re: #170 MsJ

When I trained Joy, I took her to potty in every known weather from freezing snow to rain. And I stood outside with her until she pottied.

When she was a tiny pup, she spent the night in her crate next to us on the bed. So she could see us. And I would play fetch by throwing her toy into the crate so she got used to going in and out.

She sleeps in a baby crib now (she will transition to a big girl crate when she is a little older). That crib is her space and she loves to go in there. She gets her “cookies” (puppy kibble) in her crib and then she crashes in the doggie bed in her crib.

Consistency always. As soon as you slip, so will she. Doing it throughout her babyhood will make a fantastic doggo for life.

This. I have little difficulty maintaining consistency, but Mrs. FBW is a sucker for a cute puppy. Dory now sleeps in a crate next to our bed, and now generally whines very little. But I’ll come to bed and find Mrs. FBW asleep with Dory in our bed. I told her that Dory should never be outside of the pen or crate if she (Mrs. FBW) is asleep, she said “What’s the point of getting a puppy, then?”

I said, “You don’t get a puppy to have a puppy. You get a puppy to have a dog, later on.” People who get a puppy to have a puppy end up with poorly behaved dogs, or they surrender them to shelters. That ain’t us.