New Puppy

[egan3]

:-*good morning to all,
on march 18th my family and i will be picking up our new 8 week old basset.i have not had a dog since i was a teenager.this will be the first for my 2 daughters.ages 5 and 10.we are all very excited and have beenreading about bassets and getting ready for him.is there any advice i can get from someone on the do's and dont's when we bring him home?i would love to hear from you.we just want to do what is the best for our new member of the family.
thanks tammy

[Jenn]

Hi Tammy, welcome to the board! I have two hounds, Sophie and Basil. We rescued Basil when he was already 2 years old, so I have no puppy advice for his personality. We got Sophie when she was about 9 1/2 weeks old and we learned a lot from her!

First of all, one of the things to remember that is probably one of the most frustrating is that Basset Hounds typically are not fully housebroken until about 18 months. You have to be diligent and consistent with potty training methods! A good rule of thumb for how often you should take your pup out is the pup's age in months + 1 hour, so if your puppy is 3 months old, take him out every 4 hours. When you first pick her up, you'll probably want to take him out every hour to teach him that outside is potty time. Always take him outside the exact same way to avoid confusion. Also, males do not empty their bladder all at once like females do. He may have to go 4 or 5 times in one trip, but don't rush him or he will just finish the job inside!

Don't give your puppy too much space at once. Give him a little bit of space and as soon as he starts to view it as his "den" you can slowly open up the rest of the house for him. Puppy proof everything! Get down on your hands and knees and put your face close to the floor and crawl around. If there's anything that your puppy can chew on or choke on or can reach that you don't want him to have, put it away.

Your puppy is also never too old to know the difference between right and wrong, so don't let something slide because it's cute or because you don't think he will know the difference. He does! You must make sure that he views everyone in your family as his boss, including your daughters. One of the suggestions given to me to help deal with Sophie is to have special training treats that only I give her and spend about 15-20 minutes a day teaching her a command. Your puppy will have a very short attention span, so work for 5 minutes a day and slowly increase the time to 10-15 minutes and then 15-20 minutes. This is will be the time you spend with your puppy to bond and teach him that you are boss. Start out inside in a place where there are no distractions.

Good luck with your puppy, you will have SO much fun!! You also might want to post in the general area as well, more people will see it and you will get more responses! Feel free to ask anything!

[Jenn]

Oops, I forgot to add this and I meant to. When your puppy starts biting/teething and he nips you, say "ouch!" in a very high pitched voice. It will sound like the noise his mom makes when he gets in trouble. When he gets into something or is getting too nippy and won't calm down, roll him over (gently) onto his back and kind of cough in his face. Maintain eye contact too! His mom also does this to teach her puppies that this behavior is not acceptable.

Another thing I just thought of, teach your little girls not to run away from the puppy if he gets too excited. He will think this is a game and will not calm down. Make them stand their ground! I have two nieces, one is 2 and the other is 4. The 2 year old can't run very fast, so she just stands around and watches, but the 4 year old takes off running when Sophie gets a little active and Sophie runs up behind her and knocks her down. I've taught her to not run because Sophie thinks it is a game and when she stops running, Sophie loses interest in chasing. Of course, Sophie is also 45 pounds, but a small puppy could easily get under your girls' feet and trip them.

[egan3]

thanks jenn!it does help to hear what other people do.i have read and heard alot about letting the dog know where he fits in the family.i will do that.the potty thing scares me lol.18 months.....long time.we will be patient with him.we are all so excited.thanks for your advice.
tammy

[Jenn]

egan3 said:

the potty thing scares me lol.18 months.....long time.

haha. It is not really that bad! There will just be a few accidents here and there, but don't worry! Maybe you will get lucky and yours will get the hang of it quickly. Sophie is a complete turd and still pees in a blanket in her crate if she doesn't want to hold it. Basil is really good about it and only sometimes has a submissive pee when Chris is angry (whether it is with the dogs or with something unrelated, like a football game! :. It really is not as bad as it sound, your puppy will most likely "get it" and will just need to be reminded every once in awhile!

You'll have to post pictures when you get your puppy, do you have a name for him yet?

[egan3]

hi jenn,
that is my daughters name by the way.we were thinking of charlie.i don't know why i just love it.i will post his picture.your 2 are beautiful.i am sooooo excited.
how is the weather in tx?freezing in ny.

[Jenn]

Charlie is a cute name! Has the breeder sent you any pictures? I love when breeders send like weekly updates on your puppy!

The weather here is not too bad. It was supposed to storm this weekend, but so far, only some clouds and mostly sunny! It's pretty warm too, maybe in the 60s or 70s.

[egan3]

hi jenn,
i have a picture i can email to you.i went on your web sight and left you a message about that.tell me where i can email it.
tammy

[elvismom]

Hi Tammy!

New puppies are so exciting!! And cute, thank goodness, so we forgive them for some of their puppy behavior! My dogs have always been older so I can't offer much more than Jenn and the others have already said.

Bassets are great dogs - I love them so much I now have 4. Can't wait to see pics of your new furbaby.

Chris

[Jenn]

Chris, have you told anyone here about your new addition? I think some pictures are in order!

Tammy, you can e-mail me at [e-mail]

[Kristol]

HI Congrats on your new baby.

I second everything Jenn said.I cannot think of anything to add.She is right about the housetraining.Now with both of mine when they would got outside we would go crazy...Good girl/boy...clapping,smiling...they thought that peeing outside was the best thing.It works on little 2 legged boys too.

By the way I'm Kristol...mom to Roscoe..aka Rossy.And Diva Devil Dog, Flash.Both took forever to house train.

Bassets are VERY smart pooches too.Flash was sitting and staying at 10 weeks.I did not even had to use treats,just praise. Praise goes along way with bassets.I think treats go father with most of them.

[egan3]

hi chris amd kristol,
thanks for responding.it seems as if everyone here is in love with their dogs.i can't wait to pick him up.(his picture is posted on general)
the training scares me a bit.
rosco and flas are beautiful
chris.......4 bassets.wow,how do you handle it.do you get any help?

[elvismom]

You'll be surprised and pleased at how much traingin helps both of you! I honestly think that the training was for me and not Georgia.

Jenn- I'd love to post pics, but am totally inept at it!!! The only way I get them is when Jenny posts for me. I hang my head in shame.....lol.

Gotta go check out the new pup!

[Lexie]

I'm Penny and my basset is Lexie. The only thing that I can add is.....when you to outside to potty, you don't want to give them more time than it take to do business. My waiting and waiting, you are teaching that they can go outside and play and not potty. You may not always have the time to go outside and stand. We were taught that if the puppy did not goin 5-7 minutes, to bring them back inside. It works, Lexie (2) will go out and potty and then run a play ball. It can get a little frustrating that bassets are slow learners and by that I mean, being housebroken. They are smart dogs and don't let anyone tell you soemthing different. Can't wait to see Charlie.