# Multiple Puppy Issues!!



## holiwalk (Aug 24, 2021)

Hi everyone, we have recently welcomed a vizsla/GSP cross - he’s 14weeks old, we’ve had him since 10 weeks. On a whole he is exactly how I thought a puppy would be (half the time pure pleasure the other half and actual devil!) our main issues:

House training - during day we are having no issues as we leave our door open so he has access to outside, which he has started taken himself when he needs to go, however on a night if he needs to go he doesn’t do anything to warn us, he just does it in the houses. We let him out at 11pm before we go to bed, set our alarm at 3am to let him out then go with him at 7am. The 3am get up can be met with clean sheets or both poo/wee accidents. I’m a light sleeper so I know he hasn’t tried to get our attention in the night to be let out - how to we train this (he sleeps in our hall downstairs and is very happy/content to be alone)

Biting/nipping - now I know this is totally normal but my poor girls (daughter aged 5/8) are getting the brunt of it! We say no, distract, chew toys/treats, games of tug of war, take out for walks when he gets all worked up, but the amount of ‘shark attacks’ doesn’t seem to be getting less yet - am I expecting too much? Any suggestions welcome!

Poo and diet! - now we got him, we were told to feed him dry biscuits at a high percentage protein so we got something that was 29% protein. He would eat bits, but never seemed fussed and unfortunately started to look very skinny (I know that is part of the breed, but more that I would expect) so I started ‘adding’ things to make it more appealing, some oats, cooked chicken, cottage cheese etc. Not loads but just enough and he wolfed it down. However, this this change in diet his poo consistency is rather ‘sloppy’ where as before it was solid and easy to clean up. I’m wondering if I’ve made a mistake changing his food? What do you all do?

Walks - our little man seems LAZY!! I’m aware he is only small and do not want to over work him but he doesn’t seem ‘interested’ on walks. He’s happy and tail is wagging, but stays buy our feet and doesn’t ever run off an explore (he’s off lead, we live on a farm so it’s our private land with lots of rabbits/birds. to keep him extertained but he doesn’t seem interested) - is this just an age thing? We take him out twice a day, not for long and we never ‘force’ his activity level, however just suprises me how subdued he is on walks then when we get home he has the zoomies!

Sorry for the long winded post, this forum seems great for help and advice x picture as he’s such a handsome chap!!


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## Dan_A (Jan 19, 2021)

Hi and welcome!

All just my opinion and experience. Much was learned from reading on the forum here and web as a whole so I can't take all the credit. Just stuff that I observed with our V and have had success with.

For potty training during the day its lots of trips out with tons of praise and rewards(treats) when he goes potty outside. Make it so he has the thought process of not wanting to waste that awesome time by doing it in the house that only gets him a stern NO and walk out without treats and praise!

Potty training at night i can't say enough about using a kennel and of course being kennel trained. You would be doing both training and using it for night potty control at the same time at this age. They usually instinctively don't want to potty where they sleep, and the kennel gives them that finite sleeping area so they cant potty and just move somewhere else in the house. This is when the early AM cries will start when he needs to go potty outside. Except at night do not praise and reward when you take him from the kennel and outside to potty. It is all business. Early AM potty trips are strictly for biological purposes. Otherwise he will learn to cry to wake you up so he can tinkle a tiny bit outside so he gets rewards and praise.

For sharkies, it is all about tons of toys and training your family on what to do. For kids, no flailing arms around, pushing, screaming. He will think that is a game and get him more stimulated to shark. It is all a firm NO, then an excited playful substitution for a toy. Say "Toy" when giving that to him. Later in life he will learn to grab a toy to pacify himself when he gets over excited. Basically self-regulating away from sharkies on us to the toy in the mouth. If the sharks continue and coupled with zooms, it is possible he's tired. With kennel training i'd say put him in for a nap. Otherwise a specific area of the house that you can cordon off with a blanket or dogbed would work.

For food, I'd recommend not mixing so much stuff. Find an augment that works and just stick with that. I feel cooked chicken is hard to go wrong with to add some to his kibble. Recently I picked up some salmon oil to add to kibble meals, Ellie now is excited to eat instead of frequently leaving just half her food uneaten. Also add a probiotic , I use Probios treats but there are many out there. This will help colonize his gut with the right bugs and fend off the runs etc.

At that age what you describe as a walk sounds normal. They will stick really close by with the velcro genes running strong. As the weeks go on he'll get more bold and energetic to explore further out. Soon you will be looking for a nice harness and long-line to keep him in check from getting to far away from you.


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