A First Breakthrough!!!

[Gail Lyons]

My furbaby Joey, 4 1/2 months old, is making headway. Tonight he went to the door and told me it was time to go for a walk!!.....I really feel bad, because he is crated about 9 hours while I'm at work. He still has accidents in his crate, but we just ignore those and wash his fuzzy blanket every evening. He is also crated at night and seems to be fine for the 6 hours I sleep.

I never thought I would think any breed was as great as the Mastiff, but....Joey has sure proved me wrong. He is soooo sweet, even my cat loves him.

He seems to really like rawhide chewies, are they safe?? I throw them away as soon as they start to get soggy and disgusting. He would really like to chew on my shoes, but so far I have been able to keep them away from Joey.

I can't imagine not having this bundle of love and energy around......he is such a joy.

 

[malinda]

We cut off the rawhide that is slimmy and gross. That way Megan won't swallow it or get it stuck in her throat. Than we give her the rest back.

My sister in law, who has a dog but not a boxer, lets her dog eat the rawhide and doesn't supervise her and never had a problem. I feel safer keeping an eye on her though.

 

[Jill Rolser]

Hi Gail,
Just a tip with the housetraining if you're having trouble: While I found that the crate is the best houstraining tool, to supplement that,I purchased a bell at a craft shop, hung it on a string on the doorknob. Every time I took the puppy out for a potty walk, or she looked like she had to go, I would take her to the door, ring the bell with her paw, and say "ring the bell!" then take her outside to potty, and when she did, praise, praise, praise!!! Pretty soon,she began to ring it on her own, so even if I was in another room, I would know she had to go out- thus reducing the number of accidents when I turned my back!

If he's having accidents in his crate, it may be too big for him still. Dogs don't like to potty where they sleep. We used a divider until she grew. The crate should be just big enough to turn around and lie down, any bigger and he can potty in one side, sleep in the other.

Hope that helps!
Jill & Bailie

 

[boxerfan]

Here's another vote for the bell so your dog can let you know he has to go out. It worked great for us. Ali will still ring it occasionally but has now learned to come and stare at us, perhaps with a little whine.