Hi!

I'm trying to get some info about my puppy-to-be and I hope I could get
some from you ^_^

This summer I'll get a Great Pyrenees' puppy. I've been with big dogs
(great danes) when I was a kid but I never had one alone. Since this
cute little puppy will soon become a huge dog, I'd like to teach it some
good manners from the start. I'm still reading books about that.
I also have cats at home. It might influence me to be a little too relax
about animals' independance nature.
Even if there isn't many Great Pyrenees kennels where I live (Finland) I
found one that will have puppies ready at the beginning of June; which
is perfect for me: I'm a teacher and I'll be on vacation from the
begining of June to mid-August. Plenty of time to get a good start.

So here are some questions:

-the first night. I've read that the dog shouldn't sleep in the bedroom,
even less on the bed. I agree. But how does it work for the first night?
If I close the door of my bedroom, won't the puppy feel alone in this
unknown place, like rejected? If I leave the door open, I'm sure it will
sneak in as soon as I close my eyes.

-going for a walk with the dog. In my books, they say that the puppy
should'nt go out before its second shoots (when is that?). At the same
time, it says that it should get use to going out as soon as possible.
I'm confused.

-house training. I've read that the puppy is house trained when its 3-4
months. How does it work before that? Do I have to rap all my fourniture
with plastic and hide my carpets? I'll have time to take the dog out
but, again, can I? And at night?

-Even if I live in Finland, I'm actually French. I'm planning to use the
command words in my mother tongue with the dog. Can it be a problem? I
mean, should I make it possible that someone else gives orders to my dog?

Thanks for all your help ^_^
--
Nathalie
--
/\_/\
(='.'=)
(")_(")

Simply ignore anything this "Puppy Wizard" says - he's truly insane...

Unsurreality wrote:
Simply ignore anything this "Puppy Wizard" says - he's truly insane...

Yeah, I kinda noticed ^_^

--
Nathalie
--
/\_/\
(='.'=)
(")_(")

Nathalie Prévost said in rec.pets.dogs.behavior:

-the first night. I've read that the dog shouldn't sleep in
the bedroom, even less on the bed. I agree. But how does it
work for the first night? If I close the door of my
bedroom, won't the puppy feel alone in this unknown place,
like rejected? If I leave the door open, I'm sure it will
sneak in as soon as I close my eyes.

What's your reason for not wanting the dog in your bedroom at
night? This is an excellant time for bonding with your new
puppy - she'll be ables to smell you and hear you breathe, plus
you'll hear her fuss when she needs to go out, a good step
towards house training.

Dogs are pack animals - your new puppy will have recently been
removed from her litter and I don't think that it's a good idea
to isolate her at this stage.

-going for a walk with the dog. In my books, they say that
the puppy should'nt go out before its second shoots (when
is that?). At the same time, it says that it should get use
to going out as soon as possible. I'm confused.

It's a cost/benefit thing - balancing off early socialisation
versus the chances of her contracting a disease or pararite like
parvovirus. I chose to "risk" my puppy by taking him out as
early as 8 weeks, but we socialised only with dogs of friends
who I knew kept their dogs up to date on vaccinations.

-house training. I've read that the puppy is house trained
when its 3-4 months. How does it work before that? Do I
have to rap all my fourniture with plastic and hide my
carpets? I'll have time to take the dog out but, again, can
I? And at night?

Ordinarily, crate training is recommended, but I
understand that's not common where you are. The general idea
behind crate training is managing the puppy when you can't
supervise her (night time, while you're in the shower, etc.),
though you can also supervise by having her sleep next to you
and keeping a close eye on her at other times - tethering her to
you with a short leash helps.

You don't want her to make a mistake. Take her outside on your
schedule - don't expect her to tell you when she needs to go
(yet). Take her out when she gets up, after she eats, before
and after you play with her, before she goes to bed, and every
time you think of it. Praise her when she pees outside. If she
pees inside, ignore it and take her outside.

Good luck!

--
--Matt. Rocky's a Dog.

Rocky wrote:
Nathalie Prévost said in rec.pets.dogs.behavior:


-the first night. I've read that the dog shouldn't sleep in
the bedroom, even less on the bed. I agree. But how does it
work for the first night? If I close the door of my
bedroom, won't the puppy feel alone in this unknown place,
like rejected? If I leave the door open, I'm sure it will
sneak in as soon as I close my eyes.


What's your reason for not wanting the dog in your bedroom at
night? This is an excellant time for bonding with your new
puppy - she'll be ables to smell you and hear you breathe, plus
you'll hear her fuss when she needs to go out, a good step
towards house training.

Well, the dog will get pretty big as an adult. I don't want to give bad
habits from the start. The bedroom is my safeplace, not the dog's.

Dogs are pack animals - your new puppy will have recently been
removed from her litter and I don't think that it's a good idea
to isolate her at this stage.

I agree. I'm just trying to find a good alternative.

-going for a walk with the dog. In my books, they say that
the puppy should'nt go out before its second shoots (when
is that?). At the same time, it says that it should get use
to going out as soon as possible. I'm confused.


It's a cost/benefit thing - balancing off early socialisation
versus the chances of her contracting a disease or pararite like
parvovirus. I chose to "risk" my puppy by taking him out as
early as 8 weeks, but we socialised only with dogs of friends
who I knew kept their dogs up to date on vaccinations.

OK.

