We have had Milla for almost 2 weeks. She is such a sweetie…. Most of the time. I have been working a little bit with her on small commands such as sit, shake and lay down. She’s going pretty good during training time, but doesn’t always listen other times. I know it will take time. She is very smart, I can tell. There are a few things though that I would like to get a handle on A.S.A.P. I’m hoping you can give me tips on to handle these.

1. Potty training- She does OK. We take her out and praise her and give a treat when she goes. She went a couple of days with only a couple accidents in the house then started going all the time in the house. Even when we take her out all the time, she will go more often in the house. I’m trying to be patient, but she is starting to refuse to go outside. I take her out and she will just sit there in the pouring rain. Sometimes she tries to run around and dig or eat grass, but doesn’t go potty. I have noticed she will often go better off the leash, but then she just runs around and its hard to get her back. Most of the time she even fights the leash (only during potty time not as much when just walking). Sometimes if she doesn’t go I put her in the bathroom (we use it with a baby gate rather than a crate) for 10-15 minutes and then try again and she will go. Yay! Victory! Wrong. Half the time she goes back inside and goes another couple of times within a matter of minutes.

2. Biting- I know it is completely normal. However she seems to be getting worse. I have tried giving a stern NO and walking away, she just attacks my feet and pants as I’m walking. I’ve tried the yelping or saying ouch, but that doesn’t faze her, it seems like it provokes her. I give her toys and that works for a second, but I guess our clothes and skin is more enjoyable because she goes right back to chewing on us. There have been a couple times she has latched on to my husband’s face or my fingers and even drew a little blood. I dont expect to completly stop biting over night, but need her to at least calm down and how to detatch her from us when she does it. I have a 5 year old son and I worry about him getting hurt.

3. Trying to get our food- We often eat in the living room on the couch and our son at his small child size table. She will try to climb on the couch or on the table to get the food. We always push her down and say DOWN. She does it over and over and over. We spend more time pushing her down than eating. Sometimes I get fed up and put her in the bathroom while we eat. Ultimately I would like to get it to the point where she lays in her bed or really anywhere that is not sitting in front of us begging while we eat. I want to be able to eat in front of her without wondering if she is going to jump up and steal it. Yes I know it would be easier if we just ate at the table, but sometimes we just don’t want to. Even when we do she does the same thing at our chairs.

What are the best ways to handle these things. I know they will take time and consistency; I just need to know what the best way to go about it is.

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How are you cleaning up the mess? Are you using an enzymatic cleaner? I use diluted vinegar. Also, try stopping her if you catch her in the act. Are you using Pee Pads in the house? If so, she might be confused because she used to pee on the pads inside and now she has to pee outside. Don't get mad at her, accidents happen. Since she isn't reliable, don't let her out of your sight. Tether her to you if you have to. Take her outside every 20 mins. Take her outside if she starts sniffing the ground. Throw a major party when she potties outside. If she doesn't want to go, crate her for 10-15 mins and try again.

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2. Biting- I know it is completely normal. However she seems to be getting worse. I have tried giving a stern NO and walking away, she just attacks my feet and pants as I’m walking. I’ve tried the yelping or saying ouch, but that doesn’t faze her, it seems like it provokes her. I give her toys and that works for a second, but I guess our clothes and skin is more enjoyable because she goes right back to chewing on us. There have been a couple times she has latched on to my husband’s face or my fingers and even drew a little blood. I dont expect to completly stop biting over night, but need her to at least calm down and how to detatch her from us when she does it. I have a 5 year old son and I worry about him getting hurt.

Yelp and stand up/turn your back. If she starts pulling on your clothes, ignore her. She'll learn that that behavor doesn't get her any attention. I've noticed Bear gets extra nippy when he's tired, so if my yelping doesn't stop it, I kindly and happily put him in the crate. When he was 9 weeks old, he went asleep almost instantly. Any time she's doing something you don't want, take away the attention. When she is being greeted, make sure she's calm and the moment she gets nippy end the encounter.

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3. Trying to get our food- We often eat in the living room on the couch and our son at his small child size table. She will try to climb on the couch or on the table to get the food. We always push her down and say DOWN. She does it over and over and over. We spend more time pushing her down than eating. Sometimes I get fed up and put her in the bathroom while we eat. Ultimately I would like to get it to the point where she lays in her bed or really anywhere that is not sitting in front of us begging while we eat. I want to be able to eat in front of her without wondering if she is going to jump up and steal it. Yes I know it would be easier if we just ate at the table, but sometimes we just don’t want to. Even when we do she does the same thing at our chairs.

