New Setter Puppy questions

[Hakan Toksoy]

Hello everyone,
First of all thanks for accepting me to this amazing community. I am a new setter owner and i have lots of questions :)
We have a new puppy. She is 6 months old but chews everything constantly despite having toys and being walked 2 times a day. We found her on the street one month ago and it took her some time to become comfortable. At the moment she stays in a large room with food and water while we are at work during the week. When i back home i face with a huge mess. I dont know how to stop her chewing sofas, cables ... Does anybody have a suggestion?

And obedience training.. She is doing great at home. She knows basic commands like sit, come,lay down... But when we are outside she just acts like never heard that commands before. 
And the biggest problem is when i let her free outside, she escapes. I dont now how to stop her escaping from me.Does anybody have any suggestions for an obedience training program for this?

 She is fed twice a day in the morning and then again 12 hours later. She's fed 150g of dry food at the moment and always has fresh water available. Is that too much or not enough for a puppy?

And my last question is her eyes are red sometimes.  and we are concerned about this. Vet said it is normal but i dont trust him.. :)

Thats all.Sorry for my english. Every single reply will be appreciated. 

Hakan

[Cornelia]

Hi Hakan, Welcome on ES! Your puppy is very lucky to have found a home with you after probably being on the streets for many weeks! You certainly have a lot of questions :-). I'll try to answer a small portion of it: The Setter can be quite  bit of a chewer in the beginning BUT: Your puppy is also at the age of changing teeth, which begins around 4-6 month and lasts for about 3 months - that's when they chew even more and need safe things they are allowed to chew on, like a kong or a towel with a knot in it. It also might be, that she is stressed, while you are at work - how many hours do you need to leave her alone? Is there a possibility to take her with to work? 

It is also 'normal' that your commands are ignored in the beginning when outside - it takes a lot of patience and training to increase the level of distraction - it is a hunter after all and the nose is always active. Start training in your home, then go to the garden, then to a very quiet place outdoors without other dogs or cats (!) in the vicinity and so on. I'd also suggest to take her on a long training line (solid, 12 m) fixed to a harness (not the collar for safety reasons) - that way she has some freedom but can't escape and you can help her to make less and less mistakes when giving a command. Some very special treats, like small pieces of dried chicken help with the training :-). 

Last but not least, if you don't trust your vet - have a look for one you can trust. I don't think red eyes are normal but you also need a vet you can trust for more serious things than red eyes, which hopefully never occur. Good luck with the puppy! Does she have a name? 

Oh - and I hope all your cables are plucked out...

[Lesley Gilks]

Is there a family member you can leave her with while you're at work?  It's good for your puppy to be with other people and it will stop some of the problems.  Make sure they use the same commands that you are teaching her though.  If not, it will confuse her.

They are a handful when they are young but they do get better. if you're consistent and show her some patience, you will have a well balanced dog. 

[Hakan Toksoy]

Hi Cornelia and Lesley, 
Thanks a lot for your answers. I will try your suggestions on training.
I am living with my flatmate and we both are working during week. So Luna ( Yes she have a name:) ) is alone 6 to 9 hours in week days. I leave TV open when i go to work but it does not help at all. Also it is not possible to take her with me to work. I dont know if you guys have been in Istanbul this is a huge city and i live in asian side and work at european side. 
And yes i am looking for another vet now. 

[silvia]

Oh Hakan, 6 to 9 hours is a huge time.... I would suggest you organize a dog walker , either paying or leaving your keys to  some friends.. We also work and, yes, it may be expensive, but i woudnt leave a dog alone such a long time.. and for  a puppy is even worse... sorry for being direct ;)

(we have a dog walker 3 times a week who take Oberon from 10am to 4 pm... in addition, he's out with us 1.30 h in the morning and 1.30 in the evening..  i know is a lot, it doesnt happen every day, but, despite this,  when we are locked at home you can say that  Oberon is much much more lively and bored )

ps: Istanbul is lovely, such a great city :) !!!

[silvia]

mmm.. it  looks to me that the problem is boredom.. She's young, and needs quite a lot of activities .. Remember the motto: a tired setter is a happy setter :) if she can be tired, she will be much quieter at home i believe.. Also: regarding the training, it takes time and patience and she need to build up a bonding with you.. so keep going and repeating ..is an investement, but it will pay off :) 

also: 150g of food looks tiny to me , but there should be a chart table in the bag: may you look at it? If it was wet food, they need 3% of the dog weight (so a dog of 10kg needs roughly 300g per day)

[Hakan Toksoy]

I think the same thing, boredom. I really do my best on training, take her out two times a day ( around 1 hour each time). And we spend 5-6 hours at dog parks on weekends . But it is still not enough.
I totally agree the dog walker idea but i cant afford it. It is really expensive in Istanbul. 
Thans a lot for suggestions silvia :) 

 

[silvia]

yes, I completely understand... hopefully she will find a balance!

