Introducing Trixie

[collie23]

This is my wonderful new puppy Trixie. She was born on 28th July 2012 and is 7 weeks and 5 days old. She has half a white face so isn't the typical Border Collie, but we fell in love with her once we saw this picture (profile pic)

She loves to sleep (as you can tell by the pics below) but unfortunately only during the day. she is settling in so nicely and has made us laugh so much, pouncing on all of her toys.

She was wonderful on the 3 hour car ride home. She was having tons of fun trying to herd the cars through the window (which now needs a good clean) and fell off to sleep once that tired her out.

She does this cute thing where she walks up to you, ears pricked, tail up and confident. But as soon as she's within 1 foot she starts licking uncontrollably and wagging her entire body as if saying 'Like me!!! LIKE me!!!!!!'

We're still trying to potty train which would be easier if she gave any sort of warning and left it at least 5 minutes between piddles, but we are making progress. (any tips appreciated - we have 4 people trying to do it, some of which are using different techniques which doesn't help)

I will try to remember to add more photos of her and hopefully videos to, in which some of them she will be awake ! I Promise !

 

[Dlilly]

Hi and welcome!!! First off, congrats on the new puppy! She's adorable!!!

This is how I potty train my foster dogs; I put the dog on a feeding schedule, I walk the dog often, and I put him in a crate when I can't watch him. It has worked for all of the dog's I've taken care of.

Some days you may need to wait a while for the dog to go potty, don't give up! Just keep walking. Once the dog does go potty, give her a TON of praise, and continue your walk so she doesn't think that when she goes potty, she goes inside.

Here's a great video with some more information. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask!

 

[Dioritt]

Hi. What a sweetie Trixie is. I'm sure you have many years of fun with her ahead of you.

I love it when dogs wag their whole bodies. My daughter's Border Terrier does that

 

[southerngirl]

Aww she is a adorable and I love her name. For potty training you should sit everyone down and explain how you want to teach her to potty outside and explain the importance of all of you teaching the same way.

 

[Mr-Remington]

Welcome! Trixie is the cutest little puppy!

 

[Adrianna & Calvin]

Hi collie23

We're still trying to potty train which would be easier if she gave any sort of warning and left it at least 5 minutes between piddles, but we are making progress. (any tips appreciated - we have 4 people trying to do it, some of which are using different techniques which doesn't help)

You mentioned that she was just 7.5 weeks -- that's still early to separate the puppy from the litter, current recommendations are 9 weeks (and a week and a half is a long time in a puppy!). Is the mother ill, was that why the rescue group separated them?

Anyway, at that age you have to remember that the puppy has about 5 seconds notice that she has to eliminate and she can't 'hold it' at all. "Holding it" comes with age and experience -- remember how urgent things were to you when you were a very young human? Very little forewarning, and very hard to contain. A wee puppy has to go all the time, after eating, drinking, and playing. The QDT Dog Trainer explains this well:
http://dogtrainer.quickanddirtytips.com/housetraining-your-puppy.aspx

Little puppies will try their darndest to hold it if you pick them up, although at her very young age she may not have much capacity to do so. You can try it, by scooping her up after meals and play and running outside with her (rather than walking her outside). Of course, praise and treats for going outdoors. If you have a big house or if there are other issues with getting her outside quickly, buy a pack of pee pads and keep one open nearby so that she can use it. This doesn't mean she can't be trained to go outside at the same time, it just means that she learns that floors are never a place to potty. Having a pee pad alternative means that she always has an easily accessible 'legal' place to go in case someone overestimates her capacity. Once she is older and can contain herself, the lack of pee pads will just show her that her only legal alternative is now the outdoors (if you couldn't find a bathroom inside, you wouldn't just go anywhere either).

It is important that no one in the household scolds her for toileting indoors at this point. That would be like yelling at a baby for using her diaper. There's no intention to disobey, there is only a very young puppy with a very small bladder and a weak sphincter! What she will learn is that sometimes people are mean when she eliminates, and that will make her think that humans are unreasonable (after all, if someone screamed at you for using a toilet, you'd think they were off their rocker) and that it's better to eliminate when no one is looking (and that doesn't help housetraining one bit!).

Hope this helps! If there are specific concerns, please let us know.

 

[Dogster]

Awwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!!!! Trixie is ADORABLE!!!!! Congrats!!!!

 

[southerngirl]

@ Adrianna I think Collie23 got Trixie from a breeder. Great advice.

 

[sara]

Welcome to the DTA! Trixie is adorable A&C gave you wonderful advice re: House Training, I'll leave it at that

 

[MaryK]

Welcome Trixie is just tooooo CUTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Love pics of puppies sleeping, they look so young and innocent, well LOL they are aren't they.

A & C has given excellent advice on potty training, follow that and you won't go wrong!

