[binx44]

Hi all.. this is me. . asking more questions for when my pup is ready to come home.. he is ready to go the middle of may. He will be coming with me the end of may.. how do istart potty training. And what do I do guys.. I've been worrying about it lol I've never done it before

[Lucky098]

First of all... never EVER buy potty pads. They are he worse training aid out there, especially if you intend for your dog to potty outside.

First thing I do, is buy a crate. Since your pup is going to get big fast, maybe borrow a small crate from someone if you can. Otherwise, purchase a small crate. In that crate, since you have the ability to do this, when you pic your pup up, take a blanket or towel and rub mom down with it. Put that blanket in the crate along with a large stuffed animal with no button eyes/nose. The pup is going to feel very secure and safe. The crying will be at a min. Crate puppy at night or whenever you cannot watch him like a hawk. Puppy's going to cry.. ignore it. Once he goes quiet, then go in and get him.

Once the crate is established, this is going to make house training cake! I believe young babies need to potty every three hours or so. You'll learn more about his habits once you get him. But watch for signs. He may run around whinning, he may cry.. he may sniff the ground and squat.. or he may not have any signs at all. :) Which is always real fun.

Take him outside every time. I taught my bully the "go potty" command. When you go out with him, just repeat yourself in a fun, monotone voice of "go potty". Don't say anything else, not even his name (at this age, you don't want to name him "Fido-Go Potty"). Once he goes.. reward him. Him potty-ing outside is a big deal! I never really treated with food.. but you can if you want to.

A good aid with potty training is feeding schedule. At his age, he should be fed 3 times a day. Morning, afternoon and evening. I never feed pups after 6pm and the last drink is at 8pm (about). Also, a good food is always a good tool in house training. What's the breeder currently feeding?

Put the crate in your room. This way, he will be able to tell you when he has to go out. Just grab him and go. Don't make him walk, you'll have a mistake. For the first 4 weeks, he is not going to get the connection that door means outside and potty time, so carry him. Once you feel confident that he is going to get it, then start running to the door saying "outside" in a happy, fun voice. And then open the door immediately!

I did this with my bully pup.. and I would have to say she was rock-solid house trained within 2 months of me getting her.

[binx44]

They are not on pup food yet I don't think as they are only two weeks old (I don't know much about pups lol) but they will be using purina puppy chow I do believe most likely as that is what they fed their other dogs as pups. But since they are friends.. any advice I give them they take to heart so if there's a better brand out there that we can get in canada theyd be all for it

[Lucky098]

Purina puppy chow is icky food. I know breeders are looking for something that can feed a lot of mouths without breaking the bank. Pro Plan is a decent food. We feed our pups that.

I would suggest for you though, to put that pup on a very good food. I believe natural balance is sold in Canada. Its sold at Petco. There is also Wellness that is a very good food.

When you get the puppy, decide on a food you want to feed ( I wouldn't suggest purina anything) and do the transition right away.

I personally never do the half/half thing. I've never had problems. I've never had explosive diarrhea or any mistakes. I've also never had the problem especially changing over from a low quality food over to a high quality food.

[binx44]

When I had my old dog rebel I fed him high quality food with no by-products and fillers. It's the way I am, yea as with most breeders they look for the easiest way to feed many mouths.. and 9 can be a lot when you have more than 4 adult dogs in the house to begin with. Hmm I'll have to see if petco is in calgary and is near me..

I've always done the half and half thing but my old dog was very picky about his food and if you changed it he hated it , so it worked that way