I am having a problems with distractions during our school time. I babysit a toddler and I know he distracts, but our huge distractions is our dog. We are still house training her, but the girls are starting to use her to get out of doing the stuff they dont like. I am finding myself so upset because I cant get them to finish school lately.... by the time they take her our 3 to 4 times in the morning by the afternoon they are just so out of the school mode that nothing else is done! I need help, I dont know what to do anymore with them and the dog! Help!!!!
I'm not sure what your housing situation is, but could you tie her out, lock her somewhere 'safe' to go, or put her in a crate (dogs usually won't mess in one)? Thankfully our dogs are older, but I can't quite understand a dog who isn't a very little puppy needing to go out that often in the morning. Is she not going when they take her outside? (You could try taking her near leaves or tall grass... lol- it works with my pickiest poopers).
We are housetraining a puppy as well. We have been keeping her in a crate while we do school. She doesn't mess in it and she is in there for only about 3-4 hours all together. We do take her out a few times but she goes potty quickly and she goes back into the crate.. If we don't crate her she torments our older dog by jumping and barking at him constantly. And he won't do anything to her but run and get into his crate where she traps him and continues to bite and jump on him. SOoooOOo irritating. THAT is a huge distraction. But putting her in a crate with a chew toy solves that. Good luck... Oh the joys of a new puppy.. UGHHHH.
We have a 6 month old pitbull that we crate when we eat (or mostly when the kids eat in the living room ) because she steals their food. She isn't too bad during school time, but if she were, you bet I would put her in her crate then too. (If she doesn't stop eating my sofa, she may find herself in her crate perminately! j/k.... maybe)
No you're not! LOL! One of ours chewed a good size hole in the hand-made quilt on Rachael's bed. I don't think she came out of the crate for a YEAR!!!
Crate-Training!!! This was the only way for us to get anything done. This also helped because ds(the animal lover) wouldn't put the poor thing down long enough to get his work done. When the animals do go out, I'm the one to do it so that the kids can continue working. I don't let them get out of their seat unless they're bleeding! once they're up, it's impossible to get them back on track!
You know what, I'm probably not kidding. I really wish hubby would get as frustrated as I am and say it's time to find her a new home.. but he says "you wouldn't get rid of one of the kids for eating the sofa would you?" Ummmm, my kids would not eat the sofa, thank you very much...lol.
her "home" is the laundry room.. but she whines and barks (which she does when she wants to go out) so they think she needs out... haha... Keke is a spoiled brat!!! :lol: thanks to my girls....
My boys use our dog (and cat, occasionally the birds) to get out of schoolwork too. When I get frustrated, she goes out on her tie out...which means I've had enough! I would definitely use a crate to train your doggy or if a fenced yard or tie out is a possibility, it works great to get them out of sight. My $.02.
I will tell them that the dog can go out once in the morning then when school is done you can take her out and play with her again.
About the yelping, we had to deal with that too. Terra (or TERROR) is only 4 months old and from what I read this is normal. She wouldn't stop "screaming" everytime we put her in the crate. Finally, we put her crate in the shower in my bedroom and shut the bathroom door along with my bedroom door. We couldn't hear her then. I started to feel bad about leaving her in there and decided to put her in the livingroom. She actually stopped screaming when she could see us. And only whines at night once in a while when she hasn't been taken out to potty for the last time at night yet. Oh, and if you do decide to do the crate thing, make sure that you don't get one that's too big otherwise puppy may decide to use part of it as a poop area. They don't like to poop and pee where they sleep so if there's extra room they will do it. So make sure there is just enough room that she can lay down and when she stands up, just enough for her to turn around. Good luck....
Have you tried putting a ticking clock in her box? The sound is similar to a heart beat, and I'm told it comforts young puppies.
Wrap the ticking clock in a thick towel, so the heartbeat is coming from inside something soft -- like the mama dog.
The ticking clock is great. I do not know how long your pup has been away from its momma, but we would also put a really warm water bottle in the crate for the puppy to snuggle up against. Pups like to snuggle against something warm. With that said, the bottle needs to be made of a material your little pup can't chew through. Perhaps a warm towel would also work. As for the kiddos playing with the pup during school hours, crate the pup and you take it to the restroom, unless the kiddos are done with their work. Set some new rules about the puppy and school. If the rules are broken, then they do not get to touch the pup for the day. It will be good for the kids and the pup as well. Puppy will learn that crying will not get him attention so eventually it will stop. The kiddos will focus better on school, eventually , because they will know that the sooner they finish, the sooner they can play with their little friend. You can also have a family gathering where you, the kiddos, your husband, and the pup all come together and talk about how you are all caretakers of the pup. Puppy not only needs to learn to poop outside, but puppy needs to learn manners, and they can be Puppy's teacher. Have the kids help make a list of things they can do to help the puppy. This will help the kiddos because they will see that puppies are not only for play, they need rules too and the kids are the dogs teacher whether they realize it or not. They will teach the pup good habits or bad one way or another. Directing their desire to love the pup is a good thing. This could be a fabulous learning moment!
