I just got another Siberian Husky puppy (Lara) about 10 days ago and am going through a puppy training refresher course. Indeed, it is easy to forget how much work a new puppy truly is.
Therefore, I have decided to write this article of the first 10 puppy days while it is still fresh in my mind. The next time I even think of getting a puppy, I can re-read this article and hopefully remember what a big pain in the ass a new puppy is! 😀
Days 1 & 2 – Nights from Hell
The first few days were not too bad. We mainly focused on introducing puppy to our other two dogs and making sure that our existing dogs saw puppy as a positive thing.
We also started on puppy potty training but puppy seemed to have that under good control. We did not have any mistakes – it was amazing!
However, puppy did cry at night. This is not surprising since it is the first time she is sleeping in a new location and without her litter mates. Puppy was feeling lonely, sad, and scared. The first couple of nights I had to wake up about 4 times. 2 times to take puppy out for potty, and another 2 times just to cuddle with puppy.
As a result I did not get much, if any sleep. Be prepared to get very little sleep in the first few weeks with a new puppy.
Days 3 & 4 – Puppy Potty Training Hell
The first few good potty training days lulled me into a false sense of security. On day 3 puppy made lots of mistakes all over the place.
I was around to supervise puppy the whole time, but I thought it would be ok to take short bathroom breaks while puppy was sleeping – WRONG!
I found out the hard way that constant supervision is absolutely necessary for potty training in order to prevent potty mistakes.
When I need to go to the bathroom or perform some other task, I now always put puppy in her play-pen or enclosure. There is a blanket, some toys, and puppy pads in the enclosure. This makes things a lot better because puppy either does her potty outside or on her puppy pads. I reward her for going outside, but I don’t reward her for going on her puppy pads.
I take puppy outside –
- As soon as puppy wakes up.
- After puppy feeding time.
- After play or any other heavy activity.
- Whenever it looks like she is about to potty, e.g. circling, pulling to go to corners, etc. Each puppy will have their own potty signs, so observe carefully to identify our puppy’s pre-potty behaviors.
If puppy tries to go inside the house, I am right there next to her so that I can non-mark her (Ack-Ack), interrupt her, and leave her in her enclosure to finish up. This allows me to quickly go back and clean up the mess while she is in her enclosure.
Constant vigilance and a fixed eating and drinking schedule are crucial in puppy potty training.
Day 5 – Puppy and Furniture Hell
On day 5 I nearly had a heart attack.
Puppy was sleeping nicely with me on the couch, when I started getting really hungry. The kitchen is in the next room, so I quickly stepped away to get a loaf of bread from the refrigerator – WRONG!
As soon as I got the bread, I hear this loud cry. I threw the bread on the kitchen counter and ran back to a crying puppy on the floor. She was holding one of her front legs up in pain.
Bad, bad ShibaShake!
Luckily, puppy was ok and was moving around without any sign of a limp within the next few minutes. Whew.
From then on, I am always with puppy. If I cannot be with puppy even for 1 second, she goes into her puppy enclosure.
Days 6 to 9 – Energizer Puppy Hell
At this point, puppy is a lot more comfortable with her new surroundings and is always up to something. It is tiring as hell to try and keep up with a hyper puppy.
In the beginning, I figured that my other two dogs can take up some of the slack. I was hoping that they would all play, have a lot of chasing and running goodness, and at the end of the day I would end up with 2 tired dogs and 1 tired puppy.
Indeed it worked out well at first. I supervised all play sessions and both my dogs played well with puppy. I stepped in as soon as things got too excited, and the dogs started getting too rough with puppy.
Things were looking up because puppy not only tired out Shiba Sephy, but she also conked out Husky Shania who is a big time Energizer Bunny herself. All I needed to do was stand around and step in at the appropriate times.
WRONG!
On day 9, Shiba Sephy ran over puppy before I could get to them and stop play. Puppy started crying, and was limping for the rest of the day.
Day 10 – Puppy in Vet Hell
On day 10, puppy was still limping so we took her to the vet.
It was fun, fun, fun – with temperature taking and various poking and prodding of body parts. Then, the vet had to put puppy’s leg through a series of pretty heavy handling.
Puppy was not happy.
$343 later, we had a conked out and unhappy puppy, with a sprained rear leg.
Thank goodness it wasn’t anything more serious, but no more off-leash play until puppy gets bigger.
To close, I feel it is only fair to say that there are also many reasons to get a puppy. But … they require a lot of time, supervision, and energy to care for especially in the first few months.
Update
Day 12 – Puppy slept through the whole night without waking up. Hopefully there will be more such nights in the future.
Day 14 – Puppy’s limp is all gone. She now has free and good use of her rear leg. YAY!
