House Training My Puppy

Question

"I have a mixed Lab German Shepherd and I am having a hard time house training her.She is 13 weeks old and she keeps using the bathroom in the house. She wines whenever I leave the room. She bites any and everything in sight. She even uses the bathroom in her crate. She eates the cat food. I love the puppy but I need her to be more obedient. She will sit and stay but that is about all. Can you please give me some advice on how to train her."


Answer
I know very few 13 week old puppies who are reliably house trained. You need to carefully supervise her. When she starts sniffing or circling, get her outside. Keep a record of when she goes so you can get her out before she absolutely has to, and feed her at scheduled times (don't leave the food dish down) so she has a pattern. Basically, she will need to go out about 15-20 minutes after a meal, when she wakes up and every four hours (you can figure an average puppy can hold as many hours as their age in months, plus one. So at 13 weeks, she is just over 3 months. Go with her and praise her for going. Use baby gates and closed doors to keep her where you can watch her. Even tether her to you (which is also good training) and then she can't be out of your sight.
Both German shepherds and Labs are very oral dogs. But really, all puppies explore the world with their mouths. Give her something she is allowed to chew on to carry. Avoid quick movements and grabbing of muzzle as that stimulates biting. If she is really persistant about biting body parts - act offended and leave the room for about 30 seconds. If biting ends the play and interaction, she'll learn not to do it. For good training, I'd suggest you find a good puppy kindergarten, which can give you step by step training help which just isn't possible on a forum like this. (but sit and stay is pretty good for 13 weeks) Sandy Case MEd CPDT www.positivelycanine.com