# New puppy Leo is home!



## Leo's Family (Feb 28, 2011)

Hello. 
Not sure this is the correct way to post a new message? I still have not figured out how to post a new thread? If someone could let me know the correct way to post new threads, that would be very helpful! So I hope this works.. I have posted this message twice.. thinking one of the ways will work! So sorry about the repeat!

We brought 11 week old puppy Leo home on Saturday, 3 days ago. He is the most adorable thing! We love him-very sweet natured and super smart. Just a dream dog and he has adjusted so quickly to our family! As this is our first experience with puppies, I think we are off to a good start!

He is pee-pad trained and does not soil his crate/xpen set-up. He does tell us when he needs to go as long as he is in his x-pen set-up. The pee-pad is in the laundry room. 
So a little walk to get there from his pen. He is having more issues about going outside though, he prefers the indoor place and we are having a tougher time getting him to go 
outside. We want him to be indoor and outdoor trained..I hope we are not confusing him by have multiple spots?

We feed him three times a day--roughly-- 8:30, 12:30 and 6pm.. take the water away by 
7 pm. Sometimes he eats and sometimes not, but he does eat two good feedings a day.The breeder said to take the food away after 20-30 min if he does not eat at each meal. But the problem is that he does not seem to need to go "potty" the usual 20-30 min after his meal.. although we walk him 20-30 min after his meal to his outside spot or indoor spot. He refuses to do his job and sometimes it takes 1 -2 hours before he does poop after he has eaten his meal. So right now we are on his schedule and not the other way around! Is this normal? How can we change this? My vet has said I need to teach him to do it on command and has suggested umbilical cord training along with the crate. But after he eats.. and all our song and dance of taking him outside, he climbs into his crate and falls asleep. When he wakes up after 1-2 hours.. that is when he wants to do it! But so far he has let us know and has not soiled his crate. We have not had accidents in his crate so far..but this does not seem right either!
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
New puppy mom Ahnu and puppy Leo.


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## Laurief (Nov 7, 2006)

Ahnu,
it sounds like you are doing great so far!! You will eventually get into a routine with him. When he gets older it will be easier to control "when" he goes. Right now as a puppy you should just be happy that he is going and in the right places. Are you in an area with bad weather? Maybe he does not want to go outside in it.. 
You might want to treat train him when he goes outdoors, have a big "potty party", high voice, happy, clapping etc every time he goes outside. He will eventually LIKE going outside. And then just leave the pad inside for when you are not available to take him out. My pup Laila (almost 6 months) is currently trained on both and does fine!! 
I think that you are doing a great job, and things will all fall in place soon. 
Welcome to the forum!!!!


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## marlowe'sgirl (Jun 17, 2010)

Sounds like things are going great! 

As for the crate, puppies will not soil their crate if at all possible. My puppy never had a crate accident. Usually the only time a crate accident happens is if you've left them in there for far far too long.

For the not going after he eats, I always limited the outdoor potty times to 15 mins. If my guy didn't go, he went back in his crate for 45 mins. Then I tried again. As Laurie said, when he does go outside - big party, super good treat, then I always did dedicated playtime/training time afterwards for 30 mins or so. I only did outdoor training so he really only had the one option. Others that have done both can chime in.


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## Suzi (Oct 27, 2010)

Leo's Family said:


> Hello.
> Not sure this is the correct way to post a new message? I still have not figured out how to post a new thread? If someone could let me know the correct way to post new threads, that would be very helpful! So I hope this works.. I have posted this message twice.. thinking one of the ways will work! So sorry about the repeat!
> 
> We brought 11 week old puppy Leo home on Saturday, 3 days ago. He is the most adorable thing! We love him-very sweet natured and super smart. Just a dream dog and he has adjusted so quickly to our family! As this is our first experience with puppies, I think we are off to a good start!
> ...


 I think it sounds like everything is good. Your puppy lets you know when he has to go  I can see it being a problem if you have to get off to work. Sometimes my puppys need to get some exercise before they will poop. Maybe the 15min could be on a walk. How old is Leo?


