Three weeks ago we got our 5 year old daughter a mix breed puppy. looks like husky/shepard/black-lab. We are at work from 6:30am to 4:00pm during the week. We want her to be a house dog and a good watch-dog/protector. We have started the crate training about a week ago. Before that, she was in a utility room with paper/pee-pads. She's not pooped in the house; but, she can't hold pee back all that time (as I expected); so, I have to change-out/clean crate bedding every week-day.
She has that puppy play-biting and jumping thing going on. We've been using the techniques in this web site to deal with that. She's getting better with me and my wife; but, my daughter is afraid to grab her by the scuff of the neck and shake her as a mother dog would do when she is too rough. She just does the scolding and transferrs attention to one of the many dog toys (if one is handy); so, the puppy isn't to intimidated by her yet.

Also, what tips does anyone have to help the dog grow into a good watch-dog/protector. I don't want to kill that vicious nature against threatening strangers.

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so, the puppy isn't to intimidated by her yet.

Bob,
Just to be sure I am reading this right....you *want* a 9 week old puppy to be intimidated by your five year old daughter?

If that is true, I worry about what you are teaching *both* of them. You really need to take a second look at the articles and puppy-raising advice on this website and forum.

Tracy

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> Ok this is just my opinion but why on earth should a 5 yr old child have anything to do with the raising of a pup? I dont think a child should even be given the responsibility of telling a dog what to do and what not to , thats ur job and ur wife's let alone start "punishing" a dog or shaking it in the neck. I dont understand either how on earth ur going to bond with a pup when ur out from 6am till 4pm let alone get her house trained. Of course she cant hold up all that time. Pfffffffffffff why did u get a dog if ur out at work all day? How and when r u going to teach the dog anything? Dont u know the first 6 mths of a pups life are the most important? As for your 5 yr old with all respect get her a toy stuffed dog for her to shake around. You dont get a pup to have crated all day while ur out at work and expect miracles to have happened by the time u get home. I think id do some serious thinking if u made a good choice here but please stop letting ur 5 yr old get involved with a pups upbringing or one day it could just backfire.

Hi Bob, if you go to the training articles on this site, all the info you need to start to properly crate training your puppy is there. While you're housebreaking and bonding with your extremely young pup, buy the puppy and basic obedience dvd's, all the info you need to live with your dog into maturity is covered. Maybe you can get a family member or a retired neighbor to let the pup out during the day when you're at work. Also, and i don't mean this in a bad way, but you(and anyone else) shouldn't be doing any corrections till you've done a lot of reading on this site, a 9wk old pup is just that, a 9wk old pup! Forget about the whole watch-dog/protecter thing, and concentrate on housebreaking and bonding and learning, and you'll have good shot at having a nice dog, oh yeah, stop shaking a 9wk old pup, if it's being a little alligator, stick the kong in it's mouth, good luck with your pup, AL

Hilary

Thanks for your advise. I'm sure your right; so, we'll take the pup back to the pound with all of the other pups and dogs that are headed for 'the gas chamber' if they can't be adopted by non-full-time worker/student types that wants to give them a home. We've only had the dog about three weeks; so, it's lucky I joined this forum before we went to far with this futile effort. We'll get my daught on of those mechanical toy dogs.

Again, thanks for your advise.

Bob
Instead of pouting about what Hilary said why don't you focus on the good advice that Al gave you. You have alot to learn. so order the videos and use the resources he mentioned. Search the forums for puppy raising threads. After you learn more you will recognize how many red flags went up when Hilary read your post. Learn and have fun with your pup and don't be so sensitive to good advice.
Bob

Sorry Bob, but your sarcassim about taking the pup back to the pound to be destroyed, was a lost cause. I think most on this forum will agree that a 5 year old child has no business trying to correct a puppy. To a five yr old, a dog is nothing more than a very animated toy. You asked for advice, you got it. If you don't care to hear what one poster tells you, then wait for others to offer suggestions. To bail out as soon as you dissagree, will never teach you anything about raising a pup. I wrote this, not to offend you, but to get you to think a little bit before you blast a poster. Thank you!

Hi Bob, I'm only a novice and not really qualified to give advice, but the problem sounds pretty simple. Since you're discouraged by the responses you got I'll give you my opinion on it. (and if the experts feel it's wrong, feel free to pop me with a level 5 remote computer correction <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> ) At 5, your daughter probably shouldn't be scruffing the puppy. Sounds like she's handling it appropriately; redirecting to a more suitable item to bite. You can work on her practicing a firm NO. You and your wife can handle the corrections and watch the puppy closely while they're together. You two can teach the dog to respect her better than she can. An altoid tin with pennies is a good item to use for discouraging behavior you don't like, and your daughter could do that. I like the redirecting to a toy, it usually works well with persistence.

As for fostering the dogs protective nature, I think they either have it or they don't. If your puppy does you'll probably need to teach the dog when it's appropriate to be protective and when it's not with special emphasis on when it's not appropriate. I don't know that you could actually kill that instinct unless you were specifically training to do so. I guess it all depends on what you want. I personally don't like the hysterical barking behavior <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Bob,

Dogs have been around for hundreds of thousands of years. Raising a pup is NO BIG DEAL...and there is a huge...read HUGE...difference between raising a family pet, and raising a competition/working dog.

At the end of the day, do the best you can, use common sense and be careful. Reading and DVDs are obviously a good idea. You'll be able to enrich your instincts A LOT with solid knowledge...and, since dogs are usually with a family for the better part of 12 years, they are a wise investment.

Getting a pup for your daughter is a fabulous way to get her to love animals. When they're together you must supervise them. Let me add something that to me is important...THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH A PET BEING SUBMISSIVE TO EVERYONE IN THE FAMILY. If your pup is also raised with adequate play, grooming, training, bonding...submission for a PET is a good thing...specially if you have a little one.

My brothers/sisters and I grew up with big bad dogs, and my parents made sure the dogs were SUBMISSIVE to us at a very young age...read FROM WHEN THEY WERE LITTLE PUPPIES. It was an extraordinary experience - which shaped our lives - to go out "hunting" with "our" dogs when I was a bit older than your daughter, and my younger sister and brother were about your daughter's age. We were responsible for taking them out, feeding them, bathing them, grooming them, etc...while one of my parents held a lead on a collar. If the dogs ever did something untoward, my parents would correct them HARD, while we said, "No!" in a grave voice. At the same time, barking at strangers, attempting to bite strangers, WHILE IN THE HOUSE was something they encouraged...by voice praise.

The proper time to IMPRINT submission in a pup is NOW...IMO. Regarding corrections, don't loose your temper, don't get emotional, don't over correct. Learn the ART of correcting. BE PERFECTLY CONSISTENT. Don't cut ANY slack. Always correct the particular unwanted behavior.

Congratulations for your good intentions, which are further being enhanced by your taking the time to look for info in places like this. Regrettably, sometimes those of us that REALLY love dogs, have little patience with people.

Keep learning...AND HAVE A GOOD TIME!

Andres.

On the housetraining issue, is it possible for you to take her to work with you (crated, of course) and either let her stay in your office in her crate during the day or in your car with the windows cracked, again in her crate (and providing the weather allows), so you can take her out every couple of hours to potty?