Miniature Pinschers

Question
Thank you for your response.  That really helps a lot.  

Would you have any suggestions to books that I can purchase from say Borders or something like that, that can be beneficial to learning how to breed and train the 2 dogs.  It gets really hard when I am trying to teach them simple commands like "Dexter Sit" and the other dog Lilly is jumping wildly and distracting him.  What would you suggest I do for that?  

The female dog is a lot more hyper then the male dog and tends to overwhelm the male when it comes to playing catch, eating, getting treats, going potty, etc.  What is the best way?  

Also, I was reading up on small breed dogs and read that they usually last only about 3-4 hours and then have to go to the bathroom, I have heard of people training their small dogs to use kitty litter boxes.  Would you suggest that?  I would assume that I would need to get 2 boxes, one for each.  The only reason I would like that is so I do not have to constantly be watching them, taking them out, and now with winter coming it is going to be a lot harder to walk out to the middle of our yard and put them in the play pen thing to go do their business.  I have another dog that is about 5 and knows when it is cold or rainy to just go out there, do her business and come back in.  She is a bigger dog (50lbs) and can stand the cold weather, but the 2 min pins, aren't gonna know what hit them when it snows 12inches!

Thanks for your help!
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The text above is a follow-up to ...

-----Question-----
We recently bought 2 miniature pinschers, one male and one female.  We are going to breed them once they are old enough.  Both dogs were born at the beginning of August, and last night the female dog bled all over our kitchen floor, it was my mistake to let them out of the cage all night, but I was not sure when she was supposed to get her period seeing that she is only about 3 months old.  Can you give me more information about how often the period comes? how long it lasts? when is a good time to start breeding?  And any suggestions on potty training both dogs.  We have 2 cages, and I go home for lunch about 11:30 to let them out again. But it seems I let them out for a few minutes, nothing happens, bring them back in and they go in the house.  What can be the problem?

Thanks
-----Answer-----
Hello Melissa, Here is what you experience when a dog goes into heat.  You may notice a slight swelling of the vulva for approx. 3 days then bleeding for approx. 7 days,  she will stop bleeding and you might notice a white liquid at this time, even if you do not this is the time she is able to get pregnant for appox. 7 days and then it's another 7 days going out when the vulva will begin to go back to normal size.  So it's a 21 day cycle.  7 going in...7 in ... and 7 going out.  And in 6 months it will come again. Usually I would breed on or about the 9th to 12th day from when you first see the vulva swell.  Some breeders differ on how many times you should let them breed.  The reason for this is a puppy conceived on the first try will be larger when born than a puppy conceived on lets say the 3rd or 4th try.  This is usually where runts come from, more than one or two close breedings.  Also the later breeding pups sometimes are underdeveloped and do not survive.  You can get other opinions on this and decide from there.  Your house training method sounds good, try using key words like "Go Potty" "Do your business" and do not say hello, nothing, take them out immediately and do not say anything that would be distracting from the task at hand until the deed is done.  Also, try taking them out one at a time, as they may be distracting each other, if one does go, take the other to the same spot, he or she will smell the deed done and may do theirs too.  Good luck and I hope all goes well for you.  I hope this helps. Thanks for asking, Cindy Lou :)


Answer
Hello Melissa,  I do have a customer that uses the liter box method for her shihtzu and she loves it.  I guess it's all in the training.  My toy poodle is wee wee pad trained.  For those times I am running late or we just do not communicate and she has to go.  The best advice you can get for dog training and it would be where I would go to give you advice is; The dog Whisperer, you can find him on the National Geographic channel and at this website; http://www.dogpsychologycenter.com/  He has great advice and I have learned so much from his shows.  If you can not get his show he does have video tapes available.  Good luck and you sound like you are on the right track, you will get there you also appear to be a great dog owner.  Thanks, Cindy Lou :)