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My wife and I have decided it's time to get a puppy for the family. Our kids 8 and 12 are elated. Our shih tzu hasn't arrived yet but should be here this weekend. She is just at 8 weeks old. She'll have her first shots with the breeder and the rest of the litter.
I am at a complete loss what I need to do to prepare for her arrival. I bought a small kennel, food (same kind breeder is using), a few toys, pee pads and we're getting a kennel cover to make it more den-like and cozy for her.
Any do's or don'ts as a new puppy owner would be extremely appreciated.
I got my dog from a breeder and I took a blanket when I picked her up and rubbed it all over the mama dog so the pup would have something that smelled familiar in the kennel. I don't know how much it helped, but I like to think it did.
There are entire books on how to raise a puppy. All I would tell you is that you shouldn't bother getting mad when she poops or pees on the floor. Positive reinforcement trains dogs. Yelling at your dog or sticking her face in it only makes your dog afraid of you.
Socialize early! We took ours to puppy classes at 10 weeks and he is very well adjusted. All the puppies were the same age, so no issues with catching diseases from older dogs that may frequent the dog park.
Take your dog on walks and let all types of people pet him. I can't stress how important it is to properly socialize a puppy. You'll have an awesome adult if you do proper socialization, one that is great in all situations.
Also, I wouldn't use pee pads. Under no circumstance is it ok to pee in the house, pad or not. Take him out 15-20 mins after eating/drinking and every hour for the first few weeks. Praise when he goes outside. Your neighbors might think you're crazy, but you'll have a housebroken dog in no time!
Location: Montreal -> CT -> MA -> Montreal -> Ottawa
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About food, you might want to do some reading on this forum about grain-free food. Wellness has a puppy formula that's very good.
Here's your potty-training course by someone who used to post here. This is GOLD:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Viralmd Please don't lose your patience.
Your dog ONLY wants to please you. The trick is communicating what it is you want.
I've developed this tutorial and many, MANY dog owners swear by it. But you have GOT to follow the instructions TO THE LETTER. And everyone in the household has to be consistent and do the same. Follow the instructions and you'll have a trained dog. The part about 'no scolding' is also VERY important. Follow these instructions and you'll have a trained dog. Not overnight, but eventually!
Housetraining your dog (puppy or adult!)
The first thing you need to do is to remember that you’re trying to reinforce a new behavior. That means that the rewards for this behavior must be WONDERFUL. NOT crap from the store. Wonderful treats are poached chicken breast/turkey breast, cheese and steak. And you don’t have to use big pieces. Tiny pieces (about 3mm cubes) are just fine! I poach a whole turkey breast every few weeks, cut it into hunks when it’s cool enough to handle, wrap them well and store them in the freezer. When I need some, I’ll thaw a hunk overnight and cut off pieces and dice finely, storing them in a plastic bag in the fridge. One hunk will last about five days. Cheese is also popular, so variety is fine.
I carry these plastic bags in my jacket pockets in the winter and in a fanny pack in warmer weather. You HAVE to have these with you, or this method won’t work, because you need to reward as soon as the dog finishes pooping or peeing. It’s not going to work if the rewards are in the house.
Remember that you’re trying to change a very ingrained behavior. Some dogs like to feel certain things under their feet when they eliminate, like fabric, or newspaper. This is called a ‘substrate preference.’ What you’re trying to do is change this substrate preference, and to do that you have to make the treats SO wonderful that the dog will change this very well-entrenched behavior. Thus the chicken, cheese, steak.
I love clicker training, but this can be done without clickers. You just need a way to ‘mark’ the behavior you want to reinforce. Use the word ‘YESSSSS!!!!’ very enthusiastically – that works for some.
You’re going to need to GO OUTSIDE WITH your dog and the dog needs to be on a leash. Yes, even in winter. If you don’t reward IMMEDIATELY after the event (when dog immediately finishes pooping or peeing) and wait inside, the dog is going to be reinforced for coming inside, not for doing its business. So, leash up your dog. STAND IN ONE PLACE. Be boring. Bring a book or magazine for yourself.
