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We moved into our first home, and with all the excitement of getting it painted, furnished, etc, we forgot to research the proper way to introduce our chihuahua dachsund, Pasta, to our new home.
Her situation before:
Because I lived with parents, I had her little bed next to mine. I had my own bathroom so I put her pee pad there. In the morning I would take her for a walk to do her business, but had a pad out j, st in case she couldn't wait for me to wake up.
now:
I have 2 story townhouse and my gf and I prefer that she sleeps in her bed downstairs, as we sleep upstairs.
couple of things I'm worried about:
along with sleeping in a new home, our Pasta is going to have to learn to sleep in a room separate from ours. Also, we'lll have to retrain her to get familiar of where her pee pads will be.
I wouldnt do that. Too many sudden changes, dont seperate her from you. Keep her bed by your bed, and keep her routine exactly as it was before the move. Ive moved dogs dozens of times while hubby was active duty, it can be very stressful on them and anything you can do to minimize it, you should do. Good Luck !
I agree with dee, I would keep her sleeping in your room for now and if you really need to move her transition to that after she gets used to the new house. Is there a reason you don't want her sleeping in the same room with you? If you have a fenced yard in the new house maybe put in a doggie door so she can potty when she needs to without pads. But if you get up at the same time each day, you can establish a routine and the dog will be used to pottying at that time. Do you sleep late? If that's the case maybe take her out right before bed and then right away when you get up. Sorry to be anti-potty pad, if they work for you then great, I just find them gross.
Well, to give a brief overview... she used to sleep with us. But then we noticed she was getting really bratty and didn't know who the alpha was. So since this one incident she had with our friend's dog, we vowed to retrain her to be more obedient to us. Along with sleeping in her own bed, we control her food, make sure she doesn't enter a door before us, so on.
So far she has made tremendous progress, but I believe she can be a little better. I want to enforce a few more rules, but I agree that these steps should be done in increments. And moving into a new home is huge, so I'll think about leaving her upstairs in our room.
Thanks for the tips, and if you had anymore info, I'd appreciate it.
A crate could be your friend in this instance. Or if you prefer, an exercise pen. Most of the advice I've heard about introducing a dog to a new home, is to restrict them to one room at first. On their own, that is - she can go in the other rooms when you are there to supervise, but when she's alone keep her in one area. Then gradually let her have freedom of the rest of the house - this will supposedly help with housetraining, and keep her from thinking she owns the house. Especially for a small breed like a Chihuahua, having free run over an entire house at first could cause some backsliding on the potty training. At least, that's the info I've read, I haven't gotten a chance to practice it yet! But makes sense to me.
If you're worried about her being lonely downstairs, you could follow the usual advice for puppies...leave her something with your scent on it (like a t-shirt that you've worn) and leave a radio or TV on quietly.
Hope that helps!
Edited to add: I should elaborate on the crate! If you train her to sleep in the crate (and follow all the steps to get her to LOVE the crate, not just toss her in there ) then it should be easier to move the crate downstairs, because she will still have her own little 'room' that she's used to.
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) then it should be easier to move the crate downstairs, because she will still have her own little 'room' that she's used to.
