West Highland Terriers

[Jondel]

Can anyone give me advice on training a Westie, she is only eight weeks old, she cries all the time to come in the lounge with us , even though the door is open and she can see us, I would rather her wee on the kitchen floor than on the lounge carpet while she is being trained, but the noise she makes is unbearable and i am afraid the neibours will complain, we love the puppy to bits and want to do whats right.
Any advice would be welcome,

[jules77]

poor little mite, having been taken away from her litter brothers and sisters, she is feeling vulnerable and wants some love. Leaving her in the kitchen to wee on the floor is going to make house training much harder as you cant be there to catch her in the act. - as long as you take her outside immediately when she wakes up and after she has been fed, house training should be relatively straight forward, if she has an accident pick her up and take her straight outside, even if she has already done most of it! - using a word which she will associate with it also helps, but dont shout at her if she has a few accidents.

[jules77]

forgot to add that when she does what she is supposed to outside, make sure you praise her with lots of love and positive words.

[lankeela]

She will not be weeing al the time so let her in the lounge to sit with you, and play with her, and let her fall asleep with you. Feed her in the kitchen and then take her out for a wee (and stay out with her). When you have been playing with her for a while or she has been sleeping (which she will do a lot of at 8 weeks) take her out as soon as she either stops playing or wakes up. She will probably give some signs, like turning round quickly on the floor before she squats to wee or poo.

She is only a baby and wants to be with you, so please let her. I couldn't bear t think of one of my puppies going to a home where it was going to be left in another room on its own.

[wiggal]

My boyfriends sister has just got a 10 week old St Bernard pup, he is soooooooooo adorable!
when we have been there, he has been ok to come in the front room, but he does seem to pee every 5 minutes, as soon as he does have a mishap in the front room or kitchen, they take him outside to the garden and wait with him for a bit, they also give him a lot of love and attention when he goes outside.
He has only been with them since last thursday, but seems to be picking it up very quickly!

[leelapops]

All of the above.

One of the, erm, "joys" of getting a dog, particularly a pup, is the initial training. It's vital that you put this in, and what's a stain or two on the carpet in return for a life of happiness? My dog is gluten intolerant, and while we weren't sure why he was so ill, there were quite a few accidents in the house-on the bed, on my favourite rug, etc. It's the price you pay for unconditional love, and I think that's pretty flipping cheap!

Please do as lankeela suggests, and plan a routine so she can be with you most of the time and go out at appropriate times when she's most likely to need the loo. She needs to have company and get used to her new family. All it takes is some thought and careful observation for a relatively short while.
You can buy some good pet-specific stain removal mousses or sprays now that also work to remove the scent as much as possible, so there's less chance of your pup returning to the same spot. Pets at Home do a good mousse, and I am sure other pet shops will have a range too.

Enjoy your new arrival, and good luck :)

Lisa x

[Jondel]

Thank you all for your answeres, My puppy do sleep in the kitchen at the moment, but it is all open plan, and she can see us all the time, we have got a stair gate that she can look through, we play out in the garden with her , and she has the run of the bungalow quite a lot, but as we cannot keep our eye on her all the time she goes in the kitchen and seems happy in there, she also has lots of love and attention, and it is only a couple of days since i asked for you help, and you would be amazed at the difference in her, she is so adorable,
I am feeding her on Bakers dried food for puppy,s and she is happy with that, but someone told me to put water or gravy on it as the food being dry could cause Cystitus, can anyone enlighten me with that.

She is not wining so much now, just a little bit. we cuddle her a lot as she is so cute, and i must say she have come on leeps and bounds these last couple of days.
Many thanks, if you could help me with the question on the dried food, i would be gratefull.

[jules77]

I wouldnt put gravy on due to the salt content, but yes to the water - I was always told not to feed dried food completely dry - it is personal preference, but even though I have fed dried food for nearly 20 years, I still give them fresh food as well. I make up a doggy stew with either beef ofcuts, or chicken breast, and add some vegetables and pasta

[lankeela]

No need to moisten dry food unless you particularly want to, provided of course she has water available all the time.

Cystitis is an infection, and cannot be got from food!

[Jondel]

Thanks Iankeela, you have answered my question perfectly.

[jules77]

I have to disagree Lankeela, I have never heard of it causing cystitis either, but it can cause kidney/liver problems - even a tablespoon of water can help, and this doesnt make the food any less crunchy.

[jules77]

forgot to say, feeding complete dry food 'can' be one of the causes of bloat too.

[Annlinda]

Just a thought...hope she had loads of doggy toys and chews for when she is teething. My now 5month old pup favourite toy is a raggy tuggy.

[winny]

You are feeding propper puppy food suitable for the age so water should not be necessary unless specified on the pack. Always ensure lots of fresh water available and unless your pup has tummy trobule you should be fine. Complete puppy foods are designed for feeding dry. I never heard of cystitis and both mine always had dry food.

You will bw amazed how quick pup learns stuff so be patient and consistent and unfortunatly accidents will happen. There may well be a few breakages or damages to come too. Your patients now will be rewarded ten fold with a loyal loving friend for life.

[Jondel]

Thank you all for your replies
My little westie is coming along so well, she plays a lot, and sleeps a lot, just like babies really, and she is begining to understant what we expect of her, she is giving us so much love and affection, and of course we give it in return,

I am still confused about moistening the dry food, as some of you are for and against it, so when she has her first jab on Wednesday i will ask the Vet what his opinion is.

Cheers

[jules77]

Dont take my word for it, do a search on the internet for bloat in dogs, and one of the causes is feeding dry food. The reason being that it swells in the stomach - better safe than sorry, she wont dislike the food any more if you add a wee bit of water.

[Jondel]

I have just gone into google about bloat in dogs, and it said it can be made worse by moistening the food,

Good old google,

But many thanks for your replies

[jules77]

http://www.petngarden.com/dogs/dogs40.php
http://www.woodhavenlabs.com/bloat.html
http://www.collienet.com/health%20topics/bloat %20in%20dogs.htm

[Jondel]

Hellooo

I have just asked the Vet about moistening the food,

and he said DO NOT MOISTON, and my little puppy seems to be ok with it.

[jules77]

There is evidence to suggest there should be a little bit of water added to dry food, another vet may give a different response - its your choice, but a little water on the food is not going to be detrimental - use some common sense, the food is dry, when the dog drinks it will swell in its tummy - I have already told you the consequencies of this. Vets are not always right with regard to general day to day animal welfare - vets recommend boosters every year, but there is evidence to suggest this is not necessary and in fact can have terrible consequencies.

[Jondel]

Thanks for your comments jules.

But we think we have now got the happiest little puppy in the land, , ,, she seens to be happy on dry food , so when you are doing something right, keep doing it i say.

Thats taking your advice and using my comman sense.