Please join the Wake Animal Advocates Group at Petsmart, 220 Hinton Oaks Blvd, Knightdale on December 19th from 11-4:00 p.m. and get your pet’s photo taken with Santa!
The cost is $10.95 or $9.95 with your Pet Perks Card.
For more information please contact
Wake Animal Advocates Group
www.waagnc.org
We like to refer to this as house training a puppy. There are many methods available to train your puppy to go potty outside. The one that’s right for you will match your enthusiasm and commitment level and your schedule. All methods must be used consistently in order to help puppy understand that they should go potty outside the house…not in it.
How long should you expect puppy to “hold it”?
Depending on his age, your puppy’s bladder and bowels are still developing and he won’t be able to hold it very long. A good formula is to take puppy’s age in weeks and divide by 3. This gives you the maximum amount of time he can hold it. For example, if your pup is 9 weeks old, divided by 3, gives you a maximum of 3 hours of holding power.
If you are crate training your puppy
Crates are excellent to teach house training but remember that crates are a tool… and should not be used for storage for your pet. We recommend that puppy be brought out of the crate on regular intervals to interact with his family and receive the necessary visual and mental stimulation. The moment puppy comes out of the crate, take him outside. When he goes potty, praise the heck out of him and make a BIG fuss over his achievement. Then it’s back inside to play. Puppy should have another potty outing prior to going back in the crate.
How does crate training work?
Puppies typically won’t go potty where they sleep so the crate removes that temptation. It also prevents puppy from going to the bathroom in the house so you prevent a habit from beginning. Both of these things help puppy understand that going potty outside is good and going inside is not good.
What if puppy is going to the bathroom in his crate?
If your puppy is going to the bathroom in his crate, verify if he’s in there too long. Additionally, is the crate so big for him that he can potty on one side of it and sleep on the other? If this is the case, crate dividers might be a good option. They are temporary and you can adjust and remove them as your puppy grows. Your puppy needs room to stand up and turn around comfortably but if you have a 4 pound puppy in a crate large enough for a full grown Boxer, there’s plenty of room to sneak off for a quick tinkle! The final question is, is the crate free of all traces of urine and feces? Clean up is critical, using special enzymes to breakdown the scents. Soap and water or vinegar is not enough. If puppy can still smell any trace of a prior accident, it will attract him to go back there and do it again.
If space is not an issue and puppy is offered potty breaks at intervals appropriate for his age, we’d recommend a veterinary check up to rule out bladder problems such as a urinary tract infection or other medical reasons.
More tomorrow!
The next round of puppy socialization classes are now forming!
The classes are for puppies aged 7-14 weeks and are designed to introduce puppy to new people, dogs, objects, and noises he will encounter for the rest of his life. Special emphasis placed on socializing puppy to children and veterinary and grooming visits and introduction to moving objects (vacuum, bikes, skateboards, etc).
Pups will learn to view new things in their environment as fun and normal…not scary, creating social dogs as opposed to fearful dogs. Parents will learn how to safely socialize their pup, to read their dog’s body language and how to manage typical puppy issues such as housebreaking, chewing, crying and jumping.
For detailed information, download class materials and enrollment forms Puppy Socialization Classes
Our dog trainers are often asked to speak or write about dog safety at dog parks. Today’s entry addresses behavior we actually witnessed at a local dog park this morning and the owner’s contention that her dog was “just playing.” This leads us into topic #1, what is appropriate play? What does it look like?
What is Appropriate Dog Play at the Dog Park?
1. Mouthing occasionally (no teeth and no hold) is normal dog behavior. Biting or nipping at another dog’s neck, legs, or other body parts is not good behavior. If your dog bites at the flesh or collar of another dog and will not let go, if you or someone else has to pull that dog off of another, this is not appropriate play. In fact, this isn’t “play” at all. A dog exhibiting these behaviors should not be in a dog park until he is properly socialized and learns how to play appropriately.
