February 4, 2013
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Puppy Advice!
As some of you all may have noted from my previous post, my partner, Reid, and I are planning on adopting a puppy this weekend. We are very excited and nervous at the same time. We both have had dogs before (my dog was put to sleep before Christmas, he was 13. Reid's dog is still kicking it at the ripe old age of 17!) BUT we've never had puppies. Both of our dogs we got when they were already adults.
At first we wanted to adopt an older dog, but with our other critters we figured it would be best to get a puppy (as well as the foundation we are actually adopting her through. We've been talking with them for several months now about adopting through them).
The puppy we will be getting is a Basenji mix (not sure what breed the stud was but the mom is Basenji). The foster mom said that she does bark (she is the runt of a litter of 4, only one of them they haven't heard bark yet!) but she is very cuddly and friendly. I am so excited to meet her this weekend.
I have been doing tons of research online but figured the more tips and resources there are to use the better!
So, dear readers and fellow animal lovers, do you have any resource suggestions? Tips on housebreaking a puppy? Any tidbits of advice any of you all wish you had before getting a puppy?
Comments (15)
Yes, you should take a picture of your puppy like this: http://handsnpawsblog.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/hot_dog1.jpg
I have only one tip. When it poops on the carpet, don't rub it's nose in it.
My parents tried that with me when I was little, and it didn't work. If it won't work for me, there's no way in hell it'll work with a dog.
But then again... hmm...
@DougX831 - Hahahaha, if I've said it once, I've said it a million times; you crack me up! Also, I can't really picture you with a brown nose.
Oh, wait, one serious tip. I found a purebred Rottweiler puppy once, sold for only $35. Of course I bought her. Named her Roxy. Beautiful girl.
I did all the right things. Got some of those potty training pads they make, supposed to help them know where to go if they can't make it outside. Damn dog went everywhere BUT that pad. Ended up taking it's little doggie treats there to eat.
Don't get the training pads. Unless you don't like crumbs on your floor. In that case, they work great.
Depends on what flavor puppy you get. Little dogs are different than big dogs.
What breed of dog are you getting? I've had several different breeds in my lifetime. I've found that large breeds are harder to potty train than smaller breeds. I have a 13 year old Chihuahua and when he was a puppy he used to run to the bathroom and did his business there on the floor lol. I was ok with that for a while cause at least he wasn't doing it on the carpet lol. Pads don't work so don't bother with that. I just took him outside every 4 hours and he eventually learned to do it outside. After he was a year old, he could hold it longer so I had him out every 7 hours. No dog should wait longer than that. I have an 11 month old Elkhound now and he was really hard to potty train. Best of luck with your new puppy!
@Thatslifekid - She's a Basenji mix (went ahead and edited post to include that info). She is probably going to be between 25-40lbs, just a rough guesstimate since we don't know what she is mixed with.
@forever_musing - Socialize the crap out of her! I house sat for someone with a Basenji. The dog hid and growled at me.
@boricua_chic_2008 - Thank you for the advice! The puppy we are looking to adopt is a Basenji mix (though what the "mix" is we aren't sure. I think it's beagle or some other hound type). She should be a medium size dog. She will be around 11-12wks old this weekend (which is when we should be getting her). Reading up on everything I can get my hands on! I want to crate train her which sounds like will be the best and easiest way to potty train.
The biggest tip of advice I have for you is to train. Train, train, train. Train for everything! It can solve separation anxiety issues, potty break issues, aggression issues, all of it!
You've had dogs before, so I assume you know how effective positive reinforcement is. Positive punishment (applying a pressure to make an animal stop something - example is rubbing its nose in it's urine/feces) isn't as useful, and can even become cruel. It makes the animal fear you, instead of respect you, which is what positive reinforcement does. Information about "dominating your dog" (think Caesar Chavez) isn't very useful, either, as we are not dogs and dogs are not wolves. The info is out dated.
Point being...positive reinforcement with treats, love, or toys! Clicker training in conjunction with that works wonders.
@forever_musing - You're welcome! Crate training is a good idea. I did that with my Rottweiler cause it was the best and easiest way to train her. Some people go about it the wrong way by punishing the dog using the crate as the place to punish them in. It irritates me when I hear that. It will just scare the dog and he will hate the crate. What I did with my Rottweiler, if she messed in there was, take her outside and not let her see me cleaning it out. If a dog sees you doing it, they'll think it's ok to do it over and over. If your dog is mixed with a Beagle, be ready to deal with a difficult dog. I have a friend who has a Beagle mixed that she got as an adult and he is so hyper lol. I've told her what to do about it but she is too lazy to do anything for that dog which really bugs me. I hate it when people get a dog for the sake of getting one, without doing their research first etc. Glad to know you're doing your homework on that! If the dog takes the Basenji side then it should be ok, except he might be a bit lazy lol. Either way you'll have fun training your puppy! Remember to praise him a lot and go easy on treats because if you do that too much they'll depend on that. A dog that expects a treat every time is a spoiled dog. You definitely don't want that! Toys are a good idea, specially squeaky toys. Also, when you crate train, if you are gonna leave the dog in it, train him a few minutes a day everyday to get used to being in there alone. Anxiety in a dog is a problem and you wanna take care of that before it becomes a problem. Beagles tend to be anxious in that way and that's where my friend is having problems but she isn't listening to me. It's her first dog and I've had dogs all my life. You'd think she'd follow my advice ugh lol. Sorry for carrying on lol. I wish you the very best with your pup! If you need to know anything else, I'd be glad to help. Message me anytime!
When my puppy started chewing furniture, nothing I did stopped her. Until, I put paprika on the items I did not want her to chew. I had tried hot sauce only to find out she liked it. Be careful, paprika is red and has the ability to stain things. You also do not need a lot at a time.
Please post pictures of your baby when you get the chance.
cute pup.
Basenji's dont bark, right?
@amygwen - Haha I'm pretty sure that this dog will have a hard time out-chewing my rabbits! By now I think the house is pretty puppy proof because it is super rabbit proof and they are worse!
@anth0nyc - Yes and no. They are generally quiet but they don't bark like normal dogs, some sort of weird formation of their vocal cords make them "yodel" rather than bark. She is a mix and her foster mom says she has heard her barking but didn't say if it sounded different than other barks. I guess we will find out this weekend! She said one pup in the litter hasn't barked or made a noise yet so that one might be the only one who got the Basenji vocal cord.
@wildchildofthebluemoon - I'm really hoping that there is a good mix in this dog! Basenji's get conflicting feedback on either being great to train or horrible. The beagle part of the mix is totally a guess (and what we will be telling our apartment). The rescue think the pups are mixed with a different, bigger dog, but we figured if we just say beagle then we shouldn't have a problem with our landlords getting her. I guess we will find that out later today when Reid goes in to put down the pet deposit!