Just bought a new puppy - need help!

[Melisa1]

DH and I bought an 8 week old Golden Retreiver puppy yesterday. I have a 12 year old Shih-Tzu, so its been a while since I have raised a puppy. Can you guys give me some great advice as far as the crying at night, potty training etc........ anything at all to refresh my memory would be great, or even info about Goldens since I have never owned one.

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

I'll try and post through my jealousy...

Goldens love to carry things in their mouths. Get lots of soft "babies", but don't give them all out at once. They love to chew, so you'll need replacements.

They also love their families and like to be near their people. I would buy a crate for the puppy, but not too large of one. Just large enough to turn around in. You don't want the pup to be able to take care of business and be able to sleep far away from it.

I never set Chloe on the ground after I took her out of her crate. I didn't let her down until we were in the grass and then I said the same thing every single time. "Go pee-pee"

After every time, I'd give her so much praise, my neighbors probably thought I was nuts. She only had three accidents in the house and those were my fault, so it worked!

I left the crate in the utility room the first couple of days, but realized that she did better next to me. I slept with her next to my bed. Eventually I had to move up to a wire crate. Those are great, because I could stick my fingers in there to soothe her if needed.

And most of all - PICS! We need PICS!!!!!

 

[Jen_in_NH]

Our puppy is 8 months old now, and he house trained very quickly. We took him out about every 2-3 hours, and then gave him a biscuit whenever he went pee or poop outside. Needless to say, he loves biscuits and learned really quickly. We kept him in a crate for about 6 weeks in our room. He didn't like going in it, but he would go in. We finally let him sleep on the floor on his dog bed when he outgrew the extra large crate ( at 4 months old.... he's a 100lb Newfie now)

Definitely get a lot of chewing toys - ours likes the stuffed animals. Play with him with those toys so he gets the idea they're his. Keep as little as possible in mouth range - anything on the floor seems to be fair game

Have fun - goldens are great!

Jen

 

[NMAmy]

We're raising our first golden, too. She's about 18 months old now and finally calming down a bit.

Am I There Yet is right on with the crate. Put the puppy in there at night--we used ours in our bedroom and she was content just to be able to hear us. (Dh snores loud enough to wake the dead so I'm sure that helped! )

What I love about our golden is that she is smart about some things but really dumb about others. For example, she'll drop a toy nonchalantly by me wanting me to try to race her for it. When she does this, she'll very calmly STAND on some part of the toy so there's no way I can win. But she's not smart enough to figure out that she's grown large enough to jump over the fence in the backyard or any of the baby gates we have around the house. Or to look on the floor in the kitchen for dropped food--I have to point it out to her. But she's smart enough to know when I'm emptying the dishwasher and stay away--but the moment I begin loading the dirty dishes--she's right there.

She's a chewer, too. Buy yourself a whole bunch of toys!

Enjoy--they are a very sweet and loveable breed. All our neighbors come hang over the fence to play with our Sunny.

 

[Melisa1]

Thanks so much guys!! I will post some pics tonight. I will try moving the crate in our room tonight, maybe that will calm him down some. I have a huge list of stuff to get at Petsmart this weekend!
I have been taking him outside ALOT in fear that he will pee in the house (and he did). Is 8 weeks old too young to begin the potty training? I have been taking him out about 10 minutes after drinking and about 20 after eating.

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

Thanks so much guys!! I will post some pics tonight. I will try moving the crate in our room tonight, maybe that will calm him down some. I have a huge list of stuff to get at Petsmart this weekend!
I have been taking him outside ALOT in fear that he will pee in the house (and he did). Is 8 weeks old too young to begin the potty training? I have been taking him out about 10 minutes after drinking and about 20 after eating.

Oh, goodness no!

That's the age I started training Chloe. I started obedience that young too. They're a smart breed (but can be doofuses as someone else mentioned)! I clicker-trained her!

I took Chloe out about as often, if not more. I didn't work, so it was simple. Wherever I was, I made sure she was with me. It was like having a baby again. When she slept, I did things around the house, or I left her in her crate.

The less accidents they have the better. I caught Chloe getting ready to have an accident, far more than the actual deed getting done.

I'd just yell out my "no-no" noise and scoop her up and run for the door. As soon as I set her down, I'd do the "go pee-pee" thing. I actually think that helped in the training. She got the hint pretty quickly about what made me happy.

And I never, never, ever, raised a hand to her. Goldens love to please more than anything else.

You picked a wonderful breed! I can't wait to see the pics!

BTW, some people train their dogs to ring a bell at the door, by hanging one there. You could always try that!

 

[NMAmy]

BTW, some people train their dogs to ring a bell at the door, by hanging one there. You could always try that!

We tried that. Sunny thought it was a hangy chew toy so we had to remove it. I'm the one who mentioned the doofus bit--Sunny goes wandering toward the front door to go outside. Now, this dog has not been let out that door EVER. She always goes out the back door. I'm not sure why she goes to the front door to let me know she has to go outside but I guess she's got me trained now!