Our Shiba girl will be 15 years old on April 8th. She is everything ever written about the breed and then some. She continues to entertain us with her never ending drama/comedy act. She has been very healthy and although her hearing is going (I think)she still has her puppy moments where she thumps up the stairs as if she is a mastiff.
Many early Happy Birthday wishes to your Shiba girl! She sounds wonderful.
LOL! I love that. Sephy is also a fun and very unique dog. He always does things that I would not expect, and that my other dogs would never do. Shibas really are such “characters”!
Big hugs and tummy rubs to your Shiba girl. My Sibes also send their best wishes and lots of licks. Shiba Sephy says “do I get a share of the birthday cake?”. 😀
Copper and Sebastian arrived here this week, and I have immediately bonded with them and discovered all their “Shiba” quirks…They are so different than my Siberians, I made a really nice kennel for them, and they seem to be adjusting well.
I spend lots of time with them getting them used to being here, and letting them know I care about them, they have not been the trouble I figured they would be, and to be honest, so far , have been a joy to have.
Maybe 6 months from now, I will post a different song!
Thanks for all the good info on Shibas!
Hi Bruce,
Glad to hear that Copper and Sebastian and adjusting so well to their new home.
I would love to hear more about how you think your Shibas are different from your Sibes. When I was looking for my first Sibe, it seemed that the general description for both breeds were pretty similar – independent, strong-willed, not to be left off-leash, etc. However, as you say, once you actually experience both breeds, they are quite different!
Also point us to some pictures. Would love to see your whole pack!
How much of that is Sephy and how much of that is Shiba do you think?
I keep thinking Kiba is super atypical. He’s a lot like my toddler – strong willed, but works within his boundaries mostly. 😀
Very good question! I think a big part of it was probably me, since I didn’t know how to respond properly to a Shiba. However, I think the breed played a big part as well.
In the beginning, I really thought that Sephy’s temperament was a result of not the most careful breeding. Indeed several trainers told me that Sephy is on the super-Shiba scale. However, the Shiba breeders I have visited told me that he is a typical Shiba. I think the Shiba breeders probably have more experience on this matter. 🙂
Comparing my Shiba and Siberians even now, Sephy is a lot more stubborn, less trusting, less food focused, challenges me more, and is frequently testing his boundaries.
He is not necessarily a lot of work, because he has a lot less energy and does not need as much exercise; but he does come up with many original Shiba moves to test us. 😀
Lara’s georgous, good luck with her. Is she harder work than Sephy was?
Heh, even though a puppy is a lot of work, Lara is much easier than Sephy. I have to put in a lot more work in terms of potty training, but Lara is –
1. A lot less stubborn.
2. She is very food focused which simplifies training. Shibas are less food focused.
3. She is a lot more trusting, a lot easier to groom, and also handle at the vet. It takes a lot more to gain a Shiba’s trust.
4. She is very affectionate, and follows us around everywhere.
You may enjoy this article where I compare Sephy and Shania –
http://shibashake.com/dog/shiba-vs-siberian
Ziva, as of Easter Sunday, is still shedding up a storm. It’s actually sped up somewhat, so I’m hoping she’ll go ahead and blow it here pretty soon. We bathe, we brush, we furminate….and still…
With Ziva, undercoat is a renewable resource. 🙂
“With Ziva, undercoat is a renewable resource.”
LOL! You should convert the fur into yarn and sell special Shiba sweaters online. 😉
What a combination,Siberians and Shibas…..
First time posting.
Appreciate all the great information provided here, I have learned so much….that said, I have 8 Siberians, and soon to have 2 Shibas…which is why I am writing…
To make the story short, a local animal welfare person contacted me about a couple wanting to find a home for two male Shibas…they didnt have time for them, all the standard excuses. I decided to take a look at them and they are two males about 5 yrs and 6 yrs, father and son…the father is not neutered, the son is.
I have always wanted a Shiba, just wish it had been just one, but decided to take in both of them. The couple agreed to some concessions, having the father neutered, donating the kennel they are in , and wanting to take them back if they dont work out with me.
My visit with the 2 Shibas, immediately taught me they are not like my Siberians, and they cannot be treated the same. All of my Siberians are older dogs, no puppies, and are kenneled and walked every day.
Any advice on introducing the 2 Shibas to my gang?
I realize I am going to have to drastically have a different mindset around the Shibas….
And last, just a great website..and thanks for your work.
Hello Bruce,
A big kudos to you for helping Shibas in need. 😀
As you have noticed, Shibas tend to be a bit more particular about most things compared to Siberians. When I brought the puppy home, Siberian Shania took to the puppy right away. Shiba Sephy however, took much longer to accept her into his friends and family list.
Unlike Sibes, Shibas have a much stronger protection drive, and as a result, they do not trust as easily.
