# Overwhelmed



## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

Bumping up


----------



## kikis_retrieving_service (Mar 29, 2021)

I'm sure more experienced dog parents can chime in on this one, but just wanted to share on the play pen potty as we had a sort of similar set-up as you. Our pup sleeps in a crate at night and for her daytime naps but in between play sessions and crate time, we initially put her in a playpen + fake grass for potty when we couldn't watch her non-stop.

Just like yours, she loved to roll around in her pee after going potty, so we wound up moving the grass just outside her pen, and watching her like a hawk to make sure we were putting her on the fake grass when she looked like she needed to go. Totally defeated the point of a playpen having to watch her like that. Also, this just led to a tonne of mind games, because she kind of hated the pen, and when we put her on the grass, a lot of the time she didn't need / want to go, would cry, and roll around in it. She'd also have accidents in the pen anyway, and then step all over it and drag it around. All this to say - we ditched the pen totally and wound up sticking her in a crate even during the day, and then taking her out for targeted potty, food and play / training breaks. She's still very young, and it's still early days so I am expected set backs, but so far this has been LIFE CHANGING. She has recently started running mid play session to the kitchen where we keep her fake grass to go potty on her own - I sure hope she keeps it up! Now we just play mind games trying to figure out if she is crying to get out of the crate because she needs to potty or wants attention😅😅

Is crate training, including during the day something you guys have tried or considered doing?


----------



## DanaRuns (Sep 29, 2012)

None of that is unusual for a Golden puppy.

I'm going to sound harsh, but you deserve it. The problem is not the puppy, it's you. You have three problems: 1. the way you're raising your puppy; 2. your expectations; and 3. your lack of knowledge. In fact, it sounds like you're giving that puppy a pretty terrible life, so far.

Some dogs eat their poop. Could be the food you feed, the amount, some psychological or emotional issue, or something else.

At four months old, your puppy should be pretty much housebroken. You're not doing it right, AT ALL. You're going to need to look up the techniques and go back to square one and start over.

She sits or lies down on walks because she doesn't want to do something and you haven't trained her well. No puppy is "lazy." Or "adamant" or "dumb." And it doesn't sound like she has heath issues. You're not understanding her, and you don't know how to get what you want out of her. She is communicating with you, and you're not understanding it, and you're not communicating effectively with her. You are the human. She's just a little puppy. You have to do better. Much, much, better.

Of course she wants to run and see other dogs and people! She's a Golden Retriever puppy, that's the most exciting thing in the world, particularly since you confine her so severely. And all Golden puppies are mouthy and want to "bite" you. They play by biting. They experience their new world and learn all about it by putting everything in their mouths. This is extremely normal. You need to learn what to do with it, because it's going to be around for quite a long time, and if you don't deal with it right, it could be forever.

I don't know what you're paying that trainer for. The trainer is not telling you what you need to hear. And you've had three sessions and are upset that they haven't "worked"??? What did you expect from three one-hour sessions? Puppies are not iPhones. They are not "plug and play." They don't come pre-trained. They are little BABIES of another species, thrust into this strange world of human beings, where all their natural instincts about what they should do are wrong. And you're not helping her.

The difference between an adventure and an ordeal is your ATTITUDE. You are going about this every wrong way. Your expectations of the puppy are wrong. The way you're raising her is wrong. The way you're training her is wrong. You're doing everything wrong, and all she's doing is being a perfectly normal puppy.

Where do you live? There is a Vaibhav Chadha in Hong Kong, one in the U.S., several in India. Your profile doesn't say where you live. You need a good resource. Your trainer obviously isn't helping. And you need a lot of help. Tell us where you live, and maybe someone here can find you some assistance.

Meanwhile, I haven't offered solutions because you first need to become aware that _you are the problem _and your puppy is just fine. Once you readjust your attitude, people here will have great suggestions for you. Meanwhile, please get your head right. The puppy is just a normal puppy. Your approach is the problem, and a change will be your solution. You can't rely on a trainer, except to help guide you. You're going to have to do it yourself.

So take a big breath, relax, and people here will start to offer suggestions. I'll be back with some, too. Meanwhile, we could use more information.


----------



## Vaibhavchadha (Apr 4, 2021)

kikis_retrieving_service said:


> I'm sure more experienced dog parents can chime in on this one, but just wanted to share on the play pen potty as we had a sort of similar set-up as you. Our pup sleeps in a crate at night and for her daytime naps but in between play sessions and crate time, we initially put her in a playpen + fake grass for potty when we couldn't watch her non-stop.
> 
> Just like yours, she loved to roll around in her pee after going potty, so we wound up moving the grass just outside her pen, and watching her like a hawk to make sure we were putting her on the fake grass when she looked like she needed to go. Totally defeated the point of a playpen having to watch her like that. Also, this just led to a tonne of mind games, because she kind of hated the pen, and when we put her on the grass, a lot of the time she didn't need / want to go, would cry, and roll around in it. She'd also have accidents in the pen anyway, and then step all over it and drag it around. All this to say - we ditched the pen totally and wound up sticking her in a crate even during the day, and then taking her out for targeted potty, food and play / training breaks. She's still very young, and it's still early days so I am expected set backs, but so far this has been LIFE CHANGING. She has recently started running mid play session to the kitchen where we keep her fake grass to go potty on her own - I sure hope she keeps it up! Now we just play mind games trying to figure out if she is crying to get out of the crate because she needs to potty or wants attention😅😅
> 
> Is crate training, including during the day something you guys have tried or considered doing?


Hey thanks for your response. At least feels like I’m not the only one. Our trainer told us to crate train her too so that’s the next thing we will try. Alternately she said that we should keep increasing the pen and fence the home and slowly increase her radius rather than giving her the entire appartment which will also reduce accidents before she is fully trained. Will post you on progress. Thanks much


----------



## kikis_retrieving_service (Mar 29, 2021)

Vaibhavchadha said:


> Hey thanks for your response. At least feels like I’m not the only one. Our trainer told us to crate train her too so that’s the next thing we will try. Alternately she said that we should keep increasing the pen and fence the home and slowly increase her radius rather than giving her the entire appartment which will also reduce accidents before she is fully trained. Will post you on progress. Thanks much


Good luck! I appreciate the sentiment with expanding the radius of the pen, but unlike the crate, our pen doesn't seem small or den like enough for our puppy to make as strong a connection not to pee in there, as compared with the crate. She's only just over 8 weeks so maybe a different situation in terms of more frequent accidents, but we saw that she had had basically 2 accidents in the crate all on her first day, and like 10 in the pen over 3 days. That made us think the pen wasnt helping potty training at all. Instead we now try to play with her in new rooms in the flat gradually during targeted play, and so far only one accident which was totally my fault not recognizing the signs. Again - early days for us, but hope this helps!


----------



## Vaibhavchadha (Apr 4, 2021)

DanaRuns said:


> None of that is unusual for a Golden puppy.
> 
> I'm going to sound harsh, but you deserve it. The problem is not the puppy, it's you. You have three problems: 1. the way you're raising your puppy; 2. your expectations; and 3. your lack of knowledge. In fact, it sounds like you're giving that puppy a pretty terrible life, so far.
> 
> ...





DanaRuns said:


> None of that is unusual for a Golden puppy.
> 
> I'm going to sound harsh, but you deserve it. The problem is not the puppy, it's you. You have three problems: 1. the way you're raising your puppy; 2. your expectations; and 3. your lack of knowledge. In fact, it sounds like you're giving that puppy a pretty terrible life, so far.
> 
> ...


Hello,

I appreciate your feedback but not the judgements (without knowing us). We are not severely confining her or giving her a terrible life. We love her! She goes on 4 walks and has playtimes. We can’t take her to the dog park yet as she hasn’t got her rabies vaccine. I have never owned puppy, hence not experienced to raise one. This is my first experience, hence a little overwhelmed. I am not expecting it to be smooth, but I agree I need to change my attitude and look at it more as an adventure than an ordeal. That’s a good perspective. My puppies behaviour towards me and my wife is very different. All the things I experience on walks and home, my wife doesn’t. Our puppy listens to my wife, but adamant with me, probably it’s the difference in the way we communicate with her. I will watch and adapt how I can I communicate better. Housebreaking a puppy even for pees (when your puppy pees 20 times in a day and when you live in high rise apartment, and building management intolerant to accidents) isn’t feasible. What’s feasible for you may not be feasible for others. There is no one size that fits all! So housetraining her is very important. From what I have learnt from friends, some puppies train early while some take longer. I would like to get suggestions from people who have had similar experiences with their puppies who take longer in similar environments and understand how they have dealt with it.


----------



## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

Vaibhavchadha said:


> Hello,
> 
> I appreciate your feedback but not the judgements (without knowing us). We are not severely confining her or giving her a terrible life. We love her! She goes on 4 walks and has playtimes. We can’t take her to the dog park yet as she hasn’t got her rabies vaccine. I have never owned puppy, hence not experienced to raise one. This is my first experience, hence a little overwhelmed.....Housebreaking a puppy even for pees (when your puppy pees 20 times in a day and when you live in high rise apartment, and building management intolerant to accidents) isn’t feasible. What’s feasible for you may not be feasible for others. There is no one size that fits all!...


