Four 5 1/2 year old puppies!!!...Help!!!!!!!!!!?

Question

My family and i recently purchased 4 dogs from a local breeder. we've had them about 3 1/2 months. within these last months the puppies have chewed through my carpet, i had to pull up the carpet, then they chewed through the tile underneath the carpet, they use my room as their personal bathroom. we have started housebreaking them, but have been unsuccessful sofar. to help with the training we purchased portable crates. they go all night long without soiling themselves, but when i let them out(after i walk them) and feed them, and i let them roam my room. they relieve themselve in my room, which has caused a horrid smell throughout my home. they don't have a way of telling us when they have to potty. i have successfully trained a dog before. he is able to roam my entire home and can tell us when he has to go. but my puppies won't give us a signal. i don't want to have to sell them/ give them away. but i have no other ideas on how to control them. please HELP!.

we are tight on cash, they haven't even had their 2nd set of puppy shots yet. at the time of purchase we weren't aware that we would be hitting a financial burden. i would hate to have to keep them crated all day long. it isn't fair to them, but i don't want to give them away.

*5 1/2 month

these are all boys, each dog has its own owner.and wasn't purchased by me alone. and they wasn't purchased from a puppymill. we love these dog, they are like our children. each dog has its own owner. giving them away would be like giving away my children.

our dogs are very smart. they have climbed out of their playpen, jumped over the gate, and chewed their way out of the crates.

Answer 1

Puppies don't tell you when they need to go or give a signal. What you are talking about is a trained dog. You need to face up to the fact that you are way over your head with 4 puppies at one time. I don't know what kinda of real breeder would even sell 4 at once in the first place. You need to reavaluate the situation. Training one puppy at a time is best. Two would be a stretch. 4 is impossible. You need to get rid or rehome at least 2 puppies. Then get some crates. Crate train them. They need constant care and watching. They should never be left alone. You need to get them on a schedule. The should be walked on the same schedule, feed on schedule and crated and played with on schedule.

First of all first thing in the morning before anything else even breakfast or anything walk the puppies on a lead. Now you need one person per puppy to do this. You will do better if you have a potty word you only use when you are going on a potty walk. Like (hurry up) or mine was (T-T) Believe me this helps later on down the road when it might be cold or raining. So if you have 4 puppies you must have 4 people each incharge of one puppy all the time. You do the math.

Then after the puppy goes bring it in for breakfast and water. Then put the puppy in the crate. Wait about 15 mnutes to 20 minutes walk the puppy again. Once again you will need one person per puppy to walk the puppies. All day every day.

If the puppy doesn't go re-crate it and wait another 15 minutes and walk again. The puppy should go poo and pee by then. Then and only then can the puppy be on the floor for play time. Play with the puppy for about 30 minutes and walk again. Puppies usually go after eating or exercise.

Then come in and crate for a nap.

When the puppy wakes up. Walk again and repeat the above steps.

This will be you day all day for a couple months or more.

You must be consistant.

Now do you still think you can handle 4 puppies?
Evita

Answer 2

Well, one thing I can suggest for sure is that dogs digest their food MUCH faster than humans, in only 20 minutes or so. So, once the dogs eat, put them in their crate right away for some quiet time. After 20 minutes take them all out. If they dont go to the bathroom put them back to bed for a little while, 15 minutes or so and try again. Make sure that their crate is a happy place, and not one for punishment. I wish you the best, but to be honest, I think you should seriously think about rehoming at least a couple of the dogs. With a financial crisis I dont see how you could ever properly vet and feed 4 dogs....its just not fair to you guys or the dogs. However, where there is a will theres a way. Good luck! Just remember, dont let them roam free after they eat, they digest must more quickly than you

Answer 3

I agree with many people and im sorry but i also strongly agree with DP..... you purchased from puppy mills and are in denial.... but anyways what you should do is seperate the dogs and train them. you mentioned that u were tight on money so why get 4 dogs if they are like children??!!! children require a lot of one on one attention and they use up ur money... like kids that need to go to the doctors and dentist well dogs have to go to the vetenarian too!!! u should have thought this puppy purchase through but anyways. the dogs need to be seperated for a while. buy a book (which is not that expensive) about obedience training and housebreaking or check out websites that will give information for free.... ive seen that animal shelter websites have that information.
once everyone has helped train their own dog ( since they each have their own owner or so u say) and they are housebroken then u can bring them back together.
but act quickly or else they will get bigger and older and much worse!!! animal control will take u to court and possibly seize the dogs if it is not taken care of.
dogs are not cheap!!!
good luck!!!! let us know what happens!!

