Puppy help needed!

[Stayseeliz]

We got two 8 week old beagles yesterday. They are adorable but of course we have a lot of work to do. We got home so late last night that we just shut them in the bathroom last night and of course it looked like a tornado had ripped through it this morning.

 

I need tips on getting the dogs housebroken, making sure they don't get into things, etc. I have two older kiddos that will be a big help but I need to make sure to spell out everything they need to do so they understand. My biggest concern is getting them housebroken as soon as we can.

 

We had a puppy 12 years ago but I can't seem to remember what to do. We don't have a ton of space but we can figure out where to put a bigger crate if need be. Thanks for tips!

[Remudamom]

You'd better get two crates asap. And talk to Astrid.

[BrookValley.]

Yes, crates! And not large ones--ones appropriately sized for the dogs. Otherwise they'll just do their business in one corner of the crate and you'll have defeated your purpose in trying to use the crates to house train. There are crates out there that have a moveable divider so you can slowly expand the size of the crate as the puppy grows.

[Stayseeliz]

I need to get two crates? I thought they'd be happier sleeping together. Do I want to keep them in the crates all night? I can't believe I don't remember what to do.

[Jpoy85]

ok at the risk of sounding rude ill jump:

 

1) WHY would you get TWO puppies at the same time? MOST people (especially breeders) will tell you NOT to do this.

 

2) Yes you need 2 crates as you have 2 dogs. Id get a small crate for each dog for now. It needs to be big enough ONLY that they can lay down and turn around. Keep them in it when youre gone and at night or NOT tethered to you.

 

3) At 8wks old theyll need to go out every few hours. They need to be tethered to you with a leash IF they arent in the cage. If you cant watch them CLOSESLY they are tethered or in the cage. They will start sniffing around when they need to go. DO NOT PUNISH if they have an accident. Clean it and move on. Have a cue word for going out and use it every single time. Try a treat when they do go. IF you take them for a walk rather than you have a yard- take them out to go potty but dont make it a play time. They is a difference and they need to learn that.

 

4) Get them on a GOOD food without corn and by products. It will help them in the long run.

 

5) Get them in a puppy class, that will help with potty training as well.

 

6) Get a GOOD book and ANY book on Beagles. They do have issues. Their barking for one. Not everyone can handle their howl at 2am when its thundering.

 

and 7) Welcome to the club from a fellow Beagle mom.

[Pawz4me]

Oh dear.

 

Two puppies at one time is generally a very bad idea. Even experienced trainers won't do it.

 

Does that mean it can't be done successfully? No. But it's a lot of work. A LOT.

 

I agree that you need two crates ASAP. You can indeed get adult-sized crates, if you get wire crates that come with a divider so that you can section off part of the crate. Don't worry, those types of crates are quite common and you shouldn't have any problem finding them at just about any pet store. You can use cardboard boxes to take up space in a plastic crate, but you'll need to put something heavy in the box so the puppy can't move it around. And pup will likely chew on the boxes, but that's usually not a big deal.

 

As far as house-breaking, the most common method is to take them outside frequently, Many people will tell you every hour or two. IMO that's not nearly enough for such young puppies. I'd shoot for a minimum of every 30 minutes during waking hours for a week or two. If they do their business outside, then they get a few minutes of play time in the house. If they don't do their business they go back into the crate and you take them outside again in a few minutes.

 

Ideally the crates will be placed in your bedroom at night so you can hear them whining or getting restless and know they need to go out.

 

You'll also need to work on obedience training separately.

[Stayseeliz]

We had a beagle from 6 weeks until his death at 12 years old last week. I know beagles have some issues and we're aware of that. I was more asking for help on training the two together. I didn't realize that was typically done. But what's done is done. I have lots of help so I'll just have to make sure the kids double up on taking the dogs outside. I'm not a total moron, I guess just a partial one.

[Jpoy85]

We had a beagle from 6 weeks until his death at 12 years old last week. I know beagles have some issues and we're aware of that. I was more asking for help on training the two together. I didn't realize that was typically done. But what's done is done. I have lots of help so I'll just have to make sure the kids double up on taking the dogs outside. I'm not a total moron, I guess just a partial one.

 

Youre not a moron, but as i said and the person below me- most people will advice against getting 2 puppies at the same time.

[gingersmom]

Another vote for crates. I would start them out in separate crates and then when they are older you can crate them together.

 

My puppy is 18 months old (yippee!!!) and I took her out at least every 30 minutes (sometimes more often). She rarely had an accident in the house and caught on really fast to go to the door when you need to go out.

 

I gave her water with meals and in between but never left out a full water bowl (she would drink till she is drowning).

 

They definitely can't have full run of the house unless someone is right next to them. When you are doing school or busy they need to be in their crate. We got our puppy and started school 2 weeks later. She was crated during school hours and got a lunch break (aka...a walk, just like the big kids :001_smile:)

 

A tired dog (lots of playtime, running around backyard) will make everything else much easier.

