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ANSWERS TO YOUR PROBLEMS

1.
My puppy is 12 weeks old, the door is open most of the day and he has access to the garden. He will do his poos outside but he wees inside. This is really getting me down. Can you help?

Puppy toilet training can be at times a road to disaster. I can only help you by giving you a few helpful hints, but if you do have any further problems then don’t hesitate to contact me.

At times, a puppy forgets. He may be playing and it just happens. He may have just woken up and again, it just happens. The main thing to remember is, do not make a big issue out of the accident because that is exactly what it is - an accident. Never rub his nose or smack him or bully him, this will only frighten him and confuse him and sitting there with urine dripping off his nose doesn’t teach him much at all, apart from the fact that we are very dirty animals!

Try to beat him to it - watch him, if he hasn’t had a wee for a while, then pop him outside, especially after play or sleep, or after a drink. On average, once every hour. It is not long before puppy learns.

Points to remember

• Try to take puppy into the garden more often. Boys can forget more than the girls.
  
  
• Do not rub puppy’s nose in the mess.
  
  
• Do not smack or lose your temper, patience will win the day.
  
  
• Dogs are pack animals, puppy is the baby who will stay with the group.
  He may find it difficult to walk out into the garden on his own - go with him.
  If it is raining forget it, they very rarely go out into the rain willingly.
  
  
• Some pups are frightened of the dark - they can be big woosies.
  
  
• Some puppies are nervous and will not venture out alone until a little older.

Dogs are not dirty animals they too like to be clean.

Give puppy time and he will learn very quickly

2.
My dog is an Olde English Sheepdog, 1 year old. I brought him as a pet.
We have been to training classes and I am having trouble getting him to sit straight.
When he sits he rolls over to one side.
When I try to make him sit in he jumps away and has now started to growl at me.
I know he wouldn’t bite me but he seems to get so stress when I try to make him sit closer in by pushing him in.
My trainer has even told me to slap him in.
I don’t know what to do and I am worried about him growling.


The first thing I can say is DO NOT slap your dog. I am pleased that you have taken him to dog training classes and please do not be put off. If you are not happy with this training class, then look for another one in your area. Your local Vet should have a list or write to the Kennel Club.

Large young dogs often roll to one side we call this a ‘puppy sit’ and it is nothing to worry about. The most important thing is that he sits on command and unless you are going to do competitive obedience with him there really isn’t any need to confuse him at this early stage.

He certainly does not like to sit in a position that obviously is uncomfortable and being commanded to sit and then moved about using the same command is obviously making him confused.

Leave him alone - there is no reason why he should be pulled about. The growling is a sign that he is under stress which could be caused by pain. I would take a trip to the Vets to check on his hips. I have known dogs protest at being made to sit in an uncomfortable position before.

One young Golden Retriever bitch reacted in a similar way to your dog. After a Vet check it was found that she had mild Hip Dysplasia which greatly improved as she grew and the muscles around the hip matured. To help her we reduced how many times she was expected to sit and she was taught to stand instead. There was no further problems with this bitch.

Hip Dysplasia can be a very painful condition. It may not be his hips, but his knee or hock, so the first thing is a Vet check.

The other problem is that when he growls at you, you stop doing what he doesn’t want you to do. There could be a very good reason for this but I do not want it to become a bad habit. He will soon learn that, ‘if I rumble at mum, I win’.

Change your trainer, you need someone who can help you and your dog through this on a one-to-one basis. Your dog obviously doesn’t like being pulled around, you may have pinched him or pulled his fur but every dog should enjoy his training and it is obvious that he isn’t. Leave him alone as he becomes more experienced he will sit in. At the moment we must break this circle of behaviour.

3.
My puppy is 8 months old and chews everything in sight when left. It is driving me to distraction.


Puppies chew for various reasons. It is not always a simple naughty dog problem. I will list below a few reasons as to why your puppy is chewing.

First thing. He could be cutting his teeth.
The puppy has to chew to break the gum tissue down for the tooth to come through. Hard things are the main chewing aid. This could be your table leg, your chair leg, the corner unit, in fact anything that is hard to break down the gum tissue.

The other thing is anxiety.
Puppies when left can quickly become distressed, especially a puppy on his own.
Dogs are pack animals and would very rarely be a lone puppy or a lone hunter.
Chewing can give a lonely puppy some comfort.

A hungry puppy again will chew.
We tend to leave our young dogs with possibly one or two biscuits and expect that to last them through the whole of the morning.
Anxiety and fretting will make the puppy hungry and to eat is a comfort.

The other problem is boredom.
A lonely puppy can become very bored very quickly and they get into mischief.
They will raid the cupboards, jump onto the draining board and literally investigate every bit of the room they are in, including every room in the house.

