Not sure how much longer I can hang in there

greydogs · Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 9:05 pm Post subject:

hi josh! everyone pretty much said everything, except
that she is still a baby!
putting her in a crate all day and all night is a lot.

i always crated my first weim until she was 6 when i left her, but never longer than 3 hours at a time. at night she was free.

when they are so small, they need to spend time outside the crate with their people. so a dog sitter/pet walker would be good. or a doggie daycare.

can she be out of the crate at night?

josh · Posted: Sat Jun 07, 2008 11:36 am Post subject:

Those blizzards this past winter were quite an experience huh? I love em!

I think more than anything I just needed some reassurance that I am just dealing with frustrating puppy stuff and not something out of the ordinary.

I was allowing Izzy to sleep on her bed next to our bed for a while. she seemed to protest going in to the kennel for the day even more so when this was the case, so I moved her back to her kennel at night. She does well through the nights accident wise.

It's funny because yesterday morning I was just plain fed up with her, and before I left in the morning I told her "we have to work this out". Then last night was pretty much a dream come true, she wasn't unmanageable, wasn't constantly biting, and her and Lola and I played pretty well.

Maybe it was just the result of venting my frustrations here and the change was in me rather than her- but I prefer to think she understood me.

TheWaffs

Our Brady mouthed like crazy when we first got him. We did ouch and no and it worked a little. Out vet told us to yelp like a dog, it takes some practice but works. So even if Brady did not hurt us, any time he mouthed we yelped, turned away and ignored him. He started that about 3 months ago and now he does not mouth at all. Also try chunky Peanut butter in the Kong and freeze it the night before, it will take her longer to get everything out.

BEANSnBERRY · Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2008 3:08 pm Post subject:

It is frustrating with a puppy... and a long process, hang in there though. Make sure you're doing training, too. Preferable organized, thru a club or similar. The mental stimulation of being in class and learning and being busy for an hour is as good as an hour of running... heck, maybe better!

Weims also need a LOT of socialization, so a puppy kindergarten would be great, get her used to lots of dogs of different age, size and breed. And of course people. It's also useful to learn manners now before she's 70lbs!

Anyway, I always look forward to our classes cause I know he's gonna sleep well that night! If I'm desperate and it's not class day. I take him for a stroll at Petsmarts (or store of your preference) and practice our training in there. I hang out for a 1/2 hrs of meeting people. I take lots of treats so strangers can meet him and give him treats, setting a good foundation for later.

So hang in there, it's a process but in 2 or 3 yrs.... you'll have forgotten all about it lol Smile

GailB · Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2008 4:41 pm Post subject:

Josh she is a busy Izzy Wink

hang in there sounds like u r on the right track with things....

Gail and Hunter

josh · Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2008 7:38 pm Post subject:

Well a couple notes after a long active weekend.

Canal Park has been great for her, it is full of people and dogs. She wants to up and meet everyone that walks by with her tail wagging which is good. She is interested in the other dogs too but she is scared of some dogs we have come across that are large, hyper and not well trained.

I had her out to my mom's today where my lab Yukon and her boyfriends golden retriever were. I call Yukon mine because I trained him from a pup when I still lived there. They are both well behaved, mannered dogs. Anyway, she was a little scared because of her prior run ins with big dogs, but she noticed quickly that these two were different and she was ok. Some friends of ours have a 13 week old lab that we went to see today so Izzy got to play with her future hunting partner Sadie.

We are also going to begin training at the Duluth Retriever Club in the next few weeks. I plan to do their T3 (Train The Trainer) class, their field class for pointers, and their waterfowl class. It should be good fun for the both of us!

anne · Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 12:56 pm Post subject:

Pet peeve alert -- Re separation anxiety. There is no way a 3 month old has separation anxiety and I have this "thing" about it being called common to the breed. I truly believe it is not. (OK sorry, like I said, pet peeve) One thing that I don't think was touched on regarding the crate is, is she crated always at the same time and same situation? If so, start mixing itup. Puppy people almost always make this mistake with their first dog, they put the pup in a crate when they leave, and this becomes a "sign" for the puppy that you are leaving. The point of starting alone training is to condition the pup that you will always return and the best way to do that is to mix it up. Dogs are pack animals and its not just Weims that perfer to be with people. It takes time to get a dog used to being alone, but since most of us have to work, the most humane way to do this is to teach the dog to trust your return.