 

Don't forget lots of socialization (once they get appropriate shots). We took our puppy everywhere (sitting outside starbucks, bagel store, basically any restaurant/coffee shop with seating outside). She is a social butterfly!

[gingersmom]

We had a beagle from 6 weeks until his death at 12 years old last week. I know beagles have some issues and we're aware of that. I was more asking for help on training the two together. I didn't realize that was typically done. But what's done is done. I have lots of help so I'll just have to make sure the kids double up on taking the dogs outside. I'm not a total moron, I guess just a partial one.

 

My neighbor retired from her job and 2 months later for Christmas her kids went to get her a dachshund puppy. They felt bad for the puppy left behind so they took both puppies home.

 

She did have several weeks where she was threatening to get rid of one of them but she is long past that.

 

You'll survive this. :001_smile:

[Stayseeliz]

We always regretted that our other beagle didn't have someone to keep him company so we got two. We didn't realize that two puppies at once wasn't generally done. I'll do lots of research and stress to the kids how important it is that we take them out constantly. I'd already planned to close off all the bedroom doors and keep them in the living room/dining room with us.

[Dory]

I have only ever allowed someone to get two pups from me once and I made them wait two weeks between picking them up.

Brace yourselves for a bit of a tough adjustment period.

Schedule feedings. Put the pups out right before and right after eating and drinking and then again 15 minutes after. For young pups like that you will need to feed at least 3 times a day.

Seperate them for bed time at least. They are going to be prone to bonding more with each other than with your family as it is. Besides that, they will learn to sleep better if they aren't waking each other up.

Crates are very much recommended. Crate training can make housebreaking so much easier as dogs are less likely to mess in their own beds and so will ask out (expect it numerous times a night).

Being that your last dog was a beagle I'm sure you understand what you're getting into there, but be warned that with two, their running tendencies and not listening tends to increase :glare:.

I'm sure you'll get it all figured out.

Good luck with your new family members.

[ktgrok]

Puppies MUST be supervised or crated at all times. No exceptions.

 

Puppies must go out to potty after eating, after a nap, after drinking a lot, and after playing. People usually miss the playing one. But if they are playing hard and then slow down it is potty time!

 

Bring treats outside, and as soon as one potties you give it a treat. Don't wait until you get back inside, that would be giving a treat for coming inside and soon you would have a dog that goes out and then wants back in right away to get a treat.

 

If you see an accident happening just say "oh No" briefly to startle them, but don't make a huge deal of it. If you punish harshly when the dog potties in front of you in the house they dog may think "oh no, I shouldn't potty in front of them" and then when you take the dog out it will hold it because it is afraid to go in front of you. That leads to the dog waiting until you are not looking, sneaking behind furniture, etc to potty. (which the owner usually interprets, wrongly, as the dog knowing it is doing wrong).

 

If the puppy has an accident and you didn't catch it in the act roll up a newspaper and bop yourself on the head, saying "puppy must always be supervised, puppy must always be supervised".

 

You can't take the dogs out too often at this point. Seriously. Take them out constantly. They wil initially potty outside just by accident, but the more often that happens the quicker they develop a preference for going outside. Every accident in the house leads them to have a preference for going inside.

[ktgrok]

We always regretted that our other beagle didn't have someone to keep him company so we got two. We didn't realize that two puppies at once wasn't generally done. I'll do lots of research and stress to the kids how important it is that we take them out constantly. I'd already planned to close off all the bedroom doors and keep them in the living room/dining room with us.

 

that is still to much freedom. ONe could quickly potty on the floor while you are watching the other. Keep them in an area small enough to watch them, or leash them, or crate them. The only time they get to run around (still supervised) is after going potty.

[Dory]

Puppies MUST be supervised or crated at all times. No exceptions.

 

Puppies must go out to potty after eating, after a nap, after drinking a lot, and after playing. People usually miss the playing one. But if they are playing hard and then slow down it is potty time!

 

Bring treats outside, and as soon as one potties you give it a treat. Don't wait until you get back inside, that would be giving a treat for coming inside and soon you would have a dog that goes out and then wants back in right away to get a treat.

 

If you see an accident happening just say "oh No" briefly to startle them, but don't make a huge deal of it. If you punish harshly when the dog potties in front of you in the house they dog may think "oh no, I shouldn't potty in front of them" and then when you take the dog out it will hold it because it is afraid to go in front of you. That leads to the dog waiting until you are not looking, sneaking behind furniture, etc to potty. (which the owner usually interprets, wrongly, as the dog knowing it is doing wrong).

 

If the puppy has an accident and you didn't catch it in the act roll up a newspaper and bop yourself on the head, saying "puppy must always be supervised, puppy must always be supervised".

