Brand New Dog Owner-HELP NEEDED

Hi everyone. I'm new to the forums. Please help

I have a 9 week old Westie, we've had her just over a week and so far things have been OK. I realise she is still a VERY young pup and there are going to be lots of hurdles to jump over but I just don't know where to start and wondering if I've bitten off more than I can chew.

She chases after my 9month old constantly trying to chew his ear or nose off. I realise she thinks that when he crawls off that he's playing but how to I get her to leave him alone as he's beginning to become terrified of her and I don't want that. I try distracting her with another toy, which works for about 10 seconds. I firmly tell her "NO", I firmly tell her "NO" and remover her from my son but she just keeps going back...and it's not just him. It's everything that moves. But again, I understand she is just playing, but how do I train her not to bite all of us?

Also, could someone advise me on house training please. We put her in the garden after every meal, sleep, play session. Sometimes for up to 45mins and does nothing out there. We let her in and she proceeds to poop and pee all over the house. V frustrating. Please advise.

Hiya I have a westie hes 4 now. I also have a pup and a young baby (1 year) basically what I do when she jumps on mine is pull her away and say No when she goes to do it again I pick her up and put her in the kitchen, only for a few minutes then let her back out if she carrys on I just repeat, it has taken a few weeks I wont lie but she is finally getting it and now leaves him most of the time when i first say No. Has the pup had its injections yet if so take him out for a 10 min walk its not long but will tire him out as he's young.
You are doing all the right things with taking him out after eating, try saying something like "toilet" so he associates going outside with going a toilet. It does take its time unfortunately but you will get there in the end. My westie was the worse to toilet train he was 9 mths before he finally got it
Also you could try clicker training with him this really will tire him out and keep him occupied, there is loads of other posts on here of how to do it so i wont bore you.
Would love to see some pics

Dear badrobot,

You might consider using 5 or 6 sheets of rolled up news- paper popped across the bridge of the pup's nose as emphasis for the word "NO." It will get the dog's attention without hurting it.

Re: House training. Take some of the puppy's mess and put it outside where you want the dog to go. In the mornings wake it and take it outside to it's potty area and set it down. STAY NEAR. When it does it's doody praise it lavishly. When you take it back inside again STAY NEAR.
If the pup starts to squat, say NO, pick it up and take it immediately back out. STAY NEAR and praise. It may be a bit time consuming at first but terriers usually catch on fairly quick. Good Luck, Max

Hiya

Thanks for the advice. I will persevere and try the removing from the room thing too. She is adorable and I'm so glad we got her, it's just a lot more hard work than we originally imagined.

She has had her 1st lot of vaccinations, due her 2nd in about 10 days. My other half has been taking her out to try and tire her out (altho this has been done against advice from vet) but if anything, she comes back even more livelier than before he took her out

We are making a huge fuss of her when she goes potty in the correct place, she has the garden, paper in the kitchen and a litter tray in her cage (where she sleeps amazingly well) And a lot of the time we can read the signals when she needs to go, but with 4 children running around, sometimes we miss the signs.

I just feel like she doesn't listen to us at all...lol...Just like a little toddler I guess...haha...

I would not hit any dog with a rolled up newspaper, let alone a tiny puppy. This will just frighten and hurt the dog and not actually solve any problems. Infact it will create more. Distraction is the best technique and even though you may feel like it isn't working, it is. My terrier was a devil for chasing the cats when she was a pup but distracting her to something more interesting did work.

Please don't scold your dog for going to the toilet either. She will just think you are telling her off for going rather than where she is going. Keep doing what you are doing, it does all fall into place.

OMG no no no never ever hit a dog especially not across the nose Where the h*ll did that come from ??

!. House training-do not use puppy pads or newspaper indoors this only reinforces that itis OK to toilet indoors. Training pads are very popular in the US but not really the corrcet way to train your dog.

To toilet train successfully you must take the puppy outside everytime it wakes up, after every meal, ever 2 hours or so & whenever you see it circling or looking like it is going to toilet.

Never ever say No when the puppy toilets where it shouldn't say nothing & simply clean it up & use bio wash liquid to remove all the smell from the plce.

When your puppy toilets outside praise lavishly & give a high value reward(ie treat)

Please remove the litter tray from the crate this is the same as the puppy pads & newspaper

2. As for your puppy & your baby, I have no experience of babies, but the golden rule for dogs & children is never ever to leave alone together unsupervised & as your child is so small & not yet walking I would not have them on the floor at the same time. A play pen for the puppy is the safest way IMHO

I agree with the above. Please dont hit your puppy with a newspaper, you will cause more problems than you solve.

Re the biting, timeouts work very well, but you need to be consistent.

With the toilet training, you must go outside with your puppy so that you are there to praise her when she goes in the right place. If you put her out on her own, how does she know the difference between peeing indoors and peeing outdoors? You need to make sure you praise everytime she goes outdoors. Take her out on the lead to the same spot.

If she goes indoors, dont reprimand her, just clean it up with biological washing powder.

Writing a toilet diary can help. Write down every time she goes to the toilet, you should start to see a pattern emerge, making it easier to predict when she needs to go. If you can't supervise her, crate training can be really useful

Thanks for all advice guys

I wouldn't dream of hitting her. I don't do it to my children so wouldn't do it to a pup.

I do ignore accidents, just clean them up and start again. I do take her out to the garden every time she wakes, eats, plays and approx every 45mins in between these. But she doesn't go outside (not all the time) then does it as soon as we let her in. Do I need to supervise constantly? Go out with her every time she needs to go? And if I do will this just be temporary or will I have to go with her EVERY time for her whole life? And when she does go in the correct place (provided I've seen her do it) I do shower her with praise and the odd treat.

I'm a bit scared about removing the paper and litter tray as she is getting the hang of them, altho I can see where you are coming from with the whole discouraging them from doing it indoors. But I did have to point out to my OH this morning (as the litter tray was his idea) that she didn't use it when we first put it in and now it has been dirty for the last 5 or 6 mornings...so prob would have been better if we'd left it out altogether

I've taught the kids the signs of her needing to go potty so they can take her out to the garden if they think she needs to go.

I feel like that from what you are all saying that I'm pretty much doing all I can do, it's just a case of persevering with it and hoping that it works sooner rather than later. I guess I just needed some moral support and for someone to say, "you're doing everything right, just keep going"

Thanks again for the advice guys. I really appreciate it. No doubt I will be back on her again soon

Thank you for this. Shall definitely give this a go

erm, by litter tray, i assume you dont mean a cat litter tray?

Also, i agree with the others, get rid of the toilet pads and newspaper as it only serves to teach her that it is ok to go indoors.

If she is going to the toilet fairly soon after coming back indoors, perhaps keep her on the lead with you for an extra 10 minutes so that you can keep an eye on her?

Other than that, it is just time and patience.

Make sure your children arent punishing her for going indoors. I remember once doing some one to one lessons with a family with a puppy and they were doing everything I suggested with toilet training. After 2 weeks, there was no improvement and we couldnt figure out why. Turns out, their 5 year old daughter had been punishing the dog for peeing indoors, as she had seen her parents do it the very first day before they knew not to. So the dog was afraid to pee in front of its owners when they took it out and would pee indoors away from them. Just a thought? Might be worth checking.

Ive also personally found that the diet your puppy is on can have a huge impact on how easy or difficult it is to toilet train your puppy. I'd recommend finding a good hypoallergenic diet. I know many people use the following with success: James Wellbeloved, Burns, Wafcol, Wainwrights, Natures Diet etc. I'm sure there are loads more.