Meet the newest member of the family:
Six-week old German Shepherd puppy, name is Lydah, and she is like the Queen Eminent of Barking and Yipping Really Loud All Night Long.
So, I'm kind of a zombie right now. In fact, every time I type "now", I end up typing "nit", which, while it seems like a great word and everything, and is fun to say (NIT! Try it!) isn't really what I mean at all.
I need puppy training tips. Especially on getting them to sleep through the night and not like, ruining-them-forever kind of tips. There are, umm, I don't know - MILLIONS of tips for doing these things, all over the Internet and in books. Hundreds, and hundreds of books. Did you know that? "Don't ruin your puppy," they all proclaim, "it's harder than you think!" "You're stupid," they shout, "and likely not to handle this well!"
But she's just so dadgum cute.
Still, help? Seriously.
Puppies are like new shoes. No matter how hard you try, you're still going to screw them up a little, just make sure you don't smear feces on them and you'll be ok.
Posted by: Nathan | April 10, 2007 at 07:14 PM
with lainie, we crate-trained her. it apparently speeds up the process of sleeping through the night for a couple of weeks by providing a nice, safe environment for the puppy, but also isolates them pretty well from the temptation of getting up and snooping.
if you need more tips, i can tell you more of the specifics that i learned, like: getting them to go back to sleep, etc.
Posted by: regan | April 10, 2007 at 07:21 PM
correction:
...the night BY a couple of week...
Posted by: regan | April 10, 2007 at 07:22 PM
Yes, tell me specifics!
I think we are going to do crate-training; I was just nervous about...I don't know. Locking her in a crate? But from what I read, they like it. Weird.
Posted by: elise | April 10, 2007 at 07:28 PM
Amy sent me pics of your puppy - she is darling. I have no tips about raising dogs. We raised ours in the Philippines where they could run free and wild without potty training. There was no "fixing" of animals either...so there were puppies for all every few months. Oh yeah, maybe that's good advice. Unless you want puppies, get her fixed. Or neutered. Or whatever the correct word is for the female dog.
Posted by: Devi | April 10, 2007 at 07:51 PM
Devi, I believe the term you're looking for is VAGECTOMY.
Posted by: Cody | April 10, 2007 at 07:56 PM
Cute puppy, very cute! I'm not a dog person, so no tips, just telling you that you have an adorable pup there!
Posted by: Jerri Ann | April 10, 2007 at 08:54 PM
Jerri Ann - Awww, thanks. I think she's pretty freaking cute myself.
Cody re: Devi - EWWWW.
Posted by: elise | April 10, 2007 at 09:25 PM
SO CUTE! Alas, I've never owned a puppy in my life but I'd rent the past episodes of the Dog Whisperer. That dude is amazing.
Posted by: janet | April 10, 2007 at 10:36 PM
Puppy! So cute!
Another vote here for crate training. My mom's dog always looked forward to bed time and going into her kennel (it probably didn't hurt that my mom also gave her a little treat when she shut her in for the night).
Posted by: Teacher A | April 10, 2007 at 11:18 PM
The dog's from the Natural State, so training it should come naturally, just like those beautiful photos came naturally at the end of our pointer fingers.
Posted by: Kyle & Amy | April 11, 2007 at 12:05 AM
OMG, Elise, she is so cute!! Nit!
Posted by: Cassie | April 11, 2007 at 10:20 AM
I never had a dog as a kid so I know nothing about how to raise or train one. Every dog we've had since we were married is a stray or rescue dog who was past puppy years. But that is ONE CUTE DOG!
Posted by: wordgirl | April 11, 2007 at 11:52 AM
ahh man, i love puppies. glad you guys didn't get one of those stupid cats... :-)
when sarah got her pug a long time ago, we read quite a bit on housetraining her and getting her to sleep through the night. and it seems regan is right on, crate-training it is the way to go. it does seem sorta cruel, but apparently (like you said), they like it; it makes them feel safe and not vulnerable, and like little kids, defines boundaries.
it also helped her become house broken because once she realized she would be in there all night, she learned to hold it, which helped during the day as well.
Posted by: kyle | April 11, 2007 at 01:30 PM
Update: Last night we put her in the crate, and things were SO MUCH BETTER. I actually got more than an hour's sleep at a time.
Next up: Search and Rescue.
Posted by: elise | April 11, 2007 at 02:07 PM
See, NIT might feel good to say in YOUR house, but we have kids, ones at school, who just had NITS, ewwwwww not nice, bad word! Cute puppy, never had one myself.....I have heard that crates are good though, can you get them for little boys??
Posted by: Helen | April 12, 2007 at 04:00 PM
Yes Helen, the crates come in a wide assortment of sizes. I would be willing to bet you could find one that would work beautifully for a little boy :)
Posted by: elise | April 12, 2007 at 07:37 PM
She is adorable. My brother had German Shepards. One of them used to carry around bricks and play with 2x4's. Crate's are great, work really well, especially for large dogs because they learn fast to not go to the bathroom in there because they can't get away from it.
Posted by: LC | April 13, 2007 at 02:43 AM
where have i been!? what an adorable puppy!!! crate training is good. i don't have time to read all the comments but most seem to be in favor of it.
one book that is my dog-training bible (and i have two large german shepherd mixes) is entitled "Good Owners, Great Dogs." It's a super good book to consult for just about anything. Well well worth the investment.
Posted by: beck | April 18, 2007 at 04:06 PM