 

You can't take the dogs out too often at this point. Seriously. Take them out constantly. They wil initially potty outside just by accident, but the more often that happens the quicker they develop a preference for going outside. Every accident in the house leads them to have a preference for going inside.

 

:iagree: This was said so much better than anything I wrote. Also, with the crates, if I have two pups in the house at the same time I often have on napping in the crate while the other one is with me. I only have one pair of eyes and I can't supervise them both and they MUST be either crated or supervised at all times.

[Jpoy85]

that is still to much freedom. ONe could quickly potty on the floor while you are watching the other. Keep them in an area small enough to watch them, or leash them, or crate them. The only time they get to run around (still supervised) is after going potty.

 

:iagree:

[Swimtaxi234]

We have 2.5-year-old male/female litter mates Miniature Schnauzers that we have had since they were 7-weeks-old. When we brought our then 1-year-old puppies to obedience training, the instructor scolded us for having them - in front of the entire class. :confused:

 

Her theory was that the dogs have their own way of communicating and that they wouldn't need us and therefore, not listen to us. Public humiliation is always a lovely thing. :tongue_smilie:

 

Anyway, I agree with the OP's comment that what's done is done and that she is just looking for support.

 

Since I have BTDT with two puppies, here is what we did. We bought a large wire crate that had a divider and we kept them together from the beginning. The divider let them live in a snug area that got larger as they did.

 

Even at this age, our dogs still sleep together in their crate. We called it "bed" from the beginning and they quickly learned that when we pointed and said, "bed" that they would go to their crate.

 

When we lived in a our last house, their crate was in the kitchen. We left the door open all day and they would go in there to nap or to take a break. For their first year, we moved our homeschool down to the kitchen so we were there with them instead of taking the chance of a potty accident upstairs.

 

To help us know when they needed to go out (if we weren't right there), we put a bell on a string and hung it from the door knob. They learned to ring the bell if they wanted to go out. We eventually had to remove the bell because our female dog had a love affair with the bell and it drove us crazy. :D

 

I LOVE that we started the "place" command. To this day, if we say "place" and point (we have a soft mat near the kitchen or it could be anywhere), our dogs will move to where we point and sit/stay there. This helps so much when we are getting their meals ready, etc.

 

For food, we still give our dogs Flint River Ranch dog food. I love that the company has never had a recall and that our dogs have no skin problems, etc.

 

(Sorry I was so wordy, that I underlined a few things so they wouldn't get lost)

[Jpoy85]

We eventually had to remove the bell because our female dog had a love affair with the bell and it drove us crazy. :D

 

LOL

 

 

For food, we still give our dogs Flint River Ranch dog food. I love that the company has never had a recall and that our dogs have no skin problems, etc.

 

This is a good site for food reviews. Ive never heard of Flint River. Do you get that at Tractor Supply or somewhere similar?

[Swimtaxi234]

I'd already planned to close off all the bedroom doors and keep them in the living room/dining room with us.

 

I wanted to add that our dogs lived in their crates while we were gone for the first year, but we would limit how long we were gone.

 

At the one year mark, we left them gated in the kitchen while we were gone, but their crate door was open. To this day, we leave them gated in the dining room (new house) because they aren't ready to be left out.

 

Please make sure that there are no hazards that they could chew on in your living room (tv, remotes, wires to the TV, lamps, books, etc.). Our dogs got out of the gated area a few times (between 1-2 years old) and were so freaked out that they were destructive with tissue boxes and books.

[jeninok]

A big vote for tethering here too, when they are out of their crates, inside the house, have each pup tethered to a different person at all times.

 

This takes a little getting used to for both pup and person, but has been invaluable for us. We use cheapo clothesline tied around caribiners rather than normal leashes for pups, and really thin lightweight non chewable chain leashes for our rescue lab last year.

 

The clothesline can be cut, knotted, retied and replaced easily and there is no worry about the pup ruining nice leashes!

 

 

It really helps them bond to their people, learn their new families routines and body language and they won't have a chance to wander off and pee!

[Pawz4me]

Another benefit of tethering or having one in the crate and one out is that it helps them learn to function independently. Which can be a huge deal when raising two at a time. You don't want two dogs who don't know how to get along w/o the other one right there.

[jeninok]

Another benefit of tethering or having one in the crate and one out is that it helps them learn to function independently. Which can be a huge deal when raising two at a time. You don't want two dogs who don't know how to get along w/o the other one right there.

 

:iagree:

 

Our dogs LOVE each other, but we make sure to spend lots of time with then individually so that they are more attached to their people than each other. It also helps them listen, especially when our male Black and Tan, and the female Lab mix decide it is playtime in the living room, or bark like mad at the neighbors out back.

[Swimtaxi234]

Ive never heard of Flint River. Do you get that at Tractor Supply or somewhere similar?