This isn't about judgement, it's the reality of the facts you've given us. A highrise is the most difficult situation to raise a puppy in and that isn't the puppy's fault. You may love your dog very much but that doesn't change the fact that at 4 months of age, she needs much more exercise and enrichment than what she's getting. She should not be going to a dog park as a puppy, but it's up to you to get creative, play games and teach tricks, don't bring her back indoors from a walk until she's eliminated, keep her crated when you can't watch her. Feed her on a schedule - two times a day. She is not getting the lessons she needs to be housetrained and it's up to you to figure this out. She needs to have her schedule adjusted. There are books to help, "House Training For Dummies" is a good one if you haven't read a book on how crate training works. The time and effort you invest in getting this right now will affect the rest of this dog's life and if she will have 10 years of quality or not. This is on you. Golden Retrievers were developed as hunting dogs - they are a sporting breed, not a lapdog, you purchased a hunting dog, brought her into a high rise apartment and are understandably frustrated that it's not an easy situation. The only agenda here is to help you see that this isn't the dog's fault and that you have to make changes. Use the search feature to bring up old threads, here are some I found: apartment potty training thread and apartment potty training thread and apartment training and training thread and apartment potty training help.


----------



## pawsnpaca (Nov 11, 2014)

I'm so sorry you are having trouble with your puppy. I hope it helps to know you are not alone! The forum is full of threads from puppy owners who are frustrated and not enjoying their new puppy. Puppies are a lot of work! A first time puppy owner living in a high-rise apartment will find housebreaking a puppy particularly challenging. The threads that Nolefan posted should help get you started with some ideas. There are many other helpful threads here in the forum; I encourage you to use the search function to search things like "crate training," "land shark," "puppy biting," "puppy leash training," etc. You can also find some good online resources (Kikopup is one that is often recommended, as is the "Life with Rune" Facebook page, which has a library of "guides" for raising a Golden puppy throughout its first year of life.

I do agree that some of your problems are stemming from unrealistic expectations of your puppy. These two articles may help you gain a new perspective of things from your puppy's point of view:








Kidnapped From Planet Dog - Whole Dog Journal


Sometimes new owners tell me getting a puppy was supposed to be fun, but all I feel is stress. Here's what new owners need to remember.




www.whole-dog-journal.com












It's a Puppy, Not a Problem


Left to their own devices, what do puppies like to do?They like to bark, play, run through the house (sometimes with muddy feet), jump on people, put things in their mouths and chew on them, eat tasty foods, explore, sniff things, dig holes in mud and sand and dirt, and a host of other things...




www.fenzidogsportsacademy.com





Hang in there!


----------



## Prism Goldens (May 27, 2011)

I'm sorry this pup isn't meeting your expectations- of course, had you brought in a human infant, someone would have invested in learning about babies.. 
dk if agree w the 'expanding area' during crate training. Impatient humans tend to move that along too fast to be successful. I'd tell you to crate train her THEN worry about expanding her area. And little puppies need free play time, more so than walks... while it's nice you are walking her, when one lives in an apartment and is not on ground floor, the free play outside never happens unless it's in a dangerous way like a dog park. 
If I were you, I'd call breeder about returning her so she can live a normal life for a Golden and get yourself some little lap dog or a hamster.


----------



## Hildae (Aug 15, 2012)

Puppies are not "fun" for the most part, they are lots and lots of work and constant potty trips, biting, and training. If you yell at or hit the puppy you are not teaching them anything except that you are dangerous and untrustworthy, so keep that in mind when you want to scold her. 

You picked a high energy hunting breed. They are mouthy, chewy and bitey. You live in a high rise, so you're going to have to spend a lot of time going outside if you want to potty train the puppy. They need to go outside every 20 minutes. They have small bladders and very poor control over them for months. 

Some dogs eat poop. 

Training is an all day everyday affair, not just when a trainer comes. So you must be training the puppy all the time, every interaction is a training opportunity.


----------



## Vaibhavchadha (Apr 4, 2021)

Prism Goldens said:


> I'm sorry this pup isn't meeting your expectations- of course, had you brought in a human infant, someone would have invested in learning about babies..
> dk if agree w the 'expanding area' during crate training. Impatient humans tend to move that along too fast to be successful. I'd tell you to crate train her THEN worry about expanding her area. And little puppies need free play time, more so than walks... while it's nice you are walking her, when one lives in an apartment and is not on ground floor, the free play outside never happens unless it's in a dangerous way like a dog park.
> If I were you, I'd call breeder about returning her so she can live a normal life for a Golden and get yourself some little lap dog or a hamster.


You are right, we didn’t do enough research before getting a puppy, but I don’t regret my decision one bit. I always wanted to have a Golden Retriever, hence got one home. I am just overwhelmed, and it’s normal to be overwhelmed. If we weren’t trying our best, there was no reason to be. In fact in order to get her home we changed our apartment to a place next to a wonderful dog park. In fact every other family here owns a big dog and probably another hamster. However, our puppy is too young to bring her to the park and leave her off leash, so long walks around the park is what we do daily. She gets tired easily, and will lay flat and refuse to walk, and then I have to carry her back home. She loves the free play but it’s only when we can bring her to a secluded part of the park. We also have a lot of activity puzzles and other toys which she plays with, but gets bored very easily. Our biggest concern is the toilet training, because if we can’t take her out every 15 mins (living in a high rise) we don’t want her to be confined in the pen either. We are thinking about crate training, and we will have our trainer to come and advise. Anyways, if you are here to help cut the judgement and just offer advice. Your feedback wasn’t really helpful. But anyways thanks for taking the time. You can go ahead and tell other new puppy owners who are overwhelmed to go and return their puppies but that isn’t going to help them or the puppy. Not everyone who owns a golden is a hunter or lives in a farm! This is just a phase, a fun yet difficult phase but we will get through it, and I will learn. Thank you!


----------



## Prism Goldens (May 27, 2011)

Little puppies need taking out often- every half hour the first couple weeks. They need to be in a very small crate when there are not eyes on them. Being in a high rise, you cannot do what normal people would do, catch beginning of squat, pickup and carry out. So your living situation has you at a disadvantage and puppy at a greater one. 
We don't agree- returning pup is oftentimes the best situation. I care only about puppy and puppy's ability to have a happy life. I can't imagine the breeder knowing you were in a highrise and still selling you a puppy.


----------



## pawsnpaca (Nov 11, 2014)

Do you have an outdoor patio/balcony of any sort? It's going to be really challenging to take her out as often as she needs to go, and as quickly as she needs to go, in a high rise. What a lot of people in similar situations have done is to establish a potty area on their balcony, or barring that, maybe in a bathroom?, but ideally in an area away from her crate or pen. It's ideal if you can set up a shallow pan with fake or real grass, but even a large litter box filled with shavings or wood pellets (maybe with a "piddle pad" on the bottom for the scent) might work. Then, whenever you sense that the puppy needs to urinate or defecate, pick her up and carry her straight to her "spot." Praise her lavishly if she uses the box. This is similar to what many breeders do to start house breaking the puppies before they go home - basically there is a wood-shaving filled tray outside the main puppy area and the puppies slowly learn that that is the spot to "go" in.

They do make some commercial products for this purpose, but I don't know if they'll be available in your country.








XL DoggieLawn Tray


Purchase our extra-large DoggieLawn indoor dog potty box for your pets online today! This 24 x 48-inch potty tray is designed to support dogs over 45 lbs.




doggielawn.com






Amazon.com










Amazon.com : Dog Grass Large Potty Patch, Artificial Dog Grass Bathroom Turf for Pet Training, Washable Puppy Pee Pad, Perfect Indoor/Outdoor Portable Potty Pet Loo (Tray system-35"X22.6") : Pet Supplies


Amazon.com : Dog Grass Large Potty Patch, Artificial Dog Grass Bathroom Turf for Pet Training, Washable Puppy Pee Pad, Perfect Indoor/Outdoor Portable Potty Pet Loo (Tray system-35"X22.6") : Pet Supplies



www.amazon.com












Amazon.com: Petco Brand - So Phresh Dog Litter Box, Large : Pet Supplies


Amazon.com: Petco Brand - So Phresh Dog Litter Box, Large : Pet Supplies



www.amazon.com





Have you spoken with the others in your high-rise who have dogs? It would be interesting and informative to learn how they accomplished housebreaking a new puppy...


----------



## 213926 (Feb 10, 2021)

Start over. Forget everything that you've done so far. It sounds like the puppy hasn't been correctly trained and your expectations doesn't match reality. Read through the threads and resources given here on how to crate train a puppy, which is an important part of bathroom training and will give a solid foundation for the puppy to start with. Be patient, don't move on to the next stage of training until she's shown that she can consistently do the previous step.

Edit: You might want to read _Bbefore You Get a Puppy _and _After you Get your Puppy _by Ian Dunbar. Its a good starting point in easy to understand terms and is only like 100 pages per book. A google search will find a free pdf version.

As you're restarting your training, make sure to form a bond with the puppy. You mention that it listens to your wife, but not you. Watch and ask her how she interacts with the puppy for some ideas maybe. Make sure to be active in feeding, training, and playing with the puppy. Find out what motivates her. Once you are able to 'speak' with her, you'll begin to understand her better which will help train her. If you haven't done puppy classes, sign up for that. They'll teach you how to work together with your dog and the proper method for reinforcing good behaviors.


----------



## Hildae (Aug 15, 2012)

Vaibhavchadha said:


> Not everyone who owns a golden is a hunter or lives in a farm!


True. But every golden still is a hunting breed with the tendencies and instincts of the breed. (Some more than others admittedly) As a hunting breed they are going to be higher energy, mouthy and need more training than some other types of dogs. You're not going to be able to lose your temper and scold them for natural behaviors for the breed. If you exercise patience and understanding of the breed you will have a great dog. If you try to make the dog be something it isn't, you'll always have issues.


----------



## DblTrblGolden2 (Aug 22, 2018)

By 4 months I expect my puppies to be completely crate trained. This means no accidents in the crate. It is 100% my responsibility to make sure this happens. The high rise is an added challenge, but one you were fully aware of when you made the decision to bring this puppy home. When my puppies are in the beginning stages of crate training my biggest priority is making sure they are successful at not having an accident.

