Your Top 3 Puppy Problems, Solved!
By: Bryan Finck
Tags: Advice, Animals, Dogs, Puppies, Pets

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Your Top 3 Puppy Problems, Solved!

Things can get messy with your new pup at home, but there are strategies to make your life easier.

Photo by Berkay Gumustekin on Unsplash

When people find out that I’m involved in pet rescue, they usually ask me how to deal with new puppies or newly adopted dogs and some of their… less endearing habits. But what follows are the three questions I get asked the most, so I wanted to address them here for the Tenderly audience to utilize and share them as well. These are practices I have found very reliable, and they should help you as well. Please remember every animal is different so you want to adapt as necessary to fit your schedule, home, and other circumstances.

The one best thing you can do for you and your dog, no matter what else you may do, is to have PATIENCE. Even with the best and most trainable of dogs, this isn’t a super quick process. If you don’t give up, they won’t give up, and you will have great results, it’s just a matter of time.

Please note, I am not a trainer, I provide these methods as techniques that have worked for me and those in our pet rescue group over the span of many years.

How Do I Get Them Potty Trained?

Depending on where your pup came from and how old it is, chances are good that she hasn’t had a lot of formal potty training. Never fear though, it can be done! The most crucial part of training any dog is having a routine that you can stick with all the time. Puppies especially crave structure and giving them that structure gives them the best chance for success.

You must take them out to do their business at the same time every day, and if possible take them out through the same door every time as well. It doesn’t matter what times you go, just that you can go at the same time every day. If you wake up for work at 5 AM, that’s when your pup gets out of the crate and goes potty for the first time. You will want to feed them at the same time each day as well, then take them outside again within 30 minutes of eating. In the early stages, you want to pick up any water bowls except at mealtime, so that they only drink when you allow it. If you do give them water at any other time, make sure you take them out within 15 minutes to avoid accidents.

If your pup was going on potty pads before they came to you, it is a good idea to put one down somewhere in the house. This isn’t a substitute for going outside, but it helps give you a safety net in case of accidents. Every time they go on the pad, you should move it closer to the door you go through to get outside. Soon enough they will associate going potty with the door, which makes your job even easier.

Whenever you are actually outside with her, it is crucial to use positive reinforcement when they do their business. Dogs, and especially puppies, have a tremendously short memory, thus it’s important that you are paying attention so you can quickly provide the reinforcement. Whenever she goes potty, make a HUGE deal out of it, giving her love and using whatever tone of voice and words you’ve found that make her happy. A pocket full of treats will go a long way too, so make sure to grab some on your way out the door and give her plenty when she does her business. The more she associates going potty outside with fun and treats, the better her training will go, and the happier you will be!

How Do I Stop Them From Nipping and Biting?

There are a couple of things you want to do here that work in conjunction with each other. When puppies are still nursing from their mom, rolling around and exploring their world all day with their brothers and sisters, that is the time where they learn most of their lessons and early behaviors.

Just like human babies, they learn by touching, tasting, and of course, putting things in their mouths. If they happen to bite down or get too rough with another pup, that pup will let out a piercing yelp. This is their signal that their sister has gone too far and needs to stop biting, and this is what you need to emulate when training your pup.

A lot of playtime, togetherness, and physical contact is recommended in the beginning weeks of your time at home with your pup. This establishes the relationship and also is the best time to teach your pup that you are in charge. While you are playing, try to have an appropriate toy in your hand or close by. When she nips at you, let out that piercing yelp sound, as loud as you can. This should stop her in her tracks and probably earn you that super-cute head tilts we all love to see. This is your moment to tell her “No” or “No bite” in a stern voice. As soon as it is clear she has stopped nipping, give her the toy and after a few seconds of her playing with it, give lots of praise and treats.

The objective here is the same as with potty training. You want to discourage bad behavior while encouraging and rewarding good behavior. When you redirect her from nipping at you to playing with the toy, you are teaching her that the toy is the right thing to play with. Remember it is vital to reward her immediately, whether with verbal praise or treats (or both!) so she clearly understands what she has done right. The sooner you are practicing the correct behaviors with her, the easier it is to head off any bad habits before they can form.

Photo by Isabela Kronemberger on Unsplash

How Do I Keep Them From Chewing on Things?

And finally, we get asked all the time about how to stop them chewing on furniture, shoes, toys, all of that. Fixing this is partly similar to the nipping, where you want to redirect them to chew on things that are appropriate for them. The biggest thing you can do to help yourself in this regard is to move every possible thing they shouldn’t chew on out of their range. If the shoes and toys are on shelves up high, they can’t be chewed on!

Before we talk about ways to stop the habit if it’s already entrenched, the best piece of advice I can give you in dog training is this: a well-behaved dog is a tired dog. The more exercise you can give them, mentally and physically, the less likely they are to get into mischief. Bad behavior typically comes about when they get bored and go looking for something fun to do. So be sure to have plenty of toys on hand, give them lots of running and walk them whenever you can. Wear them out, safely based on the heat and weather conditions, and you will find training significantly easier.

Now then, back to what to do if the chewing habit is more fully-formed if they are chewing on table legs and corners and such. There are a couple of things you can do to deter them from chewing, the first of which is using a spray bottle to hit them with a quick blast of water when they are doing something wrong. It doesn’t hurt them, but it is very effective at getting their attention, at which time you redirect them to an appropriate chew toy, exactly like you did to stop them from nipping.

The other alternative, if the spray bottle and redirection aren’t getting it done, is a set of products designed to ward them off from chewing by spraying the item with something having a horrible taste. The widely used term is “bitter-apple” spray because that is the most well-known brand. Generally, it is a set of completely safe products that make tastes dogs don’t like, with the end goal being that they learn not to chew because they want to avoid that taste. There are other variations on the idea, but the goal is the same. I would actually combine this with the spray bottle so that you are actively reinforcing the idea with them and have the spray as a backup if you aren’t looking all the time.