This was a major issue with Bear and I. For the first month, we had to crate him for at least one meal a day. We too alternate between the dining room and living room for meals. What worked is teaching Bear a "go to your mat" command. We ended up confusing Bear for the first month that he was with us. He was allowed on the furniture, but when I was eating in the living room, he'd run to get on the sofa and I'd tell him "off" and he didn't understand why now he wasn't allowed and in 30 mins he was allowed again. We worked religiously on his Sit and Down until it was second nature for him. While we worked on that, we amped up the mat training. Anytime he was around us, we worked on getting him settled on his mat with a chew toy. First we'd click and treat when he stood on the mat, then only when he sat on the mat, then finally only when he laid on the mat. I'd repeat "good mat. good boy bear. good mat." When we were eating at the table, I'd stick him on his mat. Anytime he moved off the mat, I'd get up and move him back to the mat. Anytime he laid down on the mat voluntarily, he got a high value treat. Now, we're about a month after starting, I'm able to hold a roast beef sandwich in my hands, with Bear three feet away, laying on his mat. The longer he stays, the bigger reward he gets. I even toss treats to the cats in front of him and he'll stay on his mat (but we've also been heavily teaching food aversion too).

Good luck! Let me know how it goes.

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lol - how old is Milla?
1 - Potty training can take up to the age of 5 months. If you take her outside she may be too distracted with play instead of going potty. Try to take her in the same place so she can smell her #1 and #2 and encourage her with a "go pee-pee" or "go poo-poo" or whatever words you use. I try to use different names instead of just potty so she knows that I also expect her to do one after she already did the other.
2 - since I am trying to train Rose as a hunting dog I am allowing her to bite but I do reinforce her to be easy when she bites too hard in order to develop a soft mouth. I understand that it is actually good to teach dogs how to have a soft mouth in general. Their tendency is to bite if scared, provoked (like blowing in the ear) or just defending their pack (in their minds). When Rose used to bite too hard we would just correct her with an "Ouch - be easy" but kept the hand inside their mouth until she got softer. Now she nibbles on our ears and nose and hands with no problem.
3 - how about teaching her "table manners" we always have a half an apple cut up for her while we eat dinner. She has to lay down in order to get it. We taught her table manners from the first day she was at home. I know some people say it is begging but I rather her lay down with us and know she will get something then fighting her whining while we eat. I also don't feel right eating while she is just looking at me and drooling.
I attached a pic of her first lesson of "table manners" where she fell asleep with her nose in her bowl - when she woke up and realized she missed dinner completely she went around the table, looked at each chair completely amazed that she missed her dinner treats - she never fell asleep again at the "table".

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I have been using the enzymatic cleaner until about 2 days ago. I ran out and haven't had a chance to get more so I've used vinegar. We have wall to wall carpet, so even if I clean one area, she moves on to the next. We do not use pee pads. I have tried latching her leash to me, however she often just sits down and doesn't want to move. Makes it hard to walk around. Catching her doesn't work. She doesn't usually sniff around, just squats and goes. If I try to stop her by saying NO, or clapping or whatever, she just looks at us and keeps going.
Today while I was at work hubby said she only went in the house 2 times. However as soon as I got home she went 4 times in the house. I saw her doing it once and when I went to pick her up I found another fresh spot a couple feet way. I took her out and she went. I praised a lot and gave treats. Then when she came back in she went again. I again took her out. Again when we got in the house, she went again.
I would love to.... but she is putting holes in them.
9 weeks.
I know fully training can take a long time, but at this point she is going completely backwards. She goes more IN the house than she does outside. We always take her to the same area. Our backyard is pure mud right now, so we only take her to our small front yard.
We often feed her dinner while we eat. However she eats so fast that it doesn't matter she will be right back to us in a couple of minutes. I dont think I want to give her that big of a treat every time we eat just to keep her occupied. I'd rather teach her to go lay down. I dont want her looking at me and drooling, I want to teach her not to beg all together. Starting with not jumping at us when we have food.

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I would get her checked for a UTI next. If you catch her eliminating in the house, rush to pick her up and put her outside. Our trainer told us its like I have two identical bathrooms. One inside and one outside. If I always get interrupted when I try to use the one inside, I'll prefer to use the one outside.

If she doesn't want to walk with you when leashed at your side and you can't keep your eyes on her, crate her. The first month was the hardest for us potty wise. We had to keep telling ourselves that when Bear had an accident, it was our fault. We were taking him out every 20 mins and if we missed it by 5 mins we'd have an oops puddle.

The carpet may still smell like urine. I would use a carpet shampooer with vinegar to shampoo the entire house (she has access to) very deeply and twice. Sometimes we had to soak the spot in undiluted vinegar for 20 mins before soaking it up.

Re: the table manners, she's only 9 weeks old. This takes time and consistency. I don't consider it to be begging of the pup is on his mat 7 feet away from us in plain sight even if he's drooling as we eat. So with that in mind, we trained the mat command. And now after 6 weeks of working on it constantly and consistently he's an angel at meal times. Remember when you are training the dog to be settled at meal times you do have to reward him. Otherwise their is no incentive and your food looks yummier.

Good luck! And let us know how it goes.


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