# Meet Django!



## boobooah (Jun 24, 2013)

Hi everyone,

we picked up django on friday and the past two nights were sleepless for us while he cried most of the night. He turns 8 weeks in a few days, at this age he's so young to understand anything. he's had numerous accidents in the house but we have been really good of picking him up and showing him where to go right away. We've been crate training him but he doesn't like it so far. When he's very tired he will sleep in it but at night when he doesn't see us he cries all night. He doesn't like any of his treats yet, when he goes potty and we hand a treat, he doesn't seem to care for it.. i've tried different ones. We're so much in love with him, at what point do we start to train him? At this age, he's slowly making eye contact but other than that he doesn't seem to grasp things yet like stop, potty time,...


----------



## Kafka (Jul 24, 2013)

What a cutie! Congratulations!!

There are several threads about puppy training (use search bar on the right) that might help you.

I'm wondering why he doesn't take treats. Is it never or only certain situations? My vizsla usually only refuses treats when she's really stressed/afraid. Does he eat his regular food? (Making sure he s not sick)

Have you tried a bit of real meat (even just a bit of ham you'd put on your sandwich) or cheese? My pup loves that. For training I usually use Natural Balance. Comes in a sausage shape and I cut it into little pieces. Every dog I've met so far loves it.

Kafka never made much eye contact in the beginning either, I worked on that by having her focus on my eyes before giving a treat ('watch me').

When to start training? Now! Enroll her in a puppy class. 
It really helped with Kafka. I took her the first week when I got her at 8 weeks. Helps with focus and basic commands like sit, down, stay, come and go to your bed/crate. Great for socializing and to have a trainer to ask all the questions you have. Also, sometimes you have to realize that you're the one needing the training  

About the crate: make sure to take it slow. Put a treat or toy in and when he goes in, lots of praise. When puppy is ok with that, close the door when inside but immediately open. When comfortable with that, you leave it closed for 5 seconds, and so on. The key is to take it super super slow and be patient.

About potty training, watch him like a hawk! As soon as he starts sniffing the floor, circling or trying to walk away, bring him outside. This might be every ten minutes. Not being able to keep your eyes off your puppy for even a second is exhausting, but worth it!

Good luck with your puppy! 
(I got The Puppy Primer by McConnell and Scidmore as a book when I got Kafka. Great help with positive reinforcement puppy training)


----------



## lonestar (Jun 2, 2013)

Welcome to the club.

At just 8 weeks (Awww!), work on bonding. Establishing a trusting bond is the key to all training, a bonded V will do absolutely anything for it;s person. The keys to early bonding are lots of love, attention, consistency, and calmness. 

Try moving the crate into your bedroom so he's close to you and only separated by the crate itself.

Try recognizing his natural elimination [email protected] 8 weeks, figure 20 minutes with urine and after every meal with poops. Then, take him out about 5 minutes prior to this, so he's outside anyways, and as he's eliminating, say "potty", so he learns to associate the word with the deed. Praise effusively.

Every Vizsla on planet earth loves cheese. They also love roast beef. They make wonderful treats IN MODERATION..you don't really need much.. otherwise you'll have a runny mess.

Dogs don;t make eye contact with the pack leader, it's a sign of respect. You can get him to do this, however, by getting his attention with some cheese, and place it squarely btwn your eyes so he looks at you, and praise a lot.


----------



## GarysApollo (Nov 27, 2012)

Train him now! We got our second boy at seven weeks old at eight weeks he knew stay, down, and leave it. They can do far more than you would think. At first we did not use treats but a toy, a few weeks later we start to use treats.

As for potty training we never have had accidents, for the first month we always take our dogs out every fifteen minutes and after any play time or feeding. After that we bumb it up to five or ten minutes more. Some may say that is too time consuming, but like I said never once have any of our dogs gone in the house.

Love the name you picked out! 
Good luck.


----------



## boobooah (Jun 24, 2013)

Thanks everyone,

I tried the cheese after potty and he loved it! Now every time he goes potty he gets the cheese. We had another rough night, he started to go inside his crate to sleep when were around during the day time but as soon as we go to bed and leave him in the crate downstairs he starts to cry,..all night. Should we put his crate in our bedroom tonight and see if its better? Also, yesterday we left home for 1 hour and had a camera on his crate. when we got home he was crying barking, i watched the video,,he slept initially but as soon as he woke up and couldn't find us he started crying. I don't even want to step out for groceries because of this. He has separation anxiety I believe..any suggestions?


----------



## chrispycrunch (May 11, 2012)

Moving the crate to your bedroom will definitely help quiet him down at night.

As for the barking when gone......you're going to have to slowly work up the time that you leave him in the crate. He'll soon learn that you're coming back. I realize that you can't spend every hour of every day at home with him until he's older. Groceries need to be bought, errands need to be run, etc.....so that means that you have to use the time that you guys DO have together to get him used to the idea that you can't and won't always be around. Learning to be alone is a skill they must learn.....it's not a natural behavior for them. There is a recent thread going on called "Crating" that has some good suggestions on how to get your pup to like/love his crate and realize that it's his safe place.


