My Foster Dogs Are Having Trouble Adjusting
Question:
I’ve recently become the foster mother of two sharpie/boxer mixed puppies. I had them from they were just a week old and now they’re going on 2 months. Currently there are two issues that I need help with. The first being that since day one, most of my time is spent cleaning up pee and poop :o) How soon can I train them to use the newspaper or to go outside and secondly, I sometimes have them in the condo while I clean the balcony (where they spend 80% of their time), but they honestly believe that their place is in the condo with me because they will whine until I let them in. During the day, it doesn’t bother me much but at 4am, it bothers me alot! :o) How can I break them out of that habit.
Thanks
Chantel
ANSWER:
Hi Chantel,
Thank you for fostering these pups! What a lot of work! No one understands how much care one week old pups require until have a litter – it is non-stop work!
To answer your first question – normally I would start taking them outside at five weeks old if you have an area safe from other dogs so there is no chance of them catching anything nasty.
With living in condo, I am guessing you do not have a backyard so taking the pups outside is not recommended. Read up on crate training and how it helps with house training. There is also litter training which works great for puppies and small dogs. Once the pups are content sleeping in their crates, you can then start training them to use paper or litter. When he wakes up, take the pup out and place him on the paper. Make him stay on the paper. When he pees and poops, tell him he is absolutely fabulous and let him off the paper. Clean up the mess. Now do it with the next pup. They will soon figure out where they are supposed to go the bathroom. Hard part will be when they are just out on the balcony playing. Any way you can have them inside more and then take them outside to pee on the paper? It would help!
Anyone else have some ideas for Chantel?
Ann
Go ahead and ask us! Click the button below.
