Intro: Me Myself and Bellatrix

[Bellatrix]

Hey y'all! We just added to our family, Bellatrix, our 8 week old English Mastiff is the second love of my life (unfortunately my first is my Mr. ) We found our little girl online near my home town from an Oops litter. She was the runt and has been quickly catching up to the growth charts I have found! We would appreciate any sound advice and possible sources (yes I'm science based). We have been working and making leaps and bounds progress with biting, chewing, "digging" and working on the crate and house breaking. She also started the leash today!

The basics I have found is that:
-Shots at 9, 12 and 15 weeks combo vaccine; 9 weeks request w/o the leptospirosis. After 12 weeks anytime to get the rabies and ask vet about any local vaccinations that are needed.
-Feed often and on a regular schedule; often might help prevent bloat and regularity is for routine; potty time after food for half hour and after naps and frequently throughout the day. We are trying one cup 4x a day and anything she doesn't eat we put up for next feeding.
-Potty training should not be expected to be achieved until after 12 weeks and can take over 6 months. Consistency is key.
-Crate should be a "safe" place and be used slowly at first and positively. Exchange toys to prevent boredom which can contribute to "digging" tendencies.
-Never let her be unsupervised
-Use positive reinforcement limit negative "punishment" (has to be instant can't have time pass between negative)
- Socialize with other dogs of different shapes and sizes and people.


Personality-
I'm having a hard time with coming when called/ name recognition. I have been slow to use treats since she is so young so maybe in the next two weeks try a little more.
Potty Training- I need to rig the crate to a smaller size and limit what is in it (I spoil her with a bed/blankets/toys/heating pad hidden under the pads (not where she can chew).
Biting- Making sure everyone is consistent.
Chickens- We are trying to teach her to stay calm around our chickens. Needing to use treats to stay focused

 

[DennasMom]

Sounds all good to me!

At that age, consistency is key. Set your rules and stick with them - remind her of the rules with kindness and patience, and she'll get the hang of it and love and respect you for it, too.

We didn't rig our XL crate for Denna to be smaller... I put a pillow from our bed in there to take up some space - and she ended up sleeping on top of it.

Technically that left her with a front area that she could have piddled in, but she only did that on one occasion when I left her in there too long, too early (I left her for 2.5 hours in the late morning when she was just under 3 months old). She did make puddles elsewhere in the house on a few occasions, but I consider those all our fault for not seeing the signs, or being too slow to get her outside. Once time was after I took a shower - and she had consumed ample water from the faucet... she had to pee before I could get dressed to get her outside.
At about the 5 month mark she had the bladder control to be able to hold it and the smarts to ring the bells on the back door to ask to go out. We haven't had an accident in the house since then. That's MUCH better than our Dane/Lab/X mix, who was still having the rare accident when he was 9 months old.

We treat name recognition and coming when called as two different things at our house.
From day one, any time Denna would look at us, we'd say "Denna!" in a happy, happy voice, basically 'capturing' her looking at us by saying her name. Using the name in our house means "look at me and get ready!"
At home, we use a casual "come-here" command, and save "COME" for a formal recall. We waited to teach COME until we started taking classes. "come-here" we would use all the time as she was running toward us for other reasons, just to imprint some muscle memory with the vocabulary.

One good way to teach COME is the 'spring-loaded recall' method from Eric Letendre (see below) - you need at least two people. One person holds the puppy, while the other, a few feet away starts making happy, excited noises, calling the dog's name, thumping the ground, etc. When the puppy is really struggling to try and get to the excited person, you say "COME!" and the person let's go, allowing the puppy to JUMP toward the excitement and then get rewarded BIG TIME when they arrive. Lots of praise and lovin'. Treats are optional at this point, as the praise and excitement are normally plenty. Once the puppy is amply rewarded for coming to the excited person, you calm down, and then hold them as the person they just came from (or a third person) starts to become exciting... repeating the "COME" practice going back and forth. This is a good way to wear the puppy out, too, without you having to move much.

Enjoy your puppy!!
Love the name.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsFxJNKoqpo

 

[musicdeb]

Welcome aboard to you and Bellatrix~

 

[Bellatrix]

Thank you!! I hope to share what I learn and learn somethings I didn't know about!

 

[Bellatrix]

Thank you DennasMom- I liked the video you posted and he has several others that I started to watch! I also liked your tips for training and will be working on her responding!!!