My boyfriend and I got a puppy about 4 months ago, she's now 6 months old. She's small, but very very high energy. What is the minimum amount of time that we should be walking her per day? We currently take her on 3-4 walks a day, probably a total of 55 to 75 minutes a day. I've realized this probably isn't enough, so I want to start making our walks longer.
Also, she has a habit of digging in the cracks of our couch, and digging and chewing on different spots on our carpet. She just digs and digs and digs. If you tell her to stop she doesn't listen. Can I train her to not dig in the couch/carpet? I try distracting her by throwing a ball or a toy but it only works for a couple throws, she just goes back to digging and ignores my attempts to play. There's nothing in the crack! She just digs in them.We've taken her to a beginning obedience class, she did really well. She can sit, stay, lay down, we started teaching "come" at the end of the class... I know the basics of how to train her, I just don't know how specifically to train her to stop doing that.
Also, she bites. Now that I think she's done or almost done teething she is not nearly as bad as she was for a while, but she still bites sometimes when she's getting excited or feeling especially playful. I tell her no sternly, but I kinda think she doesn't know what that means... I just want to make sure she gets over the biting while she's still a puppy...
And lastly... our worst problem. Potty training. When we're home we take her out pretty often, and we're down to pretty much no accidents during that time. Our problem is when we're at work. She's inside alone from about 7:45 am to around noon-12:30, and then until about 4:30. The weird thing though is that sometimes she pees (and even has pooped) on our COUCH!I don't know what to do! She's 6 months, she should be able to hold it... I just dont' know what to do! We started her out on pee pads which may be part of whats making it harder.... we live in an apartment and didn't know they made it harder til after we'd been using them!
I feel like a horrible puppy parent because she's not fully potty trained yet... I was trying to crate train her. I fed her her meals in it, left her in for 10 minutes, then would take her out... but she would go in her crate! Sometimes if the crate was in the living room with the door open she'd go in it and potty and leave, like she thought it was a litter box or something! So I kind of gave up on the crate...
Sooo any advice? Awesome websites about training? Great pee-smell remover for carpet?
Original Post by tinaek:
exactly why they are just as excited to see you when you get back from running to the store as they are when you have been at work all day.
That is so weird... but so true! I mean like I can run outside to check the mail and when I get back she's freakin out like I was gone for hours! Crazy!
Your dog is of husky parentage and needs lots of exercise. Do not let the mini label mislead you. I would suggest 2 hours of exercise a day. Not just meandering about but a sustained walk. No sniffing no stopping. He is still a pup so perhaps 15 minutes of sustained walking. 15 minutes of running play at a time. 1 hour in the morning 1 in the evening. It can be discouraging but dont despair. If you find he is more than you bargained for I advise that you swallow your pride and your embarassment and call the breeder or a rescue organization and they will find another home for him. There are other breeds that may be more suited to your lifestyle. Bulldogs are great. They are macho but dont need a lot of exercise. Very loving. Great for a guys self esteem but not a lot of work. There is no shame in knowing your limits. Best of Luck and watch the Dog Whisperer or borrow the CDS from the library they may help. Exercise and discipline are key to a happy dog and happy owner!
Did you join CC just to ask about your puppy?
I wonder how many calories are in puppy? 
Exercise, consistency, and conditioning programs!
Everyone has had excellent advise for you. I volunteer for a rescue that trains almost exclusively touch free and it's awesome.
The mouthing is the hardest thing to do touch free (jumping up to say hello is also hard), because let's be honest, it can hurt! But ignoring is the BEST way to go. It almost always gets worse before it gets better (extinction bursts)...the same way we'll press a button on a remote with dead batteries harder/faster before admitting to ourselves that it isn't working. The extinction burst is usually where people give up, and what they don't realize it that they were almost through the undesirable behaviour! Jerking your hand away when she "bites" or something similar can actually seem like a game to them. Ceasing playtime whenever she mouths is also a good tactic.
I don't have any websites to recommend, but I do have books!
The Culture Clash - Jean Donaldson
The Dog Who Loved Too Much - Nicholas Dodman
Don't Shoot the Dog - Karen Pryor
These books focus on positive reinforcement training, which almost all current and leading research on dog behaviour and learning theory is saying is most effective!
Oooh good to know about the extinction burst! :] She did mouth my arm twice yesterday and both time I said OUCH! And got up and walked away and ignored here. Totally worked!
We gated her in the bathroom, which was great. She didn't freak out, which is awesome. And she didn't pee in there at all.
I took her to our little dog park twice and let her run around. she didn't last long since it was pretty hot out, but it helped to wear her out. We also took her for a couple good walks :] It didn't seem like we walked her much more than usual, but it definitely did seem to help! She was a LOT more mellow. (Part of it could have been the heat I suppose, it was pretty hot yesterday.... for Washington).
I'll definitely look into those books! I've heard a couple of them recommended before.
I've been wondering.. is it normal for a dog to pee like 20 times a day? Gosh it seems like she's ALWAYS peeing! Sometimes on a 20 minute walk she'll pee like four times. And in the morning she always pees at least 3 times after she wakes up. What's up with that? Is she a freaky dog with an overactive bladder or are they all like that? (It's not just when it's hot and she's drinking a lot... it happens all the time!)
When was the last time she had a vet check up? Frequent inapppropriate urination can be a sign of diabetes. A simple (although likely expensive!) blood test can let you know.
Edit to add: I don't mean to scare you, it could just be that she's a puppy...but I know I'd rather be safe than sorry! She also might be drinking more than you realize throughout the day. Maybe use a container that you know the volume of so you can truly monitor her intake?
I see a lot of people recommending you yell "Ouch" or "No" when she bites... with my puppy I found this was not always enough, especially when he got a bit older and could bite harder. I started literally screaming in pain whenever he bit me, and that sure got his attention. Even the smallest nip I would pretend was extremely painful, and my husband did the same thing. He's eight months old now and never bites ever, and hasn't since he was probably three or four months old.
The crate is the absolute best thing for potty training and for leaving your puppy at home while you're gone. It helped our little guy learn to only go outside. Treats are good for when she does her business outside but don't forget to praise like she just did the most amazing thing ever.
She was at the vet pretty recently. She did used to have a bladder problem and was on prescription food for a while, but it cleared up. It's definitely not the same problem. I'm pretty sure she can control it, it seems as long as we take her out often enough she doesn't go in the house (I think our problem before was that we just werent taking her out enough...now that we've started taking her out more often she's even started standing by and staring at the door when she wants to go out and pee!) but it's just that when we are out there she goes several times.
She had some bloodwork done when she got spayed, dprobably didn't include a diabetes check but everything that they looked at was good. and yes, lately she has been drinking a lot of water... I constantly refill it and change it out since I dont want her to run out or it to get yucky.
