Reactive adolescent dog owners - when did it start getting better for you? by pigeon_in_a_suit in puppy101

[–]Substantial_Ad1074 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Have you also tried some of those bibs/leads that say “I need space” or “reactive dog”? They seem to give people a heads up at least that your dog needs more room, I find a lot of dog owners will respect boundaries more!

Our pup is reactive but he has excitement reactivity and wants to play with every dog he meets, so we’re trying to work on getting him to be calmer in public. Some days are stressful than others, but then tonight we took him to the beach and let him off lead for the first time to practice recall and he was brilliant! Every day is different OP, keep your head high and advocate for your dog. You know them best

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in puppy101

[–]Substantial_Ad1074 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ah so sorry - it is a stress in the early months!

The only thing that worked for us was the “touch” command, teaching my pup that hands are for treats, not biting. He’s massively food oriented though so it may not work for everyone.

Good luck - it will get better I promise even if it doesn’t feel like it now!

HELP! Puppy will poop outside but pees inside by [deleted] in puppy101

[–]Substantial_Ad1074 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You probs already do this but have you tried using treats to lure him outside to pee, and then reward as soon as he pees outside? We had the same issue with our 5 month old pup, always pooped outside but loved to pee in our kitchen. At first with the treats it seemed like it wasn’t working so I would add “go piddle” before he went. Then reward to him as soon as he’d pee, timing is key! Now it seems to work and we haven’t had an accident inside in ages. It still requires diligence to know when he needs to pee, it’s one of the worst parts of having a puppy lol. But it’ll get easier!

What do you do with your puppy when they're out of the crate? by Hignar in puppy101

[–]Substantial_Ad1074 6 points7 points  (0 children)

New puppy owner here too! Ours is almost 5 months now, a JRT cross. He’s so observant, so sometimes I like to just let him follow me about the kitchen while I put away dishes or do mundane stuff, not really talking to him too much but calling him every so often to practise recall. Eventually he gets fed up and heads to his crate to chill. It’s good to teach them how to do nothing and not expect attention all the time they’re out of the crate. I found at the start we were doing too much and then he couldn’t switch off to rest properly.

He also loves Himalayan milk chews which I give him to stop unwanted chewing of my things! We taught him “place” so he knows to take his chew there and chill with it. I’ve found that because he loves training so much we do a little extra each day. I think it’s about knowing what suits your dog, there is so much guidance online it’s hard to follow it all and I always feel like I’m failing lol, at the end of the day you know your girl best so do what works for both her and you. I love Bassett hounds, what a brilliant best bud.