JaspersDad

Same as the breeder. Mixture of eukanuba and wet puppy food. He's struggling with eukanuba at the moment. Basically just liking the wet food off it. So I've been wetting it to make it easier for him which seemed to work.

I like the leash idea. I tried it a couple of times today. I put the collar on this morning and he was completely fine with it. When it was time to go out, I used the leash and there was a changed behaviour. Nothing crazy. Instead of chasing me around, he just walked away from me. Even if I put the loosest leash possible, knelt on the ground and called to him, he would still move away. But I think once I get to the point where he goes the toilet and then I release him, it'll good. Also the motivating by people is another great idea. I think that might be the key for this little guy but we'll see. Appreciate the support. I know none of this is uncommon. Think I just like to hear from people that gone through their own version of this. After last nights antic's, he pretty much slept all day. Had to take him out a bunch of times because it looks like things aren't agreeing with his tummy still. Bring on tonight. Hoping we can tire the little guy out and then he'll drift off to a dream of chasing cars and burying bones.

All good points. I'm naturally wound a little tight but we are loving the little guy. I'm just worried with the howling in the crate mainly. He's a baby yes, but I also feel bad that I let me baby sleep in poo for a while there so just trying to see if I can prevent it next time. I've only got one week to be around him all the time, so my main focus is to make it easy for him when I'm gone. I don't want to lavish attention on him over the next week and then not be around for 8 hours every day. But I take what you said on board. Not a huge deal. Just concerned about the little guy. We're loving parents so he'll be fine, just want to make it a little easier early on.

Oh the meal question! Completely forgot. The breeder wanted us to feed him 4 times a day... which to me seems like a lot and I thought is probably pushing back the potty time and making it dangerous for everyone involved. The breeder said to give him his first meal at 4:30 and take it from there. So we've been feeding at around 6:00am, 11:00am, 4:00pm and 7:00pm. Next week, it'll be back to 3 meals skipping the 11:00am and increasing the size of the 6:00am and 4:00pm meals. What do you guys think? I felt like the late dinner might be causing trouble? I've attached a picture of the trouble maker.

Well, it was short lived. Its 7:00am here and we probably slept about 30 minutes all up last night. It was a horrendous night. It started with the little guy only doing a tiny little number two before bed time which had me worried seeing he absolutely destroyed his dinner for the first time. We're having issues with potty at the moment. He does his little quick wee as soon as you set him down and then he bolts for the house. I pick him up, take him back to the potty spot and he just runs off again. So its been quite an ordeal. Trying to stick to consistent meal times and figuring out when he needs to do number twos will be great. I've got a question about meals but I'll get to that soon :) Now... back to last night. Basically, from the second he was put in the crates he just whined. The first night he whined when we put him in, stopped after 20 minutes and then a few hours which required a quick outside break and everything was perfect minus a few little whinges. Last night was constant. Just the worst noises I've heard from an animal. Had us really concerned. Lots of scratching on the blankets and banging on the cage. So we took him out every hour or so. He did his usual quick sprinkle (if he's even doing that) and then runs back to the house. So we spent a few minutes outside each time (should have been longer in hindsight). The last time I put him out was 4am, same story. Back in the crate, howling. My partner gets up at 5am goes to let him out again and he's gone number 2 in the crate. Nightmare. To make it worse, the toy that we gave the breeder to get the litter smell on it was covered in poop as well so I've got no idea what I need to do there. So, I'm completely lost now. Don't know how he's going to cope tonight. He's not really liking the look at the crate at the moment. I have a little towel that Ive been using as place for him sit no matter where it is, mainly for the couch, but most of the time it sits in front of the crate. He's still loving that at least. Just picked him up, towel and all, and put half in the crate to try to ease him back into it. Should I just give up on this for now and try crate training later? My plan when I go back to work is to set up a big pen somewhere in the house, put down some pads or newspaper, his crate, toys etc. I was hoping I could just crate train now so he'd know that he's supposed to go outside. And then once he gets that, get him on the pads after that. At the moment, he's just dropping tiny pees everywhere in the house, we're not sure when he's going outside and the poos are just hard to get out of him. Sorry for the massive post. Just at my wits end this morning. Last night was terrible. We need to find something that works at night soon. My partner is studying for exams at the moment after work 14 hour days at work so she needs some rest. .

Haha, thanks for the reply. Its encouraging to hear some of the supportive comments people are leaving. He's really young and I guess I set myself a deadline to make him happy and settled before I head back to work. I had a plan. I don't think he checked his email. Almost forgot the payment picture :) Edit: apologies. Struggling to add pictures. Tried attachments and also an imgur link.

