Two Puppys

Question
Dear Patti;

I also have two puppies and unlike the one girl who rescued her pups, I chose to have two by going to a breeder and buying them. They are 6 months of age, very sweet, and driving us crazy. They too don't seem to be catching on with the training. We will take them out and they will do their business, and sometimes we will let them run around and when we do, one of them will "go" on my couch. I am beginning to think that we made a serious mistake in getting two. We do have two older dogs that are trained and we only have a problem with them because they are "older" and make a mistake over night, which we use wee wee pads on the floor to handle it. I was hoping you could give me some advise on how to handle these two. I am currently at home, but I am looking for a job as we speak and don't even want to know how I'm going to deal with it when I do find a job. Can you please help me.

Dorothy

Answer

Hi Dorothy,

It doesn't matter that you got your puppies from a breeder, having two puppies at the same time is a poor idea, for the reasons I discussed in the other message you've read. A reputable breeder would not have sold you two puppies at once.

If reading about how to fix your current problems was the answer, you wouldn't be in the situation you are now. At this point you need the help of a live trainer who can evaluate your situation and show you what you're doing wrong. Your vet's office or local boarding kennel may be able to give you a referral to a dog trainer.

Until you can start working with a trainer, take your puppies out on leashed walks separately. Just letting dogs or puppies outside by themselves doesn't give them the praise or rewards they need, after they eliminate. It's through praise or reward that dogs learn what we want. Read more here:

http://puppycare.com/index.php/Puppy-Training.html

http://www.ehow.com/list_6708570_tips-training-dog-housebroken.html

You must not give your puppies the opportunity to have accidents in the house. If an accident happens, you cant blame the pups, they don't know any better because they aren't yet trained. Mistakes that happen are strictly your burden for not getting the puppies out in time, or as frequently as they need. You must be consistent, and stick to a schedule of walks and feeding times so your puppies will learn. Anytime you can't be supervising your puppies, they must either be crated (separately) or restricted to one room in your home, with the help of a child gate or two. Giving your unhouse-trained puppies the unsupervised run of your home is setting them up for accidents, which only draws out the house training process.

I'm sorry. What to do with your dogs when you find a job is something you should have considered before you ever got two puppies. Your choices are to come home at some point during the day to take the pups outside, or arrange to have a friend, family member or neighbor take your puppies outside. Until then, you need to dedicate yourself to getting your puppies out on walks, and preventing accidents in order to get them house trained. Your puppies should not have the run of your home anytime you leave the house, this goes double if they aren't house trained.

Best of luck,

Patti