Take your puppy outside to where they are going to go to the bathroom. Set your puppy up for success by teaching them the where you want them to go to the bathroom.

Crate training goes back to the natural instincts in a dog in the wild. In nature the mother dog keeps the den extremely clean. This teaches the puppy that their is a clean space and that is not the place to go to the bathroom. As puppies become more mobile they learn to hold their bladder so they can leave the den to go to the bathroom, essentially keeping the "den" clean. Thier "den" is a safe clean space where they can relax.

We use crate training to use those natural instincts to help teach your puppy to hold their bladder, so we can teach them where to go to the bathroom. Each puppy learns that the crate is a place where they can relax. It also becomes a place to teach them how to hold their bladder and not go to the bathroom everywhere. 

Below in the video links you'll see tips from Crate Placement to Nighttime Crate Routines to help continue with crate training success! 

Crate Placement in your home

Crate Training Nighttime Routine

Is Crate Training for Me? 

Your puppy is fed 1/2c of food 2-3 times per day. Continue to feed in the morning, noon, and night. You can transition them to eating 2x/day, as your vet recommends. 

Don’t forget to the importance of adding a good probiotic to your puppies diet, this can come from your vet or be as simple as a couple tablespoons of pumpkin or plain Greek yogurt . 

And when it comes to feeding ALWAYS ensure your puppy has fresh water. 

Your puppy has a strong foundation in housebreaking, including pellet training, potty pad training, crate training. 

1. Teach your puppy where to go to the bathroom, we recommend a designated area in the yard. 

2. Take them out frequently, the more opportunities they have to go out to the bathroom the faster they will realize where they are to go to the bathroom. 

3. Always ensure your puppy is taken out to the bathroom 20-30minutes after eating.

Make sure you give them enough time to go to the bathroom, this can take up to ten minutes. Puppies get distracted easily, and will require more time to go to the bathroom than an adult dog. Over time they will learn to do their business and then they can go play. 

Bell training allows your puppy to communicate with you that they need to go to the bathroom. Watch the video below to see how you can help teach your puppy to let you know they need to go out to the bathroom. 

Bell Training 

Puppies can chew for various reasons, these may include, play, discovery, boredom, cutting teeth as a puppy. 

The best thing you can do for your puppy is give them a high quality rawhide chew. We recommend a rawhide chip. These are excellent for engaging your puppy, helping them relieve stress, and last but not least a great treat. 

If your puppy gets something to chew on that they shouldn’t, take away the unwanted object and give them a rawhide chip. This helps reinforce what is acceptable to hew and what is not acceptable to chew. 

Linked below are the rawhide chews we use to help set your puppy up for success. 

Retriever Beef Rawhide Chips

In our experience with horses, we have come to learn that less is more, less pressure is an easier way to get the horse to listen and connect to its rider. Your puppy is no different. 

The leash is a tool that allows you to: 

-connect with your dog 

-talk to your dog

 -teach expectations

- set a boundary

A slip lead is the perfect way to have the least amount of pressure, to set you and your puppy onto the path of success. 

Look at puppy obedience training as an opportunity to connect and bond with your dog. Dogs are pack animals and need a leader. Teaching your dog / puppy obedience, not only helps build a bond between you and your dog, but most importantly sets you apart as the leader. 

There are a lot of great options in todays world for puppy training. These resources vary from group training, in person training, to online webinars, or YouTube videos. Find a resource that works best for you and your lifestyle, and commit to going. 

Don’t forget, when it comes to training your puppy brief is best. Short training sessions help your puppy be engaged , and willing to learn. 

Attached below is a online trainer on Youtube who we reccomend for helping start a puppy with the basics of puppy obedience. 

Puppy Obedience Training Link

First of all yes puppies are okay being left alone for some time . They need to learn when they are young it's okay for people to have to do things and they can't always go . This prevents separation anxiety in older dogs . Crate training really helps build this foundation .

Puppies definitely go through a transition as they leave our home and go to yours , mostly because it's a new situation. Whining can be something that they do as it is a new environment or situation.

We start them in crate training to help lessen this for when they transition. They are taught that it's okay to be alone and that people come back .

The biggest thing for you to do is when you get him home and you need to go to the store, work or just out , play with them , then take them to the bathroom and you can crate them. This way they are tired when they go to their crate and they aren't whining because they need to go to the bathroom.

I have learned that if a puppy is whining in a crate the best thing to do is take them out to the bathroom, if they don't go I bring them back in and crate them. This helps to reinforce what we've taught here that if they are whining they are just going to go out to the bathroom. 

If they continue to whine and you know they don't need to go to the bathroom you can put a blanket over their crate to let them know it's okay to lay down and relax.

(If you take a puppy out of their crate that's whining and play with them or pet them, they learn really fast that whining gets them out and they get to go play.)