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Housebreaking A Crybaby

1575 Views 9 Replies 7 Participants Last post by  Dobesanddragons
Hi all, im new to all this forum stuff , my red doberman is almost 7 weeks old. I dont know if i should start housebreaking her now or do it when shes a little more in tune with whats going on around her, She is my first doberman, so i dont know much about the breed. but im quite excited to have her home, any tips on how to properly housetrain a doberman or basic training help given would be a great deal of HELP!. thanks - alicia
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Welcome aboard Alicia, congrats on your new puppy. Training should start right away. IMO the best and only way to best housebreal a dog is by crate training. If you use a large crate so you can have it when your puppy is full grown, block off a good portion of it so your dog has just enough room to move around a little bit. They generally do not pee in an area they sleep in.At that age my pups stayed majority of their time in the crate. When you take the pup out carry her right away outside and let her potty. Praise her when she does potty. When I am certain they are done I bring them inside and play with them. When you are done bring puppy back outside and then put her back in the crate. If you want to keep her out a bit, bring her out often to potty as they don't have the ability to hold it in yet. Puppies are a LOT of work if you do it right, but it is well worth the time in the long run. You should also start obedience training right away too ie: sit,down,stay etc. I just teach one command at a time until they learn it well. If you have never attended obedience classes, I highly recommend it. I also just started watching the dog whisperer and it is GREAT. There is a lot of great advice here on training etc. Do a search here for housebreaking and training for other helpful tips.
If you get the chance we would love it if you introduce yourself and your new puppy in the newcomers area. I am new myself and love it here. :)
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Here are some great articles from DPCA about Housebreaking and Crate Training. I might add...I agree with Sea 100% about crate training, it is one of the best things I have ever done for me and my dogs.

Housebreaking:
http://www.dpca-breedered.com/easyhousebreaking.htm
http://www.dpca-breedered.com/housebreaking.htm
http://www.dpca-breedered.com/housetraining.htm

Crate Training:
http://www.dpca-breedered.com/dogcrates.htm
http://www.dpca-breedered.com/crating_your_dog.htm

Good Luck, and welcome to the forum :D
The puppy isn't even 7 weeks old yet, it's probably been removed from its litter too young, and that changes things somehwat, but even if it was 8 weeks old, it's still a baby. It's never too early to start "teaching" things, but it should be done with the expectation that you are dealingl with a baby and not put pressure on it.
That is really a shame she was taken from her littermates so early. To compensate you are going to have to socialize her even more so.

It is not too early to start potty training your baby puppy but don't have huge expectations. Her bladder is very small and she just can't hold it long, it is just a fact of young puppies, so she will be in housetraining for quite awhile. But you can help the training go easier by training her early.

Take her outside often so she begins to associate the grass with potty time. The more times she goes out there, the easier it will be for you later. Several times per hour take puppy outside. Take her outside after she wakes up - even if it is a very short nap. Take her outside first thing in the morning - before you eat or do anything take care of her. Take her outside right after she eats her meals or drinks a big drink. Take her outside after a play session. Take her outside when you see her sniffing...(you get the idea). You will learn and get a feel for what sniffs mean I need to go out. You have to keep a close eye on her and don't let her go off and learn to poop and pee in secret. When you cannot watch her place her in a safe place, a small crate. A crate will help her stay safe and will help her along in her potty training.

She should be able to move around but the crate shouldn't be too big or she will use one side to use the bathroom, which defeats the purpose. Don't leave her in the crate for more than an hour.

When you take puppy outside, repeat the words "go potty" over and over until she goes. When she goes praise her a lot and you can even give her a treat and play with her. Going to the bathroom outside becomes a very positive thing. Soon when you take her outside and say go potty her reaction will become to use the bathroom outside. Doberman puppies are VERY smart, she will catch on fast.

When you find accidents inside DO NOT punish her. Those are your fault. She can't hold it yet and needed to go really bad. It is your job to take her outside. Don't get mad at her. There is no reason to get mad and it is useless.
If she goes to the bathroom in front of you simply say a firm no, scoop her up, and let her finish outside. When she goes outside remember to praise her a lot and maybe feed her a treat. I also like playing with them afterwards, a fun game with their people is also very motivating, as much so as food for some Dobes.

But expect accidents b/c she won't be able to help them for awhile.
As she grows up, her housetraining will get much easier as she gains more control of her bladder.

As far as the crybaby thing goes, what do you expect? She is a young puppy and was taken too soon away from her littermates. She is going to cry.
Crate training is just that, training. If you know you have given her lots of attention and she has peed and pooped yet is still crying in the crate, let her cry. Don't let her win. She is a puppy and it is natural for her to whine when left alone in a crate.

But don't give in, NEVER EVER go to her and let her out when she is crying. Once again, Doberman puppies are very smart and she will learn crying gets her a reward. She gets to get out when she cries. You don't want her making that association; they learn quickly what works and what doesn't. Just ignore the cries and do not yell at her or get mad. Wait it out, it will get better.

Only let her out when she is quiet. Be sure to put some safe toys inside the crate with her too, so she isn't totally bored.

To crate train my puppies I toss a treat (or two) inside the crate and say "kennel up", when the puppy goes inside they get rewarded. I do this lots, sometimes I close the door, sometimes I don't. Sometimes they stay in for a bit, more often than not they don't and I let them out. They get a treat for being quiet and learn what behaviors get rewards and what behaviors get ignored quickly. Also don't use the crate for punishment and don't keep them in there for hours, they are babies and can't be expected to hold it for that long.

Good luck.
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As fas as training goes find a good dog training club in your area and sign her up for puppy kindergarten classes. The classes will help you both and cover a variety of topics and often help with socializing your puppy.
thnx for all of the advice, it was quite helpful. and greatly appreciated :]

and a response to some of the comments, well i understand its best to keep the pup with its mother till shes 8-9 weeks, but it was of course my fault i didnt look into the whole breeder spec. when i bought her, So yes, that was in part of my ignorance. But well thats the least of it all now. She's here and shes staying. :] .

I was thinking of enrolling her in puppy classes at a local "PetsMart". for socialization and as well as to train me.

Since i owned (still own) a shih-tzu before her, i again, ignorantly didnt think (shih-tzu) he needed classes. He's a lap dog so i figuired he wouldnt be so much trouble. He isnt, but at times he can be a bit stubborn. If any of you guys out there have an opinion about any training courses in the houston area, please feel free to speak up. It would be of great assistance. Thanks Again.
- Alicia
When Rye was a pup, I taught him how to potty on command. I know, it sounds funny, but it has really come in handy on certain occasions, like when you may only have a minute or two to do business before moving on to other things.

First, I did have to decipher what exactly his behaviors were before he was going to potty. Once I had that figured out I just watched for it and told him 'go pee' or 'go potty' until he did the business. When he did his business it was a major cause of celebration with a ton of praise! Sometimes it seemed I was saying it forever like a broken record, but as time went on he started going faster and faster until now I usually only have to tell him once or twice and he does his thing. I think this would also be a good thing to learn if you wanted to train them to go in one particualr area in your yard, though I haven't taught that.
myfatboyiscool86 said:
I was thinking of enrolling her in puppy classes at a local "PetsMart". for socialization and as well as to train me.
I also used the Petsmart puppy class. It's really good for socialization. We went elsewhere for more advanced classes for various reasons. But the puppy class is good - You get a bunch of other puppies in the class plus a lot of the training happens throughout the store (ex. walking on leash) and you meet a lot of people!
I was thinking of enrolling her in puppy classes at a local "PetsMart". for socialization and as well as to train me.
I would check out this dog training club in the Houston area http://www.hotdogclub.org/
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