Here’s a very simple version. Take puppy out of crate. Carry it outside and let it be outside until it pees/poops. Take puppy back in for 20-30 minutes of supervised play. Walk puppy again and place it back in the crate for one hour. Keep repeating. As you reach success with this amount of time slowly increase by 15 min.

I never look at a puppy having an accident in the house as their fault, but mine. I clearly didn’t do my job in training them. Every-time it happens I look at the entire situation and change what went wrong.


----------



## holycarp (Jan 3, 2021)

Here's the most important thing: IT'S NOT TOO LATE!!!
This puppy is still super young (4 months). But as others said, you need to start over. Pretend you just rescued a 4 month old from the pound who hasn't had a good life so far. Do your research NOW!
My very first puppy, I took more than a month of time off. I think that maybe that wasn't necessary, but immensely helpful. The combination of being a clueless owner (you can do all the research you want, ****'s gonna hit the fan) and a very young puppy is usually best navigated if the puppy is your only priority. Many people recommend taking 2 weeks off. Now that I know much more about pups and dogs, I don't think I need that month. But I'm taking it off for my new puppy this year anyway because it's worth it. I've saved vacation days for years planning for this. So do that now. Take time off work, do your research, and make your puppy your only priority. Even an old dog can learn new tricks, but a puppy is still very easy to train and mold.
Also, my first pup was a lab (similar enough to goldens for all intents and purposes), and I also lived in an apartment (once you have to go into an elevator to get out, I don't think it matters so much how many floors anyway). It was challenging at first, but it worked. Why? Because every morning at 7AM, I went to a park (not dog park) and played with her for an hour. I repeated this every 2-3 hours (even once I was back to work). Puppies are harder than kids at first. But luckily they grow up and mature faster. This only happens correctly if you put in the time.
If you can't, it hurts my heart to see pups given back or re-homed. It breaks my heart to see a pup that should have been given up or re-homed.
Don't forget the creed: there are no bad dogs, only bad owners.


----------



## forgold (Feb 29, 2020)

Vaibhavchadha said:


> You are right, we didn’t do enough research before getting a puppy, but I don’t regret my decision one bit. I always wanted to have a Golden Retriever, hence got one home. I am just overwhelmed, and it’s normal to be overwhelmed. If we weren’t trying our best, there was no reason to be. In fact in order to get her home we changed our apartment to a place next to a wonderful dog park. In fact every other family here owns a big dog and probably another hamster. However, our puppy is too young to bring her to the park and leave her off leash, so long walks around the park is what we do daily. She gets tired easily, and will lay flat and refuse to walk, and then I have to carry her back home. She loves the free play but it’s only when we can bring her to a secluded part of the park. We also have a lot of activity puzzles and other toys which she plays with, but gets bored very easily. Our biggest concern is the toilet training, because if we can’t take her out every 15 mins (living in a high rise) we don’t want her to be confined in the pen either. We are thinking about crate training, and we will have our trainer to come and advise. Anyways, if you are here to help cut the judgement and just offer advice. Your feedback wasn’t really helpful. But anyways thanks for taking the time. You can go ahead and tell other new puppy owners who are overwhelmed to go and return their puppies but that isn’t going to help them or the puppy. Not everyone who owns a golden is a hunter or lives in a farm! This is just a phase, a fun yet difficult phase but we will get through it, and I will learn. Thank you!


----------



## Brave (Oct 26, 2012)

Do you have access to a balcony where you can set up a potty station (think fake grass on a platform over a grate with a puppy pad underneath to catch the urine and can be easily changed/cleaned up) or a walk-in shower you are comfortable training her to use as a wee station? I ask because we were literally only a 20 minute potty timer until Molly was like 5 or 6 months old. If she wasn't peeing at 20 minutes we put her in the crate and tried again in 5 minutes. Which might not be feasible when you are in a high rise (thinking the sheer time to go from timer goes off, get puppy leashed, walk to elevator/stairs, go downstairs, find a suitable potty space, come back home). 

I had pretty much the EASIEST set up (single story home with a fenced backyard) and I was overwhelmed with EVERY SINGLE ONE OF MY PUPPIES. It's a huge transition to go from "no puppy" to "ahh puppy!" but it does get better. Every day you have a wealth of interactions to help train both of you to make your lives easier. 



Vaibhavchadha said:


> My puppies behaviour towards me and my wife is very different. All the things I experience on walks and home, my wife doesn’t. Our puppy listens to my wife, but adamant with me, probably it’s the difference in the way we communicate with her. I will watch and adapt how I can I communicate better.


My partner has the same complaint. Molly will do things for me that he just can't get from her (mainly I get to be lazy and stand at the door watching them and they will come back to the door vs me having to go get them and Molly fetches for me and won't for him... BUT he gets calm Molly. She'll stand next to him and just be chill and get pets. But she wants to be laying on top of me checking a bone in my face or chewing on my arm or pulling my hair, etc) I think it boils down to what your puppy sees you as. I'm the fun one who plays with her all the time but I also don't put up with her ****. She doesn't want to come inside? Ok. I will hunt you down and leash you and we will do the walk of shame back to the house. Every single time she comes in when called... she gets rewarded. Go figure she likes coming when I call. Same with fetch. She gets the ball I throw a party cause she brought it back (vs playing chase me). Now she loves brining me things (can't stop, she even gets bottles off tables to bring them to me... she counter surfed a hot sauce packet off the kitchen counter and then brought it to me). Puppies are silly riots. You just gotta know what you want her to do and then reward what you want and discourage/redirect what you don't.


----------



## 3goldens2keep (Feb 13, 2019)

I agree with DanaRuns...so I will not get on that band wagon. Owning and raising a puppy properly requires a certain amount of knowledge. Reading and research is necessary, as with anything we do in life that adds value to our lives. Going to crate training is a great idea and is the best method to house train a dog! But, you have to understand the process and associated details to do this. If you have not already done extensive research on crate training, please do it before you start. In that way you will have a good chance of success. Same goes for everything else about the puppy...learn how, then do the work!

Or sometimes, in cases like these, it is best to try and return the pup to the breeder so they can place the pup with someone more experienced. This may or may not be an option, but sometimes, breeders are open to this support.

Good Luck


----------



## Usha_Floripa (Apr 27, 2021)

Vaibhavchadha said:


> Hey thanks for your response. At least feels like I’m not the only one. Our trainer told us to crate train her too so that’s the next thing we will try. Alternately she said that we should keep increasing the pen and fence the home and slowly increase her radius rather than giving her the entire appartment which will also reduce accidents before she is fully trained. Will post you on progress. Thanks much


Hi there. I have raised a Golden puppy in a highrise, without a crate or pen. I followed Alexandre Rossi's method. He is a famous positive trainer in Brazil. I used pads and lots of treats. She was confined in the kitchen, although I would let her play in the living room with us sometimes. I would set her on the pad right after a meal, a drink, or a play session. I would say the word peepee over and over in a firm but friendly voice. And woudn´t let her come out of the pad. Once she urinated, I would give her a treat and lots of praise. It could take up to 10 minutes. And I sprayed the poo with ground ginger. It took little time for her to love the pads. They hate wet paws. Accidents would happen, of course, but very few. Needless to say it takes a lot of work and patience. Good luck with your land shark. She was my second Golden, and her biting was much worse than the first. Get her chewing toys and bones, and watch like a hawk. They outgrow the biting, and become such wonderful dogs. It is just a matter of time, and a lot of work. Just make it fun for all of you.


----------



## holycarp (Jan 3, 2021)

Usha_Floripa said:


> Hi there. I have raised a Golden puppy in a highrise, without a crate or pen. I followed Alexandre Rossi's method. He is a famous positive trainer in Brazil. I used pads and lots of treats. She was confined in the kitchen, although I would let her play in the living room with us sometimes. I would set her on the pad right after a meal, a drink, or a play session. I would say the word peepee over and over in a firm but friendly voice. And woudn´t let her come out of the pad. Once she urinated, I would give her a treat and lots of praise. It could take up to 10 minutes. And I sprayed the poo with ground ginger. It took little time for her to love the pads. They hate wet paws. Accidents would happen, of course, but very few. Needless to say it takes a lot of work and patience. Good luck with your land shark. She was my second Golden, and her biting was much worse than the first. Get her chewing toys and bones, and watch like a hawk. They outgrow the biting, and become such wonderful dogs. It is just a matter of time, and a lot of work. Just make it fun for all of you.


Was it easy to eventually swap from pads to outside? I never used pads (electing instead to run her to the elevator and outside) since I was worried it'd be really difficult to get rid of the pads in the future.


----------



## Usha_Floripa (Apr 27, 2021)

holycarp said:


> Was it easy to eventually swap from pads to outside? I never used pads (electing instead to run her to the elevator and outside) since I was worried it'd be really difficult to get rid of the pads in the future.


When she was allowed to go out, I would the same thing on grass. It took many walks until the first pee on grass. She got treats and lots of praises. She is 10 now. She pees on grass, sand, pavement, disposable, and ecofriendly pads. We live in a house now. But if I need to let her stay with my daugther at her apartment, she will pee on pads while my daughter is at work. If I have to leave her for a long time on her own, I will always leave pads available. I hate the idea of a dog holding her pee. But could be I am lucky to have a dog who will pee anywhere.


----------



## Usha_Floripa (Apr 27, 2021)

holycarp said:


> Was it easy to eventually swap from pads to outside? I never used pads (electing instead to run her to the elevator and outside) since I was worried it'd be really difficult to get rid of the pads in the future.


Just realized that my yorkies also peed on pads and grass, although one of them was lazy, and prefered pads when at home. But on a walk? Oh boy, they peed in every pole available.