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## LuckyOne (Sep 3, 2009)

Sounds like things are going great! We love pictures by the way! Hint Hint 

I have always let all of my dogs free feed. There have never been issues with this. They have always gotten along, no jealousy issues or being overweight. The only time I pull food and/or water is the night before a surgery or test. I also pull the food at 7 pm the night before an appointment with the groomer. The groomer is great about taking them out for a potty break but I hate to think they would be in a cage and have to go.

Good luck with your new pup and remember we love pictures! :thumb:


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## Leo's Family (Feb 28, 2011)

Hello. 
Thanks for the support everyone! Glad to know we are on the right track. Suzi- Léo is 11 weeks old. He has been great.. except for this minor potty issue. It is 3 pm on the East Coast right now and he has not done the "poop" all day.. and yes, he did eat breakfast and lunch ( 1/4- 1/3 cup IAMS at each feeding) . He has gone out several times to pee. We have walked him, played with him through out the day! He seems to like to go in the evening, in general, so a little off schedule! But, I guess we will just keep an eye on him and hope that he gets on schedule soon! Luckily we are on spring break for two weeks now.. so we are all focused on Léo and nothing else! LOL : )


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## Suzi (Oct 27, 2010)

Leo's Family said:


> Hello.
> Thanks for the support everyone! Glad to know we are on the right track. Suzi- Léo is 11 weeks old. He has been great.. except for this minor potty issue. It is 3 pm on the East Coast right now and he has not done the "poop" all day.. and yes, he did eat breakfast and lunch ( 1/4- 1/3 cup IAMS at each feeding) . He has gone out several times to pee. We have walked him, played with him through out the day! He seems to like to go in the evening, in general, so a little off schedule! But, I guess we will just keep an eye on him and hope that he gets on schedule soon! Luckily we are on spring break for two weeks now.. so we are all focused on Léo and nothing else! LOL : )


 Oh I guess i didn't read that he might be constipated? I hear pumpkin helps both with loose stools and constipation. The kind in the can pure pumpkin. I am not sure how much Not more than a tea spoon? Did you change his food from the breeder? If he is just fine than you are lucky he only goes at night. That is nice you have all that time right now for him.


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## Uno10 (Jan 25, 2011)

Leo's Family said:


> Hello.
> Thanks for the support everyone! Glad to know we are on the right track. Suzi- Léo is 11 weeks old. He has been great.. except for this minor potty issue. It is 3 pm on the East Coast right now and he has not done the "poop" all day.. and yes, he did eat breakfast and lunch ( 1/4- 1/3 cup IAMS at each feeding) . He has gone out several times to pee. We have walked him, played with him through out the day! He seems to like to go in the evening, in general, so a little off schedule! But, I guess we will just keep an eye on him and hope that he gets on schedule soon! Luckily we are on spring break for two weeks now.. so we are all focused on Léo and nothing else! LOL : )


Our Uno did the same thing, so we gradually extended the interval and trained him to Potty first and then get the food. It's working brilliantly now because he potty's and eats right after that, no more 30-40 minute wait on a Monday morning.


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## Leo's Family (Feb 28, 2011)

Hi Suzi.
I don't think he is constipated? At least he was not yesterday. He has basically been like this since we brought him home for some reason--mostly in the evening or late afternoon? But I will keep the pumpkin seeds in mind and see how it goes. He did have his second set of shots on Monday, so maybe a reaction to that? He is very sleepy. No he is still on the same food from the breeder. However, yesterday we may have fed him a few too many snacks.. puppy biscuits that we crushed and we thought we gave him a tiny amount.. but maybe too much for him. We are not giving him any snacks today. But he does not seem uncomfortable and is eating well. So we will see!!


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## gelbergirl (Jun 9, 2007)

Welcome Leo! :biggrin1:


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## clare (Feb 6, 2010)

What a clever little fellow you have there, already getting the hang of potty training!often Havs can be tricky in the potty training department.Every thing sounds great, Leo will get into a routine,after all it is very early days.As he begins to exercise more, so he will eat more and then poo more.


