Thursday, July 30, 2009

I have a skittish puppy and i need to housebreak her!!HELP?

i got a new puppy about a month ago and the same day i got her she ran away she was sent to me from another state so she had to fly on a plane well anyways when i lost her she was gone for 13 days(now she is scared of everthing she even runs fom me when i go to pet her ...i never hurt her i only had her when she got here for like 10min before she got out of her collar) now that i found her i keep her in the house but i know now after a week its time for me to stop being scared and try to walk her on a leash and harness.. i tried it in the house but its like she has no idea how! also i want to punish her when she goes in the house by maybe putting her back in her crate of tapping her nose and saying no but i dont want her to hate me but i also cannot have her going to the bathroom on my rugs!
Answers:
This poor puppy has had a bad start in life!
First it has to ride in a plane. It was very very noisy where the puppy was place in the plane! That can make a dog nervous for the rest of the dog's life. I flew a dog on a plane and she was never the same.
It got lost for 13 days! No telling what this poor thing had to go through!!!

You have to decide how you are going to train this puppy??
Do you work?? If you are not home all day this puppy can not wait no 6-8 hours to go potty.
If this is the case then you are going to have to train the dog to go potty on puppy pads.
You need to make sure the dog crate you have is big enough for a dog bed and a puppy pad. Dogs do not like to lay close to where the go do their business. Puppies can chew through plastic crates. I have a wire kennel for my puppy when I am gone from home.

You can't train a puppy to go outside and go on a puppy pad when you are gone. You will just confuse this poor thing. So if your are gone this puppy will need to go on puppy pads.

When you see the dog start to wonder as if it were looking for something or it is wanting to go into another room then pick the dog up and place it on the puppy pad.
You will need to sit down with the dog until it does its business. When it does give it a treat. Do not hit the puppy on the nose!! This will not solve anything. But hurt your puppy. If and when it has a accident you say bad puppy or dog. After your dog eats a meal you need to wait for about 5-10 mins then pick the dog up and place it on the pad. When the dog takes a drink of water wait for about 5-10 mins. then pick it up and take it to the pad sitting beside the puppy so it does not run off the pad!! Repeating the same process over and over again until the puppy gets the idea.

You have to have lots of patience. Puppies are just like babies. You will need to get up during the night and put the puppy on the pad.
I just house broke my puppy to go outside. I am home all day and night. So this has helped out a lot. It took me 3 1/2 weeks to train my puppy.
I have my dog sleep with me. That way when she wakes up at night I know she has to go potty.
It is a good thing that you are using a harness. I would not press taking the puppy outside with all the street noise.
You can't take a chance on scare this puppy any more than it has already been.
Just give some more time before you take it out for a walk.
The puppy needs to get to know you. Do not keep it in the crate when you are home. It needs to get to know its new home.
Give it lot and lots of love and you can build a good friendship one day.
Everyone with a puppy goes through this. Just give it time. Reward good behavior with treats, be stern when she misbehaves, she'll get the hang of it.

Go buy yourself a puppy training manual.

Also, crating, IMO, is the #1 most effective way to housebreak a puppy.
DON'T EVER HIT HER! All you have to do it set a timer and take her out every 20 mins. When she goes potty tell her what a good girl she is and give her a cookie. Go way overboard on the praise! If she has an accident, just say no, sweep her up and take her out side. If you do this faithfully for one weekend, you should see big improvements, and if you can keep it up for a week, she'll be house broken. Praise is the way to go with a dog. They want to please you and will respond to praise way more than punishment. They just don't understand punishment! Talk to her lots so she learns to understand you. Keep cookies in your pocket when you leash train her and praise, praise, praise. Good Luck!
Don't use the crate for discipline! Crates are meant to be a safe place for your dog. She's going to need plenty of love and affection, she'll come around. You have to make he walk on the leash, try coaxing her with a treat. For housebreaking, keep her in the crate, and when you let her out, take her right outside. At least every hour when you're home. I don't recommend nose tapping or any discipline when they go in the house. They have no idea why they are being punished. It takes a lot of work on the owners behalf. Work with her, she'll come around.
If you are worried about going outside with her there are some puppy potty training pads that work pretty well. Keep working on the leash training. When she wakes up take her potty, after she eats take her potty, before you put her in the crate take her potty. Reward her with a treat if she goes when and where you want her to. Crate training is best because most animals will not mess(pee or poo) where they sleep.
Okay - relax for a second, take a deep breath. Now.
Please do not punish your dog. Science has shown us over and over again that punishing an animal is not a good way to teach them anything but to be afraid of you.
Instead, you need to review the directions on this site:
http://www.inch.com/~dogs/cratetraining.
Every step for successful crate training is outlined on here. Remember that the key to her success is your consistency, so make notes as to when she needs to go and follow them.

As far as leash walking - never pull her along. If she does not want to follow you, bend down so that you are lower to the ground (do not loom over her, just kneel down) and wait or her to come to you. Reward this with TREATS that are high value (diced chicken, small cubes of cheese, steak) What you are doing is teaching her that good things happen when she comes to you.
I would resist the temptation to try to talk to her a lot. Repeating commands that she does not know (sit! sit! sit! etc) is very confusing and will hurt your training in the future.
Good luck!
Hi Suze

I agree with all the replies you received, and wish only to elaborate with regard to her skittishness. It is very possible that she suffered some trauma at the hands of unscrupulous people while she was lost - and this after a terrifying journey. First off, leave the leash for now. Concentrate on gaining her confidence first.

The best way to do so is to have her around you as much as possible, but without paying her direct attention. Make soothing noises, hum or sing, laugh softly, but don't look at her or make any sudden movements in her direction. Lift your rugs for the moment and put down newspapers until you have her trust - then the leash.

My friend in South Africa adopted a dog from the Animal Welfare Society which came from an extremely bad background and was severely traumatised. It took almost six months, but Hilton finally allows others in his space and has some (!!) confidence.

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