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E-mail
received at dog fun on 28/08/01.
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Hi,
I am the owner of a 15 month old doberman (Troy).
We got him when he was 6 months old. Since that
time he has been kept in a well insulated baby barn
(not in the house). This year I have decided to
bring him in the house. How should I introduce him
to his new environment? He is extremely hyper and
I wonder if he will ever calm down. I am thinking
that this will come with age. Is he to old to properly
house train? He has always gone to the bathroom
outside, will he still look to go outside or will
it be a whole new training process? I hope you can
answer my questions.
Thank
you.
Jade's
reply.
Dear
Dawn,
Thank you for your e-mail. I would doubt that you
will have many problems as I am sure that Troy will
be thrilled to be closer to the rest of his pack
during the night. I would however suggest that you
make the move at a time that will allow you to monitor
his progress for the first couple of days. Why not
choose a holiday week or long weekend for his big
move this will give you time to help him adjust.
I presume that he will be alone in the house during
the day so using a holiday you will be able to leave
him for short periods of time at first. As he will
be slightly disorientated and wondering what is
going on you should gradually get him used to his
new territory. This will keep him reassured that
things are all OK and also reduce the change of
him having time to damage anything. Troy should
calm down with age but you will have a good 12 months
or so for that to start to show in him.
From
the start you should make very strict rules about
what rooms he is allowed into and what furniture
he is able to use. You must stick to these rules
at all times. I am sure that he will test your resolve
by trying to get onto your favourite chair with
you, or to climb onto your bed but if you give in
to him on these issues you will not be able to expect
him to stay away from this furniture when he is
on his own.
His
house training should be fine but don't allow him
to fall back in his training. You can avoid this
by being aware that things will be different for
him, so for the first few days (and nights) let
him outside more frequently that you would usually.
As long as you can keep up the momentum you should
be fine. If he does have an accident don't make
a big deal about it but remove all trace of it as
he will be stimulated to go in the same place by
any odours that remain. If his training does start
to relapse you should work on making a big fuss
when he goes to toilet outside, give him treats
etc. This will reinforce to him the fact that you
want him to go outside and he should look forward
to performing in the correct area, on the
other hand if he goes to toilet in the house DO
NOT make this a negative as being told off only
unsettles and upsets dogs and will probably have
the opposite affect in his training to that which
you desire.
I
hope that this is of some help to you and Troy.
All
the best, Jade the Doberman
As
with the rest of Dog Fun we are only offering advice,
we have learned a lot through our own experience
and would like to further that knowledge with your
help. If you have any good tips or advice that would
help dog owners drop us a line to jade@dogfun.co.uk
and we will display your advice and give you credit
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