Second regarding her energy. It's not just physical activity that is tiring to a dog, encorporate lots of training and mental activity!

versatilek9s · Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 4:25 pm Post subject:

Agree with Anne! I think there are true cases of separation anxiety, but I think it's not a breed thing and it has more to do with people not correctly conditioning the dog. As many people that I know that own weims, I have never heard of someone properly conditioning their dog to the crate and then still ending up with separation anxiety! These dogs do like their people better than being alone, but that's different from s.a.

I know you work, so it's unavoidable to not leave for lots of time during the day. When you are home, give the puppy a kong stuffed with peanut butter or some "special crate toy," and leave her while you take a shower, while you're sitting there watching TV, while you mow the lawn, whatever. Move the crate into the kitchen while you cook dinner. Condition her to think that every time she goes in the crate you aren't going to leave. Make her think the crate can be fun! You know that time in the evening when you can tell she's tired and cranky but she won't calm down? Perfect time for the crate. Leave the crate dor open and put tasty toys in there often to make her go in and come out on her own.

This takes an amazing amount of time, but I know you did your research and everyone told you that! The first two years truly are like boot camp for both the dog and you.

meredith

Jager08 · Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 4:34 pm Post subject:

I just started last week leaving the tv on when we leave Jager during the day in the crate. HUGE difference when we let him out he is not as hyper. I would try it out you might be amazed at the difference in mood.

Wrench · Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2008 12:27 pm Post subject:

Pretty much agree with Anne...I had an Akita/Mastiff mix that was the worst ever with crying when left and destroying everything...which gets tough when by 6 months they are 130 pounds!

Wrench is so much better and yet trained the exact same way.

Also, with changing it up is so good too.

Another thing is to change their toys up too...some days give her this toy...some days that....sometimes I will put a certain toy away for a week and when I bring it out again it's like having a whole new toy.

With the kong when I leave home I ad in a biscuit with peanut butter...he will lick all the butter but the biscuit takes longer so it expands his play but also he plays and loves his kong when it's absolutely food free too and Even freshly cleaned by me so that there are no food remnants to be tempting him towards it either.

Car rides are awesome btw. I read that you are doing that...Yep, Wrench loves them and they seem to work his mind pretty well.

When we got Wrench he hated the crate but we took the door of and left it open and in place that was where we where and put treats and toys in there...he basiclaly learned to see it as a good place within a week. Then we also only put him in for short periods at a time until he was in the whole night.

Kiarazoom · Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 5:02 pm Post subject:

Hi there Josh! Very Happy

Your not alone, my pup Kodiak is 4mths old and pretty similar to what you discribe bar the separation thing. He has always been happy in his crate while we are at work for some reason, we got real lucky on that front. He isnt happy mind you if we are home and hes crated then he kicks up a big stink, not much fun but we dont let him out till he is quiet, never have and he seems to be understanding of that.

He does however mouth constantly and nip (not hard, certainly no puncturing!) and hes dominant in general, will always try his luck. If one of us goes upstairs where he cant go he throws himself on the sofa (which he is not allowed on!) in naughty protest however this we greet with Cesars way of lying him on his side till hes calm. Consistency seems to be chipping away at the naughty things and we can see progress but some days we definately wonder what on earth we took on and if we are able to rise to the challenge! Rolling Eyes

To be fair we have noticed that most of the mad and naughty days are teeth related and whilst we dont let that excuse the behaviour we can understand his frustration. On those days he has a totally different energy and is really hard work. Shocked

On a good day you can virtually see the halo glow and he has a calm energy and although still dominant and trying it on he is generally looking to be told that he is a good boy Very Happy

Hes walked in the morning, lunchtime and evening. He gets good time of his lead in the evening and although he is crated in the day we try to do things to occupy his mind.

He goes puppy classes and ringcraft and thank god for the puppy classes, they have proved invaluable if for nothing else than to see its not just us and our weim! lol

Anyway I have totally digressed lol I was really just wanting to let you know you are not alone and keep up the consistent training and you will start to see those little changes that give a glimmer of hope on a bad day.

Hope you come back and post more about how things are in the future, it would be nice to hear Smile

josh · Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2008 8:57 am Post subject:

Thanks for the post Smile

Things are definitely getting better. She still has her naughty moments, but she has gotten accustomed to our schedule and we have grown accustomed to hers and made a nice compromise.

She still pees in the kennel on days I can't make it home, but she doesn't get in trouble for it. It's really my fault, not hers. But otherwise, training is going well. We know all the basics. Smile

I have some new photos from this last weekend when we went fishing that I will post tonight I think.

Izzy is up to 26.5 pounds as of last night and I swear I can see changes in her size and form day by day.

Welches · Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 4:21 pm Post subject: