What one thing would you tell a prospective dog owner?

[ARHarh]

spanner10 said:

stuff

People who pick up their pup whenever a dog approaches rarely seem to have a sociable dog as an adult. I used to see a lady who picked up her adult Boxer when dogs approached- quite odd

Edited by spanner10 on Saturday 27th March 13:53

One bit of local canal I walk down often, I see a man who picks up his adult greyhound and hides in the bushes. It is really sad to see this dog struggling and barking.

[moorx]

ARHarh said:

One bit of local canal I walk down often, I see a man who picks up his adult greyhound and hides in the bushes. It is really sad to see this dog struggling and barking.

Whilst many greyhounds can be socialised with other breeds, most ex-racers will have grown up only knowing other greyhounds. They generally haven't met any other dogs. So the dog's background and training may be to blame in this case, not the owner.

[AJB88]

spanner10 said:

This . Start by carrying her so she sees and hears traffic, builders, men in Hi Vis, people in general of all ages,sizes, uniforms etc ( attracted like magic to a pup anyway ).

I see you have a lead on her so get her used to walking on the lead in the garden so when she can go out she is ready to walk rather than stop/start every 2 mins. If you have friends with a vaccinated calm dog you could take her to their garden ( others may disagree but if no other dogs go there I feel the risk is low and benefits high)

Find where you will walk her - park etc and see what sort of dogs are around - one park near me seemed to be the centre for GSDs Ambulls and Mastiffs - other one more Labs, Spaniels Toy breeds, . Practice recall in garden so she can be off the lead in quiet areas as soon as possible ( while you are the centre of her world she will learn to come to you - even if she 'forgets' this in 6 months time ) .

Adult dogs may put her in her place but she needs to learn this- most will tolerate pups. People who pick up their pup whenever a dog approaches rarely seem to have a sociable dog as an adult. I used to see a lady who picked up her adult Boxer when dogs approached- quite odd

Above all enjoy it .

Edited by spanner10 on Saturday 27th March 13:53

We have 2 large dogs and they love playing with little dogs, we have lots of small dogs to play with locally and they play really well. but recently the amount of owners who pick up their dogs is getting quite worrying. Dog obviously wants to play but owner doesn't!

Owners need socialising as well.

[rix]

More useful stuff, thanks! We have the benefit of a large garden so getting her out in that on a loose lead is fun and interesting for her - she does like to want to chew on grass tho which I'm not sure would be too good for her gut!

We are currently trying to instil some toilet training - poos are always forewarned and have been successfully deposited in the garden. Pees are less reliable, and even taking her out regularly after food/play/sleep has still given a few accidents indoors. Trying to avoid puppy pads - but any tips?

She has gaining some good recognition of her name (assoicated with some recall/reward) but not attempted any form of proper lead walking skills or 'come' recall - I'm not sure whether it is better to concentrate on one skill (toilet training!) and whether to do more on recall/lead just yet may be overwhelming/ineffective?!

[sc0tt]

rix said:

More useful stuff, thanks! We have the benefit of a large garden so getting her out in that on a loose lead is fun and interesting for her - she does like to want to chew on grass tho which I'm not sure would be too good for her gut!

We are currently trying to instil some toilet training - poos are always forewarned and have been successfully deposited in the garden. Pees are less reliable, and even taking her out regularly after food/play/sleep has still given a few accidents indoors. Trying to avoid puppy pads - but any tips?

She has gaining some good recognition of her name (assoicated with some recall/reward) but not attempted any form of proper lead walking skills or 'come' recall - I'm not sure whether it is better to concentrate on one skill (toilet training!) and whether to do more on recall/lead just yet may be overwhelming/ineffective?!

Hi, i’m not an expert by any means as our puppy can be a pain but we were lucky with toilet training. Every half an hour in the garden, “wee wees” until he would go, lots of praise and back inside. He learnt from a very young age and accidents very rarely happened. Keep up with it.

Mine is 8 months now and is really hitting adolescents as his recall has gone out of the window.

[ooid]

rix said:

We are currently trying to instil some toilet training - poos are always forewarned and have been successfully deposited in the garden. Pees are less reliable, and even taking her out regularly after food/play/sleep has still given a few accidents indoors. Trying to avoid puppy pads - but any tips?

Pees are more difficult to control for female pups (what I have been told), and depends on the breed too! I've used puppy pads, when we were in flat. Once we moved into a house, we discarded completely. It really took us 1 year to potty-train a beagle puppy!! TSome breeds are quite hard to train this, but patience is necessary.

[Challo]

ooid said:

rix said:

We are currently trying to instil some toilet training - poos are always forewarned and have been successfully deposited in the garden. Pees are less reliable, and even taking her out regularly after food/play/sleep has still given a few accidents indoors. Trying to avoid puppy pads - but any tips?

Pees are more difficult to control for female pups (what I have been told), and depends on the breed too! I've used puppy pads, when we were in flat. Once we moved into a house, we discarded completely. It really took us 1 year to potty-train a beagle puppy!! TSome breeds are quite hard to train this, but patience is necessary.

Just keep up with the regular trips to the garden and praise when they have finished. No art to it, just be consistant.

[spanner10]

Challo said:

Just keep up with the regular trips to the garden and praise when they have finished. No art to it, just be consistant.

This ^^ Whether dog or bh being consistant and watching will soon crack it. Accidents may still happen for a while , mainly if ignored or ill but rarely will continue.

Watch when she comes in season the first time as this can upset housetraining sometimes

[Parsnip]

rix said:

More useful stuff, thanks! We have the benefit of a large garden so getting her out in that on a loose lead is fun and interesting for her - she does like to want to chew on grass tho which I'm not sure would be too good for her gut!

We are currently trying to instil some toilet training - poos are always forewarned and have been successfully deposited in the garden. Pees are less reliable, and even taking her out regularly after food/play/sleep has still given a few accidents indoors. Trying to avoid puppy pads - but any tips?

She has gaining some good recognition of her name (assoicated with some recall/reward) but not attempted any form of proper lead walking skills or 'come' recall - I'm not sure whether it is better to concentrate on one skill (toilet training!) and whether to do more on recall/lead just yet may be overwhelming/ineffective?!

For us, Alexa was super handy as a toilet training tool - set a timer (15 or 20 mins, extending gradually as they grow) after every wee so you don't lose track of time and forget to take them out - so easy to do when you are playing with the dog.

Do not rely on them telling you they need.

Make sure you clean up every accident properly, using a dog specific cleaning spray.

Remember that every single accident is your fault - not the dogs. They do not want to poo/pee in the house, you just haven't given the opportunity to go outside.

Start training to pee/poo on command - will be super handy later.

Once you get on a good streak, do not get disheartened when (not if...) you break it - accidents happen - clean up, reset and carry on.

Get up every few hours during the night if that's what it takes - 3am pees are not for playing - dog out, go pee, back to bed - split the load and take turns - the whole family doesn't need to get up for every wee.

It will get easier quickly and remember that every bit of good progress you make now will reap the rewards in the long run - 2-4 weeks of crap sleep and watching next to no TV because your life is revolving around a dog's bladder might seem daft, but its a small price to pay in the grand scheme of things.

While structured training sessions are important, try and also make everything you do about instilling good habits - try to have one eye on training the whole time. Would strongly recommend getting a clicker and having it to hand.

Get the dog used to being played with - paws, ears, teeth will all need checked at some point - don't let the first time you play with the dog's ears be when you need to give them drops...

Socialisation is super important - as above, known vaccinated dogs in a safe garden or carry them - pet stores, local area, roads, cars etc. etc.