----------



## Rudy (Oct 12, 2012)

boobooah and No disrespect as most take far too much on ages

the progression is 1 on 1 Your work bench your skills

and the abilities to your pup and mate to process her New working life work bench you provide Him of Her

Willow was pre hunting week 9

not live killing birds with a shotgun but pointing retrieves and sticking points and learning all new scents and sounds of the lighter load guns she needed .


Lead them each at there pace

forgive there mistakes and reward there wins

never break a pups spirit

they forget stuff at times fast

as I know do as well

Your advancements will be a reflexion on your pup in 95 percent of cases

Have fun

take progress notes date them and look back year 3

and smile some

they give far more then they get

that 1st pic of baby Willow was week 8 and 1 day

Held Her point 1 minute a dove I releases in a shrub

that pic made me smile some


----------



## Kafka (Jul 24, 2013)

I'm glad to hear the cheese is working!

I would move the crate in your bedroom, I think that will help a lot! Vizslas just want to be part of the family. Kafka is sleeping in my bed at night now, but I had her sleep in a crate at night the first two months to help with training. 
Her crate was in the bedroom, and she stopped crying at night after a few days. I would get up in the middle of the night to take her out for a pee (no playing or anything, just taking her outside, and then back in), and then wake up early at 5 or 6 again.

It took a bit longer for her not to cry and bark when I would leave the house for an hour or so. I think it just takes some time for them to realize you will come back and that being in the crate is just some time to sleep or chew on something. I would leave her a stuffed Kong that she would only get in her crate. Always gave her some treats in her crate when I would leave.

Make sure to only open the crate when she's not barking/crying. I would hear Kafka cry when I arrived home, but at soon as I opened the front door she would be quiet because she knew only then I would let her out.

Also, working on 'go to your crate' makes them love the crate more. Work on this a few minutes several times during the day (just having him go to the crate on command, and then giving him lots of praise and treats when he does. Not closing the crate, just having him go there on command). That seemed to work for my pup. In general, when they're that young, a training session is most effective when just a couple of minutes, several times a day. 

It seems like your puppy is just getting used to her crate, I wouldn't worry about it being separation anxiety.

Hang in there, it will get better!


----------



## MCD (May 4, 2013)

Dharma is 9 weeks old going on 10 weeks. She is starting to get the hang of her crate at night and when we can't be at home. Her crate is in our office 1 floor below us. she is not messing her crate any more. She has a pillow and blanket with a pee pad wrapped around the pillow which seems to help. We leave the radio on for her. She is still going out at least once a night to go pee. Then it is do your business without getting spoken to or cuddled and back to sleep. She does settle down and it is getting easier but it is taking time. Dharma does not really like treats either- We have tried pumpkin treats, milk bone, and liver purebites (her fav). She loves her Antler and Denta Stix. We also have 2 cats to keep her company during the day. Only thing is...... they don't really like her yet. Be patient and be consistent. Potty training and the crate will come.


----------



## mrmra (Jul 18, 2013)

Yeah, coming up on week 12, here. It's been a long, tough month of little sleep! Pup has doubled in size from when picked him up at week 7. Did not like the crate and still has trouble being closed in it, or being restrained on a short tether. He's slowly getting better and will now (after several weeks) sleep in his crate overnight, although he prefers a nearby comfy chair. (The bed is verboten!)

He learned "no", "mine", "sit" and "lay down" his couple weeks. (All responding to food lures.) Things became easier when he bonded with us more, and now he knows a bunch of stuff, including fetch, roll over, shake, stay, come, look at me, and "find <x>" (for scent tracking -- presenting <x> to his nose after placing a scent trail). 

Some of it is still pretty shaky, like his "stay".

He really started picking stuff up around week 10, which is when I think he bonded to us more. Week 9 we also started doing twice daily dominance exercises (big dog/little dog by lifting his chest off the ground for 20-30 seconds, mostly). We're been hand feeding him every meal, and we use a clicker for training (as much for us as for him).

For the first few weeks really focused on socialization -- meeting lots of people and dogs, becoming used to different situations. Shotgun sounds, race cars, horses, cows, city mall, Home Depot, elevators, escalators, neighborhood kids, etc, etc . . . He's pretty unflappable now, though initially he had some problems with his foes the Moving Trashcan, the Watermelon, and the Jump Rope (took him to a boxing gym).

Every pup is different, so this has just been my experience -- others vary. 
This forum is full of great advice, but not all of it applies to you and your pup. You'll need to find what works for your pup. If food isn't a big motivator, better try out LOTS of toys, pronto, to find favorites! Or maybe just really good praise when you're better bonded! (Praise has just started to work for my pup as a reward, and I'm really digging it.)

Anyway, it is already getting easier, so just keep at it! Being regular and steady about your rules really seems to work. If I "mine" something, it's mine! I don't change my mind later.

Cheers,

-mra-


----------



## MilesMom (Jun 21, 2012)

Agree with above to put crate in your room. Make sure you are not baby talking him in his crate, firm "No" when he cries in his crate. Covering the crate works well also. 

Other little things you can try are leaving a ticking clock by the crate, leaving music on, or leaving the TV on. 

Never let him out when he is crying, it will reinforce him to keep crying! 

We dealt with similar issues with our first. He will learn and you will learn. Our second is 10 weeks old and goes into his crate without a fuss and sleeps through the night. 

Ours didn't eat much when we first got him, after a few days Chase settled in and he eats normally now and love his treats.


----------

