Puppy Questions??

Question

I just got a puppy a week ago, he is 8 weeks old and he is a major biter and keeps having accidents in the house. I have tried giving him spankings when he does both, but he seems to do them more now. He is actually biting harder and going to the bathroom more in the house. I don't know how else to teach him, so if you have any advice, please tell me. Thanks in advance.

I forgot to add, the puppy only has accidents when we stay at my house. Other than that, he ALWAYS goes outside when we stay at my boyfriend's house. He will sit outside for 20 min or more at my house and wait til he comes in to go and even after I punish him for it, he does it again 5 min later.

The dog does not respond to yelling or loud noises, that is why I give him a little spanking. Everyone who claims I am "abusing" my dog needs to calm down, because that is what the vet told me to do (And yes, I have a vet). He said give him a slight tap on the butt when he made a mistake. It's not like I whip put a baseball bat and smack him around.

Answer 1

First of all spanking the pup or swating him on the butt is something that the dog does not instinctivly understand. Vets are just that "VETS" and are trained in vet medicine and are not usually animal behavior experts. The best way to house break your dog is to use it's natural instinct to "Den" which is where the crate training comes into play. Dogs will not instinctivly use the bathroom where they eat or sleep. What you need to do is go out and buy a wire mesh crate that is specifically the right size for the breed of you dog. Get a crate that has an adjustable divider in it. Reason? If the pups sleep area is to big he will find a corner of the crate and eliminate there. The ajustable crates make it where you can increase the size of the sleep area in the crate as your pup grows. When you first begin crate training the pup will wine and cry. Let him! He will get used to it. Make it as comfortible for him as possible. Put a blanket or a dog pillow for bedding, A couple of his favorite toys, and maybe a pig hoof to chew on, And probably the most important thing. ALWAYS feed the pup in the crate. Eventually he will instinctively start to look at his crate as a den and will see it as a comfortible, Secure,Safe place to be. Make him sleep in it at night. At first he will cry and wine because he will want to be where you are which is also a normal thing. He see's you as a pack member and his natural instinct is to be with the pack."Don't worry crate training won't kill his pack instinct" When he cries you will feel compelled to let him out in order to get him to stop. DON'T! Because if you do he will learn to use this as a trigger to get you to let him out. Only let him out when he has settled down and is quiet for a period of time. This will teach him that he will come out on your terms not his. How the crate training teaches him not to pottie anywhere but outside is like I said dogs will not pottie in their den where they eat and sleep. And by keeping him in the crate or den when it's sleep time or when your not at home teaches a young pup like yours bladder control, Which is something young pups don't have. It's not their fault because they don't know how untill they mature some. Just like a human baby can't help it.Ya see? Everytime you take him out of his crate take him directly outside to do his buisness. DON'T play with him while he is going out to do his buisness. It will confuse him. He needs to learn that going outside means go potty and it's not play time. As soon as he has finished bring him back in immediately. Then give praise and play with him. This is possitive re-enforcement and he will begin to see it as a reward for proper behavior (Pottying outside). Also don't put water in his crate. It will make it harder for him to hold it because he will sit there and drink even when he isn't thirsty. In fact it's is a good idea to keep his water bowl out of reach completely when he is running loose in the house and out of his crate. And only water him periodicly throughout the day. Every 2 to 3 hours. Same reason? Pups will frequent their water dish to drink small amounts when they are not really thirsty out of bordom and this caused their bladders to fill with fluid and they will have accidents. A good way to teach your dog a trigger word when it's time to go out is while he is in the act of doing his buisness use a chosen word i.e Potty, or take a break.. Say this repeatedly as he is eliminating. What this does after a while is it teaches the dog word association as to what he is outside to do. Sometimes a dog will act distracted or feral when your trying to get them to go potty and using this technique with teaching your dog a trigger word will put him back on the task at hand. I have tought all 4 of my dogs to potty on command by using this method. I can let them all out at the same time and if they start running around goofing off instead of taking care of buisness all I have to say is "Take a Break" and point to a certain corner of the yard and they will immediatly run to a certain area and potty. Even if they don't have to go that bad they will try to make something happen. I know it sounds like it would be somewhat difficult to get a dog to do this? But let me assure it's not that hard at all. Dogs have a natural ability to associate a certain word with performing a certain task. Just like Sit, Stay, Roll over, ect. Potty is no different. Good luck with your new pup and don't worry. All it takes is patients and consistancy.
P/S. Also there should be a couple of time periods throughout the day when you are at home that the pup is in his crate. It helps them get used to a down time. And helps them get used to being in the crate and how to relax while in it quicker

Answer 2

Your first problem is that you are abusing your dog. Spanking makes them afraid of you, not the behaviour. It also leads to additional behavioural problems. Did the breeder not go over this with you?

Your second problem is that it's unrealistic to expect an 8 week old dog to be housebroken perfectly. This on top of the abuse is freaking him out.

There may be some sort of smell or environment at your house that is inducing this behaviour. Something that you can't detect. It couuld be that something is scaring him there and so he is eliminating inappropriatly. It could be anything from loud noises to a residual odor in the carpet.

THe MOST punishment a dog should receive is a sharp "NO" *at the time* of the mistake. Anything after the fact will confuse your puppy.

And make sure you are consistent with the going outside.

Housebreaking questions are asked on here numerous times a day. You might want to try the search box above to see if you can find some other advice to help you through this trying time.


As far as the biting, puppies are biters. That's just how it works. Again, a firm "NO" can help to break this, but you also have to provide lots of toys and love. If your dog only sees you an hour a day and isn't played with, this can lead to issues. More play time, and NEVER with your hand, and you can start to break him of this.