Another reason can be lack of nutrients.
If the puppy hasn’t been fed a balanced diet, then they can start to chew odd things like leather shoes, furniture and it can create a craving for strange things.

There are ways of helping your puppy when you leave him.

Put extra food in his bowl. Invest in a toy that you can fill with treats. Your puppy will spend hours trying to retrieve the treats. You can buy these toys from your local pet shop.

Clear everything that your puppy can reach out of the way.

Take puppy for a long walk before you leave him.

Confine puppy to one room - the kitchen is probably the best place.

Leave the radio on, this can help.

Ask a friend to check on puppy while you are at work.

Check that your puppy is getting a good diet, feed food only for puppies.

For more information go to Basic Training and Puppy’s Piddles page..


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4.
My dog snatches food from my hands. I am worried that he will grab food from my children.


You do not say how old your dog is so I am thinking around 12 weeks to 5 months.

This is the age to learn puppy manners.
Offering puppy food especially a hungry puppy can lead to shredded fingers with their razor sharp puppy teeth. There may be a reason for this grabbing.

The dog may be hungry - this often happens as puppy grows, so unless you keep increasing his food, the urge to grab is simply a hungry puppy.

The puppy has to learn control. This is easily done by teaching him to "sit" first, then offer food.
If the puppy goes to grab, then quickly remove your hand with a sharp "NO".
Offer food again but this time with the food in a closed fist. This way puppy can smell the food but cannot grab your fingers.

Slowly open your fist, reminding puppy to sit.
Offer food from an open palm, as if you are feeding a horse. The same thing happens with horses, if you offer food to a horse with your fingers they are more than likely to "bite" them.

When puppy starts to understand that grabbing gets a sharp command of "NO" but sitting and gently taking food gets praise, he will soon stop.

When puppy takes the food gently, then praise him and offer food again.
Do not smack puppy in the nose or bellow, as this only frightens him. This way is easier and puppy will respond.

Rescue dogs can at times grab food.
This is because they have been poorly treated, and most have been neglected regarding food.
Try the above method and it will help.


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5.
My Crossbred puppy who is 8wks old has started to growl at me when I walk past his bowl while he is eating. What can I do about this as I have children?


This is a common problem with all breeds of dogs. There is a reason for this. It can stem from early puppyhood. However I will try to help you by explaining what your puppy is doing.

1. Some puppies at weaning and at times before have had to compete with other siblings for their share of the food. The bigger stronger puppies will force the weaker or smaller puppies of the food .The smaller puppies often go hungry unless there is a bowl down for every puppy.
   
   
2. When the puppy gets a share of the food they have to defend it from the others and this is done with defensive growling. This is instinct and the puppy is not really intending to attack just to protect his share and warn others away..
   
   
3. The puppy may not be getting enough food, this is making him defensive. Puppy grows at a rapid rate and they need their food intake increasing too. Large breeds in particular need special care. If they are not getting enough food they can again start to warn and gobble their food. This can cause the survival instinct to surface, you must understand this is an instinctive behaviour caused by more than one thing.
   
   
4. Your puppy may not have been fed properly right from the start. Puppy food is a must .Adult food will not have the correct vitamins and minerals in, some puppies will not get enough protein from Adult food.
   
   
5. Puppy may have worms this will make him very hungry all the time, and here again the survival instinct can surface again.
   
   
6. He may be a dominant puppy

These are a few reasons for your puppy's behaviour.
We must stop this behaviour from turning into a "habit"

When a puppy has to compete for food they will growl while they're eating, trying to protect their share of the food. This can carry on when they get to their new home.

I stress this is nothing to worry about, puppy does not really understand, he is merely carrying on the instinct to survive.

This often happens with large litters were he has also had older dogs baring down on him for food.

WHAT TO DO

You need to teach puppy that his growling is not neccessary, we have to stop the habit and gain his confidence..

1. Ignore puppy keep walking past the bowl do not react to his growling the more times you walk past the better he will soon realise that you are not after his food and relax.
   
   
2. When you feed puppy leave him alone until he has finished.
   If you have a puppy cage feed him in the cage.
   
   
3. Make the children respect puppy and to leave him alone whilst he is eating.
   
   
4. Sit on the floor and hold the bowl.
   This will get puppy used to you being with him, you take control of the bowl, hand feed him from the bowl this again breaks the habit, one or a mix of the above methods will work.

I would be more concerned if puppy was leaving his food to snap at your legs or hands while you're picking the bowl up..

This is more of a problem as a strong guarding instinct can cause this problem, this creeps in over a short period.

Whatever you do, do not loose your temper, it is easy to smack and shout at your puppy.
This is the wrong thing to do, I hate puppies being slapped for a natural instinct, try to understand your puppy and help him to gain confidence with a gentle approach..
Some breeds do need a firm hand, but even so, kindness is the only way that should be tried; if this fails then a stronger approach may be needed..

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