I just got my 8 weeks old shih tzu puppy 2 days ago and I'm finding it a little bit difficult to train her. (I know its a bit soon to ask for help, but I want to know whether I'm doing it right?)
Apparently, I have a ATTENTION SEEKER?


1- Being left alone.
BIG PROBLEM! My puppy only stays in the kitchen (rather large kitchen) as it has tiles floor for easy cleaning and believe it or not, quite a hazard free zone in my tiny house. lol.
Everytime I leave the kitchen(to go to the toilet or have a quick cig outside!), it cries, screams, scratches the door and she pees where the door is. I have given her plenty of chew toys to play with and we've enjoyed playing those together but she doesn't seem to play it when she's on her own. Whenever I'm in the kitchen, she would follow me everywhere and lay herself next to my foot and naps... I've not really seen her playing with her toys on her own.
Here's the question -I've took tips on the internet and tried playing with her first...let her calm down a little then leave her on her own for like 5 mins...then return...but returning in a calm manner and ignore her until she has calmed down. Then repeat that again...moving on to leaving her for 7mins, 10mins etc... Is this the correct way?? So far (I know it's only been 2 days) but she just cries, screams, scratches door and sometimes wee near the door!
At night time, she doesn't sleep through. I put her to bed at 9pm (lights out with a dim light switched on, plenty of chew toys and a t-shirt for my scent)...she slept till 11 ... then wakes up crying, screaming and scratching the door. I went in to check whether she's done a pee/poo but nope. Then she'll sleep at 12 till 3am...crying, screaming etc... but I just left her as that was the advice I was given by others. Hopefully she'll learn that crying and screaming will not get my attention at night as she needs to sleep? Is this correct?

2- Toilet trainning.
Because I live in a small house and the garden is too dangerours for a little puppy to go therefore I've decided to train her with those wee mats. It is on the opposite side of the room to her bed. She has done a couple of wee's and one poop on the wee mat but unfortunately I wasn't there to witness her therefore couldn't praise her. =( But whenever I'm in the room with her, she have accidents.
Now here's the question - what do I do when I witness her having a wee/poo NOT on the mat? Do I say "no" in a firm voice and pick her up (mid-flow?) and place her on the wee mat and hope she'll finish peeing on the mat then praise her? Or as some forums suggested that "it is too late to correct her by then...just let her finish, wipe it clean and pretend nothing has happend otherwise you will scare your puppy and it may not want to go infront of you again."

PLEASE HELP!!

Before I start... I am certainly not an expert, all I can compare to is my experiences. As far as the crying etc.. it does calm down. Hydra (now 16 weeks) was just the same. I also 'gave' her the kitchen because of the wipe clean floors and puppy proofing etc. The first few days especially I couldn't leave the room without the crying. I ended up with an adaptil collar from the vet but tbh think I was conned and it was just her natural reaction to being sperated from her mummy and littermates. I was just persistant in not responding until that split second when she went quiet and not making a huge fuss either before or after I left the room.

Crate training also helped because she settled herself much better in her crate than if she has the run of the whole kitchen if that makes sense? It is also worth looking into for toilet training.

Is there no where in your garden she could wee/poo if you took her outside on a short lead? My garden isn't secure yet but I took her out every couple of hours to her potty spot near the back door and just stood with her. If she went she got lots of praise.

If she has an accident inside I wouldn't tell her off, just try and catch her mid flow and put her where you want her to go, then praise if she does. The uncomfortableness of being whisked away mid-pee can be enough of a deterrent in itself.

Also, during the night I would put her in her potty spot every few hours.. I think the recommended time is their age in months plus an hour.. so about 3 hours. Plus small breeds like yours (and mine) and smaller bladders so can sometimes struggle to hold it.

Again, the crate is useful for this.. on the third night I slept through my alarm to take Hydra out and she didn't have an accident at all (7 hours) so now I just have a baby monitor on so I can hear if she whines and needs to go out.

If you have only had her a few days then she is still getting used to mum not being there and settling in to her new home, I wouldn't worry too much yet about any issues, and as for being an attention seeker, all puppies are
Could you not train her to wee outside by using a lead? That way she cant disappear into your garden. It will be easier to teach her inside is bad outside is good, than it would inside is bad, but inside on a bit of paper is good. As for the crying, she is just confused a little at the moment but should settle down within a week or so, there is a great stickie on separation anxiety on here though, maybe worth a look?

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She is 8 weeks old and you have had her for 2 days, as mentioned, she is young and still trying to settle after losing her Mom and litter mates who would have been with her 24/7 she simply isnt used to being left alone, she is basically a tiny scared baby suddenly alone with strangers.

The general rule with such young puppies is to keep them at your side 24/7, or atleast as much as you can during the early days, this is to make sure your pup doesnt have any accidents in the house and you can always see the signs and get her to the toilet area and praise her, meaning toilet training goes smoother.

As for being left alone, I would suggest you make it OK to be left alone.
You could do what I tried with Sailor (others will have their own methods!).
I used to just shut the door on him and before he even had chance to whine I would open the door and treat him, making a massive fuss of him.
Then again, shut the door, try to count to 1 atleast and if he didnt whine, open the door and praise again. If he did whine, Id open the door and walk past him completely ignoring him. Then give him chance to settle and calm before trying it again. Dogs are smart and they can learn, some dogs do need longer and more persistant training, but if you keep working at it yu will get there in the end

Otherwise, I think she is acting like any normal puppy that is in a new enviroment.

Good luck with her

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she's an infant, the equivalent of a 9-MO to 12-MO human-baby.
of course she's anxious when alone & very clingy - teaching her to be solo is a process, it's not automatic.

i'd have her crated in my bedroom at night, within arm's-reach of the bed - & i vastly prefer a shipping crate,
as they don't leak, are great for travel thru-out the dog's lifetime, & provide a solid roof & walls
with a more-secure feel than an open cage, which merely pins the dog down in the open.
the shallow trays in wire-cage crates will splatter, plus they'll bend, crack, rust or be chewed - depending upon
if they're metal or plastic.

i'd suggest U read - not skim, the housetraining sticky, which has loads of links for books & articles,
plus written tips from PF-uk members.

there are 2 excellent FREE books on DogStarDaily.com which can be downloaded -
Before U Get Ur Pup & After U Get Ur Pup - which have good info for puppy-rearing,
especially for teaching a soft mouth AKA bite-inhibition, & socialization: meeting people,
other dogs, & any living beings the dog will be expected to tolerate; livestock, horses, wildlife, etc.

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terry pride, APDT-Aus, apdt#1827, CVA, TDF
*wolves R wolves, dogs R dogs, + primates R us.*
tmp, sept-2007

I second what everyone else has said. I just wanted to add that you should make sorting your garden out a priority.

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http://www.royston-pet-care.co.uk



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