love my puppy

[dempseybeau]

We just got our first boxer puppy a few weeks ago. Dempsey just turned 12 weeks today and he is fawn. He is the cutest thing and gives us a lot of joy and laughter. We are having some trouble with crate training....he hates the crate and will go to the bathroom in it everytime we put him in and he's is never in it longer than 2 or 3 hours. Im about to give up on it. I've tried putting his food in there but since he is a finiky eater, that doesnt work, neither does treats or his favorite toys. The other problem we have is that he tends to have some aggressive behavior towards some people he will growl and jump on people and nip at them, I am afraid that this will continue when he gets older and the nipping will turn to biting. We are enrolling him in obedience training when he is four months old. But have a month until then. I try to tell him no and I've used the shaker can (which has immediate effects but he will do it again later on). If anyone has any suggestions on what I should do about either problem, please let me know. Thank you in advance. Karen & Craig

 

[Julie Davis]

Welcome Karen and Craig! Boomer was never crated, so I don't have any good ideas for you there. You might want to post this on the" boxer ring forum" instead of" introductions", because it will get more views. There are so many forums on this site, that very few of us ever have time to go to all of them, but the Boxer Ring and Chit-Chat get the most views. I try to come to the introductions forum as much as possible, because I want everyone to feel welcome. I'm glad you found this site, and I look foward to hearing more from you.

 

[balrie]

welcome. it's good to see another newbie!:p I just got Jack 10 days ago but he's a year old so I don't have the puppy problems. But I do have a background of dog re trianing. So I thought I'd give you some advice that might help with your puppy for what it's worth.
First get him checked for any type of urinary track disorder that may be causing uncontrollable bladder stuff.
Then if thats not the case you might try tying him off. In the old days before crate training I used to culturize street dogs that had never been indoors by laying down some newspapers in a 3' x 3' square and putting the harness on the dog and tying him to some heavy or secure thing (like the radiator). This gives the dog a small space that he or she usually won't soil unless they can't help it (much like a crate does) and still gives the dog a sense of freedom. This is good also for letting the dog get used to other household pets, and yet not being able to chase and eat them.
I don't know what to tell you about the nipping. Hopefully the pup will grow out of it. My mom once had a dog that nipped and she put a rubber band around it's mouth. This didn't stop it from nipping but she would snap the band and sting the dogs nose when ever it did it and it stopped. (it only took two days of that)

But nowdays that might be dog cruelty or something. I'm not sure.

Good luck.

Balrie