 

[PlutosFriend]

Lots of great tips here A good one that I used when training my Cocker Spaniel was keeping her on a leash in the house. That way she never got out of my sight to go and potty behind a sofa or something Using a crate, I would say, is the #1 most important. My dog retreats there on her own at certain times. Her little safety zone Congrats on your new puppy!!

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

We tried that. Sunny thought it was a hangy chew toy so we had to remove it. I'm the one who mentioned the doofus bit--Sunny goes wandering toward the front door to go outside. Now, this dog has not been let out that door EVER. She always goes out the back door. I'm not sure why she goes to the front door to let me know she has to go outside but I guess she's got me trained now!

Chloe does that too! She only does it if I don't see her stand at the back door though.

She'll also stand and stare at me and if I don't look her way, she'll twist around really quick and nip at her tail. She does this when she wants me to get up and feed her.

That's too funny about the bells, but I'm not shocked! Only a golden would turn something meant for training into a toy.

 

[RNMOM]

Have fun with your Golden. I miss ours terribly.

One thing DH did when taking him out was to use the leash and lead him around in a circle. He would do his business and then get praise but DH told him the whole time he was circling to "get busy". When we needed him to do his thing quickly he responded well to the "get busy" command and we didn't have to stand in the rain/wind/snow so long. He was a great dog but took a good 2-3 years to calm down.

They are chewers. Boomer chewed my sofa skirt then again after I had it fixed. He chewed my shoes but no one elses'. Dogs are ready to potty train right away so keep up the good work.

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

Lots of great tips here A good one that I used when training my Cocker Spaniel was keeping her on a leash in the house. That way she never got out of my sight to go and potty behind a sofa or something Using a crate, I would say, is the #1 most important. My dog retreats there on her own at certain times. Her little safety zone Congrats on your new puppy!!

Yes! A very good tip!

It's also good for stopping them in their tracks when they're trying to run away with something, like 100' of toilet paper.

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

BTW, hopefully I'll be one of the next DISers with a new Golden!

I think I finally have my DH convinced that we should get another Golden, instead of the Lab he was wanting.

 

[Melisa1]

You guys are great!!! So much good information!!!!!

 

[diesel]

We've had our 8 1/2 week old puppy for about a week now. He's a yellow lab named Gus. I've forgotten how much puppies chew (haven't had one for 8 years). He loves to chew my hands, jeans and sneakers. I just keep shoving Nylabones in his mouth.

For potty training we take him out about every 20-30 min while he's awake. It's been going good so far. We only have to get up once during the night which is great.

Good luck and just know that there are others like you going through the same stages as you are with your puppy.

 

[PrincessTiff]

Is 8 weeks old too young to begin the potty training? I have been taking him out about 10 minutes after drinking and about 20 after eating.

8 weeks old is definately not too young to start potty training. I got my puppy(golden and 1/2 lab) at 5 weeks and she basically learned it all on her own. Their very smart dogs.

I can't wait to see the pics!

 

[meeskamouska]

I wish I could post a link....don't know how.... I'll try....

http://www.poochie-pets.net/?AID=23494


Go to Poochie Bells and get one!!! Our stubborn puppy was trained in one week to use the bells to tell us he had to go out!!! LOVE THEM!!!!!!

 

[Melisa1]

Ok guys. We have had our dear Golden for a week and are having a couple of issues I am hoping you guys can help me with:

1) Constant yelping and barking thoughout the night. (his bed is clean, he has went potty)
2) Going potty in the crate (both peeing & pooping). We take him outside tons of times and he still goes......


HELP!

 

[KristiKelly]

We have a 3 y/o GoldenDoodle (Golden Retriever & Standard Poodle mix). It took her about a week to be comfortable in her crate without whining. We found that she did better with her crate downstairs (out of our room) seeing us just made her whine more. We would also play her really hard to exhaust her before bedtime.

As far as peeing & pooping during the night. I had to set my alarm clock for 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning and take her out. If we didn't, she would pee & poop, then prance around in it . She had many baths. She was a Christmas present for our kids and we had a lot of snow & ice that year. It was awful getting up during the night and having to get fully dressed, snow boots and all to take her out.

Our dog is now 3 y/o and never pees in the house but I will admit, it took her FOREVER to house train. She was almost a year before she stopped having accidents.


Just remember, she is still a "baby" and it will take time.

 

[Melisa1]

Thanks for the info...... I really appreciate it!

 

[rgf207]

Golden's are great dogs. We had 1. She was the best. Advice for new puppy in house. if you have an old clock that ticks. Put it in his crate at night. The ticking is soothing and reminds them of their mother's heartbeat. Sounds corny but it works TRUST ME.

Ours had a specail chew toy. She never tore this one up. Every other toy she had would be dead in a matter of minutes. This little "hedgehog" was her favorite. The funniest thing is, when relatives would bring their dogs over, she would run and grab this chew toy and hide it until they left, then she would bring it out and play with it again.