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5 month boxer pup problems!

1K views 7 replies 7 participants last post by  ackwyo15 
#1 · (Edited)
Hey guys! For those of you who don't know, I have a 5 month old boxer, Marley. We got him back in April and he's learned so many things! Also, for those who remember, his kennel cough is gone and he's back to his normal self! We taught him basic commands and finally got him to go poop outside. But I still have questions!

1. When Marley and I walk, he always tends to walk in front or back of me, I have treats and clicker in hand but he never seems to learn... What else can I do?

2. When I can't walk him and he needs to go he will let himself out on our patio and relieve himself but he'll completely miss or disregard the pee pad. He's made it a habit so now, when we walk him, mid-walk, he will just pee or poop where ever he pleases, usually comes with no warning! What am I doing wrong here?

3. And lastly, even at 5 months, can we feed him regular adult food or should we stick with puppy?

Thanks a lot for helping me out guys :p
 
#2 ·
Have you taken Marley to obedience/puppy school? I walk Duke with a easy walk harness, clips In the front.. Although this is just a "tool"... We switch to his flat leash every other walk...I have found the easy walk to help with pulling... continue with positive reinforcement when he lags behind to move him forward.

Are you in an apartment ? Just curious if that's why you can't take him outside.. You may have to go back to the basics of peeing on the pad if that's where you want him to go.. . Show him where you want him to go busy, using your cue word, mine was "go busy" when he goes In the right spot reward him, although i think with the pee pads getting him to go In the grass may be harder, as you don't have the pee pads In place while walking.. redirect to the grass on your walks, and like I said positivereinforcement even if you have to cut up a hotdog for a tasty treat....
I found with Duke the more I praised him for doing the right thing the more he caught on...

As for the food I'm not really sure, I personally wouldn't give my Duke an adult food, his still a puppy..but I do feed an all life stages, but I think you'd be best sticking with the puppy food, or if the kibble is an all life stages you could feed him that... What are you feeding him how?
 
#3 ·
1. Is he pulling? To keep his attention, make sudden stops, stand still, change directions and treat and praise.
2. Why do you have pee pads on the patio? Do you not not take him into the grass? Unless you are trying to teach him to "go" in a certain spot then walks are fair game - bring a poop bag with you.
3. You can switch to an all life stages food - there are plenty to choose from. Check out dogfoodanalysis to find a good quality one.

:)
 
#4 · (Edited)
I take Marley on a harness. He only pulls if he see other people or children or dogs. But other than that, he walks around just fine. I do live in an apartment. I try to walk him often or at least take him out on the grass but he poops and pees a lot sometimes it surprises me by how much lol. I'm glad he does not do his business inside his crate while I'm at work anymore. But. most nights, I would feed him and then get dinner started and he'll go by himself if I can't take him. I know I should go with his schedule but by dinner my kids get fussy and need to be fed too :p My husband is deployed right now and we have 2 small kids, so I do try make an effort for Marley to take him out a lot. But also, by the time I get the kids wrangled to go outside he's done with his business. I will try all your suggestions thank you very much! My husband comes home soon so I'll have extra hands around the house :)
 
#5 ·
I never had a dog in an apartment but I get it! If he goes on the patio but not on the pee pad..then he is learning that going wherever is OK!

Next time he goes # 2 leave place a bit of on the pee pad! If he has to go out to the patio to dump take him out on leash to where you want him to be and say go potty!

It make take a few times but he will get it! It's pretty much the same thing you would if you trained a dog to go potty at a specific location in a back yard!

The walk thing and a harness...yeah, uh no! I would recommend either a Slip Lead Leash
or work with a trainer and learn to use a prong collar properly!!

Slip lead leash:
http://www.boxerforums.com/1736170-post12.html

And a further discussion on both these tools can be found here:
http://www.boxerforums.com/training-behavior/176417-halti-snoot-loop-leash-training-jumping.html

These things should help and I got more!
 
#6 ·
Amor used to do the same thing (peeing and pooping where ever on a walk). I think it was partly my fault because I wasn't seeing her clues for awhile. Once I was the one that did her walking all the time I started noticing. There was always this certain place she would go when on a walk. Once I learned her spots on the walk, there was no more pooping in the middle of the crosswalk for the entire world to see.
 
#7 ·
My advice from my experience.

1. Walking in front - keep going with the training, keep stopping when he is in front. Make him wait until you are in front then start walking. Click and treat when he is behind or beside you and administer the treat behind you. It takes ages, we are there now with our 12 month old she naturually walks behind or beside me now but it has taken training every day for 10 months. Now I am asking her to walk behind me on a flexi-lead where we have let her roam before, and she always wants to go in front. I am practicing my leadership skills.

2. Peeing on the patio, yes echo Chip - leave pee on the pad they smell where they should go, and treat when he does, ignore when he does not.

3. As a large breed - you may be advised to move to "Large Breed Junior" food Orijen do a good one, the reason being that the puppy food may make them grow too fast and give them joint problems in their old age.

I hope this helps you. I can't believe how hard it is to train a boxer, my one is very dominant, it has taken ages and every day we train. We are getting there because we have the time in our lives at the moment. Keep going.
 
#8 ·
Uhtred just turned 7 months yesterday so I feel what you've been going through! I have thoughts about 1 and 3.

1. Front clip harness (freedom) worked pretty good for me but not great. Meaning he was awesome on the leash except when it was necessary! People, dogs, etc, would send him into a frenzy. He's 50 pounds and not getting any smaller, so I wanted something better. Then I switched from the fancy expensive trainer to an old school one. Not because I didn't want to pay but because he was basically learning nothing more than to sometimes obey if there was a desirable enough treat. The new trainer gave me a martingale harness, which is a nylon slip collar with a loop of chain at the end. It doesn't choke him even when fully closed, but when you yank on it it makes an annoying raspy sound. Now when he pulls, I give a quick yank on the chain and say "heel"! It's working *way* better than standing there feeling helpless. Now he'll (sometimes) sit quietly while runners pass us or even walk calmly by other barking dogs.

2. I've got nothing. Sorry!

3. We were feeding straight puppy, but it wasn't agreeing with him, so no we feed him a mix half puppy (we have a lot of it left) and half of a high quality all life stages. let's just say he seems to digest it much better!

Good luck with your little guy!
 
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