You probably already know all this, but here are some of the things I did when introducing puppy –
1. Only introduce them one on one.
2. I started with Shania because she is a very submissive dog.
3. Shibas can get protective over toys, food, and food toys. So I made sure there were no toys or food about.
4. I had both Shiba Sephy and puppy on leash just in case. Some Shibas are leash aggressive, so ask the prior owners about this. Even now, Shiba Sephy is on a drag lead.
5. My Shiba is very sensitive about new dogs sniffing his butt. Once he trusts a dog, he is ok with it, but he does not allow new dogs near his sensitive areas. So in the beginning I kept puppy away from his sensitive zones.
I went very slowly and made their time together very positive. I usually get the dogs to do obedience exercises together so that I can reward them when they are together, and get them to work together.
Even with this, it took Shiba Sephy about 1 week before he started to accept new dog into his trust circle. I was a bit worried the first few days, so I am really glad it was just a time issue.
Lara is gorgeous–congrats! Looks like Sephy and Shania are enjoying her too.
Thanks Brett! Yeah, Shania took to her right away. Sephy was a bit more hard to get, but Lara has charmed her way into his circle of trust. 😀
Hugs to Ziva. How is her shedding?
He’s hasn’t looked back! Thank goodness.
Somehow, we got the most stubborn puppy in a head strong bread. He hates walking on his leash. I hope that it’s only because he’s 12 weeks old (as of tomorrow). Clicker training and hand targeting only get us so far. He only wants to walk on his terms and I’m going to be the last person to give in. So essentially our walks turn into stands.
Any thoughts? Is he too young to really be interested in walks? I really want to drain his energy…
The 180 turn around actually works quite well with Sephy. If he starts to pull I turn around and move in the opposite direction. When he was young and pulled over his given quota, I would just walk on home and try again later. Since he really liked being outside, ending the walk was a big downer for him. He was willing to control his pulling to prolong his outside experience.
In terms of making outside walking more fun I would play the Find-It game with him. I show him I have some chicken and throw it a very short distance away from him and say “Find-It!”. He liked playing this game especially when he was a puppy. When he found it, I would make a big deal of it and reward him. Then I repeat. Once he knows the game, I throw the pieces farther away or close to bushes so it becomes more challenging.
When Sephy was young and not used to the leash I would sometimes let him walk around with it in the house. I only did this under supervision to make sure that the lead did not catch on anything. This gets him used to the leash -weight, smell, etc. With my current puppy I am starting by walking her in the backyard first. Once she gets all her shots I plan to first do short walks with turn-arounds which seems to work well on independent breeds.
Here is an article on my leash training experiences with Sephy –
http://shibashake.com/dog/leash-training-your-dog
Sounds way more intense than our first couple weeks with our new shiba, Raiden. He slept through the night on night one at 8 weeks and only a couple accidents (he’ll be 11 weeks tomorrow).
We’re having a hell of a time on the leash though. He is super stubborn…
Unfortunately, a neighbor gave her dog too much slack last night and he bit Raiden in the leg, leaving him with a small puncture wound. He favored it all night but this morning it was like nothing happened. A quick trip to the vet to get it cleaned up and he’s rockin’ n’ rollin’ again!
Yeah, it is mainly the potty training that requires constant supervision. Now that we are getting some sunshine, it is a bit easier because she can be in the backyard by herself for short periods of time. Other than that, frozen Kongs are the BEST thing for puppies. They keep her occupied for long periods of time doing something that she loves – eating! 😀
Wow – it is pretty unusual for an adult dog to cause puncture wounds on a puppy. Usually, adult dogs give puppies a lot of leeway and only correct them vocally or by rolling them onto the ground.
Glad to hear that Raiden recovered so quickly! Ah, the resilience of youth.
Sounds like a rough few days! Thankfully, we’re one whole month in so Kiba is no longer crying at night (though heaven help you if you’re late letting him out in the morning!)
Also, only the one dog, so no puppy/adult dog supervision. We are having a few challenges with my toddler revving puppy up so he can’t help himself but nip – we’re punishing the toddler who DOES understand he’s not supposed to run around screaming, not the puppy who can’t understand hyper energy isn’t what he should do, lol. Time outs work for all little ones.
Potty training a Shiba is easier than a Sibe it sounds like. 🙂 Though, Kiba HATES the rain – if he knows it’s raining, he won’t go outside, he’ll wait till he’s in, then go in the corner and tell us about it! (Doubtlessly so we’ll clean it up and his house will be pristine again).
Good luck! Sounds like your little one is a handful!
Yeah, that is definitely the case. Shibas, I think, are pretty obsessive about cleanliness. Sibes on the other hand are pretty copasetic about everything, including pooping and peeing. 😀
Haha, yeah she is small but fierce! She is also a lot more bold and stubborn compared to Shania. Should be an interesting journey.