I'm late and yes there are only two photos this Monday morning...um now afternoon!
This is what is hijacking my time and dominating my life right now...
She is cute, she is adorable, she is wonderful, she is...a puzzle!
Bella is only just eight weeks old and she's learning things very quickly - good and bad!
I'm not a puppy expert (remember that reputation for cats...!) so I'm asking all my friends in blog land who own dogs a few questions - I would really appreciate your advice.
What is the best way to start leaving her on her own? She is going to be very lucky and have someone in the house nearly all the time but there will be occasions when I need to pop out to the supermarket etc so what is the kindest way to introduce leaving her alone for short periods of time?
Puppy potty training? At the moment at certain times during the day, after her meals, when she wakes up, we put her in the garden and she happily does her business but there have been some accidents. Any suggestions how to reinforce that the garden is far more suitable than my lounge carpet?
Feet! Big, small, bare, socked - if you have feet she bites them! Her teeth are getting sharper by the day - we can all testify to that! Is this something puppies grow out of?
Happy Monday everyone - looking forward to your advice.
I'm just going to retrieve my slippers for about the twentieth time today!
7 comments:
How adorable! We crate trained our dogs. Our vet highly suggested it. Our dog never had an accident, and was fine being alone. Good luck!!
I highly recommend crate training. We got a small Bichon/Maltese mix last summer and started her in the crate immediately. It's a nice safe place for the pup when you are not at home but I'd also recommend you leave her there for bits of time even when you are around. Dogs do not like to sleep where they potty so they will generally hold it while in there. Just make sure you take it outside immediately from the crate. There are lots of detailed books and online information available but I can say firsthand that it works fabulously. And do not worry that you're caging them. My little one (now a year old) is sleeping in her crate right now. We leave the door open and she enters and exits at her leisure. It's her safe spot. I only lock her in when we leave the house.
Must agree with the crate training, works wonders. We have a 3 month old Pekingnese at the moment and it's working wonders. We do have accidents now and again, though not as often as when we first started. She tends to walk towards the door and look at us when she wants to indicate that she needs to go out but it's difficult to know when we don't always keep an eye on her. I'm sure the longer you have have you will learn her special traits, keep at it :)
I agree with the two comments above! Crate train your puppy. It makes it easier on them AND you!
Adorable!
She is adorable. I'm another crate training fan. Sorrel joined us late January and was in a crate from day one - wasn't too keen on it though at first. Lots of advice on line - feed in crate, throw food/toys to back of crate to make a game of it, close door for a few minutes at a time - and go and hide. Was almost moved to tears first night she walked in on her own. She is 9 months now and her crate is her 'den' and we can happily leave her for a couple of hours.
I am not a "crate" person. I am more lax and want my dog to feel as though it CAN always be with us whenever we are home and has run of the house when we're not. We started potty training our yorkie at 6 weeks and she has NEVER had an accident (she's 5 yrs old now). But it does take someone pretty much being there 24/7 the first few months. Of course I went shopping and we went to dinner OFTEN! She doesn't touch the grandbabies toys when told once that they belong to the baby, and doesn't chew on our things. Stop your puppy now! We also have a doggy door, which I think is the humane thing to do. No animal should be locked up indoors for long periods of time. But that's just my input. I have had an indoor dog around all my life and I'm 55. They have all had wonderful behavior. Just give your puppy patience and love... and for those of you wondering, yes, mine sleeps with us in bed. Never allowed to lay closer to our pillow than our waist. Of course, when we're not in the bed, that's another story. LOL!
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