[nagdu] blind puppy raisers

[Julie J]

AnnaLisa,

I have only puppy raise for myself and my last two dogs have been older 
puppies, 8-9 months, old.  But neither was fully housebroken.  Anyway here 
are some of the things I did.

Puppy proof the house.  I take everything off of low tables, shelves and off 
the floor that a dog might get into.  Later I reintroduce them bit by bit as 
I trust the dog.

With Belle I kept her on leash with me to monitor what she was doing.  The 
first few days I offer very frequent opportunities to relieve, like every 
two hours.   With Monty I didn't use the leash because he is my velcro dog. 
He never strayed more than two feet from me for the first six months.  I did 
shut all the doors to limit his access just in case he would wander off.

I think Belle had been housebroken harshly because she would try to sneak 
off to go.  It took her a long time to get over the fear of having people 
around when she went.  I'm remembering that it took most of the year of her 
training to get her to relieve on leash.

Monty didn't seem to care at all.  He'd pee on the carpet 6 inches away from 
you, which made it very easy to catch him and take him outside.  He was a 
stray before I got him and would drink insane amounts of water.  Once I 
started rationing the water housebreaking was very easy with him.

I don't use bells on their collars around the house, but the tags would 
jingle enough so I could hear them.  Honestly I worry more when they're 
quiet. *smile*  I also used crates to help keep them out of trouble when I 
couldn't directly supervise.

Still accidents happen.  I've cleaned up my fair share of spots on the 
carpet, feather pillows, Kleenex, shredded magazines and all sorts of other 
stuff.  I never punish the dog for getting into stuff, well I try really 
hard not to.  I simply tell them no, take the object and offer an 
appropriate thing to chew on and praise them for taking it.  If I don't find 
the mangled object until later I just clean it up.

To teach loose leash walking , I work a lot in the front yard at first.  I 
don't use my cane there.  I have also used my cane and had the dog on leash. 
I have also worked one dog and had the other on leash.  Although with this 
method I have had the best success with both dogs on the left.  the dog in 
harness is slightly ahead in the regular position.  The dog on leash is 
behind and a bit further out to the left.   I've tried having the dog on 
leash on the right and I find that it interferes with my ability to use hand 
signals with my guide.   Also I don't teach a true "heel", I teach loose 
leash walking.

HTH
Julie