Eventually, the dog will do what you’re waiting for. The NANOSECOND that the dog is finished, HAVE A PARTY – lots of loud, high-pitched praise, treats and running around. You want to make this memorable for your dog! You’ll find that once the first event is achieved, the others will come more quickly. Keep on treating (you don’t have to throw a party except for milestones – a milestone = if he only pooped outside but now peed, too, or something equivalent to that) until he’s good and used to peeing/pooping outside. Before you know it, you have a trained dog.
Regarding accidents in the house: NO SCOLDING. Just clean them up. If you scold you’ll get the dog to think it’s bad to pee or poop and he’ll do it in places you won’t see. Until you step in it. Invest in a big bottle of Nature’s Miracle or Simple Solution and use it liberally on accidents.
With young puppies, remember they have little control of the muscle that holds the bladder closed. This is something they grow into. Just as it’s not expected that a human baby is toilet trained at six months, don’t expect much from a puppy. Patience, patience, patience!!!! The nervous system in a puppy has to mature, and it won’t have much control over the sphincter (closing muscle) at the neck of the bladder until six or seven months. The same goes for the anal sphincter. Until control is achieved, both of these muscles operate on reflex: there are stretch receptors in the bladder wall. When the bladder is full, it sends impulses to the spinal cord and these, in turn, send signals to the sphincter to open and the dog pees.
In the stomach wall, there are also stretch receptors. So when the dog eats and the stomach is stretched, the impulses again go to the spinal cord, but this time the reflex, outgoing, nerve signals are sent to the anal sphincter, so the dog defecates. This operates in people, too – which is why some people rush to the ‘reading room’ after a meal – especially breakfast.
Socialize early! We took ours to puppy classes at 10 weeks and he is very well adjusted. All the puppies were the same age, so no issues with catching diseases from older dogs that may frequent the dog park.
Take your dog on walks and let all types of people pet him. I can't stress how important it is to properly socialize a puppy. You'll have an awesome adult if you do proper socialization, one that is great in all situations.
Also, I wouldn't use pee pads. Under no circumstance is it ok to pee in the house, pad or not. Take him out 15-20 mins after eating/drinking and every hour for the first few weeks. Praise when he goes outside. Your neighbors might think you're crazy, but you'll have a housebroken dog in no time!
Brilliant post.
The only thing I did different was I used newspaper (puppy pads are an additional expense) for accidents, puppies can't control their bladder, I can count the number of accidents on one hand. He was housetrained within a month.
Socialisation is extremely important, I too took my lad to puppy class, and carried on his training. He has more certificates than me.
Up until he was vaccinated I carried my lad to the local shops, etc.. After he was vaccinated I walked him 5 minutes for every month of age, a few times a day.
Up until he was vaccinated I carried my lad to the local shops, etc.. After he was vaccinated I walked him 5 minutes for every month of age, a few times a day.
I carried baby PC everywhere with us, and I mean everywhere! Sadly, he outgrew the carrying stage at around 4 months! To this day, he doesn't know what it's like to be home alone for more than 2 hours at a time! He loves all people, kids, dogs, cats, bunnies....you name it! All because we properly socialized him from the start.
Our 2nd we got at 11 months. It appears that he was crated his entire life, with little human contact. He has no idea how to act around kids, dogs, people...so yea, socialize for your own sanity!