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## Suzi (Oct 27, 2010)

Leo's Family said:


> Hi Suzi.
> I don't think he is constipated? At least he was not yesterday. He has basically been like this since we brought him home for some reason--mostly in the evening or late afternoon? But I will keep the pumpkin seeds in mind and see how it goes. He did have his second set of shots on Monday, so maybe a reaction to that? He is very sleepy. No he is still on the same food from the breeder. However, yesterday we may have fed him a few too many snacks.. puppy biscuits that we crushed and we thought we gave him a tiny amount.. but maybe too much for him. We are not giving him any snacks today. But he does not seem uncomfortable and is eating well. So we will see!!


 That's good, about not being constipated, and it is caned pumpkin not seeds


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## mitrus (Apr 6, 2008)

Henry did so much better with the poop thing when we started feeding him 4 meals a day.
He was not regular at all and my vet said while he is small to do 4 meals, and it worked great! As he got bigger I moved to 3 meals and now he is almost 6 months and is eating 2 meals a day. 
Our feeding schedule was 7, 11, 3, and 6. It made all the difference for Henry.


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## [email protected] (Mar 12, 2010)

Pure unsweetened canned pumpkin. Libbys is one that is good to use. may want to check with your vet first. Good luck. Sounds like things are going very well.


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## O'Bluff (Jan 29, 2011)

Welcome Leo! Good Boy!


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## Bellatrixed (Mar 13, 2011)

It does sound like he might be a little bit constipated to me--every puppy I've dealt with has gone at least four-five times a day at that age. But hey, as long as he is happy and going where you want him to, no biggie.  Has his diet changed at all?

He sounds precious!


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## clare (Feb 6, 2010)

Thinking back, both Dizzie and Nellie were on 4 meals a day at 12 weeks old, gradually they cut the tea time feed out.


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## Leo's Family (Feb 28, 2011)

*Léo -*

Thanks everyone! All this is great info. 
He has had a good day today and seems to be better in terms of a more "normal" schedule.
Still needs a bit of regulating.. but we are getting better. The 4 small meals sounds like a good idea and I will try that. 
Never realized how smart these little Havs are! He learns so quickly.. knows how to sit and come now and his name too! The breeder we got him from is amazing and I think she really started him off on the right paw with the socialization etc... So I am glad I did my research and found a good breeder!!!


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## clare (Feb 6, 2010)

Oh lovely little Leo.


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## O'Bluff (Jan 29, 2011)

Such a handsome little man! Hi Leo!


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## Dnice (Mar 8, 2011)

Hello New Mommy and Baby Leo,
I sounds like you are doing a great job.

I got Frankie at 3 1/2 months. I did not wee-wee pad train him we only took him outside. It took a good 1 1/2 months to get him on a schedule. I would take him out and nothing. than 1 hour later... you know what happened. My breeder explained about putting food out for 1/2 hour however, that did not seem to work. He would not eat until he was ready. Hang in there! I am sure that by the time he is 6 months old he will be fine.


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## Leo's Family (Feb 28, 2011)

*Leo and housebreaking- help!*

Hello All.

This is week #2 with our new puppy, he just turned 12 weeks. He has been very good, in general with the housebreaking. We keep him in an x-pen with a crate in it. Usually the crate door is open and he can wander out if he wants. He prefers the cold floor sometimes and so we leave the crate door open. But at night-- he sleeps in our bedroom in a closed crate. He has never soiled either of his crates and asks to go "poop" --regardless of whether he is in his closed crate or in the x-pen. So we have not had major issues with that, however, he does not seem to tell us "always".. with the pee. He sometimes will and sometimes just goes in his x-pen if he is in there. Outside of the x-pen we watch him like a hawk so have not had any issues. It is exhausting-- because he seems to want to go every hour..and if we miss the 1 hour to 45 min.. deal... we take our chances. I would think at 3 months... he would be able to hold it longer. He is 5.2 pounds and seems to be thirsty a lot. We were told to give him no more than 5 ounces of water a day, however, I think it is between 5 to 8 ounces of water he gets-- depending on how thirsty he seems. Is it ok to restrict his water to only 5 ounces even if he seems thirsty? How do I teach him to tell us he needs to go "pee"? :frusty:He is a really smart dog.. I just feel like we are doing something wrong. Should I crate him and let him out every 2 hours- until he can hold it? We just wanted him to have a bit of freedom.. but I think we might have messed things up by giving him a bigger area with his x-pen-crate set-up. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!


