1. Crate training: The best method of training is “crate training” with regular discipline and reward.
2. Crate size: the crate or carrier should only be large enough for your puppy to lie on its side allowing for a month or two of growth. The idea is there is not enough room for the puppy and pee/poop.
3. Evening Training: Your puppy needs to be housed in its crate in the evening when the household goes to bed. During the night, no attention is to be given to the pet if they vocalize, wake up, or whine.
4. Morning Training: In the morning, the first person to greet the pet should open the crate, take the puppy directly out to the grass/yard. Every 10 seconds, repeat “potty”. After the puppy squats and urinates, follow immediately with exuberant praise calling the pet by name, “Good Buffy!” Use a light, high tone in your voice with a smile.
5. Throughout the Day: When you are not home or are not watching your puppy, the pet should be in its crate. Each time your pet has had hours in the crate, it is taken directly out to the grass/yard. Repeat everything as with the morning training.
6. After Eating: Begin observing your puppy after feeding it. Usually 15-20 minutes after eating, the colon starts contracting creating a bowel movement. When a pup begins to sniff the ground, moving rapidly around an area, this says “I need to go potty”. Take them to the grass and repeat “potty” as per morning training.
7. Discipline: Never use your puppy’s name in discipline, only in reward. Your pet can be disciplined only when beginning, during or just ending a poop or pee event in an inappropriate area. Discipline, by an adult, is: 1) clap your hands two times as loud as possible, combined with 2) a loud shout two times “No, no!”. You should get a startle response and the pet usually runs away. After 20 or 30 seconds, find the puppy and if you interrupted their potty time, take them out to the grass/yard and wait for them to finish, then reward them as before.
1. Quality matters! “They are what they eat”. The brands we recommend are from the pet store and are as follows:
Nutro, Pro Plan, Royal Canin, Science Diet
Do not feed the local store brands as in Albertson’s or Ralph’s. National brands sold at the grocery are not the same quality as national diets sold at the pet food stores. Even these large pet stores have their own brands that are not recommended. Nutritionists recommend 10-20% of the diet be canned and provided at each meal.
2. Quantity: Your pup’s stomach will fill when they eat and they will stop or walk away when they are full. Document the amount your pet consumes with each meal; it is a measure of how they feel.
3. Feedings: Puppies: Feed dry and canned at each meal and feed 3-4 meals per day. Always feed in private so there are no distractions. Use a laundry room or bathroom. Allow them 5 minutes to eat and take the uneaten food away. Document what amount they have eaten. Establish a regular schedule. Adults: [after 5 months of age] feed twice daily, a specific amount at a specific time.
4. Low Blood Sugar (Hypoglycemia): Small breeds are predisposed to low blood sugar. Small frequent meals are important. If your pet does not eat everything during this five-minute interval it is recommended to give a rounded teaspoon of Karo syrup. This may keep their blood sugar normal until the next meal.
