Writing and Training New Puppies.

AllyWoof · Oct 3, 2007

Hi guys,

I am enjoying spending time with Owen, but I find if I try to sit down and write he whimpers until I give him attention. Then, if I stop he whimpers again. I am not getting hardly any work completed this way. I find it difficult to write in the evening period, with ot withhout a whimpering puppy. Does anyone have tips for me. I'd be very grateful to those that offered them. Thanks in advance.

jennifer75 · Oct 3, 2007

Get him toys. Chew toys. Squeeky toys. A rope. Dogs love toys.

jennifer75 · Oct 3, 2007

Same goes for when you have kids.

Shadow_Ferret · Oct 3, 2007

That's why we only rescue dogs that are already potty trained.

My only suggestion is to crate train him and put him in there when you want some privacy.

joyce · Oct 3, 2007

Glad to hear Owen is doing fine. I agree, try to get him to play with some chewy toys or something. My daughter is home from college with her new puppy for a little while and my writing has literally gone to the dogs. The puppy wants attention all the time and will try to stand on my keyboard to get it. Good luck......I'm dealing with the same thing.

DamaNegra · Oct 3, 2007

Or you could do what I do with my dog. She likes to play with a rope-like toy. The game consists on her pulling one end while I pull the other. If I want to write, I tie my end of the rope to the chair and let her pull. Ocassionally, when I need to think, I'll give the rope an extra tug to keep things interesting for her.

RumpleTumbler · Oct 3, 2007

Get one of those portable boat horns and when Owen whimpers point it at him and loose a 5 second burst. Repeat.

AllyWoof · Oct 3, 2007

I guess I could give him some of his toys. Why didn't I think of that? Anyway, he's napping now. I've moved my story from the email files to word.(I'm emailing the bits that I work on each day to myself since I am using Mom's lap top and don't want to save my files on here.) Now I am going to grab a quick bite and write a while.

joyce · Oct 3, 2007

RumpleTumbler said:
Get one of those portable boat horns and when Owen whimpers point it at him and loose a 5 second burst. Repeat.

So funny! I never thought of using one of those.

AllyWoof · Oct 3, 2007

joyce said:
So funny! I never thought of using one of those.

I would have thought those things would be harmful to use on pets.

joyce · Oct 3, 2007

writerdog said:
I would have thought those things would be harmful to use on pets.

I'm sure they are and I'd never use one, I just thought it was a funny comment.

RumpleTumbler · Oct 3, 2007

writerdog said:
I would have thought those things would be harmful to use on pets.

It might hurt a bit when the horn is blowing but the shock, bewilderment and loss of security will quickly surpass any physical discomfort. You want the dog to be mortified to make any sound at all. If Owen even blinks loudly then "SOUND THE HORN" you'll get the hang of it after a while. You might want to buy a case. You'll go through one before you know it.

chartreuse · Oct 3, 2007

RumpleTumbler said:
It might hurt a bit when the horn is blowing but the shock, bewilderment and loss of security will quickly surpass any physical discomfort. You want the dog to be mortified to make any sound at all. If Owen even blinks loudly then "SOUND THE HORN" you'll get the hang of it after a while. You might want to buy a case. You'll go through one before you know it.

I don't have much room to talk about what works (my dogs ceaselessly pester me when I'm trying to write, although they mind perfectly otherwise) but I disagree entirely that using negative reinforcement is a good idea. I would never, ever want to put them in a position where they were "mortified to make any sound at all."

The toys are a great idea; and putting the puppy in a crate is also good if you need a little time and he hasn't been cooped up all day while you're at work. Remember to reward him any time he makes it through your writing session without bugging you.

There is also a book - it might be called The Dog Listener (or the Dog Whisperer, but it is NOT the Cesar Milan book) written by a woman who spent a lot of time observing wolf packs. She goes into great lengths about how dogs see the world and their position in your household (basically, they still believe they are in a wolf pack, and you have to learn their language to get them to understand anything). It's well worth a read for anyone who is bringing a new pet into their home.

RumpleTumbler · Oct 3, 2007

Oh Lord........

I'm not serious.

Shadow_Ferret · Oct 3, 2007

RumpleTumbler said:
Get one of those portable boat horns and when Owen whimpers point it at him and loose a 5 second burst. Repeat.

But then she'll have a mess to clean up further distracting her from her writing.

