Puppy Terror!!

[stephaneew]

My husband and I recently got our 2nd boxer, after successfully having our boy for a year and had a great experience training him and what-not..So our puppy is 12 weeks old, we got her at 11 weeks (I know its a little old to be getting the puppy but sometimes timing isn't great!) and we are having a TERRIBLE time with her. I know we have only had her for 8 days so she is still adjusting but all that runs through my mind is our boy was NEVER this difficult and we brought him home at 11 weeks too!!
Potty training is not going well at all, I give her tons of praise and when she goes inside I have NEVER punished her, just pick her up immediately and go outside then praise when she's done! And we are seeing no signs of improvement! We had such a smooth time with our boy I never expected this! What else can I do?!?!!?
And on top of that, She has NO interest in her toys! I have about 15 toys that both her and our 1 y.o. boy share and she wants nothing to do with them. They range from teething toys to stuffed squeakys.. when she is bitey i stop her and put a toy in her mouth to encourage her, and it just isn't catching!! She bites and teethes on everything else, cabinets, carpet, her bed.. I feel so overwhelmed and so suprised at how prepared I THOUGHT I was just to find out im not!!

If anyone has any thoughts or advice, it is openly welcomed!!!!

 

[whiskers]

Some puppies are just more difficult. Our last boxer we had must have been a piece of cake as a pup, because there is no way my mom would have agreed to getting a boxer puppy again if she was anything like Juno is.

Keep at it with the potty training, you're on the right track. How often are you taking her out? When Juno was that age I think I was taking her out every 30-45 minutes (as well as after every nap, every time she drank water, and after every play session). This may be a silly question, but when you say you praise her, is it just verbal praise or does she get a treat as well? Maybe give her something super delicious like a slice of hot dog or some cheese, and only give it to her when she potties outside to keep it more rewarding (it'll become old news to her and less valuable if she gets it as a reward for other things). Don't worry yet though, she's still really young and if you've only had her 1 week, she just hasn't been reinforced enough yet. If you're not already, keep a very, very watchful eye on her so you can prevent as many accidents as possible. Put her leash on her and literally tie her to you if that's what needs to be done.

When you want to replace something like your hand for a chew toy, you need to make the toy suuuuper exciting. Shake it around, play with it yourself for a little bit... you need to get her interested in it. On the harder plastic/rubber toys, try spreading a little peanut butter on them to get her interested. And when you see her playing with the appropriate items, PRAISE her like crazy! Dogs do what works and the most reinforced behaviors are the ones most likely to be repeated. If she's rewarded every time she chews on that squeaky toy, she'll be more likely to choose that toy instead of the table the next time she has an urge to chew. Pull her away and tell her "leave it" when she chews on the incorrect thing (and if that incorrect thing happens to be you, then get up and ignore her).

Good luck and have fun! :D

 

[stephaneew]

I usually take her out every 30 minutes and she would go to the bathroom, so when we went inside I would be shocked when she goes again in like 10 minutes! I just cant believe a puppy can eliminate that much! : ) When I praise her, I give verbal and physical love, LOTS of it too! I haven't even thought about a treat. I just figured with her being so young still and her stools are so loose I dont want to make it worse, but I think that would really help the reinforcing!! I will start with that and see how it goes. Thanks!!!! I hope the next few weeks get better, I know they will, its just hard to see it now. : )

 

[CoraBoxer]

It takes time. Sure you get some dogs picking things up exceptionally fast... Like posters said earlier keep at it. We just went through what you're going through (nov/dec). Even after knowing to go outside she'll probably wait at the door for 5 sec and if not let outside she'll find a spot somewhere in the house. Or she'll get excited and completely forget. We're going to be bell training her soon because it difficult to have your eye on the dog all the time. She's good though can't complain she'll hold it nowadays. At first we'd just take her out after drinking/eating and when she got up (not so much time although we were watching her).

About the toys... maybe rotate just a few of those toys? My Cora isn't huge into playing by herself either. If we grab a toy she'll wanna play with it . Shes getting better though. When we see her going through her basket of toys to pick the one she wants to play with we just leave her alone so she can play by herself. She's good at picking out what she wants and putting it back when shes done which is funny to watch.

 

[ehayes21]

My only advice to you is to just be patient and consistent. 8 days is not even enough time for potty training or bite inhibition to start to sink in. In fact you are looking at a couple of months before either of those behaviors start to kick in. Like Whiskers said, some dogs are just harder to raise than others.

Here is a great article on teaching bite inhibition:

ClickerSolutions Training Articles --

 

[Marleysboys]

Since you've only had her for a few days, maybe she's just trying to adjust to her new environment, even though she's young, it's still a new place for her.
As far as the potty training goes..I take my 3 month old pups out before they eat,5 mins after they eat, 15 mins after that, and every 30-40 mins, and you just need to be on top of it. Of course there are going to be accidents, I've had my share already with my 2, but the more often you take them out, the less accidents..even if it means you have to take her out every 10 minutes for a while! It's frustrating, I know, but it's even more frustrating when you are constantly cleaning up the accidents! Also, whoever you got her from might have had a different approach at potty training or didn't even try to potty train her at all..

good luck with her! things WILL get easier!

 

[jbbtlr]

Things will get better! With only having her for 8 days that is really soon to expect anything to be happening. You all, including her, are just getting into a routine, learning habits and what not.

Sometimes I think it takes them a little longer to adjust also if they have been with their litter mates a little longer. Its not a bad thing just they have to get use to not having them around too!

The playing will come with the adjustment. I only put a few toys down for my dogs and then rotate them out. By doing that it is like they are getting new toys everytime..its great. Atleast they think so.

Hang in there, it will get easier. Let us know how things are going!

 

[MrBob]

Yep..alot of patience on this one.
Max (9 weeks now) has been with us for 2 weeks now and the 1st week, every 15 min after he ate, outside he went. Same with water, I leave it out until about 8pm, but while it is out and I hear him drinking, I take him out about 5-10 min after.
Now though the smarty pants sits right by the door and taps it with his paw. If I am not quick enough he will make a mistake right there. :(

Yes..praise is the most important thus far, and being 18 degrees outside, I praise him, we run inside, and I give him a treat. I say sit before the treat. I do that because my grand kids want to give him a treat and he will get bigger than them soon and I thought it best to make sure he is sitting.

About toys.. same here, Max did not play with his at 1st..he liked my socks more, so I just rolled one up and gave him that. But after a week, I bought some squeaky toys and that did the trick.

Wish you best.

 

[SteveL]

Make sure you treat her right away if she goes outside. Dogs usually will only associate the treat with acts performed in the last few seconds (according to the training I have taken) I tend to like clicker training for new tricks.

 

[stephaneew]

Thanks for all the replies guys! : ) I knew 8 days was probably a little too soon to be complaining but I felt like going crazy!! Ha.
So in just one week we have made HUGE progress! We barely have one accident a day and we started bell training and she is really getting it. She caught on to the bell training and it *seems* like she enjoys having a way to communicate.. I feel so much better! Of course, she is still a puppy so she tries to chew everything and is super active, but what a relief to see positive results!!