Patch the Puppy

[Jonsey]

We have a new addition to the household Patch, although it’s not permanent we have 2 dogs already which is enough. My friend’s sister had the dog, she didn’t want him but her husband insisted they get one. They have a small toddler and another child soon to be born and they live in a second floor flat which isn’t ideal, she knew that but he wouldn’t listen and bought him anyway. Patch by the way we think is Jack Russell Beagle X although the Beagle bit is a guess. He’s almost 6 months old and not house trained at all. He’s been peeing on their carpet a lot, being exuberant as puppies are and chewing things, they allowed him on the bed on the sofa. They’ve never had a dog before and thought it would be easy. Being on the second floor they’ve not been able to get him out to the toilet fast enough and then of course he gets shouted at.

 

We offered to help by having him for a couple of days, teach him to go outside and some basic commands and then they have him back over the week work with him on those commands to get it right and then the following weekend we would have him again and build his training up bit by bit. At almost 6 months and he should have a good grasp of a lot of commands but he didn’t even know sit.

 

He arrived on Friday night and I’m not joking but he did a wee every 5 minutes and he drank so much water that I honestly thought he’d not seen it before. I’ve never cleaned the carpet so much. We couldn’t get him to the door quick enough then he go out and do more wee (with a Patch Wee command of course) and then he’d come back in drink loads more water and wee a million times more. (the million bit is a slight exaggeration) He continued to drink like that all evening, there was definitely something wrong. I rang them and I find out Patch’s water had been very limited at home, naively thinking that if they limit what goes in the what comes out would be limited. So he was dehydrated so no wonder he was doing little tiny wee’s all over the place.

 

At bedtime we made the decision not to lift the water as he was so thirsty and we’d let him get used to having the water there and anyway we don’t lift the water at night for the other older dogs. I thought the next morning we would be swimming in the stuff but he’d very good all night not a single puddle. I let him out with a command he did his business on the lawn no problems.

 

Anyway to cut a long “wee†story short, by Saturday lunchtime he had the hang of going to the French windows and providing we noticed in time he went outside every time. We a couple of accidents Saturday, a couple of Sunday only one on Monday and none yesterday, the little fella is coming on in leaps and bounds. He was left for 4 hours in the morning, then he was let out and 4 hours in the afternoon and not a single accident. His other commands are coming on beautifully too. He now knows sit, lie down and stay, although stay is about 5 seconds tops, but he’ll get the hang of it. Mind you he also knows Patch NO which we’ve said a lot. He’s really eager to please and is lapping up the praise we give him. He knows the sofa is not a dog bed and also that that he’s not allowed up the stairs. He’s learning a lot from the other 2 dogs too which is all good. He has only chewed the toys we’ve given him, I’ve not lost a single pair of shoes to him but he did have a good sniff of my husband’s trainers and I swear I heard him yelp so maybe that’s a good deterrent.

 

Now you may have noticed that I’ve mentioned Monday and Tuesday, that’s because when I rang his owners on Sunday night they didn’t want him back and they were going to take to the Blue Cross that night. I put the phone down and we discussed keeping him. He won’t get the attention in a Dogs home still won’t be properly toilet trained and then someone may adopt him not be able to cope and he’ll end up back there so we’ve decided to keep him and re-home him ourselves when he’s a little bit older and is trained nicely. I don’t think we’ll have any trouble at all.

 

The other two dogs were a bit crabby with him at the beginning but they all seem to be getting on ok. He gets a good telling off from the Labrador every now and again but he’s learning. She won’t stand for any funny business from him, my other dog the Border Collie plays nicely with him. He’s not a yapper or an ankle biter mercifully, and he seems to be very sociable with everyone who’s come to the house. He’s a sweet little thing.

 

So in a couple of months we’ll be ready to find a nice home for him.

Jonsey

 

Here’s a few photo’s I have taken, not the best quality I’m afraid they were taken with a mobile phone.

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z46/Jonsey01/01082007.jpg

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z46/Jon...30072007001.jpg

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z46/Jon...01082007002.jpg

[Devilishdave]

You say in the penultimate paragraph last sentance that you dont think you have any problem. If you are anything like me you will I got a dog to rescue it from a grim situation he was in. He was not the dog I was looking for but thought I will sort him out then rehome. He ended up so sorted out I couldn't part with him!! He has gone from strength to strength.

 

Good luck

 

Dave

[new to the flock]

Very well done

 

And congradulations on the new puppy........even if you dont realize it yet

 

NTTF

[Jonsey]

Arh!! thank you for the Congratulations NTTF. When he's being a little **** I keep repeating like mantra that we are doing the right thing by having him.

 

Well it's Week 2 and I’ve still got all my shoes intact.

 

In my first posting I was in the throws of puppy love I think. He’s been both annoying and funny these last few days. DD I’m sure we’ll end up keeping him, but just at the moment I’m telling myself we are training him and passing him on.

