new puppy,house training
by Jamie
ORIGINAL MESSAGE:
I am going tomarrow to look at some maltese pupppies. I have never owned a maltese or any other toy breed. I have, however, read ALOT of information on this site and feel prepared and exited about bringing one home. The breeder I am going to has both of the parents and the grandparents of the mother of the litter I am looking at in her home. She only breeds these dogs and made her initial purchases very carefully. My biggest question concerns potty training. Is it really that difficult to train the dogs to go outside? My fiance and I absolutely cannot bear to have a dog that goes to the bathroom in the house (with the exception of expected puppy accidents). I understand that many of you use pads or newspapers very successfully and are happy with that arrangement, but it is not for us. Please give any advice on outdoor training you have. Thank you
DISCUSSION:
Jamie, if you utilize crate training, your accidents should be few and your puppy will catch on much faster. If you have a fenced in yard, you can eventually get your puppy to use a dog door, these are great if you dont want to worry about missing a signal from your puppy that he or she has to go out. If you dont have a fence, you will have to teach your puppy to go to the door and take him or her out on the leash. Try to use a signal word that tells your puppy to eliminate, both my dogs go on command now, saves time. Remember not to scold the puppy if there is an accident, just clean it up with an enzyme cleaner and forget it. Enjoy your new baby and keep us posted :)
Sandy, Puff & Trevor
Hi Jamie!Two years ago, my husband and I decided it was time for new living room furniture and carpeting. We did the whole thing..a new complete make over. At that time, I never dreamed we'd have a puppy. Well, my little heart throb, Rudy, came to live with us this past Friday. Needless to say, we were concerned with potty training him and him having accidents in the house. Do yourself a favor, go buy the weewee pads! They aren't cheap, so prepare yourself for that right away. However, they are worth the price. Within two minutes of Rudy coming home, he went potty on the weewee pad. We were thrilled. Rudy has only had two accidents all weekend long!!!However, with a puppy, you have to expect accidents. As long as you realize accidents WILL happen, you'll be okay. We live in a very cold climate so I don't want to take Rudy outside until Spring. Once it warms up here, I plan on having Rudy do his business outside. Just to be on the safe side, I plan on leaving the weewee pads down until he is 8 or 9 months old. Better safe than sorry!I think you will truly love having a Maltese. They are a charming little dog and an absolute joy to have around. Now, I'm having trouble deciding why I didn't get a Malt sooner!!!Good luck and let us all know how things turn out. We'll be waiting to hear!Amanda & Rudy
amanda
Hi Jamie!Two years ago, my husband and I decided it was time for new living room furniture and carpeting. We did the whole thing..a new complete make over. At that time, I never dreamed we'd have a puppy. Well, my little heart throb, Rudy, came to live with us this past Friday. Needless to say, we were concerned with potty training him and him having accidents in the house. Do yourself a favor, go buy the weewee pads! They aren't cheap, so prepare yourself for that right away. However, they are worth the price. Within two minutes of Rudy coming home, he went potty on the weewee pad. We were thrilled. Rudy has only had two accidents all weekend long!!!
However, with a puppy, you have to expect accidents. As long as you realize accidents WILL happen, you'll be okay.
We live in a very cold climate so I don't want to take Rudy outside until Spring. Once it warms up here, I plan on having Rudy do his business outside. Just to be on the safe side, I plan on leaving the weewee pads down until he is 8 or 9 months old. Better safe than sorry!
I think you will truly love having a Maltese. They are a charming little dog and an absolute joy to have around. Now, I'm having trouble deciding why I didn't get a Malt sooner!!!Good luck and let us all know how things turn out. We'll be waiting to hear!Amanda & Rudy
amanda
Jamie, once you & your fiance see your new little baby I have a feeling it wont bother you one iota to have her do a tiny little puddle or the smallest little tidbit on a plastic backed weewee pad. You can have it both ways - my two go either on the pad inside or outside - whichever suits us at the time.
BeeGee
Hi Jamie and congratulations on your new baby. I don't think training your puppy to go outside is any harder than training them to use newspaper or pads. My husband was the one that absolutely insisted Angel learn to go potty outside. This might not be the best way but this is how we did it. When we were at work we kept her blocked off in part of the kitchen with newspaper down. When they are babies, you can't expect them to hold it all day. We always took her out right before we left for work and the minute we got home. When we were home, she was in the room we were in. If we were watching TV, we blocked off the living room door so she had to stay where we could keep an eye on her. If she made any signs of having to go potty, we picked her up and said "outside". (Always take your puppy out the same door if you have more than one). As she got more trained, she stopped using the newspaper in the kitchen and held it until we took her outside. Then she started standing by the door when she wanted to go out. Now she stands by it and paws at it. The ticking noise always alerts us that she wants to go out. By the time she was a year old, she had the run of the house and she never goes potty in the house. We problaby didn't do everything right, this was our first puppy, but even with all our mistakes, it was faily easy to teach Angel to go potty outside.
Sandee
Hi Jamie. My little one is almost 16 weeks old, I've had her for 5 weeks. What a change in those 5 weeks! When she first came home her bladder would not hold much more than a thimbleful so I took her outside every hour or so to go potty. Now that I'm back to work, she stays in her crate with the door open, surrounded by a puppy pen. She gets taken out when she wakes up at 5:00 a.m., again at 7:00 a.m., then at 10:00 a.m., 2:30 p.m., when I get home at 7:00 p.m., after she eats, and then at 9:30 p.m. She sleeps in her Pet Taxi next to my bed and is able to hold it through the night. Her only accidents are when I let her out of her pen to run around the house and forget to keep a close eye on her (no accidents any more in her crate or puppy pen). These accidents are few and far between. I would recommend crate training with frequent visits outside, always through the same door and to the same spot with lots of praise after the job has been accomplished. My 18-month old was crate trained in this fashion, has the run of the house all day and has never had an accident since I got him at 10 months old. Be patient. Best of Luck. Mary, Andy and Grace
Mary
| Please bear in mind when reading topics pertaining to health issues, that most of these questions were answered by helpful Maltese owners with no formal education in veterinary medicine. When in doubt seek a professionals advice. |
|
1996-1999© Maltese Only Discussion Created by Jay Bianco All rights reserved |
