More Help Please!

[BacardiPup89]

I have recently decided to use the crate for potty training Bacardi. I put her in the crate last night around 2am and she slept through the night (after an hour or so of protesing the crate by whining, barking, and attempting to eat the crate) until 6am. I let her out to go potty and she did, came back in and then played and went back to sleep. I let her out again and the past dozen times or so when she is done going potty she refuses to come to me and come inside. I call and she ignores and keeps sniffing around or walking around the yard. She does not come to me at all. Is this because I have not worked with her long enough? I mean, I get down on the floor and act all silly and goofy trying to get her to come to me, Ive tried toys and treats, but she never wants to come back inside, I end up having to walk out in the back, grab her by the collar which insights panic within her apparently because she starts yelping and crying like I am skinning her alive or beating her! When all I have done is grab a hold of her collar to bring her in.

 

My other questions is when I put her in the crate she sits there and chews the crate, and barks incessively (not sure if I spelled that right) Ive put chew toys in with her and toys and it doesnt seem to distract her. I normally would not have a problem with her making noises in her crate but I do not want her being distructive and chewing on the crate, hurting herself or losing teeth because of it. anyways, she is getting better at the potty training. Do you think that its a good idea to start taking her to obedience or training classes?

[Guest Wasserbuffel]

It would be good to begin training her to associate coming to you and being in the crate with positive things. My grey likes her crate, but I still give her a cookie when I put her in so she's that much more excited to go in when I want her to.

[christinepi]

Others will give you much better advice, but two things came to my mind:

 

By now she might associate your wanting her to come in with eventually being grabbed by the collar, which, whether you're hurting her or not, seems to be something she has negative associations with. So she might be trying to avoid coming to you because of that.

 

Can you tell whether she is afraid of coming to you, or is it more about her having too much fun out there?

 

Maybe take her outside on leash only for the time being.

 

No advice on the crate question.

Edited February 6, 2012 by christinepi

[Guest verthib]

I have recently decided to use the crate for potty training Bacardi. I put her in the crate last night around 2am and she slept through the night (after an hour or so of protesing the crate by whining, barking, and attempting to eat the crate) until 6am. I let her out to go potty and she did, came back in and then played and went back to sleep. I let her out again and the past dozen times or so when she is done going potty she refuses to come to me and come inside. I call and she ignores and keeps sniffing around or walking around the yard. She does not come to me at all. Is this because I have not worked with her long enough? I mean, I get down on the floor and act all silly and goofy trying to get her to come to me, Ive tried toys and treats, but she never wants to come back inside, I end up having to walk out in the back, grab her by the collar which insights panic within her apparently because she starts yelping and crying like I am skinning her alive or beating her! When all I have done is grab a hold of her collar to bring her in.

 

My other questions is when I put her in the crate she sits there and chews the crate, and barks incessively (not sure if I spelled that right) Ive put chew toys in with her and toys and it doesnt seem to distract her. I normally would not have a problem with her making noises in her crate but I do not want her being distructive and chewing on the crate, hurting herself or losing teeth because of it. anyways, she is getting better at the potty training. Do you think that its a good idea to start taking her to obedience or training classes?

 

What I learned from a couple of trainers is when possible don't push or shove them, or yank/pull the collar. The best scenario is to get them to do something on their own with your commands, questions and praise. If you have to bring her in, I would clip the leash on and guide her back in. That should stop the yelling/crying. Then she might not be so afraid to come in for you going forward. Do you give her things to do in the crate? Kongs and treats for going in? It has to be a happy place. Hide some treats under her mat or blanket. Make it positive and fun. Also if she goes in on her own, more treats and LOTS of praise. Lastly, it shouldn't be used as a punishment. Not saying you're doing that...just sharing the things I've learned. Others will have some good advice too. Good luck!!!

[BacardiPup89]

I have recently decided to use the crate for potty training Bacardi. I put her in the crate last night around 2am and she slept through the night (after an hour or so of protesing the crate by whining, barking, and attempting to eat the crate) until 6am. I let her out to go potty and she did, came back in and then played and went back to sleep. I let her out again and the past dozen times or so when she is done going potty she refuses to come to me and come inside. I call and she ignores and keeps sniffing around or walking around the yard. She does not come to me at all. Is this because I have not worked with her long enough? I mean, I get down on the floor and act all silly and goofy trying to get her to come to me, Ive tried toys and treats, but she never wants to come back inside, I end up having to walk out in the back, grab her by the collar which insights panic within her apparently because she starts yelping and crying like I am skinning her alive or beating her! When all I have done is grab a hold of her collar to bring her in.