[Helen O'Keefe]

It sounds like you already give her as much time and exercise as you can. She is very lucky to have found you. Maybe just try to make the area she is kept as 'dog-proof' and safe as possible and keep giving her lots of her own chew and play toys. My dog was destructive as a puppy but eventually grew out of it. I just accepted that some things would be chewed and tried to keep as much of my stuff out of his reach as I could.

For the obedience outside, they are very independent and easily distracted. Just keep working on it and keep taking her out. She'll get used to it and start to settle down. The long training lead is a good idea to give her a run while still being able to get her back.

Stick with it - she'll get better as she grows up!

[Lesley Gilks]

You can over exercise a puppy and I know you are making up the time lost in the week but don't let her run too much at this stage.  Do things that will tire her mentally as well as physically.  Little and often is better than all day at the park.

[silvia]

re the red eyes: we also have the same problem. We ruled out entropion/ectropion (and this is very very important: maybe you can ask you vet to look if this may be the cause, or take Luna for a  specialist eye visit)..

So, in our case we are left  with the suggestion that its simply  dry eyes. It is worse in summer (beach, sand, etc) and some eye drops with lubrificant help from time to time

either than that, we leave with this :)

BTW: and welcome on ES , I hope you will love this wonderful web ! And, let me add that you have been such a great person to take Luna at home.. she's soo lucky :)

[Senem Ertaylan]

Merhaba Hakan Bey , foruma hos geldiniz . Asagida yazanlara eklemek istedigim bir kac sey var: 

Cigneme ve disarida komut almama (algida secicilik)  durumu son derece normal hareketler. Kopekler 6 aylik olduklarinda yavas yavas ergenlige giriyorlar. Tum ergenler gibi onlar da sinirlarini denerler. Cigneme kopeklerin dis cikarmanin yani sira SIKILDIKLARINDA yaptiklari bir sey. Bahceli bir evde yasiyorsaniz bu donemi ( evde olmadiginiz sure boyunca) bahcede gecirmesi daha iyi olur. Ayrica siradan oyuncaklar yerine kafasini calistirmasini saglayacak seyler verirseniz oyalanmasini saglarsiniz mesela mamasini bir kaba koymak yerine Kong Wobler'da vermek bir alternatif olabilir. Onun disinda iclerine kucuk mama parcalari SIKISTIRABileceginiz oyuncaklar da ilgilerini bu nesnelere ceker. 

Setterler inatcidir, itaat egitimi uzun bir surec. Bizim kizimiz Eva 16 aylik, egitimine hala devam ediyoruz. Kacma egilimi varsa kopeginizi serbest birakmamanizi oneririm. ( araba carpabilir cunku yol mevhumlari yok)

Turkiyede kopekler icin sosyallesme ve itaat egitimi veren kurumlar vardir mutlaka. Isin asli bu egitimler daha cok kopek sahiplerine metodoloji konusunda yol gosteriyor, aniden mucizeler yaratmiyor.  

Kirmizi goz icin veterinere danisin beraberinde sari sumuksu bir capaklanma da varsa size antibiotik krem verecek onu 1 hafta kullanmalisiniz. 

Kuru mama icin miktari kutudaki cizelgeye gore belirlemelisiniz. Setterler kilo almaya meyilli degiller ama yine de dogru oranda vermek enerji duzeyini ayarlamak acisindan onemli. 

Akliniza takilan baska bir soru olursa sorun lutfen, kolay gelsin..

[Cornelia]

google translator of the above:

Hakan Hi Guys , welcome to the forum . Below are a few things I want to add to :
Cigna to receive updates and outside the command ( selective perception ) cases extremely normal movements . Dogs when they are 6 months are slowly entering puberty . All adolescents as they try boundaries are . Teething puppy chewing well as of a thing they did when they're bored . If you live in a house with a garden this donemi ( Please check at home for sure ) would be better spent in the garden . Moreover, instead of ordinary toys that will ensure things run head data can help you to linger for example if you put a bowl instead of AmAsInI Kong Wobler give me an alternative. Little food to die for his part in the sıkıstırabileceg your toys in the interest of these objects would .
Setter is stubborn , obedience training is a long process . Our daughter Eva 16 months , we're still going to the training . If you have a tendency to Kacma would advise you not to leave your dog free . ( There could be hit because the notion of path )
In Turkey socialization and obedience training for dogs, there are institutions that do . In its true that many dog ​​owners more education on the methodology shows the way , suddenly miracles are yaratmiy .
Consult with the vet for red eye in a sari sumuks Blurring the antibiotic cream will give you if you should use it for 1 week .
Dry food for table according to the amount you must specify in the box . Setter not tend to gain weight but still give the correct amount of energy important to adjust the level .
If the problem another question that plugs into your mind , please , take it easy ..