Answer 4

You absolutely CANNOT be serious.. 1st thing.. Who the heck would sell 1 person FOUR puppies... PUPPYMILL.. That's who.. And OMG what the heck were you thinking buying FOUR puppies at the same time.. What did you hope to accomplish by doing this?? Start your own puppymill???
Most people here can't even housetrain 1 puppy, can't stop 1 puppy from nipping their hands, can't stop 1 puppy from eating their underwear, chewing their carpet, or their shoes.. Let alone 4.. Here is my suggestion.. RETURN 3 of those puppies to the puppymill you got them from.. You cannot raise 4 littermates together in the house and have complete control cause you have absolutely NO experience in raising puppies..

Do you know that if the SPCA shows up at your place with that smell and that mess.. puppies running all over like that, they are very likely to take them away from you.. Do the right thing and return at least 3 of those puppies.... Tonight!

Answer 5

I don't know much about dog training, but I'll give you what I've got.

Wake up, take out of crate---bathroom pee.
Eat breakfast---bathroom poo.
Exercise---another shot at bathroom poo---back in crate.


Puppies do not get let out in house unless they're potty trained. Keep pulling the crate method until it's been a while since they've peed in the house (p.s. there are such things as doooooors! Use them to keep the dogs in certain areas!). Make sure the dogs have LOTS of stuff to chew on and spray "bitrex" on everything else. Clean up stinky areas, several times if necessary with Nature's Secret (it's at the pet store and it really works).

Personally, I don't think they'd be near this amount of trouble if you weren't trying to train 4 at one time!!

Rule of thumb: Out of crate--potty, finished dinner--poo, in the house unmonitored--crated, in the house monitored--close off doors to limit possible accident areas.

Answer 6

First off you abosolutely have too much going on. You need to get rid of at least 2 if not 3 of those puppies. They have to have their shots or they can be exposed to viruses that can kill them. They need proper care and training and you are not able to give it to them. You need to hire a trainer and get these dogs under control. If you cannot afford a trainer you need to sell or give the dogs to a home that can afford to take care of them. There are thousands of puppies and dogs put to death every day because people buy them and then cannot control them or cant afford them. If you give at least 2 if not 3 of them away, you have a chance at caring for the 1 that you keep. 1 dog is hard to handle let alone 4. That is crazy to take on unless you are a professional trainer, even then I think its a LOT of work. Be a loving and caring person and give or sell them to a family that can take care of them. When you become financially stable look into getting another dog at a shelter or humane society.

Answer 7

First thing in the morning, they need to be taken out to do their business. Feed and walk them, then back to the yard to do their business again. The puppies need to be taken outside when waking up, after eating or play. This amounts to about every 2 hrs. Be consistent, and they will be house trained.Give them specific chew toys.( Not an old pair of shoes, as they don't know new from old shoes.) When you see them going after something that is not allowed, pick them up and direct them toward their toys and play with them.
Soon you will have housebroken, well behaved pups. Be consistent.

Answer 8

if you can't afford puppy training classes then i would suggest buying an extendable play pen that you can line with newspaper or wee wee pabs. you can arrange it so that their crate attaches to the play pen. the average pen will run about $40+ but should be no more than 80 for a pretty large pen.

your pups are too young to have the run of the house. when they are older and fully trained then you can allow the to be like your other dog. don't expect them to be able to run loose until they're at least 6 months

Answer 9

well training 4 pups at one time....is hard. and even though u didn't know about the money problems ahead....i think it maybe a bit selfish to keep them.... i would say rehome atleast 2 or call the byb..tell them the problem...why rehome...for one u are having such a hard time training them and u can't afford to keep them....and ur home smells...

if u insist on keeping them don't let them have full run of the house. put a baby gate at the bottom of the steps shut doors and they need one on one training..and caught in the act of pottying on the floor...i think u may have bit off more then u can chew....

i trained 2 litter mates at once...but i have also trained many dogs in my life...not just one. and it wasn't easy for me....let alone 4...or the fact even people who have had more then one dog before have problems with 1 pup.

Answer 10

After each feeding take the pups outside, eventually this will become a routine and they will let you know when they have to go. Most puppies have to go outside as soon as the finish eating or in about 30 min. Get them chew toys to keep them from the carpet. what breed are they, some breeds are harder to trian then others. Good luck.