Hi Everyone,

I've got my new little boy - 8wk old German Shepherd (Ortoff's Orvieto, aka Murray) he came home on Thursday last week. He is a little star! The breeders I got him from have done an excellent job, he is already toilet trained and learning a few basic commands. It has amazed me at how quick he is learning in such short time. He has even spent the first day alone with no accidents and furniture still in one piece - although he did manage to get hold of a box of biscuits and spread them all over the kitchen!!!

Both my Partner and me are completely made up :D

For those who advised me on Dogs with Parrots - Thank you, I've introduced them and despite Oscar giving him a little warning bite on the nose they seem to be getting along just fine. Murray couldn't take his eyes off my Parrots at first, but as soon as he realised they weren't food nor toy, he pretty much ignored them - one less thing to worry about!!!

Anyway, I'm looking for puppy classes in or around Warrington and St.helens. Does anyone know of any that are held on weekends or any other night than a Tuesday?

Thank you,

Paul

8 weeks old and housetrained? What is he - some kind of miracle puppy?!!!!! And are you really leaving him all day on his own with just a parrot or two for company?

Yes I am leaving him on his own - with TWO parrots and ANOTHER dog for company from the hours of 8am to 2pm and YES he IS toilet trained at 8 weeks old and no he isnt a miracle puppy he is my puppy!

I wasn't trying to be critical. I'm just amazed! My 4 and a half month old pup still has the odd accident, so lucky you.

Congratulations:D I (me with another 6 weeks and 4 days to go) am VERY jealous! I hope everything else's plain sailing for you too!

Sorry Sharon,

I did read it as critical - I've spent many of times on parrot chat sites and negativity seems to be the way for some - my apologies.

I can't quite believe he has been so easy to toilet train either and to be honest I havn't had to do much at all. We brought him home fully expecting accidents, but we are letting him out in the garden every hour or so and he appears to have got the grasp of what he is going out for. He wakes us up at 2-3am and then 5-6am every morning wanting to go out. Quite litterally he only had two accidents on the first night - both times he went over to the paper (first time he peed on the TV guide).
He may have learned from Woody - our other dog???

Do you not believe in leaving dogs on their own? I'm interested in what you have to say. Obviously he will have to be left on his own as we are both working, however I see it as perfectly OK as it is a steady routine. I don't think a dog should be brought up with constant attention as this will only lead to problems later in life. What if an emergency arises and I have to leave him with someone who works all day, he'll be nothing better than a problem.

Regards,

Paul

Paul, I realise you have to work - I do as well (although you wouldn't think it, the amount of time I spend on the internet!). I suppose what worries me is the parrot/dog combination. Dogs can do some strange things when they are alone and bored (although, as you have another dog to keep him company, this probably wouldn't apply).
I once had a dog who killed a 12 week old kitten while I was out although they had been the best of friends up 'til then. It was such a horrific experience that I have worried about leaving young animals together ever since. In your case, I should imagine the puppy is more at risk from the parrots! I once had a nasty experience with a parrot who decided to land on my shoulder at a friend's house. I shrieked because I didn't even know she had a parrot. Obviously I frightened the poor thing and it promptly bit my head!

Hi Sharon,

I appreciate your concern, I wouldn't ever leave my parrots out on their own. Their huge cages are pretty much dog proof. I couldn't chance it as my parrots are extreamly inquisitive.

Anyway, I've gota go out to site now so will catch up tomorrow.

Best Wishes all :D

Paul

I don't think a dog should be brought up with constant attention as this will only lead to problems later in life

I don't work, I've got young children, and Holly certainly doesn't get constant attention. Just because I'm at home all day doesn't mean that I play with the puppy all day. I do have other things to get on with, washing, ironing, gardening, cleaning, vacuuming, cooking etc.

IMO puppies shouldn't be left for more than 2hrs until they're at least 6mths old. I also think it's wrong to buy a puppy with the intention of leaving it alone for 6hours at a time. IMO that is putting your desire to have a puppy over the needs of the animal.

Fiona

The pup needs companionship, which he has, another dog, so the only real problem is bad habits developing through unsupervised play, but that is something I am sure has been bargained with!

Sharonw
MY ten week old sharpei came to me completely housetrained from Dizzy,last thursday . She did not have even one accident since arriving truly. Mari

I think someones must be using corks on their pups :-)

Christine

I wonder are these corks available over the internet ;) :D
emily, and 6month old Elsa still having odd accidents :rolleyes:

for £20 each-ill forward you the magic corks--not a lot left as ive just sold a litter of four-so first come first served,

Dizzy are you getting mail Mari

yes , ive written you back-are you not getting it,

Dizzy no none at all

ill write your other addie-check it out

Holly is now 17wks old and we're averaging 1 wet accident every 2 days. She's not been dirty in the house for a couple of days now and is only wet when I'm not in the room with her.

We're thrilled with her progress as she was sort of paper trained when she came to us, so all this has been achieved in 5 wks.

She won't wee/poo on grass though, only on the patio, so when we went to my parents she had to go out into their driveway as they've only got grass!! It suits us though as it makes it a lot easier when it comes to mowing the lawn and letting the kids out to play in the garden.

Fiona

this has nothing to do with the main thread but we have a specific area fenced off in our garden for the dogs so that there is no chance of them messing where the children play, and there is nothing worse than hitting a pile in the grass when you're mowing!

