New member of the family

[teatheif]

With my 2 dogs, we used the bell trick to let us know when they need to go to the bathroom. I have some bells hanging from the doorknob on my backdoor. Whenever they need to go out to use the bathroom, they will ring the bell to let us know. Keep in mind that you only ever use the bell to take your dog outside to relieve itself. Never let the dog ring the bell and then take them out for a walk even if they relieved themselves first. Always take them back inside to enforce that the bells are only for using the bathroom. I can go into more detail on how I trained my dogs on this in more detail if you like.

 

[xanis]

With my 2 dogs, we used the bell trick to let us know when they need to go to the bathroom. I have some bells hanging from the doorknob on my backdoor. Whenever they need to go out to use the bathroom, they will ring the bell to let us know. Keep in mind that you only ever use the bell to take your dog outside to relieve itself. Never let the dog ring the bell and then take them out for a walk even if they relieved themselves first. Always take them back inside to enforce that the bells are only for using the bathroom. I can go into more detail on how I trained my dogs on this in more detail if you like.

One of my relatives did that with his dogs and it seemed to work really well. Can you send me a PM? Thanks!

 

[SearchMaster]

Very cute dog. We had a pit/black lab mix and she was just a fantastic dog.

Being a pit, she was aggressive on her own territory with other dogs (never away from our house and NEVER against humans), so try to socialize her with other dogs as much as possible.

 

[Markbnj]

With my 2 dogs, we used the bell trick to let us know when they need to go to the bathroom. I have some bells hanging from the doorknob on my backdoor.

We do exactly the same. My wife bought a leather strip with some bells on it, and it hangs from the back doorknob. When they want to go out they jangle it. Well, the poodle mix does. The lab/golden mix just stands there waiting for the bells to ring themselves.

 

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

Don't let it sleep in your bed unless you are willing to sleep with it every night for the rest of her life.

maybe get her used to stuff like vacuums

 

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

Don't let it sleep in your bed unless you are willing to sleep with it every night for the rest of her life.

maybe get her used to stuff like vacuums

 

[xanis]

Don't let it sleep in your bed unless you are willing to sleep with it every night for the rest of her life.

maybe get her used to stuff like vacuums

I did here from other owners about the bed thing. We're putting her in the crate from day one to nip it in the bud.

 

[xanis]

Any advice to keep her occupied during chunks of time when we're not at home? Ideally I'd take her to a kennel for daycare, but she's too young and hasn't had all of her shots yet, so she can't go. Maybe a Kong with frozen peanut butter in her crate before we leave for work? This should be only temporary; we're moving in a few weeks and I'll be 15 minutes away, so I can go home at lunch time to feed/walk/play with her.

EDIT: I think we might get someone from Care.com to come weekdays around 12:30-1pm to feed her, take her out, and play with her for a bit.

 

[techs]

She looks a little scared/sad. It's always good to see pics from a few days or weeks later when they realize that they have lucked into the good life.

 

[blackdogdeek]

Being a pit, she was aggressive on her own territory with other dogs (never away from our house and NEVER against humans), so try to socialize her with other dogs as much as possible.

I would recommend this, too. Check the interwebs for local puppy playtime types of gatherings and pack walks. Where in NJ are you? I'm in 07003 and there was a free puppy playtime on Saturday mornings near us.

EDIT: we also signed our puppy up for a bunch of classes at a local training place and it helped with basic obedience and commands and training methods. I would recommend this, too.

As for the bell thing, I think we just used to jingle the bell before going on our walks and eventually the dog understood. Also, when we would go for walks and the puppy started to do his business we would constantly say "go potty, go potty, go potty, go potty" so he started to associate those words with doing his business. I forget what we used that for later on though

Cute doggie!

 

[xanis]

I would recommend this, too. Check the interwebs for local puppy playtime types of gatherings and pack walks. Where in NJ are you? I'm in 07003 and there was a free puppy playtime on Saturday mornings near us.

EDIT: we also signed our puppy up for a bunch of classes at a local training place and it helped with basic obedience and commands and training methods. I would recommend this, too.

As for the bell thing, I think we just used to jingle the bell before going on our walks and eventually the dog understood. Also, when we would go for walks and the puppy started to do his business we would constantly say "go potty, go potty, go potty, go potty" so he started to associate those words with doing his business. I forget what we used that for later on though

Cute doggie!

That's funny, my girlfriend actually lived in Bloomfield when we first started dating. Small world. We live in South Jersey now.

We're keeping her on a short leash (pun intended) for the next 2 weeks until it's time for her second round of shots so we don't chance anything. We did take her to Petsmart last night and she socialized with another puppy, so that's a good start I think. We're also trying to set up some times for friends and family to come meet her so she can get used to a lot of human contact as well.

 

[blackdogdeek]

That's funny, my girlfriend actually lived in Bloomfield when we first started dating. Small world. We live in South Jersey now.

Got snow?

We're keeping her on a short leash (pun intended) for the next 2 weeks until it's time for her second round of shots so we don't chance anything.

Good call. I think they don't let you do the puppy playtime or sign up for classes until the shots are done. Don't remember about the pack walks though.

 

[xanis]

Got snow?

Just a little, haha.

Good call. I think they don't let you do the puppy playtime or sign up for classes until the shots are done. Don't remember about the pack walks though.

We're taking her to obedience classes at Petsmart after her next round of shots. IIRC they said no dogs under 12 weeks.

 

[Gunslinger08]

We do exactly the same. My wife bought a leather strip with some bells on it, and it hangs from the back doorknob. When they want to go out they jangle it. Well, the poodle mix does. The lab/golden mix just stands there waiting for the bells to ring themselves.

We tried, but my dog didn't take to it. Either she's not smart enough or we didn't do it right. Now she just comes up to you and gives 1 big whine when she needs to go out.

 

[Gunslinger08]

Don't let it sleep in your bed unless you are willing to sleep with it every night for the rest of her life.

maybe get her used to stuff like vacuums

My dog sleeps on the bed when we're not in it. At night, she'll lay between us for about 10 minutes and then she goes to her bed on the floor. I don't think she likes being touched while sleeping.

 

[xanis]

She was a little more whiney last night, but only eliminated twice; that's progress, I think. She woke up crying at 4 or so, so my girlfriend laid with her in the living room for a bit. Stayed strong and didn't bring her into the bed.

We're noticing that she's very smart; she mastered "sit" yesterday in the 8 hours I was at work and the girlfriend was home with her. Pretty cool I think. Next up is "stay" and "leave it".

One thing I've noticed is that I'm reacting A LOT differently to having a dog than I thought I originally would. Truthfully, I was (and still am, to an extent) extremely nervous because this is my first dog ever and I'm learning as I go. I was also a little "turned off" by the idea of having another living thing completely dependent on me, and that I'd have to keep things like feeding, walking, kenneling when going away, etc. in mind before doing anything... something that I'm definitely not used to. I'm finding, though, that I'm enjoying her company and that I don't mind getting up in the night to take her out, and I'm not mad if she has an accident inside. I'm sure there will be some days where I'll want to pull my hair out, but for now all is well.

 

[funmatters]

Aww lovely doggies!