 

He's been pushing the boundaries a lot over the last few days. One episode was quite alarming he actually went to mark his territory on one of my friends. We stopped him in time but he was clearly about the stake his claim. He had this problem at his first home and in actual fact did it to his owner.

 

Is this a possessive thing?

 

I stopped him with a firm No. I didn’t shout it I just said it firmly. I reinforced this with a fairly firm tap on his side. Not like a smack or anything just a firm touch with 2 flat fingers. He seems to react quite well to this approach for other things. However this instance he didn’t react at all as if it was his right to mark his territory. This was not an accidental wee it was a most definite squat on my friends outstretched leg. Sniff and squat.

 

He’s also showing signs of being a 1 man dog. Consequently I’ve been giving out most of the discipline. At meal time, I make sure his bowl in put down last and it’s me on the end of the lead. I’m clearly taking him for a walk and not the other way round. Is this right?

 

We’ve had dogs between us all our lives and we haven’t done a bad job. It’s not a professional job either but they are well behaved and friendly balanced dogs. I’ve only ever had bitches though so this territory marking is all new to me.

 

I printed off your Obedience Training NTTF and we’ve both read and use parts of it every day. Just in a week all his commands are coming on a treat. We realised by Wednesday though that he was seeing himself above me in the house so I’ve taken on a lot more since then. We always make sure we end training with a fun catch game and we’ve been training him apart from the other 2 delinquents. Then on walks when all three are together they all have to sit and stay etc. He’s doing ok on the lead to, initially this was a game of tug 'o' war but its not like that all now. The hardest thing was we don't use the lead for the other two because they walk nicely to heel without it and Patch was having difficulty coming to terms with the fact he was the only one being held by someone. So for the next few weeks until he's better we started all 3 of them on the leads. They other 2 don't mind in the least. They are only on the lead for a short while until we can let them off.

 

On a brighter note, he is hilarious with the whirligig. I had a pair of jeans hanging out to dry it was fairly windy so they were flying around. He ran up to them and grabbed the leg of the jeans and had a free fairground ride he spun round about 4 times before he let go and fell in a heap. Made me laugh out loud, I haven’t spotted him doing it since, perhaps he hasn’t the stomach for it. My border collie was famous for it when she was a puppy.

 

Jonsey

[pavman]

Good luck,

[Jonsey]

Thanks, think I'm going to need it.

[Cranfield]

Has the "beagle" become more evident as the pup has grown, or is the "terrier" showing through more?

The colouring strongly suggest beagle, but your success in training doesn't.

Yet, you seem to have escaped total destruction of everything you hold dear and cherish, so the terrier can't be that dominant.

Perhaps you have the best bit of both breeds and not got any of their less endearing characterisitics.

 

Incidentally, I was always told that a dog cocking its leg on someone, is a dominating thing, as is "humping".

NTTF may want to comment on that.

[Jonsey]

I don’t know anything about Beagles so I’m not sure what their characteristics are, I’ll do some research on the t’internet and let you know. I don’t know that he is definitely Beagle, but someone said he had a strong look of the breed. I don’t really know how to find out.

 

I’m hoping the training will soon start to get easier, he’s a lot to learn in a short space of time and he’s very late in learning it too so I’m trying to be patient (not something I find easy)

 

He isn’t cocking his leg, only squatting. Which leads me nicely onto the question of how do they learn to do that? He’s not likely to learn of the other two bitches. Should he already be cocking his leg? He’s a bit of a delinquent actually, hardly going to pass his 11+ at this rate and he’s not started humping yet, thank god.

 

He did a couple of lengths of the pond again last night. The fish are getting quite used to him being there now.

 

Jonsey

[Mungler]

I am intrigued as to the logic of "I don't want the dog peeing on the carpet so I won't give the dog any water".

 

My brother has a theory that everyone from birth has an allowance of 100 "marbles". The marbles are split into attributes such as charisma, mechanical skills, logical skills, language skills, health, looks, athletisicm, humour, artistic etc. etc.

 

However, no one person on the planet gets more than 100 marbles.

 

For example:

 

Stephen Hawkin got 100% of his marbles all from the "brainy" jar at a cost of no marbles from any other of the jars

Gordon Brown got no marbles from the charisma jar whereas Tony Blair had a handful.

Sarah Beeney got at least 25% of her marbles from the "great breasts jar" and 50% from the mechanical and problem solving skills jar and so on.

 

I would summise that your sister and her husband didn't get enough from the brainy jar.

[Jonsey]

Thankfully a friends sister not my own.

 

It's not intriguing Mungler, it's cruelty which I did explain as tactfully as I possibly could whilst resisting the temptation to administer a slap :(

 

Jonsey

 

P.S gutted I wasn't allocated any marbles from the last jar you mentioned.

[Dunkield]

FWIW, my wife found a Jack Russel in the road near our house.

She was running round aimlessly and had been clipped by a car already.

