flypig

Hello all,

I'm Steven, who's living in Beijing, China. Since it's insanely difficult to find any Chinese forum about Basset Hound or anyone who has a hound among my friends, I found this website and registered my account.

Last Saturday my girlfriend and I brought 2-month old Tom home (an apartment with a big roof top area) from a vendor's house far from downtown Beijing. He's really cute. A Flickr album here: Tom Hound ??????? - a set on Flickr .

Tom is my first pet... But at the first night, it was definitely a nightmare for me. Tom kept howling in the kitchen (I closed the door to keep him from pooping everywhere at home) and I couldn't sleep at all. I went into the kitchen once a while to calm him down.

And the next day, my friends told me that was wrong. I should just leave him there howling and he will get familiar with the area eventually. So till now, he's improving well (still howling but not that horrible) and I can sleep for several hours every night.

Both of my girlfriend and I will work for 9 hours a day (from 11am to 8pm), so we have to leave Tom home for long. (Yah I know it might not be good for a Basset.) And come home late at night, clean the poops everywhere, and play for hours with him.

The pooping issue is really haunting me. He doesn't know how to pee and poop in a certain place. I tried to use newspaper with his pee to lead him but failed. Every night I need to spend half an hour to clean the mess in my kitchen and I bet Tom has ate some shit of his own.

What can I do? Can I buy a cage to solve the problem? Can anyone please help me to pass the first stage?

Thanks, my new friends (and maybe for the next 10-12 years...)

- Steven

Wworm

Hi Steven,

Welcome! wow, those are really nice pics of Tom, must be from very high quality camera!!

Do you have a backyard? or do you live more like in an apartment/condo?
Dunno what resources you have in Beijing, but here in the U.S., the common thing is to get a crate for Tom to be in during the day, unless you have a yard for your dog. And esp when he is puppy.

Well, 9 hours is really too long to leave Tom, esp as a puppy. Is there any way you or your gf can come home during lunch time and spend an hour or two with him? Or hire a dogwalker who can play with him? Or take him to a doggie daycare (that's what we have here, esp for people who are gone 8-10 hours/day).

he's going to need to pee/poop many times in 9 hours at his age. and the best way to show him where is to be there with him when he goes. you can use the crate because puppies/dogs don't tend to go pee/poo in their crate. But at your puppy's age, you cannot leave him in a crate for 9 hrs. He will definitely soil it and it will mess up his potty training. He really needs to pee/poop every 2-4 hours...

those are my initial thoughts. First, rethinking a better schedule for Tom. Second, you can buy a crate online if you have a schedule where someone takes him out every couple hours for bathroom.
--Welcome! Worm

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see what the Worm is up to: http://bassetworm.blogspot.com/

bubbad

Yes you are going to have a real problem here .Way too long for a puppy to be by himself.Socialization is out the window.You cannot raise a temperamentally good pet in this way.A crate won't be much help because he will not be able to hold it that long and so besides cleaning up you will be having to bath the puppy too.Something has to give as far as how long he is going to be alone.Is there anyone who can babysit him during the day for 5 or 6 hours,which could work better.You have your hands full good luck.

flypig

Dear Wworm,

Thanks for your reply! It must be really late now in the US.

Yah the pictures were taken by a 5D Mark II, which is pretty good. But I never took pictures of pets...

My home is more like an apartment. In Beijing we don't have backyards, most people live in apartments. It's such a crowded city, like NYC maybe? And here's the roof top area I was talking about: ???? | Flickr - Photo Sharing! .

Yah I can find some dog daycare places for Tom in the community. But I have a question: would putting Tom in daycare make him not familiar with and scared of my kitchen and me? Is it bad for him? (Sorry our day time jobs are too busy and the offices are really far from home, can't get home over lunch. //sigh)

I bought a crate the day I brought Tom home. It looks like this one: http://www.thenayshun.com/wp-content.../dog-crate.jpg . But I don't think it's the right place to put Tom in. He will get totally messed up in it for 10 hours right?

I've read some articles about crate training online, like this one: Dog Crate Training | DogTime.com - Find your wag. . Can I understand the basic idea for crate training is that the dog can see the crate as home and other places as where to pee and poo? And can I ask the daycare to do the crate training? (Sorry I don't think we have the crate training ideas in China...)

The dog stores in my community also recommended me to buy crates like this: http://www.extralargedogcrateshop.co...-dog-homes.jpg . But, in Beijing (or maybe in the whole China), above the plate in the bottom, there's also wires for dogs to stand on. So the pee and poos will pass the wire and stay on the plate, and the wires will be clean enough.

People who work for long time a day will buy this kind of crates here. But I think with this idea, the crate training will make no sense right? Compare to this kind of crates, is daycare still better? (And another question: even with daycare, he can't learn about where to pee and poo at home right? How can I handle him at nights?)

And... about the roof top area... Can I leave Tom there when I'm working? Will he eat some dirty stuff on the floor??

Thanks again, Wworm.

- Steven

flypig

Thanks a lot bubbad. Now I think it's a big problem. But would daycare make him not familiar with the environment at home?

