Two questions

    • Gold Top Dog

    Two questions

     Hey guys, I feel like such a nusiance now with all of the questions I'm asking, but ya'll are so good at helping me out! Okay, so Simba, my 10 week old puppy has been using his crate since day 1. My question is, am I keeping him in it for too long? He sleeps in there for a good 5 hours at night before he needs to pee. When I take him out during the day he's usually out for a good hour, with some potty brakes in between play/roaming around downstairs time. Then he goes back in his crate for an hour or two and rests. This goes on throughout the day. Is it too much or is that okay?

     

    Another one is he's still scared to go up the stairs in the house. He'll go down the two steps to get outside and a few times went up them but now he flat out refuses. I don't want to DRAG him because that'll only make it worse, and I've tried just bringing him over and placing him on the first step, it doesn't work. He did start going up on the landing of the stairs the lead up to the second floor yesterday, and I praised him. How can I get him over this though? I've heard of dangling them on the stairs but that doesn't sound right...has that worked for anyone else? 

     

    Thanks guys!

    • Gold Top Dog

     Can you place treats on each step?  Use encouragement and rewards to get him comfortable with the stairs?  It could be that at 10 weeks, he's still too small to navigate a lot of steps at a time, so patience may just be the key here.

    • Gold Top Dog

    Yeah, I'm thinking he's too little to get up those steps and DOWN is pretty scarey too!  Treats might help, but I'm thinking time to grow will help a whole lot more. I don't believe in forcing a dog to overcome his/her fear.  It's best to help them to do so in slow, gentle steps.  One of my boys developed an absolute TERROR of hard floors and we lived for months with rugs all over the place to make him feel more secure.

    As far as the crate, if he's happy and content, there's probably not a problem.  Often one or more of my crew will seek out a crate for some quiet time, and my youngest is FIVE, so......

     

    • Gold Top Dog

     I might just try that. I've tried a few things, but not that in particular. I've tried making it exciting for him by using my excited 'lets play' voice, I've also tried showing him a treat and slowly making my way up the stairs or one of his toys. He just barks and whines in frustration and paws at the bottom stair. :-/

    • Gold Top Dog

    glenmar

    Yeah, I'm thinking he's too little to get up those steps and DOWN is pretty scarey too!  Treats might help, but I'm thinking time to grow will help a whole lot more. I don't believe in forcing a dog to overcome his/her fear.  It's best to help them to do so in slow, gentle steps.  One of my boys developed an absolute TERROR of hard floors and we lived for months with rugs all over the place to make him feel more secure.

    As far as the crate, if he's happy and content, there's probably not a problem.  Often one or more of my crew will seek out a crate for some quiet time, and my youngest is FIVE, so......

     

     

    Yeah he tends to slip a little at times, and if he's just too scared to move I'll pick him up. I will try first to get him over there by talking to him in my excited/happy tone and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. 

     

    Yeah I mean sometimes he whines a little bit, but give it 10 minutes at tops and he's quiet and asleep. He also has toys in there to keep him occupied. 

    • Gold Top Dog

     

    Here's a picture of Brianna and Brandon before they learned to do the stairs outside. See Brianna yelling at me to come back and get her? 

    A few days later, they both figured out how to go up and down. I say... enjoy it while you can! At least now you can keep your pup slightly contained. Smile They learn soon enough.

    • Gold Top Dog

     HAHA! That's like Simba. He'll sit at the landing barking and pawing at the stairs.

    Yeah I kind of like the fact that he doesn't dare go upstairs because he's REALLY fast when he wants to be. The little brat. :-p Love him though. 

    • Bronze

    The general rule is that puppies can old it as many hours as they are old (in months) plus one. So the longest you should expect, say, an 8 week old puppy, is 3 hours. BUT, if your puppy happily holds it up to 5 hours and does not fuss, go potty in his crate, and seems OK, that's fine, too. If he CAN go longer than three hours, that's fine. But do not EXPECT him to.

    Stairs come with time. Is there anything he really likes, like a certain treat or toy? I would save that, and only give it to him as a reward for adventuring towards and up the stairs. You could also probably easily shape going up the stairs with a clicker, if you are at all interested in clicker training.

    • Gold Top Dog

     I find that if you carry a pup almost all the way up the stairs and lure him up the last one or two with a really scrumptious treat, it helps.  The definition of scrumptious in this case is real meat;-))   You can do the same thing on the way down.  Go almost to the bottom and then lure him down the last couple of steps.  Once they figure out how to manipulate those hind feet, they seem to "get it."

    • Gold Top Dog

     Thanks for the tips guys! He actually can go up the stairs now, not exactly sure how he did. I mean I did the treat thing once and he didn't fall for it. Haha! He won't go down the stairs in the house still, but it is progress.

    • Gold Top Dog

    Ever been at the top of a really big mountain and looked down?  Had the bottom fall out of your stomach at the HUGE drop?  That's what your little guy is feeling looking down those steps!  They always learn UP well before they learn down!

    • Gold Top Dog

    glenmar

    Ever been at the top of a really big mountain and looked down?  Had the bottom fall out of your stomach at the HUGE drop?  That's what your little guy is feeling looking down those steps!  They always learn UP well before they learn down!

     

    Yeah can't say I blame him. I used to have a really huge fear of going down stairs as a young kid. I literally had to drag myself down. Stick out tongue I know he'll get there eventually and I'll guide him along the way. 

    • Gold Top Dog

    I have a 10 week old right now and she has been sleeping through the night, hasn't woken me once yet and has never wet in her crate.  If they whine, I get up, but she never does.  In the morning she sleeps through an alarm at 5:15 and an alarm at 7:00, when I turn on the light she's still passed out.  If she were to wake up, I'd take her out but if she's sleeping, I don't wake her.

    As for stairs....I just kind of let that happen.  I don't force them, don't really make a point of training them.  If we all go up/down, I give the pup a chance to follow but if the pup cries then I carry him/her down.  At some point they just forget about it and go.  Nikon went up right away at 8 weeks but didn't go down (and these are carpeted stairs, pretty easy) until 10 or 11 weeks.  My current pup goes up and down already if she's hyper but if she's not as playful and second guesses herself she stops and cries.

    In the morning I always carry her down so she doesn't have the chance to pee in the house.

    • Gold Top Dog

    Liesje

    I have a 10 week old right now and she has been sleeping through the night, hasn't woken me once yet and has never wet in her crate.  If they whine, I get up, but she never does.  In the morning she sleeps through an alarm at 5:15 and an alarm at 7:00, when I turn on the light she's still passed out.  If she were to wake up, I'd take her out but if she's sleeping, I don't wake her.

    As for stairs....I just kind of let that happen.  I don't force them, don't really make a point of training them.  If we all go up/down, I give the pup a chance to follow but if the pup cries then I carry him/her down.  At some point they just forget about it and go.  Nikon went up right away at 8 weeks but didn't go down (and these are carpeted stairs, pretty easy) until 10 or 11 weeks.  My current pup goes up and down already if she's hyper but if she's not as playful and second guesses herself she stops and cries.

    In the morning I always carry her down so she doesn't have the chance to pee in the house.

     

     

    Yeah Simba has never used his crate to use the bathroom. If he needs to go he'll wake me up and let me know.

     

    Simba walks up them a little funny, but I know he's just getting used to it. It's pretty cute to watch though. :P I make sure to stand behind him because a few times he has slipped. 

    • Gold Top Dog

     Update again!

    Simba is now going down the stairs as well. It's pretty darn cute because he basically slides down them.