 

[Adrianna & Calvin]

Another thread made me think to remind you, you should work on teaching bite inhibition as she gets older. This is something that puppies learn from each other and the mum, but especially since your little girl has been separated early, you should focus on teaching her. The gist is to give her feedback on how hard she's biting rather than teaching her NOT to bite. Any dog on this earth can be provoked to bite, and you want a dog who can control how much damage she does because she knows how hard is too hard. The Whole Dog Journal has a good article on this:
http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues/13_6/features/Bite-Inhibition_16232-1.html

Also in a month or so, you'll want to start work on resource guarding prevention exercises. For the most part, teaching the dog that your approach is no big deal is part of daily living, as is dealing with puppy mouthing/biting. Check out:
http://www.petside.com/condition/dog/resource-guarding-prevention-canine-puppy

 

[Dioritt]

Excellent advice from Adriana & Calvin. You really don't want the problem I'm having with my Alfie at the moment. Please do both exercises

 

[jackienmutts]

Trixie (your little Piddle Paws ) is just adorable! Great advice above - and the only thing I'll re-state -- do have a little family meeting and agree on your strategies. It's so important that you all approach this the same way, instead of everyone going about it differently. It will only confuse the heck out of a little baby dog, who's desperately trying so hard to make sense out of an already very confusing world. Patience and consistency with Trixie will make it all go so much faster and smoother. Have fun with your new family member!

 

[collie23]

Thank you all for replies and tips. Haven't ben able to post before because she's taking up so much of our time ( I love it )

The housetraining is going okay very minimal accidents inside now, and it's usually because we're distracted (for example I was emptying her crate - she's messy with her biscuits - and she decided to do a sneaky behind me. - I had taken her out 5 minutes before but still.. when nature calls...) but otherwise all is good and definite progress.

The only problem is she not fond of being shut in the crate, or being alone... for even 10 secs. She'll happily walk into her crate on her own when one of us is nearby so no problem with the crate itself. I was working on this last night, getting her to go into the crate with treats, closing the door, feeding her through the door, then opening it again trying to get her to see nothing bad happens when the door is closed. But everytime she would push against the door as soon as the treat was out of my hand. She really doesn't like being left alone for even a minute, and unless we distract her, she'll start to whine and bark the moment we walk away. We have kept her in the crate at night and she settles fairly quickly but she still wants to be underneath us every minute.

I know that this is probably because she is soo young and really doesn't like being seperated but i don't want it to become a habit that we can't break out of. So would it hurt to start working on this now and how would i do this? or should i accept it for a few more weeks until she's a bit more grown up and sure of herself?

We are working on bite inhibition and she seems to be quite good with it, only when shes a little excited now and very rarely hurts even with sharp puppy teeth.

I will also mention i'm trying to get into clicker training but mum seems to think it's too soon for her. I've tried 'charging' the clicker for a couple of days in a row, but she ends up staring at the clicker... is this a good thing? cos i thought she should be looking for the treat... (i'm soo obviously a newbie at this lol )

Any other tips are brilliant or anything else I should be working on sooner rather than later??

 

[collie23]

didn't realise how long that post was... sorry

 

[jackienmutts]

Never a problem with a long post - the more info, the better!!

First, admittedly I haven't watched it - but I have heard nothing but rave reviews about Susan Garrett's "Crate Games" - you may want to get this and watch it. I've heard it's pretty much solved every problem anyone I know has every had with any puppy!!
http://www.dogwise.com/itemdetails.cfm?id=dta287 (I keep adopting older dogs and have never had puppy/crate issues). You can try feeding her in her crate, that will also get her used to "good things happening in her crate". She doesn't want to miss out on anything, and when she's in her crate, fun stuff might be happening "out there". What's a pup to do?? Give her chews, a little bully stick, a stuffed kong - things that will take her a while to work on - and let her have little "time outs" in her crate. She should be able to begin learning to be away from you and by herself for short times. It's going to start teaching her a little independence, how to calm herself, how to entertain herself, etc. Don't feel guilty giving her something - meaning something to keep her occupied, keep a stuffed frozen kong always on hand, or a bully stick, or whatever she likes to chew on - and let her have time in her crate with that special chew. And don't sit by the door and feel guilty. She'll be ok.

As for the clicker...you really only need to charge the clicker a few times - it doesn't need to be done repeatedly over and over and over for days and days. Trixie is probably thinking now ... ok, so what else??? I'm assuming you do keep treating every single time you're clicking, right? Cuz every time she hears a click, she get a treat (even if you click by accident). And no, it's not too soon!! Your little girl can start learning right now. Hold that treat over her head til her little bottom hits the floor (in a 'sit'), and immed click - then toss a treat. Hey, fun! Then, do it again!! Huh? More fun! Keep doing it over and over - and in no time you'll have a puppy who's 'sitting' cuz it's fun! Trixie will learn to love that clicker, and she'll know that the instant she hears that 'click', she's done exactly what you wanted her to do - and that you'll gonna pay her for it!!

She's a baby, so start slow and small -- and you'll find that once she (and you) gets the hang of it, she'll start learning really quickly, and you'll be the one trying to keep up with her!! Keep her training sessions short, as she's very young and she's got a very short attention span - a few 5 min sessions/day are enough for her. Have fun!

 

[Pawtential Unleashed]

My all time favorite video on this is here:

 

[collie23]

I love that video too. shows it so simply, we do have a pen for her (which she's already learnt she can climb out of) but i suppose if she learns to love it she wont want to She's finally settling into her crate at night, but during the day she still thinks she's being hard done by. Just keep working on it.

Yes i do treat every time i click. and she's starting to get the hang of sit yay!!

you'll find that once she (and you) gets the hang of it, she'll start learning really quickly

I think your right there - she's getting the hang of it much quicker than me!! (and my family - still trying to train them as well)

 

[MaryK]

I think your right there - she's getting the hang of it much quicker than me!! (and my family - still trying to train them as well)

My experience training the family (partner in my case) is MUCH harder than training the dogs. Dogs learn and 'get it' a lot faster than the humans! Keep on working with the family and one day they'll 'get it' too!