Hello everyone, apologies for the long post.
I've been a lurker for a while but have recently adopted a beagle puppy and need some help.
Our beagle, ginger, is 11 weeks old. We received her from the breeder @ 8 weeks.
For starters, I have some questions on housetraining. We are using the following schedule from the housetraining for dummies book:
7:00 AM
Get up
Take puppy outside
Put puppy in crate
7:30 AM
Feed puppy
Offer water
Take puppy outside
Play with puppy up to 15 minutes
Put puppy in crate
Midmorning
Offer water
Take puppy outside
Play with puppy up to 15 minutes
Put puppy in crate
Noon
Feed puppy
Offer water
Take puppy outside
Play with puppy 15 to 30 minutes
Put puppy in crate
Midafternoon
Offer water
Take puppy outside
Play with puppy up to 15 minutes
Put puppy in crate
5:30 PM
Feed puppy
Offer water
Take puppy outside
Play with puppy up to 1 hour and/or let puppy hang out with family in kitchen
7:00 PM
Take puppy outside
Play with puppy up to 15 minutes
Put puppy in crate
Before Bed
Take puppy outside
Put puppy in crate
During the night
Take puppy outside if necessary
and it's generally been working (sleeping generally 11pm-6 am each day). She's adapted to the crate well and she's only had 2 accidents in the 3 weeks (both our fault and never while in the crate). That said, we've encountered a difficulty. When we first started we thought it would be a good idea to teach her to ring a bell on the door when she wanted to go out. Everytime it was a potty break in the schedule, we took her to the door, rang the bell, and took her out. Unfortunately, she's learned this too well. There are times when she rings the bell almost constantly wanting to go out. It won't be unusual if she goes outside 10-15 times in an hour. Yes, I realize she's actually trained us to take her out when she's rung the bell, but how do we stop? We are so conscious of making sure we stay on top of the housetraining, that I think we've created another problem in its place. We want her to let us know when she needs to go, but it should be for a potty break rather than an I want to go out and sit in the sun break.
Beyond housetraining, we are having general behavioral problems. When she is out of the crate spending time with us, she constantly nips. We've done the yip thing and ignored, we've redirected her with chew toys, but it is still a problem. It's gotten so bad that today my 9 year old daughter took her outside for her potty break and when the nipping at the shoes and ankles got so bad, she climbed up on the central air compressor and started crying to escape. it was heartbreaking.
Finally, she's a whiner. Leave the room,and she whines. Sit on a chair, she whines. We can't possibly be on the ground with her at all times, she needs to learn she's our pet and not the other way around, but we are struggling. We've read http://k9deb.com/nilif.htm and while it makes total sense, we're struggling with how to put it into practice.
She really is a great puppy and when she is calm, sitting in your lap falling asleep, there's no doubt how much she can be a part of our family. She does great outside on long walks and the kids love playing fetch with her.
How much of what I am describing are just puppy things vs how much do we need to start training out of her? What tips would you all recommend? The members on this board seem so knowledgeable and have such great pets, I know there is a lot we can learn from you all.
thanks.
I've been a lurker for a while but have recently adopted a beagle puppy and need some help.
Our beagle, ginger, is 11 weeks old. We received her from the breeder @ 8 weeks.
For starters, I have some questions on housetraining. We are using the following schedule from the housetraining for dummies book:
7:00 AM
Get up
Take puppy outside
Put puppy in crate
7:30 AM
Feed puppy
Offer water
Take puppy outside
Play with puppy up to 15 minutes
Put puppy in crate
Midmorning
Offer water
Take puppy outside
Play with puppy up to 15 minutes
Put puppy in crate
Noon
Feed puppy
Offer water
Take puppy outside
Play with puppy 15 to 30 minutes
Put puppy in crate
Midafternoon
Offer water
Take puppy outside
Play with puppy up to 15 minutes
Put puppy in crate
5:30 PM
Feed puppy
Offer water
Take puppy outside
Play with puppy up to 1 hour and/or let puppy hang out with family in kitchen
7:00 PM
Take puppy outside
Play with puppy up to 15 minutes
Put puppy in crate
Before Bed
Take puppy outside
Put puppy in crate
During the night
Take puppy outside if necessary
and it's generally been working (sleeping generally 11pm-6 am each day). She's adapted to the crate well and she's only had 2 accidents in the 3 weeks (both our fault and never while in the crate). That said, we've encountered a difficulty. When we first started we thought it would be a good idea to teach her to ring a bell on the door when she wanted to go out. Everytime it was a potty break in the schedule, we took her to the door, rang the bell, and took her out. Unfortunately, she's learned this too well. There are times when she rings the bell almost constantly wanting to go out. It won't be unusual if she goes outside 10-15 times in an hour. Yes, I realize she's actually trained us to take her out when she's rung the bell, but how do we stop? We are so conscious of making sure we stay on top of the housetraining, that I think we've created another problem in its place. We want her to let us know when she needs to go, but it should be for a potty break rather than an I want to go out and sit in the sun break.
Beyond housetraining, we are having general behavioral problems. When she is out of the crate spending time with us, she constantly nips. We've done the yip thing and ignored, we've redirected her with chew toys, but it is still a problem. It's gotten so bad that today my 9 year old daughter took her outside for her potty break and when the nipping at the shoes and ankles got so bad, she climbed up on the central air compressor and started crying to escape. it was heartbreaking.
Finally, she's a whiner. Leave the room,and she whines. Sit on a chair, she whines. We can't possibly be on the ground with her at all times, she needs to learn she's our pet and not the other way around, but we are struggling. We've read http://k9deb.com/nilif.htm and while it makes total sense, we're struggling with how to put it into practice.
She really is a great puppy and when she is calm, sitting in your lap falling asleep, there's no doubt how much she can be a part of our family. She does great outside on long walks and the kids love playing fetch with her.
How much of what I am describing are just puppy things vs how much do we need to start training out of her? What tips would you all recommend? The members on this board seem so knowledgeable and have such great pets, I know there is a lot we can learn from you all.
thanks.