Introducing a corgi to a new home
I will soon be a first time dog (and corgi) owner and have been doing a lot of reading on dog behavior/training/psychology. I just finished reading one of Cesar Milan's books and feel like I've been interacting/approaching dogs incorrectly my whole life now! I'm getting a cardigan corgi next week for a trial visit and want to get things started on the right foot. The one thing that the breeder mentioned that has me a bit worried is that the dog is a very alpha female. I've met her once before and she's a very happy, fairly well behaved dog. She's still got a puppy energy since she's just under a year old.
Any thoughts on how to introduce her to our household, make her feel welcome, but also make sure she doesn't start walking all over us from day 1?
Any thoughts on how to introduce her to our household, make her feel welcome, but also make sure she doesn't start walking all over us from day 1?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Sam Tsang on
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Congrats on your new pup! Have she been puppy trained / house broken yet? Do you currently have any other pets in the house? What kind of equiptment / supplies have you purchased so far? Tell us more info and we'll be able to give you better answers :)
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Permalink Reply by sara+norma on
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As far as I know Norma is trained to lead, crate trained, and accustomed to car rides. I'll double check on the house broken part since she's been spending a lot of time in a kennel with other corgis, but I'm fairly sure that she is.
There are no other pets in our house. We have a small fenced yard. The breeder said that she'll provide me with a crate, collar/leash, and some food that Norma's accustomed to. Of course if the trial visit works out, I'd have to go and purchase a new crate. I've purchased a few toys (a kong and 2 squeaky plushes), a dog bed, some treats, a collar, and a lot of corgi/dog related reading. I'm ready to make lots more purchases if the dog's a good fit. :)
Any advice would be much appreciated!
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Here's a list that I suggest and have worked for me and Silvia:
1. Hydrogen peroxide, I keep 6 bottles at home at all times. After you clean the accident area with other products, finish with this.
2. Bissell Little Green, we use the heated model, it is great with spot cleaning, solution wise we use oxyclean.
3. Roomba, to keep you sane with all the hair :)
4. Furminator, check out the video on this site and our forum review on this great product.
5. poopy bags, i actually found this in dollar stores, they have baby powder scented ones.
6. poopa scooper, you can save the plastic bags and use this :)
7.Dog tags, for ID purposes
8.Nail clipper
9.Treats! aka bribes
10. your old tshirt - let her sleep and get familiar with your scent
11.dog shampoo or baby johnson (as some recommended)
12.Shop for a good vet (very very important)
13. make sure you and your household have the same rule, for example, no jumping on chairs or bed...etc.
14. bell training (highly recommended, eventhought she may take advantage of it)
Anyone else wanna chime in and help a new owner?
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Permalink Reply by Avyon on
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well I wrote a bunch of stuff and then accidently rested my hands on my keyboard... (have back/forward button by the space bar.. yay gaming keyboard >_<)
ok so to sum up then....
about the whole alpha thing.
You have to act like the alpha if your going to be the alpha... its your house, your rules. Dogs take over houses when the owners get too stressed out or have no time for the poor animals... so remember to have patience and time when getting a puppers :)
Food wise - we always make Roxi do a trick or two before feeding her. This makes her work for her food and shows that we have control over her meals. BWAHAHAHHA *waves bowl over head*
Play wise - playtime is playtime... when its over the dog needs to understand this.. crate time-out (there are thousands of debates about this everywhere... personally I think its a personal choice) worked wonders for us.. remember only to do it for max 10 minutes or the pup will forget why she's in there lol. Pull out all toys, cover with blankets.... maybe turn up music to help ignore sad crying noises that make you want to curl up and hug her.
If something is a no-no... it should always be a no-no. Those cute puppy faces shouldn't make some things ok sometimes.. this just confuses the dog and lets her know that she can get away with stuff. The moment that puppy learns she can do this its all over haha.
Be firm but not abusive. (I know you wouldn't be but I have to say it) A strong hand can say just as much as a hard blow to the head. I know it sounds bad but all I had to do was scruff Roxi twice (to catch her) and lead her back to her piddle she just made with strong words to show her it was wrong.. She was house trained after that lol. Its physical motion and the tone of your voice that gets the dogs attention. Using a baby voice while showing the dog what it did wrong doesn't work at all (I've seen my friend do this... her dog still isn't house trained..) It also all depends on the dog.. some dogs learn faster then others. Some you just need the voice, others you need some physical contact.
When you first bring your pup home also give it time to explore and learn, let it go for about 30 min to an hour.. however long it takes. When it seems the pup is a little more comfortable start interacting with it and try to play with it.. start being that owner :)
some pups will instantly want to stay with you when you bring it home. Thats great but on the reverse side, let it know its ok and try to play with it. Use a ball or something that will make it leave your side and explore to get it back.
If the pup is crying at night, try to let it know its ok (but shortly). Don't let it out of its crate but comfort it in there, then leave it again. This will let the pup know its ok that its alone.. try not to do it too long or too much because like a double edged sword the pup will learn you will come when it cries.
Thats was my biggest problem when we first got Roxi. There are a lot of tricks and ways to train your dog that if you do something too much or too little.. it will have a negative affect lol. So I was extremly careful when doing stuff like hand feeding her to get her to eat because if I did it too much she would learn to only eat out of my hand >_< ugh!
so use your gut feeling as well.. tips and tricks are great but after having your dog for a short time.. you start to know your dog and see what works through being there instead of on paper or on the net :) we can only read about it and tell you what we think lol.
