Episode 218 - Puppy Special - May 22

Any time new episodes of It’s Me or the Dog are airing on Animal Planet in the US, Victoria will answer questions about that episode later that week. Post your questions to Victoria about the most recent episode here anytime.

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Episode 218 - Puppy Special - May 22

Post by BoardHost »

Post your questions about last weekend's episode of It's Me or the Dogfor Victoria here.

Puppy Special
Victoria visits two families to help them with issues regarding puppies. Elise and John's 5-month-old female puppy is mouthy, jumps up on guests, dislikes being put on the leash, and has accidents in the house, despite being taken out several times. The Thielan family wants to get a new puppy, so Victoria helps them prepare.
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Florence
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Re: Episode 218 - Puppy Special - May 22

Post by Florence »

Hi, I am really keen to see the puppy special. I noticed people talking about it on Facebook. I live in Scotland, UK. Am I right in saying it has not been broadcast in the UK yet? Is there anywhere that I can view it?

I am a huge fan of the show and watch all the repeats on Sky. I pick up my 8 week old puppy on Saturday to bring her home. Although I have grown up with dogs it feels like a long time since I had a puppy. I am soaking up every bit of information I can! This puppy episode sounds great and I am keen to see it.

thanks
Florence x
kbrinks
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Re: Episode 218 - Puppy Special - May 22

Post by kbrinks »

Wow I can't believe I missed this episode. I could really use some help with this right now as I am dealing with a 7 month old puppy that seems to be regressing in potty training. I will say that his schedule has been disrupted since I began working a new job and now we take him twice a week to my in-laws so he's not in his crate all day every day. He has alot more freedom there so he's had accidents that he doesn't have at home. The WORST part is that he gets taken outside and will pee but not poop, no matter how long we take him for and then he comes inside and runs to a hidden corner and poops inside. It's become pretty frustrating and I'd love to be able to watch this episode and love what to do.

Is it going to be replayed soon or is there somewhere online where it is available for viewing? Please try to make it accesssible because I am hoping it can answer alot of our questions when it comes to our pup!
thepennywhistle
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Re: Episode 218 - Puppy Special - May 22

Post by thepennywhistle »

That was such a fun and happy episode :) I really enjoyed watching everyone
interacting with their puppies in a joyful, positive way. I was startled by the
dad in Lollipop's family being surprised at her 'neediness' Do you often run into
people who believe dogs arrive behaving like Lassie straight out of the box and
not realize that they are dealing with a baby?

My main question is about puppy crates. We know they need to be large
enough for the puppy to be comfortable, but can you go too large with
a crate choice? I noticed that you had a separate X-pen for Lollipop to
play in, but a proper crate for other times. Were these two separate things
used due to location or size? I must confess that my household 'crate' for
puppies was/is a 4' high, 4' wide, and 6' long chain link kennel in my living
room. (Sometimes it is good to live alone). My puppies are now adults, but
I still use the kennel for my far-too-clever devil dog when I have to go out for
a while, as she is still thinking up new and exciting ways to amuse herself if I
am not with her (such as pulling the knobs off the stove) and so the kennel
remains as part of the household decor. Would any future puppies fare better
in a smaller environment when they are younger?

Thank you for this episode. I'm so glad to see care and interaction with young
puppies laid out in such a clear and loving manner. Hopefully having such clear
guidance available this way will ensure that the days and traditions such as
housebreaking with the rolled up newspaper are left far behind.

Skye and the white collies
Doglover42
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Re: Episode 218 - Puppy Special - May 22

Post by Doglover42 »

I just really want to say that you're such a role model to me!!Thank you so much for doing what you do :D

This episode was really good and informative!! I loved it!

Did Raven get distracted during the training by the camera crew? If so, what did you do to get her focus on you?

What was the funniest thing you remember from this episode?

My sisters dog, Bentley ,a 2 year old lab/boxer mix, only sleeps, eats, and goes out to eliminate! My sister got Bentley from a friend about 3 years ago. Even when she tries to play with Bentley outside by throwing a ball he goes after it a couple of times and then sits down in the grass or goes into the house. Please help! How do we get him more motivated?!

Non-training related - Have you ever been to the Georgia Aquarium at Pemberton Place? It's so amazing!

p.s I saw your 'Shoe chewing chow' commercial for the first time and I thought it was brilliant! :lol:

Thank you so much!!
Please come to Florida soon! :D
~ Deshani
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yogismom
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Re: Episode 218 - Puppy Special - May 22

Post by yogismom »

I thought it was a great episode, and would love to see more shows with puppy issues, because a lot of adult dog problems probably arise from mistakes made when they were puppies. As a new puppy owner, I can honestly say it's a full-time job.

I have a couple of questions. My 5-month-old Pomeranian puppy is just coming into puberty... (something I had no idea could happen so fast). He is not "biting" but he is mouthing constantly, wrapping both paws around arms, feet, legs, whatever he can find and yes, you guessed it----. Those puppy teeth are sharp and I want to curb this habit before it can possibly turn into biting. He has to have an umbilical hernia surgery so when we do that we will probably get him neutered as we do not intend to breed him. I understand this may or may not make any difference on the humping issue even with the drop in testosterone. We're working on behavior modification to discourage the behavior. We have tried your suggestion of taking the puppy out of the room every time he mouths or bites or performs this habit but nothing seems to help, in fact sometimes he becomes even more aggressive when he's brought back in. We then tried putting him in the crate (and I do realize you should never punish your puppy by putting him in the crate). But when he goes in the crate, I open the door within 10 minutes, and I'll be darned, he stays in there, relaxed and sleeps, doesn't come out for 30 or so minutes.. So I feel like he must need a time out...and must see being taken away as punishment, not his crate? Is that possible? Is there a better solution?