 

My other questions is when I put her in the crate she sits there and chews the crate, and barks incessively (not sure if I spelled that right) Ive put chew toys in with her and toys and it doesnt seem to distract her. I normally would not have a problem with her making noises in her crate but I do not want her being distructive and chewing on the crate, hurting herself or losing teeth because of it. anyways, she is getting better at the potty training. Do you think that its a good idea to start taking her to obedience or training classes?

 

 

I put toys and treats in with her in the crate. Today we have made GREAT strides toward her listening to me better, I have found her motivation and it is FOOD! She will do anything for a cheerio!! So I started by saying her name and whenever she responded to her name I gave her a treat and then started saying her name with the word "come" and then giving her a treat when she came and sat, shes doing MUCH better, I guess Im expecting a lot from her as she is still very young, its been a long time since Ive had a puppy! But she is doing MUCH better today!

 

 

What I learned from a couple of trainers is when possible don't push or shove them, or yank/pull the collar. The best scenario is to get them to do something on their own with your commands, questions and praise. If you have to bring her in, I would clip the leash on and guide her back in. That should stop the yelling/crying. Then she might not be so afraid to come in for you going forward. Do you give her things to do in the crate? Kongs and treats for going in? It has to be a happy place. Hide some treats under her mat or blanket. Make it positive and fun. Also if she goes in on her own, more treats and LOTS of praise. Lastly, it shouldn't be used as a punishment. Not saying you're doing that...just sharing the things I've learned. Others will have some good advice too. Good luck!!!

[cleptogrey]

basic obedience training will answer all of your questions. in classes we always spend a ton of time on recalls, MOST IMPORTANT!!!! start recalls inside w/ special treats and have her on lead. you say "come"in the happiest way possible(sickening sweet) then she moves to you, you are happy(they know) and you treat, praise and even give a kiss! go from a 6ft to 12 ft leash, pactice and always have treats w/ you and be HAPPY! then start an indoor recall, TREAT and PRAISE. then in the yard...recall, DON"T bring her in. play games, include recalls and teach her to follow you.

 

eventually do the recall from the door. if it doesn't work try the 2 person method. someone else has her on lead in the yard. you call- the door is open. have the other person run(you don't want walking, you want her to run to you in a recall) her in and you praise, treat and say wonderful things. repeat this many many times, it does work. that's what i do w/ skittish dogs and they all seem to go flying in. when she comes in- DON'T crate her. it's inside time, play, hang out or what ever.

 

as to the crate that's another chapter. i too always give the dogs a big bisket when they kennel up. i can't keep my dogs out of their crates!

 

premire has an excellent series -books and dvd set on puppy training that is availabe thru amazon.com. look for it, it's not cheap but it's very very good and will help w/ many of your questions if you can't find a good trainer locally.

 

be glad, don't get mad and train in a happy tone

[greysmom]

Many greyhounds have this reaction to grabbing their collar. It's usually best to clip their leash on instead. Until she has more reliable recall for coming inside, it might be best to tae her out on the leash for potties.

 

Make a BIG DEAL about praising her and give her really YUMMY treats when she goes. Then right away, happy voice, lots of praise, "Let's go inside!" or whatever you want to say and run or walk brinsky back inside, where you will have another little party with treats and praise. Use very high value treats for this last party - hot dog slices, her favorite cookies - something GOOD! And praise praise praise! Pretty soon you will be able to be off leash outside. Still have a party when she comes in on her own. Then you can gradually begin downplaying the coming inside.

 

As for the crate, she also needs something more high value to distract her and reward her when she's put in there. She needs to have a happy association with it, just like with coming inside. You can begin to crate train her by feeding her in her crate every meal. Give her a VERY YUMMY high value treat when she goes in at other times. Get an appropriate size KONG, put in several spoons of peanut butter, and give that to her when she goes in. You can also freeze it to make it last longer. Hopefully she will lick out the Kong and then settle down to sleep.

[silverfish]

It sounds like you're getting good advice from the others, but can I ask how old Bacardi is? Am I right in thinking she's a pup? If she's young, and being crated a lot, she may actually just need more exercise/play time.