2. Chasing other dogs is normal dog behavior but there are clear rules to this game which all dogs should instinctively understand. Dogs take turns chasing and being chased, this is the fun and the spirit of the game. The game is over when one dog stops running, lays down or hides himself. If a dog continuously pursues another dog, even when the other dog is hiding, or with his human for protection, this is not “play”. Watch your dog when he is chasing another dog. Does the other dog turn around and chase yours too? If the answer is “yes”, that’s great dog play! If your dog is only chasing other dogs and they are not chasing him back, pay closer attention. Does your dog give up the chase or continue his pursuit? Is he pursuing a dog that is lying down or hiding from him? If the answer to either of these questions is “yes”, please remove your dog from the dog park. The other dogs are telling him that they are fearful of him, do not want to play and are utilizing their “flight” option. If the chaser doesn’t leave him alone, he may have no choice but to pursue his “fight option” in order to protect himself from the chaser.
Even though we took training dogs to the park, (they are normally non-reactive), we removed them immediately after witnessing these behaviors repeatedly from one dog. If you are unsure if your dog is behaving offensively, a good indicator is if people are leaving with their dogs to get away from yours. Watch to see if the dogs leaving are dogs which have been recently “played with” by your dog and if people are leaving in mass. Three people made their exit shortly before or after we did, one of which was compelled to carry her dog out.
Dog owners should always be watching their dogs while in a dog park. Sure, a large part of the enjoyment is catching up with our human friends, but we must be mindful in watching our dog’s behavior and the behavior of other dogs. Why? Keeping dogs safe should be our number one concern while in a pack environment.
Good Human Behavior includes making sure that your dog is playing appropriately with other dogs and immediately removing them from the park if their behavior is not appropriate.
Today’s tip: How other humans tell you that your dog shouldn’t be in the dog park:
Very few people will ask another person to remove their dog from the dog park until there’s a fight or a bite. This is understandable human behavior but it doesn’t help the dogs who are at risk and it doesn’t help the other human understand that their dog shouldn’t be in the dog park environment. If people say things like, “Wow, he’s really fired up today! “ “Does he always play like that?” or “He sure doesn’t take no for an answer does he?” you may want to take a closer look at your dog’s behavior.
The clearest signal is this, are people leaving the park to escape your dog? Pay close attention to this “human behavior”, especially if the dog that’s leaving was just being “played with” by your dog. Humans find it a lot easier to avoid a problem than to address it head on and this is especially true at dog parks where no one wants to offend anyone else. Not every dog is suited for an off-leash, pack environment. This doesn’t make the dog bad, it just means that this environment is not a good fit for him. It’s up to the human to make the right decision for their dog and the safety of other dogs at the park.
Oh man, we’ve got several yellow jacket nests in the ground behind our home. We’ve had several treated by an exterminator and now the dogs have found another nest. I don’t see much on the web about this. Are dogs allergic to their stings like some people are? My neighbor also has this problem, anyone else? The exterminator knew a lot about treating the problem but not about dogs reaction to the stings. It doesn’t look like they’ve been stung yet but when they get too close to the nest, the wasps swarm like crazy. The person who cuts our grass got stung 4 times Saturday when he accidentally stepped on a nest. Anyone know what to do and if the sting of these wasps is harmful to the dogs?
We recently got a dog who is about 8 months old and we really want to take her to the dog park. We’ve heard conflicting stories about them…some swear by them and others have nothing nice to say about them. Can anyone tell me about their experiences? Is it good for your dog? What are the pros and cons of this adventure? Are the ownersattentive to their dogs or am I putting her in a positon where another dog will attack her? Any information would be greatly appreciated.
We have an 8 week old puppy and want to enroll him in puppy classes and then dog obedience classes. Which do you think is better…group classes or in-home, private dog training?
Alison- I work from home too and thought that a puppy would be perfect since I would almost always be around to care for them. Was I ever wrong! Puppy care was by far more time consuming and frustrating than I realized and it was really challenging to “work” at home with all the puppy interuptions. While I adore my puppy, it was not a good choice and I’ve had to hire help just so that I could work during the day! Save yourself and get an older, already trained dog.
I remember puppy-hood. We almost didn’t survive it. We didn’t listen to our dog trainer when he told us to buy all the puppy books we could and to read them BEFORE the puppy came home as we wouldn’t have any time to read them after. He wasn’t kidding. Our next dog will be at least 2 years old!