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## Bellatrixed (Mar 13, 2011)

Everyone's opinions on housebreaking vary, so there's really no right or wrong answer. But for me personally...

I don't worry about peeing very much with dogs of this age. I use house training pads, and teach them to pee on the pad (which won't sink through to carpet/rugs if they don't miss) and only really worry about getting them outside for the poops. Pepper just turned 11 weeks, and she must pee 20 times a day, lol... yet she holds it all night long when she's on my bed, so I know she "can." 

So you're not doing anything wrong... puppies just pee a LOT, and he just feels like going. Once they get to be about 4 months old, then I start expecting them not to pee every five minutes, but will still leave access to the pee pad in the event of emergencies. I wouldn't keep him in a crate, it seems mean to me, but I know many are fans of keeping crated. 

Just keep doing what you're doing, and as he ages he'll naturally start holding it longer which will make it easier. Three months is still really young for a puppy. 

I have no idea about the water though. I just give them a fresh bowl of water every night and then refill it the next day. I've noticed Pepper running to the bowl frequently, but she just drinks for a few seconds before running off again.


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## Uno10 (Jan 25, 2011)

Leo's Family said:


> How do I teach him to tell us he needs to go "pee"?


Why not train him to ring a bell?



Leo's Family said:


> He is a really smart dog.. I just feel like we are doing something wrong. Should I crate him and let him out every 2 hours- until he can hold it? We just wanted him to have a bit of freedom.. but I think we might have messed things up by giving him a bigger area with his x-pen-crate set-up. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!


I know exactly what you mean. But I took advantage of the pen I had for him and setup a litter box early on and it seems to have worked.

Once he was done with the Pen, I put the litter box next to the door that leads out.

This stage passes quickly and you will miss this once he is grown up and all...trust me.


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## Suzi (Oct 27, 2010)

Bellatrixed said:


> Everyone's opinions on housebreaking vary, so there's really no right or wrong answer. But for me personally...
> 
> I don't worry about peeing very much with dogs of this age. I use house training pads, and teach them to pee on the pad (which won't sink through to carpet/rugs if they don't miss) and only really worry about getting them outside for the poops. Pepper just turned 11 weeks, and she must pee 20 times a day, lol... yet she holds it all night long when she's on my bed, so I know she "can."
> 
> ...


 Everyone is untitled to their own way of doing things but in my house my pups have 24hr access to water


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## ilovemyhav (Aug 23, 2010)

*new puppy!*

Hi! everyone, I'm new to the forum and i think i'm suffering from MHS!! going to pick up my second baby boy tomorrow, he happens to be the biological brother of my first hav Diesel!! i'm so excited I cant sleep.. i'll post a picture from when i went to visit! we've decided on naming him Marley:whoo:


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## Bellatrixed (Mar 13, 2011)

Suzi said:


> Everyone is untitled to their own way of doing things but in my house my pups have 24hr access to water


I agree completely... I've never seen a reason not to allow free choice water for dogs and cats. I just only need to refill it/clean the bowl once a day since there's still water left the next day (unless it's summer and everyone's going crazy trying to cool down, lol).

A dog instinctively shouldn't glut itself on water unless it has an underlying medical condition. I've never heard of being so precise about how much a dog can drink before.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

I agree. I would never limit ANY animal's water intake unless they were sick. (and then they are usually on IV fluids instead) I'm not even keen on the approach many people have of picking up a puppy's water in the early evening to keep them from needing to pee over night. 

Kodi as had 24/7 access to water his whole life. I don't think it took any longer to train him than those who have had water withheld over night.


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## clare (Feb 6, 2010)

ilovemyhav said:


> Hi! everyone, I'm new to the forum and i think i'm suffering from MHS!! going to pick up my second baby boy tomorrow, he happens to be the biological brother of my first hav Diesel!! i'm so excited I cant sleep.. i'll post a picture from when i went to visit! we've decided on naming him Marley:whoo:


How old is your first Hav? Can't wait to see pics of your boys!
You can start a new thread all about your pups.Just go to the top of the page and click on new thread, then off you go! Please tell us all about your pups and yourself, and we demand pictures!!


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