Good luck to you and your new little one. : )


Edit: Your vet is wrong. No reputable trainer would EVER tell you to hit your dog. You've now changed your story from "spankings" to "a tap on the butt", I assume because people told you that you are wrong. Either way, dogs do not respond to this type of abuse. You say he doesn't respond to yelling - why are you yelling? His problems keep getting worse, so obviously your violent behaviour isn't working, so you tell me, who is right? Sorry but if you think that abuse only stems from baseball bats and whips, then you don't deserve a dog.

Answer 3

Stop spanking him. Never spank a puppy. Ever. He needs to go outside as often as every 45 minutes while you stay with him until he goes. When he goes outside, give him a yummy soft dog food treat, praise him in a happy excited voice, and bring him back in. Don't do anything to him if he has a mistake. It's not his fault, because he doesn't know what you want.

When you can't watch him 100% of the time, he should be in a crate. His crate should have fun chew toys in it, and never be used for a "time out" or punishment.

Do nothing if he has an accident in the house except pick him up quickly and bring him outside with you until he goes. He won't do anything outside alone. Clean up the mess in the house with an enzyme cleaner or something to remove all the smell.

The biting....he's a puppy. Scream loudly when he bites. Really. He needs to know it hurts you, but don't hit him. He needs lots of chew toys to divert his attention to.

Please read some training books by Ian Dunnbar or Patricia McConnel.

Answer 4

I would suggest crate training him,,, go and get a crate and the crate should only be big enough for him to stand up, turn around and lay down that way he cant find a corner to go in and move away from it,,, I put him in there when every you cant watch him at all times,,put the puppy on a feeding scedule once in the morning then at in the after noon and then in the evening untill he is 6 months old then you can just feed him once in the morning and once in the evening,,, that way the puppy will start to get on a potty scedule as well take him out about 5 to 10 min, after he eats,,,take him out to go every 2 hours cause he is still pretty young,,,when you go to bed then take him out and then put him in the crate and then as soon as you get up then take him out,,if you have to go to work or run errons take him out to go potty before you leave and when you return then take him out agian,,, when you take him out just say to him "Go Potty" and stick to that same words,,, when he goes then praise him alot by giving him a treat or by words by saying good boy and give him a belly rub,,, consistance is the key to potty training and for the biting then i would tell him in a stern voice NO and then give him a chew toy and when he takes the chew toy then say good boy,,,, I hope this works and if you are patient enough the crate training will work it is the best way to potty train,,, P.S. please dont expect him to be potty trained at 8 weeks old cause it does take a little bit but not long if you use the crate i had mine potty trained with in a week and half,,,

Answer 5

Crate train, crate train, crate train. I did this for the first time with our new puppy and it is the best thing ever. You leave him in there for short periods of time and when you let him out you take him directly outside. You can leave him in the crate for longer periods of time (not longer than 6 hours) as he gets older. After a while he will let you know when he has to go potty. Mine scratches on the door. As for the biting you have to distract him with a loud NO, can with coins in it or a loud clap of your hands. Then at that time give him some sort of chew toy and praise him when he takes the toy. He will learn that you are praising him for chewing on the toy and not biting you. Do not pull away from him or play tug of war sort of games because that just encourages biting. HTH

Answer 6

For the biting: let out a really loud OUCH! when he does it. That will startle him. It's called bite inhibition & he would've learned from his littermates & mom had he still been with them. As for the accidents: he's just a baby so you have to watch him every minute & be ready to scoop him up & take him outside. Go with him. He might not know that outside is for peeing. Praise him when he goes like it's the best thing in the world. If you just let him out by himself he doesn't know why. Good luck!

Answer 7

Don't hit your puppy. Just yell at them firmly.
I have a teacup yorkie and we first trained her on pee pee pads.
When she wouldnt go on them we would pick her up, stick her nose in the mess she made, put her on the pad and say pee pee hear! in a really firm voice. and then we put her in her play pen for an hour or so. and it really has worked. Also, if he goes to the bathroom in one room specifically then just block off the entrance there. Also, make sure after you clean it up to clean it with windex because then they will keep going there because they smell what theyve done before. But since he's a puppy now I would try the pee pee pads and also take him outside.

If he's biting get him chew toys if you don't already.
He's teething so he will be biting a lot.

Good luck!

Answer 8

This is a great example of punishment backfiring, and creating more of a problem than was originally there. *Please, do not ever, ever hit your dog.*
Check out the links below, which will help you to learn how to teach your dog bite inhibition. Be sure that every member of your household helps you to do this and be consistent so that your puppy will learn.

Answer 9

I would buy a good book on training a pup or maybe even borrow one from a library. I wouldn't continue spanking him for what he does wrong though, that will not make sense to him and might even frighten him... learn how to speak to and correct your dog in a way he can understand in his natural language. (:

Answer 10

When we got our new puppy he was 8 weeks. We limited his access to one room only & I covered the entire floor with many layers of newspapers. For many days it was hard work - cleaning, changing those newspapers. Mean time we were taking him to the park to sniff around, to watch older dogs & to get the idea. At night he was crying for food & missing his mum. I was feeding him with warm milk few times at night time.

Please consider puppy's yong age - have love & patience. In no time your puppy will learn & will give you many hours of pleasure & his devoted friendship.

Answer 11

Talk to your vet (you DO have a vet, right?) about recommendations on how to housebreak your puppy. Read a book. Do SOMETHING to get a clue, because right now what you're doing is abusing your dog and punishing him for stuff when he has no way of understanding what the hell you're punishing him for. You're expecting him to be able to make the connection - dogs don't work that way.