Hi everyone,

Hope you all had a good christmas. As some of you may know I got a new puppy on Christmas Eve (a CKCS)called Harry. Well, he's absolutely adorable but I have a couple of questions:

1. He sleeps through the night next to my bed and only gets up once to go to wee, is this normal especially since:

2. During the day he wees about every 15-20 minutes! He isn't
drinking vast amounts so this weeing seems a bit excessive to me or is it normal? He does seem to get it on the paper most of the time though luckily!

3. How do I convince him he needs to poo on the paper too!?

4. When I feed him he takes the food out of his bowl and eats it away from the bowl. Is this a throw back to having to fight with his littermates for the food or am I doing something wrong?

5. At the moment he hasn't been outside because the weather here is vile and he's so small I worry he might get a chill, but I also wanted to check whether it's safe to take him outside. We live in a new house so no other dogs have ever been in the garden but various cats have been in it including my own. Is it safe to let him out before he has his jabs?

6. I want to get him micro-chipped but he seems so small at the moment that the needle would probably really hurt. Is it better to wait until he's a little bit bigger?

7. During the day his bed is downstairs with me in the lounge and then at night I take the bed upstairs with me as he sleeps up there. Is this ok or should I buy him another bed?

And I thought I'd let everyone who answered my questions about introducing Harry to my cats (I have three) that they seem completely obsessed with him and I don't think any of them have had a wink of sleep as they can't take their eyes off him! They want to sniff him and his bed all the time! It's very sweet but I am keeping a close eye on them just in case!

As always advice gratefully received!

Jasperooni
xxxxx

1) - Lucky you :-) He;s probably secure being near you - if he needs to go more, he'll tell you.
2) Sounds normal to me - are you 'paper training' then? At puppy classes we advise against training to paper as you then have to retrain to going in the garden, why not train to going in the garden straight away?
3) See above - go out to the garden with him on a lead, wait until he's 'performed' and make a big fuss of him - tell him how clever he is :-) Take him out when ever you see him start to circle, after every play session, every time he wakes up, every time he's eaten - you soon see a routine growing and get to know those times when he simply *has* to go....
4) Some dog seem to like to have their own 'place' to eat - some say it's a sign of 'dominance', he's just doing his own thing - maybe he doesn't like his collar knocking on the bowl, or maybe the bowl smell strange to him? Is it a problem to you?
5) Some people actually get puppies when they have another dog at home - what do you think they do?? :-) He'll be fine outside for short period (especially with you with him :-)) Taking him outside really is the best way of house training....
6) 6 months is normally the earliest most people get their dogs microchipped - I believe this is what most microchip organisations recommend too.
7)Sleeping in the one bed is fine if it fits in with you and your household - but it might be an idea to get several pieces of blanket or vet bed so that if the bed becomes US at any time there is still something familiar to him in the shape of his blanket.

HTH

Fran

Hi Fran,

Thanks very much for the reply. I am going with the paper at the moment as that's how the breeder trained him. It's also been raining non-stop since I got him here and I'd hate to take him out and get him soaked as he's so tiny. Eventually I will have to train him to go outside I know, but for the time being I'll have to stick with the paper I think.And he's so small I think he might harm himself trying to get down the step at the back at the French doors!

I was just wondering really whether it would be a problem him going into the garden where cats have been pooping really, I realise people with a dog already have to take a new pup into the garden. My cats have all been vaccinated against everything cat-like and they're regularly wormed and flead so I suppose they'll be fine.

The eating thing is only a problem in so much that he takes his meat and puts it on the carpet. I just wondered if there was a reason for dogs doing this as I already actually have a cat that does exactly the same thing! He isn't currently wearing a collar as I haven't found one small enough so it can't be that reason! I suspect he'll eventually get used to his bowl with any luck.

I did have one more question. I want to start training him to sit and stay in his bed etc etc but all the treats in the pet store are for puppies over 4 months old. Any tips on alternative treats I can use or should I just use praise instead of treats?

Anyway thanks for your advice,

Jasperooni
xxxxx

Jasperooni,
I'm not real knowledgable, but I have a 12 week old yorkie and I had the same problem as you with her taking her food out of the bowl and taking is somewhere else to eat. I now feed her in her crate. She feels safe in there and she eats better as well. I have learned alot from people on here, it has helped me a great deal.

The housetraining is your decision, but your making more work for yourself in the end. I started Precious the first day outside. She is very small too. I carried her out and put her where I wanted her to go wee or poo. Now with advise from someone on the forum, I let her walk out on her own, with me right behind her of course. So this way she knows the way to go. I do help her down the step from the kitchen door so she won't hurt herself. You can get a ferret collar, that will fit him. Thats what I did. I know the weather is awful. Its very wet here as well. She goes in a hurry when its raining. Then I bring her in and wrap a towel around her to get her warm and dry. She loves the attention.

I hope that maybe I have helped. What I know I have learned on here and other forums. Good luck. shirl :D

I have to agree about not paper training. some of the small breeds can be devils to houstrain as they see peeing a few feet from their bed as far enough away, and many people have adult Yorkies that are not what most people would call reliable.

TAKE the puppy outside. Make a Ramp or place two bricks by back doodr to make an extra step for her. She may be small, but they are tough, they are Terriers after all! You will only confuse the pup by allowing her to eliminate indoors. Paper by back door should only be to make mopping up easier when you are out, and pup needs to go! Try to avoid accidents indoors, and she will be housetrained quicker, each wee or poo indoors makes eventual reliability harder to achieve.