----------



## holycarp (Jan 3, 2021)

Usha_Floripa said:


> Just realized that my yorkies also peed on pads and grass, although one of them was lazy, and prefered pads when at home. But on a walk? Oh boy, they peed in every pole available.


Mm yeah, I was also always afraid that there would be that one bath math in a friend's house that would resemble a pad too closely haha


----------



## SRW (Dec 21, 2018)

Vaibhavchadha said:


> We are not severely confining her or giving her a terrible life.


Yes you are. Sounds mean but it's the truth.


----------



## aesthetic (Apr 23, 2015)

I hope @Sweet Girl chimes in soon! I think she raised at least one of her puppies from a high rise apartment?


----------



## Ffcmm (May 4, 2016)

Hi there, I hope we haven't scared you off, I know it can be overwhelming. I've raised my youngest male golden in a high rise apartment as I'm from Singapore. 16 floors up. I got him when he was 3 months, so his bladder control is slightly better than that of an 8 week puppy, but only marginally so

BUT IT IS DOABLE. You just have to be REALLY REALLY diligent. 

Ditch all your puppy pads and trays, and remove all the floor mats in your house or any material on the floor that can be confused by the puppy as a pee area. do not let her on the coach until she is more reliable. its not her fault, the pee pads have confused her- sofa fabric & puppy pads feel pretty much the same. Set a timer and watch like a hawk. start from scratch. When she is awake, playing and extra active, bring her out every 20-30 minutes as a gauge. If you see any behaviour that indicates she is going to pee.. sniffing etc, IMMEDIATELY bring her out, regardless if the timer you set still had 10 minutes left before her next pee break. Reward instantly when she goes, repeat a key word as well so she knows. then head back upstairs. repeat and repeat. 

back to basics. She needs to go after waking up, eating, drinking, midway during play time (I realized most accidents happened for me when my boy was very engrossed with play. he would be playing so happily then suddenly remember the existence of his bladder and let go wherever he was, so I started to interrupt his play time and bringing him down). the key is to preempt that she needs to pee before she actually starts wanting to go in your apartment. After awhile she will learn to hold it in longer. they say its an hour every month, so at 4 months technically she can hold it in for 4 hours, but cut that in half and use 2 hours as a gauge instead, and 20-30 minutes when she is awake and active.

Keep this schedule up for the next month and she should be trained by 5 months. they learn SUPER fast if YOU are diligent.


----------



## Sweet Girl (Jun 10, 2010)

aesthetic said:


> I hope @Sweet Girl chimes in soon! I think she raised at least one of her puppies from a high rise apartment?


No - I was just in a third floor walk-up (with a grassy yard). And I ran up and down the stairs every 60 minutes holding my puppy for the first two weeks or so. I had buns of steel! 😄

I would never do a high rise with a baby puppy. Just a personal thing. Would not want to balcony or pee pad train, and I think an elevator makes it way too challenging to get a puppy out fast enough.


----------



## Vaibhavchadha (Apr 4, 2021)

Sweet Girl said:


> No - I was just in a third floor walk-up (with a grassy yard). And I ran up and down the stairs every 60 minutes holding my puppy for the first two weeks or so. I had buns of steel! 😄
> 
> I would never do a high rise with a baby puppy. Just a personal thing. Would not want to balcony or pee pad train, and I think an elevator makes it way too challenging to get a puppy out fast enough.


In our case the high rise management has a penalty if they find the dog fouling common area, so we have to take her outside the building for her to poo. That’s a min of 7-8 mins walk.


----------



## Sweet Girl (Jun 10, 2010)

Vaibhavchadha said:


> In our case the high rise management has a penalty if they find the dog fouling common area, so we have to take her outside the building for her to poo. That’s a min of 7-8 mins walk.


But didn't you know this would be the situation before you made the decision to bring home a puppy?


----------



## Vaibhavchadha (Apr 4, 2021)

Sweet Girl said:


> But didn't you know this would be the situation before you made the decision to bring home a puppy?


We didn’t imagine these challenges in details. Having said we are copying with it. We have scheduled set up wherein we take her for walks 4 times a day for her 4 poops. Impossible to take her every 20 mins for pee. We need to find her a way to just pee on the pee pad. Our society has over 100 dogs, and we have almost 10 golden retriever in the neighbourhood. We can’t change our choice and have to try and give the best to Hazel our puppy


----------



## Vaibhavchadha (Apr 4, 2021)

Usha_Floripa said:


> Hi there. I have raised a Golden puppy in a highrise, without a crate or pen. I followed Alexandre Rossi's method. He is a famous positive trainer in Brazil. I used pads and lots of treats. She was confined in the kitchen, although I would let her play in the living room with us sometimes. I would set her on the pad right after a meal, a drink, or a play session. I would say the word peepee over and over in a firm but friendly voice. And woudn´t let her come out of the pad. Once she urinated, I would give her a treat and lots of praise. It could take up to 10 minutes. And I sprayed the poo with ground ginger. It took little time for her to love the pads. They hate wet paws. Accidents would happen, of course, but very few. Needless to say it takes a lot of work and patience. Good luck with your land shark. She was my second Golden, and her biting was much worse than the first. Get her chewing toys and bones, and watch like a hawk. They outgrow the biting, and become such wonderful dogs. It is just a matter of time, and a lot of work. Just make it fun for all of you.


Thanks. Does he have any videos in English? I looked him on YouTube but not in English.


----------



## Vaibhavchadha (Apr 4, 2021)

Prism Goldens said:


> Little puppies need taking out often- every half hour the first couple weeks. They need to be in a very small crate when there are not eyes on them. Being in a high rise, you cannot do what normal people would do, catch beginning of squat, pickup and carry out. So your living situation has you at a disadvantage and puppy at a greater one.
> We don't agree- returning pup is oftentimes the best situation. I care only about puppy and puppy's ability to have a happy life. I can't imagine the breeder knowing you were in a highrise and still selling you a puppy.


We live in Hong Kong where we don’t have house options. 99% of people live in high rises, yet Hong Kong has probably one of the highest density of dog ownership. I moved my house to a relatively open area with a dog park next door just for our puppy. We are trying our best but yet it’s a very tough job. The breeders here are not as nice as in US or Australia unfortunately. We didn’t get proper education.


----------



## Brave (Oct 26, 2012)

Vaibhavchadha said:


> We need to find her a way to just pee on the pee pad.


Do you have access to something like this? 
PETSAFE Pet Loo Portable Indoor & Outdoor Dog Potty, Medium - Chewy.com


----------



## Vaibhavchadha (Apr 4, 2021)

SRW said:


> Yes you are. Sounds mean but it's the truth.


You don’t even know the full picture. Anyway I will dave my energy here.


----------



## Vaibhavchadha (Apr 4, 2021)

Brave said:


> Do you have access to something like this?
> PETSAFE Pet Loo Portable Indoor & Outdoor Dog Potty, Medium - Chewy.com


Thanks we have seen this one but haven’t bought yet. Will consider this. Thanks


holycarp said:


> Here's the most important thing: IT'S NOT TOO LATE!!!
> This puppy is still super young (4 months). But as others said, you need to start over. Pretend you just rescued a 4 month old from the pound who hasn't had a good life so far. Do your research NOW!
> My very first puppy, I took more than a month of time off. I think that maybe that wasn't necessary, but immensely helpful. The combination of being a clueless owner (you can do all the research you want, ****'s gonna hit the fan) and a very young puppy is usually best navigated if the puppy is your only priority. Many people recommend taking 2 weeks off. Now that I know much more about pups and dogs, I don't think I need that month. But I'm taking it off for my new puppy this year anyway because it's worth it. I've saved vacation days for years planning for this. So do that now. Take time off work, do your research, and make your puppy your only priority. Even an old dog can learn new tricks, but a puppy is still very easy to train and mold.
> Also, my first pup was a lab (similar enough to goldens for all intents and purposes), and I also lived in an apartment (once you have to go into an elevator to get out, I don't think it matters so much how many floors anyway). It was challenging at first, but it worked. Why? Because every morning at 7AM, I went to a park (not dog park) and played with her for an hour. I repeated this every 2-3 hours (even once I was back to work). Puppies are harder than kids at first. But luckily they grow up and mature faster. This only happens correctly if you put in the time.
> ...


how do you make the puppy stay on the pee mat till she pees? Should we put a fence around the pee mat so she does her business ans doesn’t walk away?


----------



## Vaibhavchadha (Apr 4, 2021)

how do you make the puppy stay on the pee mat till she pees? Should we put a fence around the pee mat so she does her business ans doesn’t walk away?


DblTrblGolden2 said:


> By 4 months I expect my puppies to be completely crate trained. This means no accidents in the crate. It is 100% my responsibility to make sure this happens. The high rise is an added challenge, but one you were fully aware of when you made the decision to bring this puppy home. When my puppies are in the beginning stages of crate training my biggest priority is making sure they are successful at not having an accident.
> 
> Here’s a very simple version. Take puppy out of crate. Carry it outside and let it be outside until it pees/poops. Take puppy back in for 20-30 minutes of supervised play. Walk puppy again and place it back in the crate for one hour. Keep repeating. As you reach success with this amount of time slowly increase by 15 min.
> 
> I never look at a puppy having an accident in the house as their fault, but mine. I clearly didn’t do my job in training them. Every-time it happens I look at the entire situation and change what went wrong.


