surchinmy
Ultra ALPHA
Mar 12, 2004, 11:51 PM
Views: 3609
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Re: [jaytan] Train 2 behaviours at once ... ???
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Hi ...
Will reply to your queries & points ... easiest first ...  ...
(a) Garlic - Yes, we prefer fresh garlic too ... crush the garlic cloves and then mix well into the food - that way they cannot pick. Can also disquise smell of garlic by adding a little bit of honey or squeeze of lemon juice into the food.
(b) Crating together ... With pups, it's okay ... but I would personally hesitate at crating 2 adults together, more for safety than anything else - just in case they have a disagreement ... and in event of disagreement, I'd rather not have the dogs confined in the same crate, with no room to move and evade. But you will know the temperament of your dogs best.
(c) Feeding @3pm ... I think for Beagles at 8/9 months ... you can certainly give the main meal in the morning with a lighter meal in the afternoon @ 3pm ... that should be okay.
(d) Peeing & relationship to pooping ... My feeling is - if you are trying and train the dogs to poop at the correct time, I would also control the water too - at least initially ... So, if the dogs make a mistake and poop at the wrong time - I won't have to sit & scratch head - trying to figure out whether the accidential poop was caused by a need to poop, or a need to poop brought about by need to pee ... *LOL* ...
Later on in the training, when things are more settled - you can reintroduce the water if you wish.
(e) Poop eating/playing - Yes, unfortnately you are right ... Beagles have a pretty bad record with this ... Adding Keepers' Mix seems to be receiving much recommendation ... Keepers' Mix helps with proper digestion and provides trace elements (the lacking of which may be encouraging poop eating) ... maybe you can give it a try. Can order from forum.
(f) Basis of suggestions ... I based my suggestions on the following (a) A dogs' strong instinct not to poop where they sleep ... (b) A dog's remarkable ability to tell time (without a watch ) ... and (c) the fact that dogs, are creatures of habit and routine ... if we can but set & ground a routine, the dogs will (most of the time) follow that routine.
When a dog is pooping at 5am, it's hard to be there to train the dog not to play with poop ... Much easier to use the basics above, to train the dog not to poop until release from sleeping area.
Hence the suggestion to (i) crate train (to teach the dogs that they have a specific sleeping area)... (ii) control food & water intake (to help reduce need to eliminate at wrong time or place) ... and (c) the "delay sequence" (to bring pooping time back to a decent hour).
As long as the basic rational is maintained ... you can modify the suggestions to suit your circumstances ... For eg: If the dogs naturally prefer to sleep under the table, then maybe instead of using crate/s - confine/fence of the area under the table instead and identify that as the sleeping area ... and teach the dogs not to poop there - until release.
You posted: " ... Basically, my puppies have good instincts. They have never pooped or peed in their crate. And they willingly do their duty on grass during their walks. They dont poop everything indoors in the early mornings and hold the big job for the walk later. So I suspect they feel the urge to poop but still prefer to do it outside. I am not sure they can hold it for another 1-2 hours ..."
Hmmm ... I think that's very good ... because, if you are correct, then your dogs are only pooping because they are still unable to fully control or hold their poop ... And if so, then the whole matter may be resolved when you reduce the amount of the 2nd meal, and thus, reduce pressure on bowels in the morning ... Not forgetting that their ability to control bowel movement might still improve over the next couple of months.
Cheers 
(This post was edited by Khoobg on Mar 15, 2004, 9:42 PM)
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