chooses. A routine is critical and you need him to learn that he better be good for you because you control his food.

Sleeping
I don't know if they "need" a certain amount of sleep per se. Ours is a large breed so he's much lazier and likes to sleep. The only thing I'd recommend is to not let him sleep in the evening before bed. Then he won't sleep through the night. The evening is the best time to play with him and walk him so he tires out.

Socializing with people
Walk him lots on busier streets so he can meet as many people as possible. 4th street was perfect for this. A well socialized dog will be much better behaved around strangers later in life.

Puppy School
We did Pupstart at Clever Canines. I definitely recommend it. Heck, I probably learned more than he did. It was also great to have hime socialize with other dogs.

We don't have a balcony, we've set up the pads in a storage closet inside the apartment. hes used the pads a few times when he follows me. Praise is given with small pebbles of his food. He's had accidents on the floor which is expected. Watching him like a hawk so I've been able to pick him up and take to where he should go.

Started leaving his crate open today and thought it was going well, he played with his toy for a b it in there then since that has walked in and peed im there twice.

Patience is key I guess. It's only day 3 should've expect miracles

[heep223]

Originally Posted by zyzz

We don't have a balcony, we've set up the pads in a storage closet inside the apartment. hes used the pads a few times when he follows me. Praise is given with small pebbles of his food. He's had accidents on the floor which is expected. Watching him like a hawk so I've been able to pick him up and take to where he should go.

Started leaving his crate open today and thought it was going well, he played with his toy for a b it in there then since that has walked in and peed im there twice.

Patience is key I guess. It's only day 3 should've expect miracles

How big is the crate? He shouldn't have that much room to move around in there, it will prevent him from peeing in it. We had a crate that you can adjust the size as he gets bigger. We crate trained him until he was around 6 months then he graduated to a small pen...now he has a pretty large pen that both dogs hang out in when we leave and at night. Like someone else said, they'll get into trouble if they have the run of the house, but we didn't want to put them into such a confined space all the time so a pen was a good compromise. We leave the door open when we're home and they go in there to nap and escape etc, it's their "house".

We had a ton of accidents and then one day he just "got it", we have a yard tho. Honestly man....you really want your dog peeing on pads in your apartment when he's fully grown? IMO you should suck it up and walk him. It'll be a pain in the ass for a while but worth it in the end.

[puckedoff]

Plus I think with the pads it teaches them that its ok to pee on things that are left on the floor. Shirts/clothes etc.

[Frequitude]

Originally Posted by zyzz

We don't have a balcony, we've set up the pads in a storage closet inside the apartment. hes used the pads a few times when he follows me. Praise is given with small pebbles of his food. He's had accidents on the floor which is expected. Watching him like a hawk so I've been able to pick him up and take to where he should go.

Started leaving his crate open today and thought it was going well, he played with his toy for a b it in there then since that has walked in and peed im there twice.

Patience is key I guess. It's only day 3 should've expect miracles

Gotcha. Without the balcony that sounds like the next best thing. I think the key right now is to basically take him downstairs and outside literally every 30-45 minutes. Reward him heavily when he goes outside. After all, the goal is to get him to hold it until he gets outside. The pee pads are just a short term stop gap.

At only day 3 though, do not be stressing at all that he's not getting it! About day 6 I was convinced I was screwed for life. Nothing like having him walk into the room, look at you as if to say "screw you" and pee right on the floor. Like WTF.

Very cute pup though.

[ernie]

I'm of the belief that going to the washroom in the house for a dog is something that shouldn't be accepted. Accidents happen sure, but I know so many people who are OK with it. Typically it's a small/toy dog owner with the "small bladder" excuse. That excuse is complete BS. I don't understand it. Any dog can be house trained and can hold it when you aren't around. A general rule of thumb a couple vets have provided us is that at a minimum they should be able to hold it for 1 hour for every month they are old. Meaning by 10 months old any dog should be able to at least wait to be let outside through a full work day with travel (10 hours)

We adopted an older puppy (10 months) Christmas 2013. She was a neglect case (outside on chain all day with no shelter). She was not house trained as we found out really quick. Took 4 days of regular trips outside asking her to pee in the same spot, waiting for her to do it, big praise etc. She pees on command when outside....which is super helpful if we are just letting her out quick before bed to go.

[To Be Quite Honest]

Originally Posted by oilers_fan

TBQH, does the dog ever get to have fun and be a dog?

Ha! I did omit that stuff didn't I!

No never. Fun is for suckers.

[longsuffering]

Originally Posted by To Be Quite Honest

I'm big into schedules for animals. For my roommates dog she gets fed once a day at a specific time and I always eat first unless I'm not eating around that time. She's let out at specific times of the day. When I take her for walks I tell her when she can pee by giving slack. I'm the first to leave the house and the first to enter. During walks she has very little slack and she must walk behind me this stops dogs from jumping AND forces people to ask permission before petting. I am the boss and there is no confusion. The dog does what she is told, well she does what I tell her to do. My roommate is a suck and pampers her dog so she has issues with her dog and listening. I think there are status confusion issues because of it.

Dogs are also den creatures. Crating is not mean because it gives them a place to feel safe.

I agree 100% on a establishing a routine and making sure the dog understands who is the alpha in the pack.