Wworm

oh yeah, ha ha, it is late here ~1am. but we like to stay up

it's good you're asking questions. you live and learn. with my first dog, we kept him in the kitchen w/newspaper too, but he would still pee in the house from time to time & go on carpet and furniture

this time I was wiser with Worm. we are in apartment too. well, one ?? for you is, is it ok for you to walk him outside on the street to pee and poo? dunno if you have the same laws here. here it is ok. we are not in the city, so there is lots of grass he can go in. here if Worm poos, i have to carry around poo bags & pick up his poo right away and throw it away. so if your situation is the same, i would highly suggest teaching him not to go in your apartment at all. that is because it is hard for them to understand that it is ok to go in part of the apartment (ie. kitchen), but not the whole apartment. much simpler to teach him that he canNOT go ANYWHERE inside the apartment, and will be easier for him to understand. it will be just a little trickier, because it sounds like he already has gone pee inside and will have the smell there.

Worm, but i did get him when he was older ~4 months, which means he is definitely able to hold it longer than your dog right now-- Worm had a total of ~6-12 pee accidents and 1 poo accident, and was really reliable after 1 1/2 months of training, when i could trust him not to go indoors at all.

the trick is: you have to take Tom out all the time. At 4 months, I took Worm out 6x/day. Take him out to the same potty spots as soon as he wakes up. After he eats. After a lot of activity. Before bedtime.

and the rest of the time, you have to watch Tom like a hawk, when he is at home. as soon as he starts to pee, you have to stop him, carry him outside, and have him go in the pee/poo spot. I was very, very tired the first 1 1/2 months, but it really paid off. When you cannot watch him that closely (ie. his every move), you must put him in the crate, where he will not go bathroom if you don't leave him there too long.

other people will be able to tell you better what a 2 month old pup needs at night, but yes, i think you can put him in the crate at night when you sleep. At 4 months, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Worm can hold it all night and never soiled his crate. maybe at 2 months, you have to set an alarm for middle of night and take him out for potty? or at least take him out when he whines for potty? i don't know if they can hold it all night at that age. you must take him out for potty first thing in the morning.

you are right, he may not learn potty training skills at daycare. because they will clean wherever he goes. so you must teach him how to be potty trained at home, as described above.

probably for your situation, daycare is a good solution. he will benefit from socializing with lots of dogs (Worm loves it). i work half time, so I am able to be with him a half day most days. my one long day 8-10 hours, he goes to daycare once/week. but other dogs there go 5x/week for people who work full time. he will not forget you or forget home. it is great exercise for them. they come home very, very tired. and will be easier for you to crate train and house train this way.

those are my thoughts-- please keep us posted!
you CAN have a dog that learns to never pee/poo indoors. just takes lots of planning and lots of attention at first. but once it's done, it's really great.

__________________
see what the Worm is up to: http://bassetworm.blogspot.com/

Wworm

**anytime, man!**
--Worm

__________________
see what the Worm is up to: http://bassetworm.blogspot.com/

flypig

Worm,

What can I say? I'm soooooooo moved by your answers. It's from a stranger from the other side of the earth!!! Thanks. Thanks. Thanks.

Here we don't have any law about walking pets outdoor. We don't have to clean up the poos on the roads (but lots of people still do that and I think I will.) Actually in China we don't have the culture of raising pets, and some parents (like mine) don't like their children to have pets at home (because they think they're dirty and dangerous.)

But since I live some far away from them who are in southern China, it's not a big problem, for now.

The question is, I've been told by the vendor that I can't take puppies outdoor esp to the grass yards, or he will get infected by the virus or something bad. We can only take them out and walk them after 6 months... Is this true? I really want to walk him outdoor...

I think I need to go ask the daycare tonight for prices. (I think it's about 5 USD a day.) And I will try set alarms in mid night and take him out of the crate for poo and pee. I bet in the first nights I put him in the crate, he will be insane all night!!!! T_T

The "apartment and part of the apartment" is great to know for me. Thanks!!!

- Steven

Wworm

Of course, you are welcome! it's fun to have people all over the world on this forum.

I don't know about that 6 month rule. I was definitely able to take Worm out anywhere at 4 months. Other people here will know better, like Bubbad and Mikey T.

I am no expert on this at all-- but should mention that when I looked at Tom's pics, they look interesting to me. Does Day 64 mean 2 months & 4 days, etc? If so, Tom almost looks more like a beagle puppy to me than a basset puppy. Basset puppies look more like that when they are first born. But if i recall correctly, by 2 months, ears are already long, body is long, and legs are short... thought I should mention that to you. of course, you are welcome on this forum no matter what!! and again, i am DEFINITELY not an expert here so i could be totally wrong. you can ask the others here what they think...

Here are some youtube videos to compare~
Beagle puppy at 2 months:

Basset hound puppy at 2 months:
(these are 7 1/2 wks old, even younger than Tom...)

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see what the Worm is up to: http://bassetworm.blogspot.com/

flypig

Dear Worm,

Thanks for your suggestion. Now I'm also confused... To be honest, the dog business in China is not so serious and we don't have certifications from the government or something. So... there are two things I'm not sure about: 1) the birthdate of Tom, 2) his breed.

If he's not 2-month old but 1-month old instead, will he look more like a basset hound?

If he's not basset, but a beagle, or a baby of a basset and a beagle, what kind of problems will I meet?

Thanks. (tears)

** follow-up **

Worm,

I just called the vendor. And she called the "dog factory". Here's what I got from her after several rounds of phone calls:

"His parents are both basset hounds. There's not mistake. But his birth date should be July 10th, which was mistaken."

So I guess it would be fine...?

- Steven