----------



## Vaibhavchadha (Apr 4, 2021)

pawsnpaca said:


> I'm so sorry you are having trouble with your puppy. I hope it helps to know you are not alone! The forum is full of threads from puppy owners who are frustrated and not enjoying their new puppy. Puppies are a lot of work! A first time puppy owner living in a high-rise apartment will find housebreaking a puppy particularly challenging. The threads that Nolefan posted should help get you started with some ideas. There are many other helpful threads here in the forum; I encourage you to use the search function to search things like "crate training," "land shark," "puppy biting," "puppy leash training," etc. You can also find some good online resources (Kikopup is one that is often recommended, as is the "Life with Rune" Facebook page, which has a library of "guides" for raising a Golden puppy throughout its first year of life.
> 
> I do agree that some of your problems are stemming from unrealistic expectations of your puppy. These two articles may help you gain a new perspective of things from your puppy's point of view:
> 
> ...


How do we fix this incorrect sitting posture ? Ok


----------



## Vaibhavchadha (Apr 4, 2021)

Brave said:


> Do you have access to a balcony where you can set up a potty station (think fake grass on a platform over a grate with a puppy pad underneath to catch the urine and can be easily changed/cleaned up) or a walk-in shower you are comfortable training her to use as a wee station? I ask because we were literally only a 20 minute potty timer until Molly was like 5 or 6 months old. If she wasn't peeing at 20 minutes we put her in the crate and tried again in 5 minutes. Which might not be feasible when you are in a high rise (thinking the sheer time to go from timer goes off, get puppy leashed, walk to elevator/stairs, go downstairs, find a suitable potty space, come back home).
> 
> I had pretty much the EASIEST set up (single story home with a fenced backyard) and I was overwhelmed with EVERY SINGLE ONE OF MY PUPPIES. It's a huge transition to go from "no puppy" to "ahh puppy!" but it does get better. Every day you have a wealth of interactions to help train both of you to make your lives easier.
> 
> ...


How to fix the incorrect sitting posture?


----------



## Dunmar (Apr 15, 2020)

Vaibhavchadha said:


> How to fix the incorrect sitting posture?
> View attachment 882535


She is a puppy, they sit like that a lot


----------



## Brave (Oct 26, 2012)

Vaibhavchadha said:


> how do you make the puppy stay on the pee mat till she pees? Should we put a fence around the pee mat so she does her business ans doesn’t walk away?


Usually I do this on leash. Just keep bringing them back to the spot and as soon as they squat or pee on the spot I throw a party. Like happy voice, lots of praise, treats, rubs, etc. Good job! And rinse and repeat every time you go to that spot. I usually also couple this with the phrase "go potty" b/c they will EVENTUALLY associate that with peeing and it's handy when out and about and needing them to hurry it up. 


Vaibhavchadha said:


> How to fix the incorrect sitting posture?


Lazy sits is pretty common in puppies. Especially when their bodies are in awkward stages. I don't usually correct it unless we're doing formal work (i.e. training for rally/obedience). If you think the lazy sit is a direct result of poor muscle tone or something there are exercises out there to help strengthen that muscle group but again I think it's just a puppy being a puppy.


----------



## kikis_retrieving_service (Mar 29, 2021)

Vaibhavchadha said:


> Thanks we have seen this one but haven’t bought yet. Will consider this. Thanks
> 
> how do you make the puppy stay on the pee mat till she pees? Should we put a fence around the pee mat so she does her business ans doesn’t walk away?


We use a little tray of fake grass too. We initially had the grass on a balcony and would leash her up, and stay around it until she went, but she hated it and would go as far as holding her pee in for 6 hours. What wound up working was setting up a small cube pen inside with just the fake grass in it, and not much other space. We'd then carry her and place her on the grass to go potty. We watched her like a hawk and she had a couple of accidents that were totally our fault not catching the signs. After about 4 days of doing this, we opened up the pen slightly so she can go in and out on her own, and she's now generally good about just walking herself onto the grass to potty. She does still love laying down on the grass now and then!

Also she's been better about not eating her poop. We've been cramming a very tasty treat in her mouth immediately after she goes which seems to help as she now looks at us for a treat instead of at her poop 😂


----------



## Rogerd (May 1, 2021)

The key is repetition... you might have to lead her to a pee pad to potty train her hundreds of times... and even then after a couple of months, she might go on the floor. She is a baby, and is just learning.

It would be a bit easy if you do not have any other responsibilities... but if you have a full time job, it gets harder. Like any other baby, she does not know she is being adamant or lazy or anything. She is just being her, so you really need to have tons of patience to train her how you want her to behave. And in my experience, goldens retain their training better than humans 

Also do not mind the negative posts here, from what I have seen there is a tendency to blame the owner instead of providing suggestions. Some of these would be from breeders who raise goldens for a living - its like asking a long haul trucker tips on navigating rush hour traffic.


----------



## DanaRuns (Sep 29, 2012)

Vaibhavchadha said:


> How do we fix this incorrect sitting posture ? Ok


Don't. It's perfectly fine and an absolutely normal puppy sitting posture.


----------



## Vaibhavchadha (Apr 4, 2021)

Rogerd said:


> The key is repetition... you might have to lead her to a pee pad to potty train her hundreds of times... and even then after a couple of months, she might go on the floor. She is a baby, and is just learning.
> 
> It would be a bit easy if you do not have any other responsibilities... but if you have a full time job, it gets harder. Like any other baby, she does not know she is being adamant or lazy or anything. She is just being her, so you really need to have tons of patience to train her how you want her to behave. And in my experience, goldens retain their training better than humans
> 
> Also do not mind the negative posts here, from what I have seen there is a tendency to blame the owner instead of providing suggestions. Some of these would be from breeders who raise goldens for a living - its like asking a long haul trucker tips on navigating rush hour traffic.


Thanks a lot and you are very nice. Have a good day.


----------



## Coco's Christine (Jun 21, 2020)

Vaibhavchadha said:


> Hazel is 4 months old, we got her home a month ago to say she has been a lot of will be an understatement. I’m not sure if these are normal behaviour of something to be concerned:
> 
> 1. she eats her poop. We will in an appartment and we will keep her in her pen and watch her like a hawk to remove her poop tray as soon as she does her business. We have now started taking her for a walk. Usually it’s 4 poops in a day at 6:15, 10, 5 and 9:30. Yesterday she pooped earlier at 8 and ate it ☹
> 2. After we have allowed her to freely move out of her pen she is peeing everywhere. Sometimes even the couch. We did this because earlier when we restricted her to pen we would keep her pee mat inside her pen and she will land up sleeping on her pee mat.
> ...


All common issues for a Golden. All common issues which can be remedied by going to the vet or Googling. Remember, there is nothing wrong with the dog; there is something wrong with the owner. Bottom line, you have to love your dog with all your heart so issues like these do not "irritate" you. It does not seem that is the case. Maybe, for the little pup's happiness, you need to find her a loving home.


----------



## othersideofthefence (Mar 9, 2021)

Vaibhavchadha said:


> Hazel is 4 months old, we got her home a month ago to say she has been a lot of will be an understatement. I’m not sure if these are normal behaviour of something to be concerned:
> 
> 1. she eats her poop. We will in an appartment and we will keep her in her pen and watch her like a hawk to remove her poop tray as soon as she does her business. We have now started taking her for a walk. Usually it’s 4 poops in a day at 6:15, 10, 5 and 9:30. Yesterday she pooped earlier at 8 and ate it ☹
> 2. After we have allowed her to freely move out of her pen she is peeing everywhere. Sometimes even the couch. We did this because earlier when we restricted her to pen we would keep her pee mat inside her pen and she will land up sleeping on her pee mat.
> ...


Hello,

I am empathetic to the puppy and the family. I can understand the frustration and challenge you have been going through. I am someone who was fearful of dogs and now have 4+ months golden puppy. I will share my experience here, hope that helps.

1. A puppy if hungry, can never be trained. His biting /nipping habits could be a result of not getting enough food as well. Imagine we are in a classroom training but hungry enough that cannot focus. You as an owner will realize if he/she is getting enough food. 
2. Puppy training is patience and patience and patience, I had the least in the family, our daughter who is in elementary school had the most. I have come along a long way in last 2.5 months to teach myself patience on handling dogs and managing them.
3. Puppy do not understand scolding, loud voice is music to their ears. Having calm and composed but strong message passing helps. Hand indication and key words associated with it works wonder. Saying "This is absolutely wrong thing you did" confused our pup. He just does not understand human language.
4. Puppy tied to a leash to you or under direct supervision helps. We used to take him out every 30 mins when the temperature outside was very well below freezing points and middle of 4 ft snow storm. It is challenging in an apartment but use pea pads . We never used pea pads.
5. Close to 5 months, our puppy is not fully house trained but very rare accidents occur. At times if he cannot hold, he will pee a few drop and hold rest to go out. 
6. Have a neighbor with 3 extremely well behaved dogs, he said one of them peed all over the place till 1 yr. So there is no rule that fits all. 
7. Every time he does it inside, show frustration and dislike by saying Ah, no, not again but not loudly. I made this mistake many times initially before realizing it does not help. No screaming , no loud voice helps - not with our puppy. But showing displeasure does.
8. every time she nips/tries to bite say Ouch loud, step aside, turn your back. Keep repeating till she understands this is not a playful attitude and will not be entertained.
9. Poop if contains undigested food, puppy may eat. I have read this but never happened . Is she hungry, if she is well fed why will she eat poop or do you notice that she has undigested food in the poop?
10. When you take her for walk, if possible go more than one family member together. It helps to understand the whole pack is doing what she should follow. In extreme cold, we all took him out for walk and he did reasonably well.
11. Last but not least, dog training starts with us, it is we who needs to be trained that in turn trains the dog. Two books helped us understand dog behavior, one that I did not complete but first few chapters are enough to teach me I was wrong every single time. Book - "The other end of the leash: why we do what we do around dogs has been of great help." 

Good luck and would love to hear how things change positively.