Good info above re potty training. Don't paper or pee-pad train or you will regret it. We trained one pup that way because it was January and we live in Wisconsin. NEVER AGAIN That dog never properly went outside but would hold it forever outside and pee inside on even the tiniest bit of paper spied on the floor her entire life. Subsequent pups were trained to go outside no matter how cold or how much snow we had. They learned quickly-their little paws didn't like the cold snow anymore than I liked standing out there with them Good luck with your new baby
Small dogs can often have a lot of energy. They are like children and need ample play time. Take the dog out and play. Plenty of exercise will result in a much more well behaved dog. Like kids, when a pup has pent up energy and boredom it can result in mischief. If you have a daily exercise routine, fetch, running play time outside, a walk, always leashed except in a supervised contained yard, your dog will be calmer and more tired indoors. Watch the kids with the puppy. They mean well and are loving but often can be rough inadvertently. Playing with the dog should be fun not rough. Things cute as puppies can often become troublesome as adults(such as rough housing and biting). Socializing is so important for this reason-with dogs as well as people from outside the family. Nothing is more heartbreaking than a dog who has to be put down because he bit someone when his family knows he would never harm them. Dogs who aren't socialized often presume outsiders to be a threat to their families and will bite people they don't know. Puppys will teeth like babies do. So correcting biting behavior is important if you value your furniture. I reccomend dental and food composite sticks, they also sell non-toxic bitter sprays. Dogs eat a mix of foods, high in protein. Chocolate can kill a dog so let the kids know No feeding the dogs with non dog-intended foods. You yourself of course can give treats of chicken etc, kids often are just being good hearted not realizing the inherent dangers of their actions. Positive rewards are the best training tool. Bringing home a puppy is so similar to bringing home a newborn. You need to secure electrical wires, medications, anything the dog can get into. Dogs are the most loving creatures and you are the center of their world when you scold them it crushes them. When you reward them, with something as simple as praise, it will be much more effective than any scolding. If you want to show you are upset turning away from them for a few seconds, essentially ignoring them is far more effective than yelling. Some dogs are tempremental and yelling gets you know where fast except having an angrier, naughtier dog. Think of a screaming match between people-nothing ever gets resolved, its the same thing with a dog. They will catch on quick as they love praise. A new dog will have some separation anxiety and fear. Having a warm area with a blanket and toys will greatly comfort them. Smaller dogs need longer time to get used to a house. It is not uncommon for house training to take a longer time for them so exercise patience. They truly want to make you happy, when they mess up it is usually do to spatial confusion or urgency. Puppy pads are great for smaller dogs. Acclimate them to an area, if they poop in a different area then where you'd like, pick it up and put it on the pad so they get the idea. The same with pee. Let a tiny bit absorb on the pad and place pad where you want them to go. Then clean the remainder of the pee very thoroughly to remove the scent. Dogs like to go in places they marked as theirs so this will greatly help. Barking can become a nuisance however it is often out of fear and protection and can be a great alert to outside trespassing If you understand this is an act of fear and love and approach it as such you can stop a barking spell after the first bark. When my dog barks I do not scold her. Instead I go to her and calm her down, thank her, and tell her it is okay. Often picking her up an going to the windows and door and showing her everything is fine=we check it out together. Now she often only needs to hear is "its okay" and she stops barking. If you have patience and take time with the dog in the beginning the rest of your days together will be a breeze, and beautifully wonderful and mutually fulfilling. Dogs are amazing balls of love and I am sure you will soon come to know this yourself. Best of luck with your puppy, truly enjoy her!
p.s. you'd be surprised what they can get into= they can figure out how to open cabinets, doors, and little dogs can surprisingly get up to great heights; so careful monitoring is important, as well as a safe contained area when supervision is not possible. My pup has learned to open everything and anything. Think in terms of what you did when your kids started walking and then add to that if they could jump 5x their height and you'll get a good idea what you need to do and look out for!
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To this day, he doesn't know what it's like to be home alone for more than 2 hours at a time! He loves all people, kids, dogs, cats, bunnies....you name it! All because we properly socialized him from the start. 
That dog never properly went outside but would hold it forever outside and pee inside on even the tiniest bit of paper spied on the floor her entire life. Subsequent pups were trained to go outside no matter how cold or how much snow we had. They learned quickly-their little paws didn't like the cold snow anymore than I liked standing out there with them