 

 

http://www.frrco.com/

 

 

We alternate giving our dogs the trout/potato combo and the original dog kibble. One for breakfast and the other for dinner just to keep it interesting.

 

I love that the food is shipped to my door just days after I place an order.

 

I wanted to add another comment about their skin. Everyone who meets our dogs will comment about their lack of skin problems (no bumps and/or flakes, etc.) and I give all of that credit to the dog food.

 

My husband and I had male/male Miniature Schnauzer litter mates for years before we had children and those dogs had horrible skin problems.

[SonshineLearner]

Well, my thoughts would be:

Two (metal) crates, (no blankets or anything like that till they're pass chewing stage... that can end up inside of them)

Two trainers,

Lessons signed up for straight away. The type of training matters. I suggest that you go to someone who is trained.... and that trains dogs who compete. I've found that they aren't more expensive... just more experienced.

You'll need to have the different handlers for each dog.

Have a leash that you have on the dogs at all times until they are potty trained. On the leash or in the crate is what I'd do.

Lots and lots of walks, but check with the trainer for how long to play. I know you don't want to over do it.

Food. This is important. I do raw food, but a lot of people aren't comfortable with that.

In my opinion, you absolutely need NO grain food. You want puppies to grow steadily and without corn or soy or any other grain, actually :)

 

Grass = Cows

Meat = Carnivores :)

 

You don't want your puppy growing with Cow food :)

 

Names that sound different :)

 

Oh yes, and remember the training :) You want to start as soon as they let you, and perhaps they'll give you some great tips between now and then :)

[SonshineLearner]

Oh yes, say some word while you're out right when they start peeing. (they'll figure it out soon)

I say, "Go pee-pee" and my dog knows to go even if he didn't actually "want" to... It's great for when we're starting a trip or something.

[somo_chickenlady]

When we moved to this house we wanted to get a dog. We found a cute litter of Australian Shepherds, and they were so cute we decided to get two. I'm not saying that you will feel the same way, but it was one of the biggest mistakes we ever made. I came to find out through research that with sibling dogs, especially a male and a female set, one of them (usually the female in that set) is WAY more dominant, and the other dog can become aggressive b/c of it. That is definitely what happened to us. In our case he became aggressive with us rather than his sister. They got along really well. I wish I could find the articles I read about it to share with you. I read that if you have same gender dogs the problem isn't as prevalent.

 

Our female dog is great, but the male was very aggressive and almost impossible to train b/c he bonded too strongly with his sister and we weren't important so he didn't listen to us at all. He refused to learn that we were in charge, and he tried to bite me multiple times during training. We ended up having to rehome him (with full disclosure), and he is doing great at his new home. The female didn't seem to miss him, and has done wonderfully without him here b/c she gets more attention.

[kim.4dogs]

We got a puppy a few weeks ago. It has been 14 years since we got our last puppy, so I know what you mean about forgeting what to do! This is my favorite puppy book:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Positive-Perspectives-Love-Your-Train/dp/1929242158/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1348013434&sr=1-1&keywords=positive+perspectives+love+your+dog.+train+your+dog

I had been holding on to it for years, just waiting for our next puppy, and I recently lent it to a friend who got a puppy. Of course, we then got a puppy, rather unexpectedly, and I needed that book! I bought it the first night as a Kindle download.

 

Our puppy had to be taken out at night for the first week, but since then he's slept through the night in his crate. When we're not home, he's in his crate. When we are home, he's either being watched by *me*, on a leash next to me, or in a larger pen in the kitchen.

 

Good luck with your beagles! My very first puppy was a beagle. I can't think of anything cuter than a beagle puppy (except maybe two)!

[Stayseeliz]

When we moved to this house we wanted to get a dog. We found a cute litter of Australian Shepherds, and they were so cute we decided to get two. I'm not saying that you will feel the same way, but it was one of the biggest mistakes we ever made. I came to find out through research that with sibling dogs, especially a male and a female set, one of them (usually the female in that set) is WAY more dominant, and the other dog can become aggressive b/c of it. That is definitely what happened to us. In our case he became aggressive with us rather than his sister. They got along really well. I wish I could find the articles I read about it to share with you. I read that if you have same gender dogs the problem isn't as prevalent.

 

Our female dog is great, but the male was very aggressive and almost impossible to train b/c he bonded too strongly with his sister and we weren't important so he didn't listen to us at all. He refused to learn that we were in charge, and he tried to bite me multiple times during training. We ended up having to rehome him (with full disclosure), and he is doing great at his new home. The female didn't seem to miss him, and has done wonderfully without him here b/c she gets more attention.

 

Hopefully we can avoid some of those issues. We have two boys and they are not from the same litter so that should help. :)

[LibraryLover]

Crates, crates, crates. Crates.

 

I know I said crates.