----------



## Sweet SaraBelle (Feb 4, 2020)

I think her eating issues will stop. Mine did that when she was a puppy. Has not in a long while. She is now two. My Golden has tons of energy when she sees another dog & wants to play. Otherwise great inside. I remember with my prior Goldens energy levels vary they ultimately calm down. I have Sara in a pretty good routine now so personal habit accidents are rare. It gets better with time. Give her a chance. I live in a condominium. Golden Retrievers are very intelligent dogs and want to please


----------



## Caiti9 (Apr 23, 2021)

I just want to say hang in there! You’re going to be ok, pay attention to the suggestions that are nice and ditch the judgements. Parents learn by doing, that’s just how it goes. I definitely agree with the biting suggestion, saying OUCH over and over worked for us, and sometimes a little whine to imitate littermates. We would also replace our finger/toe/whatever with a baby Kong so she’d understand she could teethe or chew on certain things.
The potty issues, hang in there. Take the good suggestions and just know ours had accidents until around 6 months, I think it’s just a part of growing and puppy-hood. Whenever ours had a growth spurt she’d sometimes lose a little ability to know she had to go. I am also a first time owner and some have said I’m the problem, all we can do is keep trying! You got this!


----------



## 215004 (Apr 21, 2021)

I personally have to agree with all the replies and advice given. As well, can see the downside of trying to train one in a high rise as well. Having raised only 2 of them ( I know members here have raised many more). With both of mine, the very FIRST thing I did before their first time inside of the house was to carry them to the back yard and SHOW them where their “ potty “ area was and then praised them when they did. Only then we’re they brought inside of the house to “explore” while being watched. Yes a occasional accident would occur where in a reinforced voice would be used. Then they would be put outside to reinforce where they were supposed to go. As far as biting, very typical for ANY puppy of any breed. Scold them and insure there are PLENTY of chew toys especially when their teething. I know you were handed the truth by one of the original reply’s but I have to agree with them. It’s not the puppy, but the training techniques as well as the high rise that compounds the problem. Trust me, you don’t want these issues when your golden is 70-80 pounds!....David


----------



## Ginny79 (Dec 31, 2020)

Vaibhavchadha said:


> Hazel is 4 months old, we got her home a month ago to say she has been a lot of will be an understatement. I’m not sure if these are normal behaviour of something to be concerned:
> 
> 1. she eats her poop. We will in an appartment and we will keep her in her pen and watch her like a hawk to remove her poop tray as soon as she does her business. We have now started taking her for a walk. Usually it’s 4 poops in a day at 6:15, 10, 5 and 9:30. Yesterday she pooped earlier at 8 and ate it ☹
> 2. After we have allowed her to freely move out of her pen she is peeing everywhere. Sometimes even the couch. We did this because earlier when we restricted her to pen we would keep her pee mat inside her pen and she will land up sleeping on her pee mat.
> ...


Get a cat, and give the puppy to someone that understands dogs.


----------



## pmjc (May 4, 2021)

Vaibhavchadha said:


> Hazel is 4 months old, we got her home a month ago to say she has been a lot of will be an understatement. I’m not sure if these are normal behaviour of something to be concerned:
> 
> 1. she eats her poop. We will in an appartment and we will keep her in her pen and watch her like a hawk to remove her poop tray as soon as she does her business. We have now started taking her for a walk. Usually it’s 4 poops in a day at 6:15, 10, 5 and 9:30. Yesterday she pooped earlier at 8 and ate it ☹
> 2. After we have allowed her to freely move out of her pen she is peeing everywhere. Sometimes even the couch. We did this because earlier when we restricted her to pen we would keep her pee mat inside her pen and she will land up sleeping on her pee mat.
> ...


Dear VC,
You said you always wanted a Golden, so congratulations! They are the best dogs in the whole world for many reasons, that you will discover. We love our Rosie as you will love your Hazel. But at 4 months, I didn't enjoy it too much. We have family members who raised Labrador retrievers - Goldens are like them in a lot of ways - so I knew it was going to be a long 2 years of puppyhood. But, when Rosie turned 1 year and 2 months, something happened, she turned the corner and life has been easier. She stopped biting as much (finally). So, it didn't take 2 years but I was prepared for that. 

At 4 months, she's still sooooo little. Like a baby. Be patient, be kind, be loving, and take the long view. They only live about 10 years. By the time she is 3, ,she will be an adult and all this puppy drama will be a long, distant memory. 

Goldens are everything that you read about: high energy (although 4 months is so little and they get tired fast!) Goldens also get hot easily - they will pass out or stop walking or playing if they get too hot. If Hong Kong, is hot like Houston be careful in the heat. 

I read all the other replies, so I'm not going to tell you to bring the puppy back, or other advice. But, I will tell you this one thing, that I remind my husband all the time. Goldens are very sensitive and emotional. If you scold her, she may just shut down, freeze, not listen. My husband is a behavioral psychologist with a PhD in clinical psychology and he STILL sometimes fusses at Rosie and yells at her (though a lot less now  You will not get what you want with a Golden unless you work positively. They want your love and attention and approval. Tell her what you WANT her to do - don't just say NO. 

Okay, one more piece of advice, get your kids involved in training if they are old enough. They can teach her to "leave it" "good chew" "sit" - My breeder said teaching them "good chew" and giving them a toy, bone, etc can help. Teach "bad chew" with a sad face (not angry). Himalayan bones or Yak chews helped us the first year a lot. Bones, toys, whatever, if you can spend the money (the first year will be the most expensive). We had two baskets of toys, toys, balls, balls, chew toys. Oh, also - bubbles! The kids loved blowing bubbles and she chased them forever. I even did it in my garage if we couldn't go outside. 

Good luck! Hope you are doing well in Hong Kong.


----------



## DearDarla (Jan 22, 2021)

DanaRuns said:


> None of that is unusual for a Golden puppy.
> 
> I'm going to sound harsh, but you deserve it. The problem is not the puppy, it's you. You have three problems: 1. the way you're raising your puppy; 2. your expectations; and 3. your lack of knowledge. In fact, it sounds like you're giving that puppy a pretty terrible life, so far.
> 
> ...


With due respect, this person is reaching out for help in a time of frustration. They are at a loss regarding how to best address their situation. We have all been there with our dogs at some point or another—seasoned owners may not remember those days so well, but newer owners surely do.

As a breeder, your are seemingly an expert on this topic. Rather than sharing your expertise and providing constructive feedback, you chastise the questioner for their lack of knowledge. Should they have done more research before getting the puppy? Most certainly. But they are now at a place where they need assistance, instead of saying “to hell with it” and ridding the dog to another potentially unfit home, they reached out for help. Only to be met with a snarky and unhelpful response.

This is not what the golden retriever community does. We should be supporting fellow dog owners and sharing resources.

Maybe you are just having a bad day and this is one more story about a dog being failed that tipped you over the edge. But surely we can do better.


----------



## Vaibhavchadha (Apr 4, 2021)

DearDarla said:


> With due respect, this person is reaching out for help in a time of frustration. They are at a loss regarding how to best address their situation. We have all been there with our dogs at some point or another—seasoned owners may not remember those days so well, but newer owners surely do.
> 
> As a breeder, your are seemingly an expert on this topic. Rather than sharing your expertise and providing constructive feedback, you chastise the questioner for their lack of knowledge. Should they have done more research before getting the puppy? Most certainly. But they are now at a place where they need assistance, instead of saying “to hell with it” and ridding the dog to another potentially unfit home, they reached out for help. Only to be met with a snarky and unhelpful response.
> 
> ...


Thanks for your support. My wife was upset why I turned to this forum as most people were not helpful and trolling. I’m glad few understand and are helpful. The good news is that biting problem has reduced and we are hopeful that toilet training will also be sorted soon. Thanks for your message.


----------



## Vaibhavchadha (Apr 4, 2021)

pmjc said:


> Dear VC,
> You said you always wanted a Golden, so congratulations! They are the best dogs in the whole world for many reasons, that you will discover. We love our Rosie as you will love your Hazel. But at 4 months, I didn't enjoy it too much. We have family members who raised Labrador retrievers - Goldens are like them in a lot of ways - so I knew it was going to be a long 2 years of puppyhood. But, when Rosie turned 1 year and 2 months, something happened, she turned the corner and life has been easier. She stopped biting as much (finally). So, it didn't take 2 years but I was prepared for that.
> 
> At 4 months, she's still sooooo little. Like a baby. Be patient, be kind, be loving, and take the long view. They only live about 10 years. By the time she is 3, ,she will be an adult and all this puppy drama will be a long, distant memory.
> ...


Thanks for your message. We really love Hazel and always love her. We can’t imagine giving her away. Hazel has changed a lot since I posted on this forum. Positive reinforcement has helped and her biting problem has reduced considerably. The main problem we need to still to solve for is the peeing problem. She even pees in her bed. We thought dogs don’t pee in their bed but she doesn’t mind. Thanks for the lovely suggestions


----------



## Vaibhavchadha (Apr 4, 2021)

Hi all thanks for all your inputs. Hazel has made improvements over the last 1 week thanks for all the inputs from the forum. She does all her poops outside the house now at fixed time periods and her biting habits have also reduced. I also notice a nice bond building between us and she always licks me instead of biting. Occasionally she will bite our younger one but I think that’s her way of playing.

The main unresolved issue now is peeing everywhere in the house. We take her to pee on the pee mat every few hours but despite that we have a few accidents in the day and she still pees in her bed on daily basis. We have fences the living room to save the couch and carpets to reduce our work. We thought dogs don’t pee in their bed but this one doesn’t mind.
Thanks for all the inputs everyone.


