# 7 Week Old Sadie Mae --- the best way to train her??



## chriscrossed (Mar 13, 2009)

Hey y'all! I'm Christy and new to this forum (invited by Shermy's mom, Christi!) We just got a 7 week old Golden pup (female) for our son Aiden who is 20 months old. He has a rare medical disorder that requires him to be on nightly peritoneal dialysis and because of that has a dialysis catheter in his belly....this leads to a few issues/questions with regard to training Sadie. 

She is quite the little chewer and just LOVES to chew on ANY and EVERYthing she comes across. A couple of times she has jumped up at Aiden's dialysis catheter when it is visible and my husband is scared to death that she is going to try to use it as a chew toy....

So what have all of you done as far as chewing goes?

Also, potty training....I realize she's young but what do y'all think is the fastest and most effective method? 

Thanks so much for your input! I feel that Sadie will be Aiden's best friend and just want this to work out and for my hubby to feel at ease! :wave:


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## Bock (Jun 23, 2008)

Best way to potty train is to crate train. Crate training is the puppy is always in a crate unless you are able to keep an eye on her. As soon as she comes out of the crate she goes outside to potty. If she doesn't potty after 10-15 minutes (some may say shorter or longer times) she goes right back into the crate. When and if she pottys outside make a big deal about it and then, and only then, can she be let inside to roam around.

As far as chewing, provide plenty of good chew toys first of all. If she chews on anything that you don't want her to, replace that chewed item with a toy that is appropriate for chewing. This will allow her to realize what to and what not to chew on when she is older. Also make sure she is getting plenty of exercise as she will be bored and look for things to chew on if she has TONS of energy, although at 7 weeks that probably isn't a concern yet-it will be when she gets older.

First thing I would do in your situation is put up a baby gate around your sons bed so Sadie CANNOT get to it in the first place. There is also product called bitter apple that a lot of dogs hate the taste of and you can spray that on things. There are also special cord covers made for dogs and you can find them on-line, or maybe in a local pet store.


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## LibertyME (Jan 6, 2007)

It is not realistic to expect a 7 week old not to chew - or to understand what is ok to chew and what is not ok.
If it fits in their mouth (or if they think it will fit in their mouths) they can and probably will chew it.

IMO absolutely no unsupervised contact between pup and child. Keep the pup on leash around your baby. Your situation is much more serious then a chewed up sock or damage remote control, or chewed up rug.

Dogs must be allowed to chew...so provide objects that are appropriate.
IMO - Teething is at its worse between 3 and 6 months when they are loosing teeth. Those razor sharp puppy teeth can slice and dice!
Then when the adult teeth are in teething comes back around 9 months. Those adult teeth now have some powerful jaws behind them and can really do some damage to furniture, shoes, remote controls, cell phones.
My experience has been that teething doesn't truly drop off until they are about a year old. And even then...some will go on a naughty chewing binge every now and again.

Some have great success with "Bitter Apple Spray" - it never made much of an impression with mine...
IMO - The best solution is supervision and substitution with appropriate objects.


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## chriscrossed (Mar 13, 2009)

Thanks for the advice! and ITA--Aiden and Sadie are not allowed together without CLOSE supervision!


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