All about potty training with the new puppy!
Sam is doing fantastic and Blackie is being a doll.
The first few days I confined Sam to a crate, mostly in case Blackie would hurt him and after they knew each other, I could let them roam the same room together.
Blackie is the kind of dog that will roll over on his squeaky toy, (the kind you could give a chihuaha) and freak out if he accidently makes it squeak! And I can turn the rabbit out of the cage and Blackie will ignore it, even when I have to chase the rabbit all over to get him to go back in his cage!
So, I knew he'd get along with any sort of puppy.
I was more worried about what would happen if I fell for one of the hundreds of sweet pit bulls at the pound, but I did not, now I have a puppy.
Mostly we are dealing with paper training, because the puppy goes every hour, and unless I wake him up every hour and walk him outside right then, he will go on the paper. Luckily I am an OCD freak who never sleeps.
We have the room entirely covered with paper. Our own newspaper is not enough but luckily "work" gets both local papers AND a chinese paper!
(I wish I could read Chinese, for the 1000th time, because they had a full page ad about designer handbags and I want to know where I can get a knock-off in LA...)
If I wake him up and we walk outside immediately, he goes very well on the grass and avoids all the pavement, even! (Mike the abnormal collie was never cured of that...)
If he HAS to go inside, like when I'm not there, he goes on 2 certain areas in about 25% of the room, not randomly which is great too! I still pick up the dirty papers all day long. If it goes through the paper onto the floor, I clean it up right away with enzyme cleaner, which is supposed to suppress the odor and discourage from using that spot again.
There is a "Pee" pad right near the doggie door, but he never used it all week!
Today I moved it closer to the area where he pees (about 3 feet away). We have had no accidents yet. I am hoping he will use it instead of the general newspaper.
According to the rules of paper training, eventually he will go on the pee pad and I will move it toward the door, until the day he only goes outside.
According to the rules of housebreaking, it can take 6 months but I think it will be much sooner than that.
The bad news is that the 25% of the room where he eliminates, is where Blackie used to sleep! I have a suspicion that Blackie brings the pee smell with him on his long hair. He gets more baths now.
Mom says the past few weeks Blackie had been sleeping outside at night, anyway, by their window. I feel bad for him losing his daytime spot (under the table) but I have found him inside too, so he is not totally disgusted by the puppy.
Sam has a "crate" which ended up being Queenie's old dirty crate and not the nicer one that Blackie doesn't use either, just because of where we put them and which one was easier.
I stopped closing him inside all night after only a couple days because he would just crap everywhere, and everything I read about potty training discourages that until they are older, because he would just soil his sleeping area. It is best to let them pick their spot at first, when they are so small, and it seems to work, even if it uses more newspaper.
He doesn't sleep in the crate now that he is free, but we propped the crate door open so he can eat inside and Blackie can't steal his dish. (We did this with the kitten we had a few years ago.)
The dog door (to the yard) is also propped open but so far, the new pup seldom uses it, unless I wake him up and he follows me outside.
Just now I was sitting outside and I kicked over the water dish under the chair, and the puppy was disgusted and wouldn't walk near it! Definitely not a water dog.
He has also not fallen into our two fish ponds. Yet. It's amazing.
All of the dogs, cats, rabbits, and turtles I've ever had, have all walked right onto it like it was a puddle, and fell in, at least once. Queenie, who was 1/2 lab, fell in, thought about it, and "felI in" all that day long. It was fun to see the water instinct kick in, as opposed to the other animals who stayed away!
When Blackie was little he also fell in more than once, which led me to think he was part Lab, but he didn't enjoy it as much as Queenie, and stopped falling in, when he was adult. Even on hot days.
One day when the pond's pump failed and left it with 6" of water, Blackie took all the large goldfish out, and laid them in the yard. He was so proud. When I got home and freaked out, Queenie got mad, and was all over his case, if to say "it wasn't me!" I miss Queenie! I wanted another female, but Sam just stood out from the others in his litter. Then again, we are zoned for up to 3 dogs!
I'm glad Sam hasn't gotten drenched in the pond, he's too small and I'm afraid he'll catch a cold. I'm scared because I have the dog door open all the time.
(He also avoids the "canal" which is a small stream from the upper to the lower pond. He walks on the bridge. I am amazed.]
He is too small to see from one side of the yard to the other and he gets confused when Blackie runs all around him trying to entice him with a toy.
Since Blackie got sick a few months ago, I have 4 water buckets all over the yard so he won't drink from the pond, and neither does the puppy. (It ended up not being the pond water, anyway.)
I think "sam" will be housebroken by birthday, even if the internet suggests that some can't be housebroken until 6 months.
I got Blackie at 4 months and he was automatically housebroken.
Of course, Queenie wouldn't let him in the house either!
I don't anticipate these problems with these 2, but Sam is definitely the more assertive dog, but that's also why I picked his breed.
Sam is getting more shots on my birthday (the vet picked the date because of/in case he had his first set of shots) so I can finally take Blackie for walks again, and not worry about bringing home a germ.