----------



## Brave (Oct 26, 2012)

Vaibhavchadha said:


> The main unresolved issue now is peeing everywhere in the house. We take her to pee on the pee mat every few hours but despite that we have a few accidents in the day and she still pees in her bed on daily basis. We have fences the living room to save the couch and carpets to reduce our work. We thought dogs don’t pee in their bed but this one doesn’t mind.


At four months old, potty breaks every few hours isn't going to be often enough. My Molly was on 20 minute potty breaks until she was about 5 months old then we expanded to 30 minutes, then 40 minutes, then 60 minutes. Right around the 6.5-7 month mark we realized she was alerting for every single potty break and switched to demand base (and tbh it's still about every hour -- sometimes as little as every 30 minutes if she's been drinking a lot of water or if she has to poo suddenly).


----------



## Vaibhavchadha (Apr 4, 2021)

Caiti9 said:


> I just want to say hang in there! You’re going to be ok, pay attention to the suggestions that are nice and ditch the judgements. Parents learn by doing, that’s just how it goes. I definitely agree with the biting suggestion, saying OUCH over and over worked for us, and sometimes a little whine to imitate littermates. We would also replace our finger/toe/whatever with a baby Kong so she’d understand she could teethe or chew on certain things.
> The potty issues, hang in there. Take the good suggestions and just know ours had accidents until around 6 months, I think it’s just a part of growing and puppy-hood. Whenever ours had a growth spurt she’d sometimes lose a little ability to know she had to go. I am also a first time owner and some have said I’m the problem, all we can do is keep trying! You got this!


Thank you.


----------



## Vaibhavchadha (Apr 4, 2021)

othersideofthefence said:


> Hello,
> 
> I am empathetic to the puppy and the family. I can understand the frustration and challenge you have been going through. I am someone who was fearful of dogs and now have 4+ months golden puppy. I will share my experience here, hope that helps.
> 
> ...


Thanks for your detailed response. I think the biting issue has reduced. The main problem to be solved is peeing. She pees all over the house and also in her bed. We are taking her to the pee mat as soon as she gets up from her lazy slumber but accidents keep happening few times a day. I think the combination of being parents of 2 young kids aged 5 and 9 and lot of office work that me and my wife both have compounds the frustration of not being good dog parents. Will keep trying. She is our family. Thanks for your inputs again.


----------



## DustandDoghair (May 4, 2021)

I’m sure you might be feeling insulted by some of the comments. I get it, bc I was somewhat in your shoes. With our first lab, I experienced many of the same things. I was in way over my head, as you seem to be now, and learned everything the hard way.

Labs, like Goldens, become amazing dogs in part when they have amazing owners. I didn’t do my homework with the lab and she soon did hers and the wrong one of us was getting trained.

I was lucky to get good guidance and we flipped that. 

My best advice (without reading that of the experts) is to go straight to YouTube and look up McCann Dogs channel. Search for their lab and new puppy videos and start from square one, as if you just brought her home.

She won’t mind if you reset and start over, and I suspect if you invest the time, watch and rewatch those videos and practice as directed, your Hazel will become the dog you were looking for. You both need better training than you’ve been getting. Some days will go better than others, but when we get our new girl later this month, those videos are where we will start, and I will revisit them often for reinforcement.

Don’t give up on your girl; I have to believe she just needs a new approach.


----------



## DearDarla (Jan 22, 2021)

Vaibhavchadha said:


> Thanks for your support. My wife was upset why I turned to this forum as most people were not helpful and trolling. I’m glad few understand and are helpful. The good news is that biting problem has reduced and we are hopeful that toilet training will also be sorted soon. Thanks for your message.


Glad to hear the biting has improved. Giving a puppy lots of structure and routine is the best way to establish good behavior patterns. Say It Once Dog Training and Robert Cabral are two trainers I really like. They are both in the states but have great social media account. If you check them out you will learn a lot!

Best of luck to you!


----------



## Ffcmm (May 4, 2016)

try removing her bed and bringing her to the pee mat more often, especially when she is awake. the bedding material and pee mat are probably confusing her, and you'd have better luck removing her bedding for now given that she has already made a habit out of going on her bed.


----------



## BuddyGR (Jan 6, 2020)

Hi! Just wanted to chime in to say the issues you are facing are normal puppy issues, and can definitely be resolved with training, time and patience. We raised our golden retriever in a high rise as well - while potty training can be more difficult, it is definitely doable. (We live in Singapore - 80% of the population live in high rise apartments.)

We got our puppy from the breeder at 2.5months. He wasn’t potty trained at all when we got him. Since we live in a high rise, we decided to pee pad train. He tore up the pee pads, so we used pee trays + pee pads. He was in a play pen with access to the pee tray. At the start, we brought him to the pee tray every hour, and after every play session and after every meal. Basically just kept bringing him to the pee tray until we could ‘capture’ a successful pee / poop, and rewarded -and celebrated heavily! (Believe me, by then our celebration wasn’t even a show we were putting on - we were truly overjoyed). He took to pooping on the pee tray pretty quickly, but peeing in the right spot took some time for him to get right. As a young puppy, bladder control isn’t great, so accidents are common. When we caught him peeing in the wrong spot, we picked him up and carried him to the pee tray - if he finished his pee on the pee tray, he was rewarded heavily. At least at this age, they are still tiny so they are easy to carry! After he realized he would get treats each time he pees on the pee tray, he started going there to pee a lot just to get more treats. (Though it took him a while to realize that he should ONLY pee on the pee tray and not other places) We slowly increased the access he has to the apartment (also for his own safety, as he was into chewing everything as a puppy). He now has access to the whole apartment, except for the kitchen.

Not going to lie, potty training was a pain - but just know it takes time and you will get there! We didn’t have any trouble making him go on grass after he got all his shots. So he’s now pee tray and grass trained, which works well for us. Different people have different preferences, so just pick one that works for you.

She might be biting more now also because she’s teething - we found frozen towels helpful. Wet a knotted towel and put it in the freezer, give to her when frozen.

Like you, we also live next to a dog park. Dog parks have their pros and cons - you can google this, many articles written on this. Some dogs are mean to puppies, so keep a watchful eye. Our dog made great friends at the dog park, but we have also had some bad experiences, so something for you to watch out for when Hazel is old enough to go there.

Training will definitely take much longer than 3 sessions, and you need to be 100% consistent (which I know can be hard when there are other members in the family). We had 10 sessions, daily homework after each session, and he eventually passed his basic obedience training, but even then, you have to consistently practice/train. Also there are ALOT of trainers out there, so pick one that uses methods that you are comfortable with - bearing in mind that you are the one who will need to be using those methods to train your dog. 

Hang in there!


----------



## BuddyGR (Jan 6, 2020)

BuddyGR said:


> Hi! Just wanted to chime in to say the issues you are facing are normal puppy issues, and can definitely be resolved with training, time and patience. We raised our golden retriever in a high rise as well - while potty training can be more difficult, it is definitely doable. (We live in Singapore - 80% of the population live in high rise apartments.)
> 
> We got our puppy from the breeder at 2.5months. He wasn’t potty trained at all when we got him. Since we live in a high rise, we decided to pee pad train. He tore up the pee pads, so we used pee trays + pee pads. He was in a play pen with access to the pee tray. At the start, we brought him to the pee tray every hour, and after every play session and after every meal. Basically just kept bringing him to the pee tray until we could ‘capture’ a successful pee / poop, and rewarded -and celebrated heavily! (Believe me, by then our celebration wasn’t even a show we were putting on - we were truly overjoyed). He took to pooping on the pee tray pretty quickly, but peeing in the right spot took some time for him to get right. As a young puppy, bladder control isn’t great, so accidents are common. When we caught him peeing in the wrong spot, we picked him up and carried him to the pee tray - if he finished his pee on the pee tray, he was rewarded heavily. At least at this age, they are still tiny so they are easy to carry! After he realized he would get treats each time he pees on the pee tray, he started going there to pee a lot just to get more treats. (Though it took him a while to realize that he should ONLY pee on the pee tray and not other places) We slowly increased the access he has to the apartment (also for his own safety, as he was into chewing everything as a puppy). He now has access to the whole apartment, except for the kitchen.
> 
> ...


This is Buddy now! He’s 1.5 years old 









Instagram - @buds.forlife


----------



## StarBright (Nov 11, 2015)

My now four year old Golden as a puppy went with me to care for my senior father. He lived on the third floor and dogs were not allowed to potty on the grounds. So it required me to carry my pup to the elevator and out through the grounds and across the street. So it was necessary for me to train him to use potty pads on the balcony to supplement the trips outside. So about half the time I walked him out to the pad, and walked him around on it until he peed and we celebrated. If he didn’t pee, he had to go back in his crate. And half the time I would carry him on the journey outside to the potty area. And again successfully potting resulted in much celebrating and playtime. This worked out fine. When we were at home, it was frequent trips to the backyard to pee, then playtime, pee again and crate time, repeat. We had very few accidents because he was watched closely or crated.

My next puppy, a girl, was trained to use a litter box in her pen. I actually used two litter boxes. So if she had to pee multiple times when we were not home or at night, she could stay clean by using the other box. She rarely pooped in the box, just pee usually. Though a couple times over night she did poop and ate some of it. After that I made sure that she pooped outside before going in her pen for the night. That ended the poop eating. During the day, she could be in the kitchen area and had access to use her litter box, if I did not catch her in time to take her outside to pee. Peeing outside got her the big celebration. Once she was old enough that she no longer used her litter box over night, I removed the litter box and she began sleeping upstairs in a crate. Though I occasionally put the litter box back in her pen if we had to be gone longer than I thought she could hold her pee. Now at just over a year and 1/2 she is loose in the house, except at night she sleeps in her crate. One time she did confuse a bathroom throw rug and peed on it. An honest mistake, that can happen sometimes using inside litter boxes. Though now she is 100% perfect! I liked giving her the litter box, it almost 100% eliminated peeing accidents in the house.