She washed her/de-fleed her and then told the Police, RSPA put and add up in the local shop etc.

 

It was fairly obvious the dog was dumped, and the Police said that would be their theory.

I said it wasn't a good time to have a dog, I was not to worry as we had only 'taken her in' until she could be rehomed.

 

We had her until she died, ten years later :(

[Jonsey]

Poor thing, but she got a lovely home in the end. :(

 

I just can’t understand people dumping them and going home with a clear conscience. I’d like to think they were attacked by a huge swarm of wasps within 20 minutes of them doing that. It’s a good job there are good people in the world to counter balance the selfish ones.

 

I am well aware that I probably won’t be able to part with him, but Mr Jonsey is not keen to have three dogs permanently but he’s very happy to have him for now. I have had some interest from a couple of friends who only have 1 dog, but we’ll have to see how that works out.

 

Jonsey

[Cranfield]

My Beagle/training comment was because Beagles are notoriously hard to train and being scent hounds, can be very obstinate.

 

Although your dog may only be part Beagle (and it looks it to me) this might help.

http://www.yourpurebredpuppy.com/reviews/beagles.html

[Jonsey]

My Beagle/training comment was because Beagles are notoriously hard to train and being scent hounds, can be very obstinate.

 

Although your dog may only be part Beagle (and it looks it to me) this might help.

http://www.yourpurebredpuppy.com/reviews/beagles.html

 

 

Thank you for that, very interesting indeed. I'll have a good read and let you know :(

[Dunkield]

Poor thing, but she got a lovely home in the end.

 

I just can’t understand people dumping them and going home with a clear conscience.

Yes she did, as does the one we have now, rescued from almost indentical circumstances, but this time from Spain :(

 

As for the previous 'owners' of our first JRT, a bit non-pc but the Police said she would have most likey have been dumped by Gypsies as they had no more use for her

[new to the flock]

I don’t know anything about Beagles so I’m not sure what their characteristics are, I’ll do some research on the t’internet and let you know. I don’t know that he is definitely Beagle, but someone said he had a strong look of the breed. I don’t really know how to find out.

 

I’m hoping the training will soon start to get easier, he’s a lot to learn in a short space of time and he’s very late in learning it too so I’m trying to be patient (not something I find easy)

 

He isn’t cocking his leg, only squatting. Which leads me nicely onto the question of how do they learn to do that? He’s not likely to learn of the other two bitches. Should he already be cocking his leg? He’s a bit of a delinquent actually, hardly going to pass his 11+ at this rate and he’s not started humping yet, thank god.

 

He did a couple of lengths of the pond again last night. The fish are getting quite used to him being there now.

 

Jonsey

 

Jonsey,

 

Sorry for the delay. I have been having a number of computer problems this past week

 

It sounds that you are doing very well with young Patch and that he is settling well into his new home.....even if you will not admit it yet ........The peeing on younr friend is definately a dominance thing and should be nipped in the bud ........well that is if you like that person ........and it sounds like you have gone about it in a way the dog understands and respects. Well done.

 

The training will get easier as you go, just dont try to rush things. What I tell my clients is to take a step back and remember what the dog was like two weeks ago. Most soon realise just how much ground has been gained. Remember you are with him everyday so you dont really see the improvements, until you do think back.

 

As to him peeing like a girl.....that will come in its own time, and then watch out bushes

 

NTTF

[Jonsey]

Thanks Cranfield I’ve read the beagle article and also I’ve done some other research on Beagles and Jack Russell’s. And after reading all about Beagle characteristics I’m happy to announce he’s far more Jack Russell in temperament. I think the slowness to learn is more that he’s older than he should be learning these simple tasks. Also some of the Jack Russell (bad) traits aren’t evident either. He’s not moody, doesn’t growl at anyone or snap. He’s doing that puppy biting thing on the odd occasion, but he’s stopped immediately. I’ve bought him some more chewy toys so if it’s his teeth that are giving him problems he can sort them out on those.

 

NTTF he hasn’t pee’d on anyone else. I think he’s making progress and yes good advice to remind myself how bad he was. He’s still a little monkey but then that is normal puppy behaviour and I just have to laugh. Funnily enough he’s showing more submissive behaviour even since I wrote a couple of days ago.

 

I’m glad the leg cocking will come in his own time. I was having terrible visions of having to catch up with him and then lift his leg for him until he got the hang of it. :lol:

 

Also I think we may have found a home for him on a small holding with some friends of mine. They’ve been looking for another dog but don’t want to have to do the house training. It’s nice place with lots of space so it should suit him very well. They’ve got horses so we’ll get him used to those too before then. We won’t be letting him go for a couple more months though.

 

He had his first ride in the car last night and he was fine seemed to quite like it. I’d forgotten just how much you have to get them used to. Another short car journey tonight and a fun walk at the end of it. What more could a dog want.

 

Thanks guys

Jonsey.