Figures that on the worst winter weekend in my life we choose to add to our family. Roxi the puppy. I know, I know…another dog?! But yes, another dog. The opportunity was perfect as far as the type and history of the dog. And we’d been debating another dog to give Colby some company. It just so happens that it all goes down in a blizzard. Oy.
Roxi is a (mostly) German Shepard and she looks like an ewok. We she’s about eight pounds or so, but her parents were huge, so we expect her to be about 100 pounds when it’s all said and done. She’s six weeks old.
The blizzard is interesting. Friday snow sucked but wasn’t impossible. We wake up Saturday - after a long night of doggy duty - to find the snow has doubled and any sort of shoveling I had done was gone. Colby loves it, but it comes up to his armpits. It’s blowing like a son of a bitch and from a few random ruler readings, there’s about ten inches in the back yard and eight in the front walk - so easily 10″ all around…and it’s still blowing. Funny how the blizzards around here seem to be on 30-year cycles.
So an entirely new chapter of life has started. One I’m not sure if I’m ready for, but if hundreds of other fools can get by raising a puppy, so can we.
If you have any puppy tips, please comment here or in the forum. We’re constantly doing internet look-ups, but if you have any tried and proven methods please share.
And stay tuned to the Toast Flickr page and photo album for more Roxi pics.
Cute pup! Do they have any more? ;o)
Crate training is the way to go, 100%. Our girls know the routine, every morning, Casey is waiting in the cage for us to close the door and go to work. Dixie Lee just needs us to call her and tell her to go to bed (I think she still hopes we’ll forget some day). We can go to work and know they’re safe and not getting into anything dangerous. The nice thing is, even when we’re home, they go in there to lay down. It’s their space, and we leave them alone in there.
When we were housebreaking, one thing we made a point of was getting the puppy outside every 30 minutes like clockwork. Fewer accidents in the house, and they get used to going outside more quickly. Anytime one of the dogs had an accident in the house, we made it a point to NEVER scold them for it. We came to realize that if we didn’t let the poor dog outside, it’s not their fault if they can’t hold it anymore. Any piddle on the floor was our fault, not the dogs.
Of course, it’s never too early to start with obedience training too. With a dog that will grow to be as big as Roxi will, a well behaved dog is very important. Socializing the puppy with many different people, environments, and other dogs is key to having a well adjusted dog. I’m not sure what we did with our dogs, but I think at the root of it was simple: We had certain standards regarding behavior and we expected them to behave.
I think a lot of problems people have with dogs is that they only care how they behave when other people are around. Colby has always been well behaved, so you’re obviously doing something right in that area.
Roxy is a great mix. I think she’ll be an absolutely beautiful dog. Two really great breeds. She’s going to love winter though, that’s for sure!
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Housebreaking: hang a bell or something on your back door. It took Duke all of 1 1/2 days to figure out what it ment. It means I need something: food, to go outdoors, …
We’ve been a little stressed out over everything so all this info really helps. Do you guys think she is too young at 6 weeks to be crated during the day? Some stuff I’ve read online says that’s too young.
That’s a good question. Generally dogs won’t “mess” their den. Our dogs seem to give up and piddle by the back door long before they would break down and pee in their cage.
There’s a product out called “pee pads” or something like that. It’s plastic backed, with an absorbent surface on top that works better than newspaper. They work pretty well inside the kennel if the kennel is big enough. If the kennel isn’t big enough, it might be a little early to keep her in there.
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She is messing in her kennel…not all the time but a few times now. We have some of the pee pads. Will she think its okay to pee in there with the pads down? We have no clue what we’re doing!
Once it becomes her space, she’ll stop peeing in there.
Her bladder is teeny right now, so this is normal.
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I forgot to add…
As long as the kennel is big enough that she doesn’t end up laying down in it, it’s all good.
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If needed, we have a decent sized kennel that you guys can borrow until you figure something out.
Thanks Thee…we already got her a kennel though. Matt, you’ve made me feel much better about leaving her in the crate. :) Her kennel is big enough for the pee pads and something soft to lay on.
I’ll second the every 30 min or 60 minutes and out she goes. Another way is to limit her water intake and know that after she drinks 10-20 minutes later you should be taking her outside. We still try and let Nibby go outside every few hours, she just knows to let us know if she has to go out now. One it prevents accidents and two it gives the dog something to break up their day, because if they get bored then things get shredded. Granted this depends on the breed, as some (beagles and sottish terrors) need to chew constantly.
When Nibby was a pup she went in her cage a few times but it was more due to us not remembering that a little pup needs to go out frequently. Besides when you figure that a new born baby won’t figure out the toilet thing for 2 years it puts in in perspective.
And last thing, go to target and buy the little hand held steam/water cleaners. They are about $30 and are a life saver if you have carpet and a young pup. Sucks up the “accidents” and cleans the spot in about minute.
a puppy! how wonderful! sweet looking…..what fun. —- just like kids, teach him everything you want her to know when a puppy, then cross your fingers and hope for the best when she’s grown. teach her how to go on walks with colby, side by side. they will love it and become comrades.
have fun, aunt betty
FYI the “pee pads” are the same as what they call chux. They are used a lot in the hospital. If you can find chux (maybe cvs or a pharmacy type store would have them) they would probably be a lot cheaper. Might be in the “adult protective underware” aisle.
Also, she will probably start really chewing in the next few weeks. They have that bitter apple spray, didn’t work for Duke, but for many dogs it does. Also, you can find another taste they don’t like (for Duke it was mint) and that may help. The key to teething is mostly making sure that she has toys to chew on. If she is chewing on something you don’t want her to, you obviously tell her no, but also replace it immediately with something she is allowed to chew on. Also important to move her away from what she isnt’ supposed to be chewing on. We got lucky with Duke, he really never chewed on anything that wasn’t his.
We may still have Duke’s puppy “kong.” I’ll look and try to remember to drop it by. It’s a little softer for when those baby teeth fall out.
We somehow were really lucky with our dogs. We only had a couple of occasions where one of them chewed up something that they shouldn’t have, or that was somewhat valuable (like my sisters recliner runners and foot rest). We did (like Mrs. Thee said) make sure we had plenty of alternative toys around for them to chew on though.
Dugan on the other hand was totally destructive and would chew just about anything, including doors, carpet, woodwork, toys… you name it, he tried to eat it.
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Well G+, he was hungry. :)