Also we have a problem with him eating his poop. I realize this wasn't discussed on the show, but was wondering if you could lend some suggestions. The puppy does not have run of the house and is almost completely pottie trained outdoors, but even outdoors he will begin to eat it the minute he is finished. He does have an occasional accident in the house (but always on a pad), which he also immediately eats. We have to catch him and clean it up immediately or he's got it down in seconds. He's learned to do it very fast as he doesn't like us taking it away. I've tried trading him for a treat or a fun toy, but that's not working either. Is it possible he's missing some vitamin or nutrient and is doing this because of that, or is this a behavior issue learned as a puppy when mama is cleaning up after the pups in the den? What can I do to stop this? I've tried putting jalapeno dust on it, which he must be able to smell because he won't touch it then. Also, I should mention, he's getting plenty of food and training treats. I do not believe he's hungry. He's a brilliant dog and has learned to sit, stay, come, drop it (except the poop), down, lay down, roll over and shake, so we give him lots of mental stimulation as well as plenty of loving and play attention as we're home all day.

Thanks so much!
doggy style
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Re: Episode 218 - Puppy Special - May 22

Post by doggy style »

victoria, regarding the rotty puppy case, if you didnt get in to fix that problem right away," the problem being jumping and biting her owner after she was leashed", wich was bad already because puppy was breaking skin, would that behavior get worse in the dogs mature years, and would it be trainable?

p.s. had a great time in alpine!a little chilly though.drove out from vegas to meet you and thank you.if it wasnt for the show my dog would still be wearing a shock collar.so she thanks you as well! hope there is another petapalloza west coast next year.THANKS!
sj96skittles
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Re: Episode 218 - Puppy Special - May 22

Post by sj96skittles »

Hi victoria!! I really enjoyed this episode!! Those puppies were so cute!! I think u should do more puppy epsodes! 3 questions
did u ever address lollipops neediness when the family was eating? I saw a picture u posted on Twitter of a brown and white puppy! Was that a picture of lollipop? And I was wondeing if we could see what raven and lolipop look like when they're older!
Thank u! :)
Zeldacorgi
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Re: Episode 218 - Puppy Special - May 22

Post by Zeldacorgi »

Hi Victoria,

This episode came at a really great time as I went and picked up my 7 week old Pembroke welsh corgi the following Thursday. I was definitely more interested in the techniques the family with a new puppy would use, however the one issue I felt could use a bit more coverage was biting/nipping in puppies. I've only had Zelda (puppy) for a few days and noticed right away that she loves to use her mouth on anything and everything, which isn't terribly surprising because that's puppy nature.

I was hoping you could tell me what the best methods would be for trying to get that under control as soon as possible. She has a few toys (2 kongs, a teething bone, a tug rope for chew, and a knotted terry cloth rag) that we switch out to try and hold her attention. It works for a while, but then she'll have moments where she wants to rough play with hands and toes. When she does go for our hands, we immediately fold our arms and tell her no. Sometimes she backs off, but other times she growls (I don't think it's aggresive growling, but I still don't want to encourage any growling at this point) and starts biting on clothes. When she does that, I try to direct her to other toys. If that doesn't work, she goes to a brief time out in her puppy pen (which is different from her crate) to cool down. Am I heading in the right direction and just need to be persistent, could I be doing something different? Any advice would be much appreciated!

Image
kabzy
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Re: Episode 218 - Puppy Special - May 22

Post by kabzy »

Hi Victoria :D ,

I watch as many of your shows as i can and i must say you are truly an inspiration to me. The work that you do around the world to help families and dogs that live in shelters is amazing, and just shows us your dedication and love for dogs. A lot of your work has made me realise why your methods of training are better. For example other dog trainrs on TV suggested things like shock collars for obedience, however your methods get the exact same results without a dog having to react to such a negative thing. Im glad there are still trainers like you around who train dogs without the use of such disturbing things. Ive learnt so much from the work that you do with dogs and get motivated to teach my puppy new things.

I have a 7 month old german shepherd, and my question was how do you get the dog to get full attention on you? Ive seen you do the "watch me" trick on a lot of dogs and you get eye contact with them but my dog just doesnt seem interested for long enough. Is there some sort of trick to this? Thank you and wishing you success forever :D.
kabzy
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Re: Episode 218 - Puppy Special - May 22

Post by kabzy »

Sorry I had another question due to my inexperience in this probably very serious situation. The 7 month German Shepherd puppy i have did not get the right socialising at the crucial age as he only came to us at 6 months. Inside the house, he does bark at people who he doesnt know, however he hasnt shown any signs of wanting to bite as he generally calms down once he realises that they are just normal guests. Outside he is fine with people and we walk past them with no problems. However he does seem to be a bit wary of other dogs, and on one occasion he tried to nip another dog. However in our return to the dog park, he was fine again and did normal doggy things in the park. I wanted to know what would be the best way to be able to get this puppy socialised now in a non dangerous way because the last thing i want is for him to bite any other dogs. Thank you.
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Noobs
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Re: Episode 218 - Puppy Special - May 22

Post by Noobs »

kazby you might want to go to the dog training advice section on this forum and ask your question. Victoria doesn't visit the boards every day, and there are tons of people who can help you if you pose your question in the dog training section.
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