Question on puppy raising!

[Rio and Me]

Well ive had Bax 3 weeks now and he still isnt toilet trained or paper trained he just never got the idea that he should go on paper, anywhere but the paper.
And hes 9/10 weeks old now when should i switch to adult food, he likes that best?

Any advise appreciated

Ky, Rio and Bax

[Samantha Puppy]

I didn't switch Samantha from puppy to regular food until she was a year old. They spend just about their entire first year growing into their bodies and they need the nutrition found in puppy food.

As for training him... I didn't do paper training. I went outside with her. I'd allow her to play but before she came back inside, I'd point the the ground and say "Go pee-pee!" When she did, I'd praise her like crazy and repeat "Yay!! Samantha went pee-pee!" (or poop-poop, if she did that). The key is lots of repetition of the word and immediate praise once they obey.

Samantha has had ONE accident inside the house since we trained her and that was when her puppy sister came to visit and peed inside the house, so Samantha did too. That was about a month after I got her, and I've had her for 2.5 years.

[caseysmom]

rio and me...I am going through the exact same thing with bubba ...he is the same age and I have had him the same amount of time....I think we don't take him out enough though and the weather has been awful so that doesn't help. It doesn't help that I can't take him for a walk until we get done with the shots.

[Rio and Me]

Thanks,
Everytime we go outside he does his stuff and i praise him, its just if i dont get outside in time or i dont hear him ask, he gos anywere. supose its just time will make it better, i should really keep him on puppy food then i want him to go big and strong.

Ky, rio and Bax

[caseysmom]

The puppy food has more calories I believe so he will grow better on that.

[Samantha Puppy]

Originally posted by Rio and Me
Thanks,
Everytime we go outside he does his stuff and i praise him, its just if i dont get outside in time or i dont hear him ask, he gos anywere. supose its just time will make it better, i should really keep him on puppy food then i want him to go big and strong.

Ky, rio and Bax We made Samantha go out at least once an hour whether she asked to or not (except during sleep hours). It got obnoxious but it made the connection for her that outside = pee-pee/poop-poop = praise embed in her mind VERY quickly.

Pick a certain time every hour. Go outside with him. Let him sniff for a few minutes but before you let him go back in, point to the ground and say sternly, "Go pee-pee". Do NOT let him (or you) go back inside until he does. When he does, you're right there and you can praise him - go nuts praising. Then go back inside. An hour later, repeat. He will catch on. Samantha was done within a day or two of intensive once-an-hour every day training.

[Wolffffman]

I agree with Samantha....that's how we trained Kitana...just watch your pup and if they're acting a little differently it's time to go out...whether it's been an hour or not but like I said...I agree with Samantha that once an hour is good and I didn't paper train either.....I figured that would just get her used to going in the house......stay on the puppy food and just a little patience.....10 weeks isn't very old....his bladder and digestive system isn't fully developed yet and doesn't hold much and the muscles can't hold it in like an adult's......good luck :D

[wolfsoul]

I have to disagree with everyone else. You should switch him off of the puppy food right away. Most large breeds should not be kept on puppy food, and GSDs are extremely sensitive to bone/joint problems. Alot of these problems are from growing too fast, which is what puppy food causes a dog to do. There are too many nutrients in dog food that cause a dog to grow too fast, but you want your pup to grow as slowly as posible so that it is done correctly.

[Tollers-n-Dobes]

I think Jaime already covered everything about the housetraining that I was going to say so i can't really help with that. About the food thing though, do not switch him to adult food right away! There is a food for dogs of his size called 'large breed puppy' or something like that. That's usuallu what people feed their pups that are going to grow up to be large dogs:) I hope that made sense, I'm not very good at explaining things over the computer.

[wolfsoul]

Originally posted by Orangutango
There is a food for dogs of his size called 'large breed puppy' or something like that. That's usuallu what people feed their pups that are going to grow up to be large dogs:)

Even some large breed puppy foods can cause a dog to grow too fast. GSDs are the breed most prone to hip dysplasia, and growing too fast can result in this horrible condition. My GSD puppy had to be put down as a result of his forelegs growing too fast compared to the rest of his body.


Quote from
http://www.doglogic.com/feedingpups.htm

So that brings me to the topic of Puppy Foods. Is it appropriate to use on
the large and giant breeds? And if so, when and why is it appropriate. The
issue of knowing whether or not to feed a puppy food is one of confusion and controversy. The dog food companies and veterinarians tell us, you "must" feed a puppy food for proper growth. Yet breeders tell puppy buyers NOT to use a Puppy food, based on their years of experience with uneven growth patterns and bone diseases, due to feeding a caloric dense diets. Breeders coined the phrase "a hot food". This means one that is very high in calories and it causes the dogs to shoot straight up due to accelerated long bone growth and yet the dogs have no muscle mass to support the joints.
Caloric dense foods also create uneven growth patterns, lameness and can
actually alter the genetic structure of an animal which changes their
conformation. This shows up structurally with permanent narrowing of the
chest width, shallow chests rising well above the elbow, elbowing turning in, toe pointing out, inward turn of the hocks (cowhocks), roached toplines and rear end assembly being 2-4 inches taller than the front end assembly at the withers.
The drastic growth stages from 8 weeks - 6 months, are a fragile
developmental stage and puppies are prone to growth diseases such as HOD (Hypertrophic Osteodystrophy) and OCD (Osteochronditis Dessicans).
This means the large and giant breeds generally do better in their growth and development when fed an Adult Formula food, because they are moderate in their calories/protein/fat. However, not all Adult formulas are acceptable, because they do not have enough nutrition (vitamins/minerals/amino acids) present for proper growth. In fact it is my opinion very few adult formulas are appropriate for growth

[Tollers-n-Dobes]

Originally posted by wolfsoul
Even some large breed puppy foods can cause a dog to grow too fast.

I never knew that before.

[Rio and Me]

Well i could just feed half a half that way he gets what he needs just not to much?
I dont want him to grow mega fast because hes allready doubled in size.
Thanks for the advise
Ky, Rio and Bax

[DogLover9501]

Originally posted by Samantha Puppy
We made Samantha go out at least once an hour whether she asked to or not (except during sleep hours). It got obnoxious but it made the connection for her that outside = pee-pee/poop-poop = praise embed in her mind VERY quickly.

Pick a certain time every hour. Go outside with him. Let him sniff for a few minutes but before you let him go back in, point to the ground and say sternly, "Go pee-pee". Do NOT let him (or you) go back inside until he does. When he does, you're right there and you can praise him - go nuts praising. Then go back inside. An hour later, repeat. He will catch on. Samantha was done within a day or two of intensive once-an-hour every day training.

Ditto!

That worked for all 3 of ours, we took them out just about every hour, sometimes less.

Also Im not sure about the whole food thing, but Jasper didn't eat adult food until he was 1 year either.