Just an update with how little Jasper is going. We got a call from the breeder and said he was good to go. Picked him up yesterday and he's slowly getting used to the place. Pretty much follows me or my partner around if he's out of his crate. The crating is going pretty well. Had him in there overnight and only had to take him out once in the middle of the night. Other than that, he didn't stir..except for the first hour or whimpering :) Had a few problems cropping up. The first being the little guy is soooo small I can't work out if he's going potty or not. Haven't been sure a few times so it was hard to praise him. The amount of pee is so small, I didn't even notice him pee on the floor... twice. Both times I'd just brought him back in for a minute or two and put him in the crate. Somehow, he managed to relieve himself in that period. Another reason why its been hard to work out if he's been going or not. Trying to be more careful now. I smelt the blankets in his crate and he doesn't seemed to have gone in there thank god. Today he's done some sloppy work on the yard so there's that to deal with now too. But the biggest issue I've discovered... he doesn't like treats. Like whatso ever. Granted I haven't tried everything but I have tried little bits of chicken, cheese, liver treats, smackos... I bought a bunch of stuff just to see what he'd like so I can use that to train him. But he's been completely disinterested with everything except the cheese, which he took a couple of tiny pieces but than that was it. (probably explains the sloppy poos too). He's not really into toys yet either. Need to find something that he likes. So I'm at a bit of dead end at the moment. I'm just trying to praise him as much as possible when he does good things and little stern "no's" when he's bad. All in all, things are good. Just worried about how docile he is. Nothing seems to phase him. Just wants to be picked up constantly.

Yep, I'm really just looking at this time off as a way of bonding and getting him to trust me. Like with crating, grooming, etc. I like to plan everything I do in my life. I realise this is going to go completely out the window but at least like to have plan at the start :)

At the start, I'm going to try crating him for a day or two. (Hope that's enough, its hard to work out) And I don't mean just put him in there and leave him for the day. I'll do the slowly slowly approach whether its only a few seconds at the start, open, reward. Then later increase it etc. My current hope is that I can leave him in the closed crate at night for a few nights so he's used to it, before expanding it to the pen... or should I just leave him in there for now? So many questions :) I'm never having kids!

This is kinda what I had in mind. But at first I was just going to try and do the crate training on its own. Once he's pretty settled in there, open it up to the pen. Eventually, we'll give him access to the entire house (increasing room by room) but I'm hoping by the end of the week, I'll have him sleeping in the crate ok, then during the day he'll be happy enough in his pen... which is basically half of a spare bedroom. No carpet thank god so puppy messes shouldn't be too much drama. But I think I will be amazed if he uses the puppy pads on his own (Without any training), but fingers crossed. Lol. I love it that everyone says take heaps of photos. I'm more than happy to share once he's here

Hey guys, Thanks for the responses. I does seem like a lot of common sense which is great. I think my main reason to take some time off was to just reinforce some good behaviour. Mainly him being comfortable in the crate and 'his area'. I want to be able to put him his crate when needed (like transporting or generally keeping him out of the way while cleaning or something). But I guess I am completely in the dark about toilet training. If I should take every opportunity to toilet him outside to his spot, so how does he know where to "go" inside if I don't teach him that? How do I train both? My plan for being home with him for that first week was more about supervising then pampering. Just put him in his area, play with him, feed him, toilet train him, redirect bad behaviour and reward good behaviour. Basically put him in the environment we will eventually leave him unsupervised in. I figured he'll find the whole ordeal quite stressful, so I can be near by to reward him (once he's calmed down). A couple more things if that's ok? As far as the crate goes, is it ok to move it around or should it stay in the one place? I think I figured I could move it around the house depending on where we were. Like during the weekdays, it'll be in his area but when I'm at home, I could move it to the lounge room so he could be around me more? I'd like to be able to give him a few areas in the house for resting/sleeping but wasn't sure if that would confuse him. I really appreciate you guys writing back. Any advice is warmly received at this point. :)

Afternoon everyone! In about a week, I'm bringing home my little bundle of joy, a Shih Tzu named "Jasper". In preparation for this, I've read as much info on puppies as I possible could in regards to crate training, clicker training, potty training, etc. And the one thing that stands out for me is that there is a lot of conflicting info out there. The main thing I'm hoping to get help with is the first week. I've taken a week off work to spend some time with the pup and hopefully make him feel safe and happy at home. After that week is up, I'm back at work for 8 hours a day. So the plan is that I'll be able to block off a few doorways in the house and give him access to a spare room and the kitchen through out the day while I'm out. My question is... seeing as I'm only really giving myself a week, what should I be doing with that time? I like the idea of crating so I'm going to try to get him used to being in the crate and potty training him that way. But when it comes to potty training, my ideal way is that when I'm at home, I can take him outside but when I'm not, he can use puppy pads or something like that. How do I do this? Do I spend the first week training him on the pads, then the next week take him outside when I can and hope for the best when I'm not around (and hope he uses the pads still). I guess I'm worried I'll confuse by taking him to eliminate at 2 different spots. Eventually I think he'll have access to the yard and house while I'm out (when he's big enough and I've dog friendlied up the place with water tight enclosures) but I'll cross that bridge when I get there. I have a million questions (first pet) but I'll try and keep it at that. But if anyone has any tips, schedule or anything for me knowing that I've only got a week with him before I go back to work, I would be incredibly grateful! I can't wait to bring him home but I also want to make sure we get off to the best start possible when he does get here. Sorry for being longwinded. So excited!