New puppy questions

[friskypanda]

I've gone through the FAQ, but have a few more questions related to new puppies.

I posted below that our puppy (7 weeks) is coming home Monday. She is a shepherd-Rottweiler mix and weighed 4 pounds yesterday. I have a vet appointment scheduled for Tuesday, so I will be asking the vet some of these questions as well.

1. When rewarding for good behavior, what should I use? From what I'm reading I can reward with food/treats, but what kind? I don't want to give my pup the equivalent of candy, but want it to be something she'll like.

2. I am looking into puppy training classes. If I do the puppy training classes, can I still do the clicker/reward training myself? I don't want to do anything that will mess up what they do in the classes, or anything that may contradict and confuse the puppy. I am looking into AKC training from a place I found on the AKC website, if that matters. Whether we do it or not will depend on what the vet says about her vac schedule, what the vac requirements are for the training school and when the next class starts. Her adoption includes obedience & manners training when she is at least 6 months, so either way she is getting at least one training class.

3. I have a food/water bowl thing that is designed for a larger dog. Pup is very small right now, but will getting much bigger. Should I get smaller bowls for the time being, until she gets bigger?

4. Is 7-8 weeks too early for walks? I'll talk to the vet about this too since the answer may depend on vaccinations.

5. She is a girl so she's getting spayed. Is she going to come home with a cone on her head? Animals look so pitiful with those things, but cute too. I'm just curious.

6. How do you correct a puppy? It sounds like a stupid question, but everything I've read says that if they are misbehaving, you correct the behavior, but I haven't seen anything that says specifically how you correct the behavior. I don't think what works on my 5 yo is going to work on the puppy (a stern talking to and restating the limit).

7. Back to training, since we are doing to the obedience/manners class when she reaches 6 months is the puppy training still necessary? I don't want to go into the free class (see #2) and see its just the same as what I paid for puppy training. From what I've read, Rottweilers need lots of training so I guess I really can't do too much with her.

8. I got a retractable leash based on her eventual size. Should I also get one for her current/interim size? I can't imagine that it matters too much, but since I'm asking all sorts of questions I thought I'd throw it in.

9. Housebreaking. I may have missed this in in the FAQ, but when housebreaking, do you need puppy pads, or do you just make sure the puppy goes out every 2 hours? I picked up a pack of puppy pads, but am not sure about where/when to use them.

10. For the crate, are the crate pads necessary or can I cut down a comforter? DH wants to make sure that we have everything necessary, so he gave me a little bit of a hard time about not getting the crate pad, but it seemed a little...overdone.

11. When I have had dogs before, they just jumped in the car and went places, but now it looks like they have seatbelts for dogs? Am I a horrible person for not getting one? At what age would you get one? There were a few things I thought about getting, but wanted to wait until she is bigger so I get the right size.

12. I'm in Houston and pup is primarily black. I'm concerned about the effect of the heat on her. She will primarily be an inside dog, but I still want her to be active during the summer to stay in shape. What would you suggest? Thinking about it now, evening/twilight walks would be good and not out of the question since she'll be a pretty good deterrent to anyone who would think about harming me/us.

I think that's about it. I've been referring to her as pup because we haven't named her yet. DH wants a couple of hours with her before he decides (he wasn't able to go with us yesterday).

Thanks for your help!

[friskypanda]

Oh! I thought of one more...

13. Pup is black. Would a white t shirt help with the heat? Dogs cool themselves by panting, right? Would a white t shirt (doggy t shirt) hold in heat and prevent the dog from cooling itself, or would it help prevent her from getting too hot?

[redheadbaker]

1. Try Zuke's Mini Naturals. They're soft, low-calorie, bite-size treats.

2. I've never done a training class that didn't teach clicker-training, so I can't help you there. I'd look specifically for one that does, since it's critical to learn about clicking at the correct moment.

3. I wouldn't, but I'm cheap

4. Haven't owned a puppy myself, so I don't know, sorry.

5. She may, if she keeps messing with her stitches. They make small cones called "comfy cones" that you may want to look into.

6. I wouldn't worry about disciplining so much as redirecting. I'm of the mindset that if a puppy is "misbehaving" (for example, chewing a shoe instead of a toy), it's my fault for leaving the she where the puppy can get to it. So, I trade with the puppy: offer a toy (a Nylabone, for example) and take the shoe. Reward for chewing the Nylabone. If the puppy has an accident (that I find after it's occurred), it's my fault for not taking the puppy out sooner. I clean it up an say nothing to the puppy. (If I catch the puppy in the middle of having an accident, I interrupt and immediately get her outside; praise for finishing outside)

7. Training is a lifelong process. Dogs can ALWAYS benefit from a good training course. When we adopted our pittie, we took him AND our Aussie to training. The pittie learned basic obedience, but our Aussie already knew the commands, so our trainer gave us some ideas to make her "think" harder. After basic obedience, take intermediate. After intermediate, take a Canine Good Citizen prep class (and then the test!). After the test, take a trick training class. Or flyball or agility for fun. Mental stimulation is great for dogs.

8. Ditch the retractable leash (except for maybe swimming). The dog is the one in control, not the owner.

9. No puppy pads. They just teach the dog that it's ok to pee inside.

10. Nothing in the crate that will soak up pee. Just teaches them it's ok to pee in the crate.

11. I would strongly recommend a car seatbelt. Watch a video of what happens to a dog in an accident. They become projectiles. Either use a seatbelt or a secured crate.

12. Early morning/late evening walks are good; short walks midday when it's very hot. Carry water with you. Lots of indoor play.

