New Puppy--Help Please?

[californiagirl]

Well,I already have a chihuahua named Lucy, and have been wanting another one so she wouldn't be lonely. Hubby finally decided that we could get one, and coincidentally, my friend was trying to sell one that she got for her daughter. Her daughter is a little spoiled, and so they bought a chihuahua because she insisted that's what she wanted (THIS week, next week will be something else), and she'd take care of it. Welll, she got the dog, who is only 12 weeks old. She couldn't handle her so we bought her off of them. We've had her for 2 nights now, and she is absolutely adorable!!!! We named her Ethel, like in the I Love Lucy show. they are Lucy and Ethel. Well, she, in all her cuteness, is a handful. Here's mmy questions, if you can help me please: How long are puppies in "puppyhood", where they're teething, biting, crying, and attacking fingers and toes of people? Is there any hope that her and Lucy will get along?? Lucy is great--we got her at 9 months old, and trained her to go potty in a box, like a cat. She sleeps all night, and is very mild mannered, and she's 3 years old now. Ethel is soooooo full of energy, and is very hard to potty-train also. Is there an easy way to do this too?? We won't get rid of either one, so that's not an option. Poor Ethel was ignored by my friends daughter and locked in a bathroom and forced to cry herself to sleep. We shower her with kisses and love, but just wonder how long all of this puppy stuff lasts, and if she can be potty-trained. Thanks guys, in advance, for your help......

[tcsarah]

Congrats on your new little addition.


Ok with toilet training... a pup's life basically revolves around eating and sleeping so it follows thatpuppiess willwant to go do their business each time they wake and after they've eaten. Tap into this to successfully toilet train - put newspaper down around her bed and in the rooms she uses ther most as soon as she steps out of her bed to go do something gently put her on the newspaper and then make a big fuss of her when she has done her stuff on the paper. It can take as little as a week to newspaper train your pup. To begin with have large areas of newspaper down to encourage your puppy to stay on it. As the pup gets more used to going on the newspaper reduce the amount you put down until you just have a small amount near where she sleeps and in no other room.


Once puppy has got the hang of going on newspaper, start training to go outdoors. When you are at home leave the back door open and put some newspaper down where she can see it an encourage her to go outside. Gradually you can remove the paper and lead your puppy to where you want her to releive herself.


A puppy will not necessarily be able to be totally clean at night until s/he is around 6-9 months old. You might need to keep an area of newspaper down near your pup's bed until she has learnt to control her bladder.


Regards puppyhood and how long it lasts I think it can differ with different breeds and I don't know much about chihuahuas. From my experience of pups their baby teeth will start toloosen at about three months old and they will have their adult teeth by around five months. Our dog was a little devil for play biting when he was a pup, we found doing a high pitched yelp or 'OW' would stop him (this is the kind of noise their fellow pups would give to say 'stop that, it's hurting'). We find that growling works a treat too if our dog does anything wrong. Sometimes the art of communicating with your dog is doing it in his/her language!


Also remember not to let your dog become the leader of the pack - that's when problems can start.Us humans should be alpha and the dog the bottom of the pack!


Good luck, and could you post some photos of Ethel - we all love puppies pics [img]smileys/smilies_02.gif[/img]

[kristin1980]

Hey Charlene.. good luck with everything.. I too have a 12 week old puppy right now. But he is a big doggy.. or he will be he is a German Shepherd. He is a hand ful but so adorable wouldnt trade him for the world. We have had him since he was 7 weeks.. we are still having a lot of potty training issues but whatever you do dont push her nose in it.. just anytime she goes in the house say a firm NO! rightawayand then take her outside right away so she knows oh this is where you goand when she does go in the right placegive her lots of praise.. over praise.. and soon you will notice she will whine to go out. Right now they still dont have a lot of control of their bladders so they have a hard time holding it. They teeth actually about about 4 months.. so around 15 or 16 weeks they get their adult teeth. We got our puppy lots of toys for chewing and one u can put in the freezer for teething. If she ever chews on hands or something she is not supposed to just give her a firm "OUT" and hand her what she is supposed to chew on.


LoL i am going to a dog trainer right now cuz my puppy obedience classes were included with my pup and i guess a firm"out" sounds like the mother dog when it corrects the pups.


Good luck they are alot of work.. heck.. i just had to wake up to take my puppy out.. he needs to go out every 3 to 4 hours. He is getting better now to where sometimes he can wait 5 but usually pees in the kennel. So thats why i am awake now.. just fed him too.. if you have any other questions lemme know. I have had a few puppies before. Puppyhood too.. depending on the breed of dog can last until 1 year for some breeds and others (like my husky mix) up to 3 years.


Take care and good luck again!

[kellybean]

Hey Charlene, the wayI trainedmy very hard headed dog to outside was to constantly ask him if he wanted to go outside. Like every half hour. Irewarded him when hecame in only when he did something out there. I had to bring him to a training class, because he was soooo bad. They told me that you ingnore bad behavior, and reward good behavior. Good luck with your new puppy, and have fun!!

[californiagirl]

Thank you everyone!!!! I will definitely try all of your advice, it all sounds good.[img]smileys/smilies_01.gif[/img]


I appreciate it!!! I will also post pics when I get them!

[tayda]

Well everything I can think of has been said.. but I can't emphasize consistency enough.. good luck w/ the new pup.. I LOOOOVVEE PUPPIES.... I always go into the pet store at the mall (even though it's so sad).. I would take all of them home if I could.. but I have two big ones...


How big is she?

[californiagirl]

Well everything I can think of has been said.. but I can't emphasize consistency enough.. good luck w/ the new pup.. I LOOOOVVEE PUPPIES.... I always go into the pet store at the mall (even though it's so sad).. I would take all of them home if I could.. but I have two big ones...


How big is she?

Oh gosh---the pet store!! The dogs are soooooo cute, but it just breaks my heart!!!! My puppy is 3 months old, a chihuahua, and probably weighs about 3 pounds or so. She is a cutie!! She has HUGE ears [img]smileys/smilies_01.gif[/img]!!

[silver]

Charlene-


Hello...as you can see my little puppy on my picture, he is almost 4 months old now and I have had him since 7 weeks...so I have been going throw it!! The best advice that I can give is to "crate train" the puppy. You can find tons of info on this on the Internet. Basically you teach him to feel comfortable in a crate or kennel, put his toys in there, a soft blanket, things like that. They are like people in the way that they won't want to go to potty where they sleep in that little area. We did it with Barney and since he was 7 weeks old, he hasn't gone once in his crate. I know that it sounds harsh, but we made him sleep in his crate until about the past month, now he sleeps with us. While he was in the crate I kept to a schedule of letting him outside and praised him each time he went to the bathroom outside. When he has had an accident in the house, its always because I wasn't paying attention and didn't let him out. I didn't yell at him or rub his nose in it, I just took him outside. He hasn't gone in the house since he was 3 months old (pretty darn good, I have to say!!!) So, it did work really, really well. Good luck with the puppy!! They are sooooo much fun!!!

[kristin1980]

awww cute pups! we should post pics!.. i have a 13 week old german shepherd!! man puppyhood is hard but worth it later..