 

I've never had one, but I'm told that greyhound puppies are absolute hooligans and need huge amounts of exercise and play. If Bacardi isn't getting that, it's understandable that she's not going to want to come inside too quickly. You may need to think about how to tire her out before asking her to go to the crate.

 

One thing to bear in mind is that if you bring a dog (of whatever age) inside as soon as they've emptied, they'll learn to hold onto it to get more time.

[Guest KennelMom]

Are you making her come back in and go back to the crate as soon as she potties outside? And that's when she won't come to you? Are you out in the yard with her when she potties? How much time is she spending in the crate every day? What other exercise does she get? How old is she?

[Guest BrianRke]

Are you making her come back in and go back to the crate as soon as she potties outside? And that's when she won't come to you? Are you out in the yard with her when she potties? How much time is she spending in the crate every day? What other exercise does she get? How old is she?

She is 11 weeks old

[silverfish]

And how much exercise? How much time in the crate?

 

Sorry if that sounds in any way accusatory, it's not meant to be, but we can't really advise without knowing her routine and how much exercise/playtime she's getting compared to her time in the crate.

 

Normally with very young pups (especially 'large breed' pups) their exercise needs are pretty much similar to their feeding needs: little at a time, but often!

[cleptogrey]

she's a tiny baby, shark teeth and lots of spunk, just the way they should be at that age. get yourself the ultimate puppy guide as i mentioned(by premire on amazon.com), sit down watch the dvd, read the pamphlets and have fun! always have a ton of good treats and make sure everything that puppy gets is positive reinforcement and laugh a lot. if she's well exercised she will sleep, you will rest. but the cycle of exercise/sleep/eat/pee-poop/play/sleep/exercise does not stop. that's a puppy's life. the premire books deal w/ everything - go for it!do teach her to gnaw on hoofs/marrow bones(w/o the marrow, too rich right now) since teething is just around the corner.

[greysmom]

Just to add

 

Our 5 month old puppy gets two 20 minute long play sessions - one am and one pm - with two adult greyhounds. It iz non-stop, full speed, all out wrestling and running and digging and running and wrestling and digging. Sometimes, after the big dogs are DONE, we stay outside and play ball for another 10 or 15 minutes. This will usually knock her out for a couple hours. Sometimes the games continue inside between the three of them as they wrestle around our bed/bedroom for hours. If she didn't have a brother and sister to play with, I'd be taking her on looooooooooooooong walks, doing lots of brain draining play, more ball, and anything else I could think of.

 

We also use hooves for chews for her - they last a long time and she seems to really like them. Plus a Kong with PB in her crate as needed.

[Batmom]

At 11 weeks:

 

-1- She will have to go potty a LOT. As soon as she wakes up. As soon as she's done eating. About 5 minutes after starting a vigorous play session. There *will* be some accidents.

 

-2- She's learning about the whole world! You aren't as interesting, most times.

 

As KennelMom noted, if you bring her inside every time you call her, she won't want to come. Add the crate and the problem is going to multiply. If you're putting her outside for potty, I'd set up an ex-pen with good anchors; use that for potty, and the larger yard for playtime. I use two different words for recall (standard "Come!") and for going back in the house.

 

11 weeks isn't too soon to start using words and associating them with actions, but it's too young to expect her to truly know those words and comply. She's barely weaned.

 

At this stage, you don't need and I would seldom if ever use treats for training. For one thing, she's small and has limited capacity for treats. For another, the big wide world, squeaky toys, things to chew for more than a second, and interaction with you are going to be intensely more interesting than food. Use those qualities to your advantage.

 

I really prefer a safely anchored ex-pen to a crate for confining a small puppy indoors.

[Batmom]

P.S. If you are going to start naming actions (giving "commands"), follow the same rules as with an older dog. Get the dog's attention and then give the command ONCE and ONCE ONLY, when you know it can be followed within a second or two (literally). For example, "Come!" when she's moving purposefully toward you to get that squeaky toy and she's only @ 1' away. "In the house!" or whatever when you've got her on leash or in your arms and are just about to open the door to go in.

[Greydawg]

This is a magical time of your pup's life (yours too!). Your little baby girl is learning how to interpret and respond to the world around her. I always think of their 10-16 week old period as a particularly important time (sort of the "wonder years" period). You will want to expose her to all things positive, and be gentle yet firm with her when correction is in order. She will respond more as she matures. Have a wonderful time raising her - how exciting! Keep us posted, ok?