13. Dogs pant to cool themselves but also, the air moving through their coat helps cool them so I'd skip the T shirt.

[dexteroni]

Puppyyy!!! Dexter was 2 when we got him, but Quincy was just 8 weeks, so we were doing the whole puppy thing at this time last year. At the time I said "never again will I start this young," but I will admit that now when I see puppies, it makes me want another. It's such a sweet phase, and even though it will drive you crazy at times, you'll miss some of the puppy stuff when it starts to go away. Take tons of photos and video; I treasure our videos of tiny spazzy baby Quincy. Oh and I agree with your DH that you can't name her until you get to know her a little; I think we took a week to name each of ours.

1. Ditto Zuke's; that's what the puppy class trainer used so we used them at home for consistency. When we would hit an obstacle, we used tiny bits of turkey or chicken (cooked at home with no fat or seasoning) as extra motivation.

2. Go ahead and do clicker. Ask the trainer about it and they'll probably be glad to give you tips. Quincy started puppy class at 12 weeks, as soon as he had enough shots to go out in public safely. I personally think 6 months is kind of late to have no formal training at all. I would start as early as you safely can. Also, if she has a rebellious streak during adolescence, she'll get back on track faster if she already had a solid grasp of at least the basics beforehand.

3. If she can easily use the bowls (i.e she can reach the food and water), I would keep them. We bought Quincy a tiny bowl when we first got him, but he inhaled his food so quickly that we ended up having to feed him out of a mini-muffin pan. By the time he slowed his eating enough to use a regular bowl, he was able to use the full-size bowl. We still have his puppy bowl, barely used. lol.

4. Our vet said to keep walks confined to our yard until after the 12 week shots. We walked in our yard and our friends and families' yards. We brought him to public places for socialization before he was 12 weeks (which is super important, he needs to encounter a lot of different types of people, places, and other animals as early as possible), but we carried him. Our policy was no paws touching public ground until after the 12 week shots.

5. Yes, most likely. She may be too tired to mess with them when you pick her up, but as she wakes up and the painkillers wear off, she might try. You should at least have one at home in case she starts to lick or pull at the stitches; that's how they get pulled out and/or infected. Ditto PP, there are soft cones, inflatable ones, more of a donut style, etc. We tried a soft cone and an inflatable cone on Quincy but he was able to stretch around it and get to his stitches, so we had to use the standard cone style. He couldn't fit comfortably in his crate with it on, so we took turns sleeping with him on the guest room bed. I think we had to do that for a week before he stopped trying to get to his stitches.

6. This is one of the reasons I advocate starting puppy class as early as safely possible, because this is exactly what they will teach you. I always say puppy class is more for the owner than the puppy, because it teaches you how to teach her. With Quincy we used "ah-ah!" and redirecting, i.e. show them what you want them to do. Then when they do it, you praise the heck out of them and give whatever reward you plan to use (treat, clicker, etc.). Teaching bite inhibition is also very important to start right away. When she nips or tries to chew on your fingers or toes, say "ow!" loudly (not angrily or anything , just as if you were hurt), and get up and walk away for a few minutes. The message you want to send is that if she uses their teeth on people, playtime ends. There are two really good downloadable PDFs called "Before You Get Your Puppy" and "After You Get Your Puppy" that talk about this kind of thing, They're by Ian Dunbar, if that helps you find them.

7. Puppy class and basic obedience will have some overlap, but when they're young, they can always use more reinforcement. Basic obedience should go a little farther than puppy class, and if you get a good trainer, they will be willing to address any specific areas that she's not picking up as quickly.

8. You can't use the retractable leash until she learns leash skills, and some dogs can never use them. Put it away and don't plan to take it out for like a year. Or better yet, return it, and only buy one if she happens to develop awesome leash skills. We can use a retractable with Dexter because he's super chill and doesn't pull. But Quincy at age 1.5 is still too pull-happy and spazzy on the leash; walking him on a retractable would be a nightmare. Get a sturdy nylon or leather 6-foot lead instead; that's what you'll use to teach leash skills.

9. I would return the puppy pads too. We did use them for Quincy's first week because there was a blizzard and he was like 3 inches off the ground. lol. But if you don't have to use them, I wouldn't. And as soon as that snow was cleared, we started taking him out constantly - after every nap, meal, and play session. Once he was around 3 or 4 months old and still having occasional accidents, we started marking a star on the calendar for every day he didn't have an accident. Keeping track motivated us really stay on top of his signals and habits, and he was fully trained in a week after that.

10. We didn't buy a crate bed / mat until he was fully potty-trained. We did put towels down though; I don't know if it slowed down his training or not, but I don't think so as he hardly ever went in his crate. I wouldn't use a comforter or quilt that has any kind of stuffing or filling; though. She may use her needle-sharp puppy teeth to destuff it, which could be dangerous if she tries to eat the stuffing (Quincy totally would have).

11. It's the responsible thing to recommend one, but I will admit that we don't use them.

12. The walks should be short at first anyway, but I would still keep them to morning and evening. The rest can be potty visits. Playtime can be inside during the hottest part of the day.

13. No shirt; just keep her out of conditions where she would get too hot. Oh, and the garden house can be a great plaything. Quincy loved (and still loves) chasing the hose stream, and it cools him off at the same time.

[independencegirl74]

PPs have you covered (I think; I didn't read everything they posted, but they're generally great!). Just wanted to mention that we used Zuke's for Zoey when she was a puppy and ended up ditching them because they seemed to contribute to her having soft poops. Now she typically gets dehydrated chicken or some sort of all-natural, grain-free "baked" treat from the pet store with as few ingredients as possible. We mix up the treats to keep her interested. I don't by "jerky" type treats from the store because 1) they're super expensive, 2) a lot of them are made in China and I don't trust that!, and 3) we dehydrate our own!

GL with the puppy. And post pictures when you bring her home!