-house training. I've read that the puppy is house trained
when its 3-4 months. How does it work before that? Do I
have to rap all my fourniture with plastic and hide my
carpets? I'll have time to take the dog out but, again, can
I? And at night?


Ordinarily, crate training is recommended, but I
understand that's not common where you are. The general idea
behind crate training is managing the puppy when you can't
supervise her (night time, while you're in the shower, etc.),
though you can also supervise by having her sleep next to you
and keeping a close eye on her at other times - tethering her to
you with a short leash helps.

I haven't hearded of this crate training. What is it?

You don't want her to make a mistake. Take her outside on your
schedule - don't expect her to tell you when she needs to go
(yet). Take her out when she gets up, after she eats, before

Well, I'll have a lot of free time when I get the puppy and it will be
summer. I'll be able to go out a lot.

and after you play with her, before she goes to bed, and every
time you think of it.

Going out after meals... one of our dogs when I was a kid died of...
having her stomach turned upside down (I don't know the name in
English). My parents said that it's because she played after her meal.

Praise her when she pees outside. If she
pees inside, ignore it and take her outside.

Good idea.

Thanks!
--
Nathalie
--
/\_/\
(='.'=)
(")_(")

-Even if I live in Finland, I'm actually French. I'm planning to use the
command words in my mother tongue with the dog. Can it be a problem? I
mean, should I make it possible that someone else gives orders to my dog?

Thanks for all your help ^_^
--
Nathalie


Our dog, a one-year-old Great Dane, is an English "speaker" in Holland. So
far we haven't had any problems with that, but it does mean that if someone
is watching her we'll have to leave a written list of what commands she
responds to.
--Katrina

White Monkey wrote:
-Even if I live in Finland, I'm actually French. I'm planning to use the
command words in my mother tongue with the dog. Can it be a problem? I
mean, should I make it possible that someone else gives orders to my dog?

Thanks for all your help ^_^
--
Nathalie



Our dog, a one-year-old Great Dane, is an English "speaker" in Holland. So
far we haven't had any problems with that, but it does mean that if someone
is watching her we'll have to leave a written list of what commands she
responds to.
--Katrina


I thought so.
Thanks!

--
Nathalie
--
/\_/\
(='.'=)
(")_(")

Nathalie Prévost said in rec.pets.dogs.behavior:

What's your reason for not wanting the dog in your bedroom
at night? This is an excellant time for bonding with your
new puppy - she'll be ables to smell you and hear you
breathe, plus you'll hear her fuss when she needs to go
out, a good step towards house training.

Well, the dog will get pretty big as an adult. I don't want
to give bad habits from the start. The bedroom is my
safeplace, not the dog's.

OK. I don't think that a dog sleeping in my bedroom is a bad
habit. I'm sorry that I couldn't be of help.

--
--Matt. Rocky's a Dog.

On 28 Feb 2005 03:34:03 GMT, Rocky wrote:

Nathalie Prévost said in rec.pets.dogs.behavior:

What's your reason for not wanting the dog in your bedroom
at night? This is an excellant time for bonding with your
new puppy - she'll be ables to smell you and hear you
breathe, plus you'll hear her fuss when she needs to go
out, a good step towards house training.

Well, the dog will get pretty big as an adult. I don't want
to give bad habits from the start. The bedroom is my
safeplace, not the dog's.

OK. I don't think that a dog sleeping in my bedroom is a bad
habit. I'm sorry that I couldn't be of help.

I don't think dogs sleeping in the bedroom is a bad habit, but I don't
let mine sleep with me, either. They just wake me up too much with
their covers-hogging and moving around and noises. I let them be
right near me, though. When I have had a puppy that couldn't hold it
all night, I would crate the dog in my room so I could hear when it
needed to go out and be sure to take it out. Now we have dogs in my
daughters' rooms (they are much sounder sleepers than I am) and in the
family room (as long as the two dogs are both there together).
Sometimes Diva sleeps in my room, since she is considerate enough to
be quiet in my room even though she would wake me up if she were in my
bed. Other times she sleeps in a kids' room. Sometimes she sleeps on
the landing watching out the window into the street. That's also
where I usually find her when I come home from work. I don't leave my
bedroom door open while I am gone because she leaks so she is not
allowed in my bed even when I am not in it.

For the OP: The closer the dog is to you, the better. A dog who can
see you, smell you and/or hear you (the more of those, the better)
will feel more secure (which means sleeping better instead of whining
and waking you up) and will also bond to you more (which means better
relationship for the life of the dog). It's a personal choice where
you want your dog to sleep, but just make sure it is based on what is
right for you and your dog, not just on what someone said in a book.

--
Paula
"Anyway, other people are weird, but sometimes they have candy, so it's best to try to get along with them." Joe Bay

Paula said in rec.pets.dogs.behavior:

I don't think dogs sleeping in the bedroom is a bad habit,
but I don't let mine sleep with me, either.

While I do let my dogs sleep on the bed, I didn't suggest that
to the poster.

For the OP: The closer the dog is to you, the better. A
dog who can see you, smell you and/or hear you (the more of
those, the better) will feel more secure (which means
sleeping better instead of whining and waking you up) and
will also bond to you more (which means better relationship
for the life of the dog). It's a personal choice where you
want your dog to sleep, but just make sure it is based on
what is right for you and your dog, not just on what
someone said in a book.

All good advice, and rejected when I offered it to Nathalie in
my first post. Your phrasing is better than mine, though, and I
hope it makes an impression.

--
--Matt. Rocky's a Dog.