... ohh... ok im done rambling.
Goodluck with your new pup and Welcome to the site!
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Thanks for all the advice! It's interesting that you said I should let the dog explore when she gets home. That was my gut instinct but in a chapter I just read out of Cesar Milan's book I think he said that dogs should be introduced into a home gradually. He wrote that you should make it clear that you're giving the dog permission to go into a room, explore an area. And that teaching these boundaries is part of asserting your alphaness? I know that's just one person's opinion but he is the "dog whisperer" after all. But I'm still having trouble wrapping my head around a lot of what he says since it runs very counter to how I've interacted with dogs my entire life.
I don't worry too much about me being firm...more my sister who is a total sucker for cute doggy faces. And I guess I'm a little worried about my parents too...not because they can't be firm but because I can't get them to understand dog psychology. Of course I don't worry about any abuse from any of us...it will be more of a consistency issue in my family.
Anyway, I'm between jobs right now so I'll have a lot of time to spend with the dog and getting her acclimated. For the next month or two she'll be spending most of her time with me. I'm definitely thinking about enrolling her in some obedience/training classes once I figure out a little more about what she does and doesn't know. The breeder told me that Norma's very food motivated so training should be relatively easy.
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They are very food oriented dogs :) We used a lot of treats during our training (and still do) and its worked wonderfully. The best thing we've found is using special puppy kibble, its small for training and she loves the taste. I can't remember the name (tossed all of it into a giant plastic container so the bags gone now).
LOL I understand the whole parent thing, its sometimes hard to get people to understand that your training a pup or you wont let them do something for a reason. Left Roxi with the manthing's parents for a few days while we took a trip and they completely went against what we told them. She slept in the same bed with them.. ate a bunch of people food (she now begs a little).. they allowed her to jump up without being asked (which she has been retrained about)... just a whole mess of things... including learning how to bark when they left the house from their own dog who did it. So we dropped off a quiet dog and brought home a noisy little squirt. (finally fixed this as well)
needless to say we had to retrain some stuff since she was still learning some things when she was dropped off. *sigh*
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Permalink Reply by Corgi Mom on
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Moommystic is a Pet Trainer for Petsmart and could give you a lot of good advice. We have a total of four corgis in our fur family. How soon before you get your new puppy? If you have more time you could send the breeder an old bedsheet or t-shirt that you and anyone else in your household has worn. This will help her to get used to new smells, etc. I hope that it works out for you and your new puppy! :-) We are absolutely in love with ours.
Enrolling her in pet training classes would be a good help. Having your new baby in a class with other dogs will help socialize her to other people and other dogs. If I can help in any other way please let me know.
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Permalink Reply by Sam on
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May I add that a good energy outlet is great. Find out if she likes to play ball, frisbee, chase bubbles. A tired dog is always a happy dog. Daily walks are another way to create the bond and offer an outlet for her energies. Finding a training club in your area is always a good idea. This bonding time will be so important for you and your new pal. Often times dogs that spend lots of time in a kennel takes some time to bond with humans. You may also find that she has not been exposed to the normal household noises. It may take her some time to be comfortable in her new surroundings. It is likely that she is crate/kennel trained but not truly housebroken. Dogs dont associate elimination habits in totally different environments. Best of luck with your new pal!
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Daily walks are definitely going to be a part of the routine. There is a beautiful (and very dog friendly!) trail right by our house and I try to take at least a two mile walk down there every day. Also, I'm generally pretty active (lots of hiking) and I'm hoping to be able to incorporate my dog into some of these activities. I definitely agree that a tired dog is a happy dog...I've met waaaaaay too many neurotic city dogs who only get out for ten minutes a day.
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Permalink Reply by Bonny on
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Well I don;t think I have anything new to share. I really love Cesar, though some folks think he's too harsh. Honestly, most people don't get animals in a way that Cesar does, so there's that problem of being able to replicate his method. I have found that you don't have to be overly firm with corgis...they are smart and perceptive and willing to please. Being too hard just makes them a little unsure. If you consistently practice the simple Cesar rules (walking properly, going through doors first, claiming the objects in your home), you'll probably have no problem. Basically, regularly asking your dog to follow instructions keeps them in a follow state of mind. And be on top of any unwated behaviors...find ways to redirect, like "go lay down". This is useful if they start reacting to daily stimuli (like the vacuum!). I find you don't have to dominate to be leader, you just have to be the ringleader. How fun is that with a corgi?? HEHE!!!
P.S. I've had some pretty cool experiences using "dog psycology", mostly with charging dogs. I point and say "no" with a hand on my hip, and they stop and look at me. It's pretty awesome :)
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Yeah, I guess after all the talks that I've had with the breeder and *then* reading Cesar's book has me a bit perplexed. My breeder emphasized not being too hard on corgis because then they become willful....and that's always harder to correct.
Mostly, I've met waaaaaay too many poorly behaved dogs (and dog owners :P ) and want to do everything in my power NOT to have one of *those* dogs. Also, I think (and hope!) that that's doable seeing as how for once in my life I actually have loads of free time to spend with a dog. (Oh the joys of unemployment....)
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