Mini Pinscher/Chihuahua Puppy

Question
I will be getting an 8 week old mini pinscher/chihuahua mixed puppy soon.  I have two indoor cats and am excited about introducing a new family member to our household.  Do you have any suggestions on how I should introduce my new puppy to my two cats?  Also, do you have any potty training suggestions?  I have never had a puppy/dog before and don't know the proper procedure for training a puppy.  I know that they are harder to train than cats, as cats are very private about their bathroom habits.  Is there a way to train puppies to use the litter box like the cats?  Any helpful hints?  Or suggestions for carpet cleaner during the training process ;) ?

Answer
Hi Jennifer,

This is very exciting news.  I am sure that you are happy about getting your puppy.

The best way I would advise you to introduce the puppy and the cats are one at a time.  Hold one  cat in one arm and the puppy in the other arm eye to eye and let them sniff one another for a couple of mins.  Then do the same with the other cat.  Chances are when you put them down on the floor the cats will run away.  Keep a close eye on them together and I wouldn't leave unsupervised until you know for sure that no harm will be done to either the puppy or the cats.

One of the most important training pieces you can buy is a crate.  I know at first some people will flinch at the thought of leaving their beloved pup in a box.  To be totally honest puppies and dogs really start to love their crates, it's their own little personal space. You want to buy a wire crate that will be the appropriate size for your puppy when he/she is an adult.  That means that the dog should be able to stand up comfortably and turn around without any problems.  Here is an example of the appropriate crate http://www.petco.com/Productlisting.asp?tab=1&c1=142&ct1=Carriers%2C+Crates+%26+...  Be sure not get an airline crate for your puppy to live in. Airline crates should only be used to travel. You should put the crate in an area of your house where the puppy will be part of the family such as the living room or the family room, or wherever you spend the majority of your time.  Be prepared to think about bedroom strategies, if you want the puppy to sleep in the crate which I would recommend doing to keep down potty accidents, you will either have to hear him whine in the middle of the night for a week or so or you can move the crate into the bedroom.
I would not invest in alot of crate bedding at this time until he/she is mostly potty trained. However, there are a few crate mates that you can easily wipe off. You should put the puppy in the crate when you will be gone to work, can not watch the puppy at that time and to sleep at night. You do not have to keep the crate for the rest of the pups life. If you decide that you only want to keep it as a training tool and get rid of it later that is fine, but you will probably find that the pup will be attached to it.

Potty training as any type of obedience training starts immediately, your puppy is constantly learning even when you don't think so.  I would put the puppy on a routine.  He/she should eat a certain, and potty at a certain time.  I usually recommend feeding puppies twice a day.  If you find that feeding the pup twice a day will be sufficient.
However, the puppy will probably have to go potty every three hours.  Every three hours take the pup outside and give the command "potty", when the pup potties give it praise. The pup will then learn what door it is suppose to go to for outside and then learn exactly what potty means.

To minimize accients inside of the home you can find puppy pads and your local puppy store and even some walmarts carry them. These are pads that look like big diapers.  They usually have a scent on them that will encourage the pup if he has to go to go on the pad instead of your carpet.
You should put these pads by whatever door you use to let him out.  Once you see him going over to the pad and sniffing immediately take him/her outside and once the pup starts to potty praise him/her.

The best way that I have cleaned my carpet is with an upright carpet cleaner because it deep cleans.  Oxy Clean also works really well too.

Some dogs can be litter trained.  You will have to have different litter boxes for the cats and the dog, I have found in the past cats are not likely to share litter boxes with dogs.

Please feel free to email me.  Congrats on your new family member.