----------



## StarBright (Nov 11, 2015)

Both these pups were from great breeders. So the pups came, at 7 weeks old, wanting to be clean. Because both breeders raised their pups in sanitary conditions. So I will tell you about a rescue golden adopted at about 8 months old. He came with only bad habits. He knew nothing about living inside a house. He was a submissive urinator, possibly from being scolded/punished for peeing in the house, probably by someone that did not know how to properly teach a puppy. NEVER scold/punish a puppy for having an accident in the house. Puppy accidents are the owners fault, not the puppies. Do not scold/punish a puppy if you come home to a mess! All the puppy learns from this is that you are dangerous and unpredictable. And the way a puppy handles this type of owner is to be very submissive to avoid an attack. Submission is shown by urinating. So this can cause more accidents and create a dog that submissively urinates. We did successfully house train our rescue pup and were able to build his confidence and slowly the submissive urinating stopped. He became a perfect house dog that never had accidents. But it’s so much easier starting with an empty slate without the human caused issues. So just try to remember your puppy is a baby, without a diaper. You have to be the one to make sure pee and poop happens in the right spot. Also this baby comes knowing how to be a puppy, not how to be a human. We have different rules and different ways of communicating. So be kind as you learn to communicate with each other.

I do teach my puppies and dogs words like good and yes for when they do things I like. And often these words are followed with treats, toys or play so the pup learns to like to hear these words. I also teach the words wrong or no. No treats are given for these words. But these words aren’t followed with punishment either. They are words for learning. Peeing on the carpet might get the word Wrong, as I quickly put the pup on a pee pad and the pup gets told Good or Yes. When my puppies are young they always get a “good girl or boy” and a small treat for going potty outside on command.


----------



## Sscattini (Apr 30, 2021)

Vaibhavchadha said:


> Hazel is 4 months old, we got her home a month ago to say she has been a lot of will be an understatement. I’m not sure if these are normal behaviour of something to be concerned:
> 
> 1. she eats her poop. We will in an appartment and we will keep her in her pen and watch her like a hawk to remove her poop tray as soon as she does her business. We have now started taking her for a walk. Usually it’s 4 poops in a day at 6:15, 10, 5 and 9:30. Yesterday she pooped earlier at 8 and ate it ☹
> 2. After we have allowed her to freely move out of her pen she is peeing everywhere. Sometimes even the couch. We did this because earlier when we restricted her to pen we would keep her pee mat inside her pen and she will land up sleeping on her pee mat.
> ...


----------



## Sscattini (Apr 30, 2021)

Im sorry to hear you’re frustrated. I believe a big piece of your issue is not getting your pup during a very crucial period, which would be the 8-12 week period. It’s not the pups fault that there appears to be no instruction prior to you receiving Hazel. But you can do this! It’s going to take consistency and patience!


Vaibhavchadha said:


> Hazel is 4 months old, we got her home a month ago to say she has been a lot of will be an understatement. I’m not sure if these are normal behaviour of something to be concerned:
> 
> 1. she eats her poop. We will in an appartment and we will keep her in her pen and watch her like a hawk to remove her poop tray as soon as she does her business. We have now started taking her for a walk. Usually it’s 4 poops in a day at 6:15, 10, 5 and 9:30. Yesterday she pooped earlier at 8 and ate it ☹
> 2. After we have allowed her to freely move out of her pen she is peeing everywhere. Sometimes even the couch. We did this because earlier when we restricted her to pen we would keep her pee mat inside her pen and she will land up sleeping on her pee mat.
> ...


I would highly recommend working with this trainer...
@Consciousdogtraining 
She has an Instagram account with tons of helpful videos and lots of practical advise. She also offers a training program that is very reasonable, considering you’re paying $100 an hour for training.
I hope this helps! You will get there, with consistency and patience!


----------



## Jessjack (Aug 11, 2019)

Vaibhavchadha said:


> Hello,
> 
> I appreciate your feedback but not the judgements (without knowing us). We are not severely confining her or giving her a terrible life. We love her! She goes on 4 walks and has playtimes. We can’t take her to the dog park yet as she hasn’t got her rabies vaccine. I have never owned puppy, hence not experienced to raise one. This is my first experience, hence a little overwhelmed. I am not expecting it to be smooth, but I agree I need to change my attitude and look at it more as an adventure than an ordeal. That’s a good perspective. My puppies behaviour towards me and my wife is very different. All the things I experience on walks and home, my wife doesn’t. Our puppy listens to my wife, but adamant with me, probably it’s the difference in the way we communicate with her. I will watch and adapt how I can I communicate better. Housebreaking a puppy even for pees (when your puppy pees 20 times in a day and when you live in high rise apartment, and building management intolerant to accidents) isn’t feasible. What’s feasible for you may not be feasible for others. There is no one size that fits all! So housetraining her is very important. From what I have learnt from friends, some puppies train early while some take longer. I would like to get suggestions from people who have had similar experiences with their puppies who take longer in similar environments and understand how they have dealt with it.


We are trying to help you, not criticize you. It must be very difficult trying to raise a pup in a high rise situation. Potty training is easy for me because I am mostly home and am able to keep an eye on pup and let it outside when it looks like it needs to relieve itself. I end up taking it outside about every half hour during the day when it is very young. I am sure this would be impossible for you to do in your situation. Goldens are very sociable and need to be around people and other dogs. Being alone and cooped up all the time is not good for their mental and psychological development. I wonder if you have considered puppy daycare, some place where it can play with other dogs? This might be a good break for you too. Another idea would be to find a better home for the pup and consider getting an older dog who is already grown up and trained. Some of my best dogs have been older, retired Goldens who have come to live with us in their senior years. They may only live for another 2 or 3 years but they are such great, loving friends, and easy to have around. It is heartbreaking when they die, but the love they give is worth the tears we shed when they go. Good luck to you.


----------



## kikis_retrieving_service (Mar 29, 2021)

Vaibhavchadha said:


> Thanks for your detailed response. I think the biting issue has reduced. The main problem to be solved is peeing. She pees all over the house and also in her bed. We are taking her to the pee mat as soon as she gets up from her lazy slumber but accidents keep happening few times a day. I think the combination of being parents of 2 young kids aged 5 and 9 and lot of office work that me and my wife both have compounds the frustration of not being good dog parents. Will keep trying. She is our family. Thanks for your inputs again.


Just wanted to add that we use an app called Puppy Potty log to record all pees, poops, food and water. It has been fairly spot on about predicting her pees based on what we have been logging. Poos less so these days because we moved her potty spot outside to our patio and she HATES pooping out there. It was really handy for us initially when we had her out of the crate for play / training sessions, before she started letting us know she needed to pee.


----------



## StarBright (Nov 11, 2015)




----------



## Vaibhavchadha (Apr 4, 2021)

kikis_retrieving_service said:


> Just wanted to add that we use an app called Puppy Potty log to record all pees, poops, food and water. It has been fairly spot on about predicting her pees based on what we have been logging. Poos less so these days because we moved her potty spot outside to our patio and she HATES pooping out there. It was really handy for us initially when we had her out of the crate for play / training sessions, before she started letting us know she needed to pee.


Yes we got something similar and it worked. She is now potty trained. Thanks


----------



## Sscattini (Apr 30, 2021)

I would love to hear an update! How are things going with Hazel?! What’s working, and what’s not working?


----------



## Vaibhavchadha (Apr 4, 2021)

Hi all things are fine here. Hazel is now fully potty trained and just poops 4 times a day outside the house. No more poop eating incidents too since the longest period of time.
She has also learned to pee just on the pee mat. Sometimes we don’t even have to tell her and she does it on her own.
Apparently she got bitten by a nasty Shiba Inu and had to be on antibiotics for a week and the doctors had to shave off her scalp (where she got bitten). Most of the hair is back and she is doing fine.
The key things which are still unresolved are walking issues. She is stubborn to walk when we take her out. Walk back home is really smooth. I think it’s the heat in Hong Kong. The temp now is around 26-30 Celsius plus high humidity. We take her out 4 times a day, one of which is around 10:30am. Have to try and switch to 3 times instead so we can skip the 10:30 am when it’s hot.
Also we noticed her belly is turning a bit blackish, anyone got any clue on that? 
Thanks to everyone on this forum for all the relevant suggestions.
Regards


----------



## Sscattini (Apr 30, 2021)

Save your most delicious treats for your walks. While you’re walking, when she is walking next to you, say “yes” and give her a treat. You will see, she will begin to try to figure out what you want! Goldens want to please, so this should become very clear that she wants to do what you want!
Her tummy color is just pigmentation! But you can confirm with your vet, if it seems concerning!


----------



## StarBright (Nov 11, 2015)

She’s so cute. Good to hear she’s now potty trained. Yummy treats should help on the walk. Though some pups can have a hard time dealing with the heat. Adding to it the ground might be too hot on her paws, don’t let her get overheated or burn her pads.


----------



## kikis_retrieving_service (Mar 29, 2021)

Glad to hearr you guys are doing well! We are working through leash training with our puppy too, and it's been no joke especially with the heat. Kikopup has some great videos, especially on attention training that we have had some success with. Ours was also going a bit crazy in spurts at the start, and darting here and there. What we've found at the start of the walk was if we could find a nice, safe patch of grass for her to go nuts on, she was better for the rest of the walk. We also sometimes do some fetch, followed by a bit of attention training at home before walks which seems to get her into gear.

For the heat, we picked up a water bottle dispenser for dogs which works really well to keep her hydrated.


----------