I find mowing is a great way to get it picked up.

as its my dogs that use the garden hubby always asks me to make sure its cleared before he cuts the grass-if i miss a one he makes an island around it-men

Good Morning all,

I have been wondering why Murray was so easy to train. Woody (8 yr old mutt) obviously uses the garden, thus laying down a toilet scent. I can only guess that this is the reason he knows where to go??? When he first came home and had his accident, we made sure to clean it up with washing powder to remove any scent. Literally, other than a few praises for doing it in the right place we haven’t had to do much else :D

Anyway back to my initial question, my better half has found a puppy class in Whiston (Merseyside), unfortunately we will just miss out of the 6wk course as Murray only his second lot of injections the day before it starts. Has anyone attended or know of this particular course? Just interested to here what it is like in advance.

Paul

Paul .......although your pup has just missed out, why don't you go along and spectate? You can have a look to see what goes on and might even pick up some hints from just watching :-)

Yes thats a great idea, it will allow you to concentrate without having to keep one eye on your pup.
I have attended classes without a dog and found it very informative as I could actually concentrate and watch all the others perform.

Hi Dizzy

Re your post about having to pick it up or making an island - wonder if we are both married to the same man :-)

Christine

I contacted the puppy tutor last night, she welcomed us to go along during the first block of classes. She was very polite and am looking forward to going along. It will be useful to maybe get a little head start for when Murray starts.

Many Thanks,

Paul

Half the battle for house training is done by the breeder!

A responsible and knowledgable breeder will provide bedding for the pups and an alternative area to soil. If they for instance have a whelping area full of newspaper then there is no diferentiation between bedding area and toilet.

My pups are in a box which is half vetbed and half paper. I usually move from total vetbed at 2 weeks of age. Within a week the pups start to get the idea of messing on the paper. By the time they leave me they are 90% house trained, all reports from owners are that they usually take 1 or 2 days one on one house training then they are finished.

So next time you buy a puppy and it is in an enclosure full of paper or saw dust/chippings etc. You can bet you bottom dollar that house training will be hard.

Ian

Hi, our new pup was paper trained by the breeder so we have been putting the newspaper outside to show him were to go. That is working fine except he also likes the computer paper (which has now been moved, whats left of it!). The only problem is that even when the patio doors to the garden are open he is preferring to go on the indoor mat just by the door! If the doors are shut and we take him out no problem using the paper but the weather is picking up and we have the door open a lot. Night time is fine he is sleeping in his puppy cage no wetting 11.30 - 6am.

Any ideas to stop him using the mat?

Thanks Wendy

Lots aint gonna like this, but here goes.

Confinement in a crate works for me, keep the pup in a crate, when you let it out, take it straight outside to mess, as soon as it does, heaps of praise. Then either do what you were going to do with the pup in the forst place, or put it back in the crate, keep repeating this process first every 30 mins, then every hour and son on.

I can honestly say that I have never had a problem or issue with house training a pup.


Ian

It worked for us as well Ian.

Fiona

It's important to remember, though, that not all pups can hold on in a crate say, overnight, and I am a great believer in getting up for at least the first few weeks to help the pup.....once a pup can't hold on due to weak (baby) muscles, and does go in the crate, you've then got a problem :(

We kept our pup in our bedroom overnight for a few weeks, (not n a crate) then once she was confident, downstairs and no problem. Other half is often up late so she would get taken out - not let out :) as it's important to go with them - at say 1am, then I am up early and she was taken out at say 6.30 am.

But i do believe all pups are different, even from the same breed, but htey do all "get it" eventually - there arent many 3 year old dogs around who aren't housetrained!!! :D

Lindsay

I should have said that Holly was 12wks old when we got her and that certainly helped with the housetraining.

Fiona

The issue of cages/crates has been done to death. If you type Cages or Crates into the Search facility at the top of the forum page, you will see that this subject has been debated at length :-)

I agree with Lindsy about leaving pups all night. However, whether the subject of crates has been done to death or not, there are still people out there who believe it is some great mystery or hardship to house train a pup.

I don't think there is any mystery or hardship, just people who will not listen to advice. One of the first being that I would never do the method of gradually moving paper closer and closer to the door. Get a dog used to messing in your house and it will be a hard habbit to break whether it be on paper or not.

Ian

Briarquest re your last post- I agree! I know this is going slightly off the topic but it is related- When toilet training my two children I never used a potty- always straight to the toilet- quite a few of my friends disagreed with this but now that they have children who are potty trained, they're now trying to train them off the potty and straight to the toilet:). Whereas I never had a problem:D. Like I said it's going off slightly but the same principals are there;)

i agree too, i personally don't choose to paper train - haven't got kids so can't comment on the rest :D

Lindsay

I have never paper trained as such, though have laid it down in the most likely accident spots if they have to be left! Containment (ie not too much freedom of the house) and watchfulness, combined with frequent taking outside have always worked for me. the fewer mistakes the quicker the training!

Hi the puppy is 12wks and was already paper trained which is half the problem, the pup can hold it from about 11.30 until 6am in his crate with out a problem and then other half takes him out. As Simba, the 10mth old Lowchen was already crate trained for showing we were advised to sleep them both in crates seperate ones of course. It also ensured the puppys safety if they are left for short periods as they play which is fine supervised but Tigua (chinese crested pup) is still very small and Simba could sqaush him if left alone. We have moved all the door mats for the time being and other half has been off today and spent the whole day taking him in and out only one accident this evening so thats not to bad. My turn tomorrow though!!!

Thanks for the advice we will let you know when we have succeeded

Wendy.