Pomegranate · Oct 3, 2007

chartreuse said:
There is also a book - it might be called The Dog Listener (or the Dog Whisperer, but it is NOT the Cesar Milan book) written by a woman who spent a lot of time observing wolf packs. She goes into great lengths about how dogs see the world and their position in your household (basically, they still believe they are in a wolf pack, and you have to learn their language to get them to understand anything). It's well worth a read for anyone who is bringing a new pet into their home.

Are you talking about "The Secret Life of Dogs" by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas? That was a great book. I also loved "How to Speak Dog" by Jonathan Katz.

My advice is to tire the puppy out before you write. Feed the puppy, walk the puppy, play with the puppy, potty the puppy, then put the puppy to bed in it's crate. After that you should be good for about a half hour before the puppy wakes up and needs to go outside again.

Good luck!

MidnightMuse · Oct 3, 2007

Rumple is teasing.

Best thing to do is what Pomegranate just suggested. Puppies play hard, then they sleep hard. Give him loads of attention, excercise and play, then he'll sleep for hours and you can do whatever you like.

AllyWoof · Oct 3, 2007

He calmed down after I made this thread. At least he dntil the internet screwed up. Thus, I had to go upstairs to fix it.

aadams73 · Oct 3, 2007

chartreuse said:
There is also a book - it might be called The Dog Listener (or the Dog Whisperer, but it is NOT the Cesar Milan book) written by a woman who spent a lot of time observing wolf packs. She goes into great lengths about how dogs see the world and their position in your household (basically, they still believe they are in a wolf pack, and you have to learn their language to get them to understand anything). It's well worth a read for anyone who is bringing a new pet into their home.

That would be Jan Fennell. She's amazing. I trained my dog using her methods, and Millie(my dog) has grown into a really super companion. She was a major handful as a pup. Basically whenever she was awake, I'd play with her, exercise her, and do housework. I wrote while she was sleeping. If she got to be too much, I'd pop her in her crate for half an hour.

TheIT · Oct 3, 2007

I have cats, not dogs, so I'm not sure this would work with a puppy. My cats always want to see what I'm doing when I'm sitting at my computer, so I set up a footstool with a blanket on it next to my desk. This way my cat has somewhere close to me where he can feel like he's part of what I'm doing, but he's out of the way.

Maybe it would help if you put a puppy bed with the puppy's toys next to your writing area. If he's got a special place and something to do, maybe he won't get bored.

Tish Davidson · Oct 3, 2007

I've raised four puppies starting at 8 weeks old for Guide Dogs for the Blind, and this is what I would do.

Is he crate trained? Try putting him in a crate in another room with the radio or tv on and put a ticking clock close to the crate. Then let him whimper. Take him out every hour or so and play with him, let him get a drink or relieve himself, then back into the crate while you are writing. Eventually when he doesn't whimper in the crate, move it into your writing area, but keep him in it and take him out to play in a different area from where you write. After a week or so, leave the door to the crate in your writing area open. If he comes out fine. If he pesters you, put him back in the crate and try again later. Most dogs grow to like their crate and often go into it voluntarily or choose to sleep in it at night. I'm not suggesting you keep him crated all the time, only when you are writing. Look on Craigslist for a used crate if you don't have one.

chartreuse · Oct 3, 2007

RumpleTumbler said:
Oh Lord........

I'm not serious.

Sorry!

Please understand, there are a LOT of people out there who have very strange ideas about appropriate ways to train dogs.

RumpleTumbler · Oct 3, 2007

chartreuse said:
Sorry!

Please understand, there are a LOT of people out there who have very strange ideas about appropriate ways to train dogs.

No problem. I spend about 15 hours a week at a dog park so I see plenty of weird dog owners.

PeeDee · Oct 3, 2007

And he's on fire when he plays golf, so who KNOWS what he thinks are good ideas...

However, that portable boat horn idea might be just the thing to keep my kid in line. "Let daddy write, or it's the bleeding ears again..."

DamaNegra · Oct 3, 2007

Tish Davidson said:
Most dogs grow to like their crate and often go into it voluntarily or choose to sleep in it at night. I'm not suggesting you keep him crated all the time, only when you are writing. Look on Craigslist for a used crate if you don't have one.

Oh yeah, crates are a wonder. Our dog loves it. Every night, when we tell her: "go to sleep!" she'll go to her crate, open the door and sit down inside. She won't do a noise until we get her out in the morning.

Works wonders when we want to go on a trip or to the vet. We just tell her to get into her crate and she does. She never whimpers or anything, she's used to spending hours in there without doing anything. She's an angel.

But we obviously started crate-training her the moment we bought her. Our vet was wise in telling us to do that

Writing and Training New Puppies.

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