Questions from a Soon To Be Mom

[Michael Romanos]

Re Debbie and her disputing puppy and mother anxiety:

Without doubt, some puppies are more than ready to go to new homes and new owners that they can get 'a place of their own,' individual attention, bonding and love, by the time they are seven weeks or over. At over 12 weeks this desire can become more apparant. Many dog mothers are very happy to see the last of their growing pups at ages in excess of seven weeks and get back to a normal life. This magnifies as the pups get older.

[glencorgi]

Seven weeks is well known as a human imprinting/bonding stage; however, the mental maturity of a puppy and behavioral lessons that can be learned by staying two or more weeks with littermates and visits from their dam are far more invaluable to new owners.

At seven weeks, not many dams are staying full time with their puppies. They come and visit, have play times, but most Breeders have returned them to their pre-maternal routine. The puppies are busy playing with each other and sometimes older youngsters and puppy friendly adults that might be about. Some dams want nothing further to do with their puppies once they are weaned, others enjoy playing with them well into adulthood. Most Breeders tend to follow the lead indicated by the dam.

Debbie

[Dillydoodle]

I also would like to put in my two cents about housebreaking. I think it is much more effective to teach the puppy to go outside from day one.. the more accidents a puppy has in the house the more their are getting the message that it is ok to pee or poop in the house... I got Dillon when he was 10 1/2 weeks old. My breeder never lets her puppies go before 10 weeks of age. oh and michael she has some puppies that stay with her until they are 6 months old ( while she is determining if they are going to be show dogs or not) and guess what, they live there with their mom and there are no issues with either puppy or mom when they are eventually separated... so not sure where you are getting your info from...

anyway, back to the subject, housebreaking by taking them out frequently and when inside they should be watched constantly.. and when unable to watch they should be in their crate. This way they only have the opportunity to go outside to potty and they do learn really fast. Dillon was housebroken very quickly with this method. We have a friend who used newspapers as a pee pee pad... and their dog ( who is now 4 yrs old) will still on occasion lift his leg on their newspaper... so personally, i dont like the idea of letting a dog go potty in the house ever on a pee pee pad, newspaper or anywhere else, it is like sending them a mixed message.

I also think the idea of a nice little bed in your room is not a good choice for a puppy... they chew, and often like to chew their bedding, and they will get up middle of the night and find a place in your bedroom to potty... crates are really the way to go until they are fully housebroken and are out of the chewing stage, then a nice open bed in your room is just fine...though by that time , they may just prefer their crate!

Good luck with your new puppy...they are a lot of work but sooo much fun!

[LaRogue]

I think crate training is a must and and having an ex pen for the day time is a great idea. IMO, crate training isn't limited to housebreaking, it's going to be useful all throughout your puppy's life when your corgi has to be crated at the vet's for surgery, traveling, at the groomers, etc. I think if you get them used to it now, it's not an issue or as stressful in circumstances when they have to be in it.

Every puppy I've had has completely destroyed their bedding. It was suggested I use old sheets and towels and one, not only chewed them, but also ate them. Little purple pieces (which I was ecstatic to see) of sheet came out his backend.

Personally, I have found corgis to be very quick to learn to let you know when they need to go. The longest it has taken me to teach one was about a month. That puppy was 9 or 10 weeks old, when I got him. Pip (who I picked up at 4 months and had started house training) only had 3 accidents the first week. Two were my fault for loosing track of the time and letting him go too long without a potty break.

That being said, I didn't let them roam around the house, unsupervised, to go whenever and where ever they wanted. I kept them confined when I was at work. When at home, I took them out about every 2 hours, plus 30 minutes after meals, playtime, or immediately after they woke up from a nap, and I put them in the crate at night. I think if you can try to anticipate when they will need to go and get them out there before they actually do, half the battle is won.

[MyPemCharlie]

Originally Posted by LaRogue

Every puppy I've had has completely destroyed their bedding. It was suggested I use old sheets and towels and one, not only chewed them, but also ate them. Little purple pieces (which I was ecstatic to see) of sheet came out his backend.

Glad I'm not the only one. My last dog ate his bedding. What's that pink thing hanging out of his rear end? Oh, just part of his bedding blanket. Ugh! Charlie shreds his bedding, but doesn't eat it. I get twin-sized blankets when they clearance for around $5.00. I've always envied people who can actually have a nice "real" dog bed.

Anyway, I certainly agree with everyone that crate training is the way to go. Charlie never has peed or pooped in the house or in his crate with one exception. One night in October he woke me whining to go out at 3AM. Before I could get out of bed and get my robe on, he had the runs in his crate. Poor little guy...certainly couldn't blame him for that. Many, many trips outside, even when the pup shouldn't need to go potty I think is a good tip.

[LaRogue]

Glad I'm not the only one. My last dog ate his bedding. What's that pink thing hanging out of his rear end? Oh, just part of his bedding blanket. Ugh! Charlie shreds his bedding, but doesn't eat it. I get twin-sized blankets when they clearance for around $5.00. I've always envied people who can actually have a nice "real" dog bed.

Too funny! Hopefully, your experience will be like mine. They usually stopped bed destruction around 8 mos-1year. Pip was, by far, the most agressive and longest ripper upper of the bed -and everything else-I've ever seen. He finally stopped once he was around 2. He's had a nice, posh, cushy bed now for almost a year. I call it his condo!

Great news about Charlie and how easy he was to house train, maybe he's not a puppy head after all

[MyPemCharlie]

Heehee, he's a very good puppy head. My last dog was easy to train too. I think I'm just obsessive about taking puppies outside a lot of times throughout the day and watching them every second indoors or crating when I can't watch.

If puppy head quits shredding his bedding and I can buy him a real dog bed, I'll be thrilled! My rottweiler never did quit destroying bedding his whole life.

[Peggy]

Originally Posted by glencorgi

At seven weeks, not many dams are staying full time with their puppies. They come and visit, have play times, but most Breeders have returned them to their pre-maternal routine. The puppies are busy playing with each other and sometimes older youngsters and puppy friendly adults that might be about. Some dams want nothing further to do with their puppies once they are weaned, others enjoy playing with them well into adulthood. Most Breeders tend to follow the lead indicated by the dam.

My experince has been much like Debbies.

When I breed I breed with the intention of keeping at least one puppy. So over the years I've kept puppies for their life time and also had their mothers. I've not had one mother become anxious because a puppy stayed rather than 'finding it's own place'.

What I've seen is that the puppies usually respect their mothers throughout life.

Most moms once they wean the babies don't want to be with them 24/7 and breeders do not keep them together 24/7 after their weaned. I do let mom play with the puppies if and when she wants though.

I've not seen a mom be anxious or stress about a puppy leaving or staying. They've raised them, weaned them and their relationship with them after that is more on a friendly basis if the puppy stays in the same household as the mother. It's not anxiety causing or stressful to either of them.

Now siblings that have decided they don't want to get along, that can be stressful! (To the humans not necessarily to the doggy mom.)

Peggy

[Chip's Mom]

Not to change topics on the thread but Peggy did you say you were hoping to get new puppies this year? I would love to see pics if you do.

[Peggy]

Originally Posted by Chip's Mom

Not to change topics on the thread but Peggy did you say you were hoping to get new puppies this year? I would love to see pics if you do.

Yup, but not till fall at the earliest.

Peggy