9 BIG Mistakes I Made With My Corgi Puppy | Everything I Wish I Knew Before I Got My Corgi Dog

so you're thinking about getting a corgi literally everything i wish i knew when i got willow this video is going to change your life so you're thinking about getting a corgi you already have a quirky puppy or you're trying to decide if a corgi is the right dog for you well you've made it to the right place i have had willow for three years now and i have learned a ton of stuff just being a part of instagram and dog community so today i'm gonna be sharing all the things i wish i knew before i brought willow home all the things that i wish i did with her as a puppy and i guarantee you this is going to make your life with the corgi so much easier i genuinely got so excited when i started working on this video because there is so much that i have learned and i cannot wait to bestow this information on to you as well so let's just get right into it the first thing i did wrong was i was so impatient with willow she was an eight week old little puppy and she had never been potty trained before and what i learned is that you need to be patient when you're taking them outside they're not going to go potty right away it could take 10 15 minutes for them to realize that they have to go to the bathroom they just have to wait let them sniff around and then they'll eventually decide to go because puppies go potty like every 30 minutes eventually they'll figure it out and then as soon as they go potty reward them with the treat tell them good girl good boy i would sit outside with willow for like five minutes and i'd be like ah she didn't go and i'd bring her inside and she'd go potty right as soon as i brought her back inside so the second mistake that i made was using a potty patch it's just you know a grass turf patch these are really great if you live in an apartment and they're really nice to just stick right out the back door so that you don't have to walk your dog out into the yard all the time well willow got used to peeing on this potty patch that was right outside the door and now she literally is almost three years old and still pees on my patio on the concrete and i've been working with her teaching her to go out to the rocks to go but still she gets lazy and she pees on the patio she poops on the patio and it sucks and i wish i wouldn't have done this a lot of people have also mentioned using a training pad or a grass pad in their house and that's not a great idea either because you know it's kind of reinforcing their behavior of peeing inside by the door or outside on the patio and that stained your patio it smells it's gross i would definitely put the potty patch out in the rocks or in the grass in your yard if you're in an apartment then that's a different story obviously i would take them downstairs to go potty as much as you can because otherwise they're gonna get trained to pee on your patio and that sucks another thing that i wish i did with willow regarding pottying is i wish that i didn't give her so much room to roam and so much freedom as an eight-week puppy she was literally peeing and pooping on my floor every 20 minutes and that's because i didn't follow a strict schedule with her typically what you want to do and i think the best way to potty train a puppy is to take them potty they go potty and then bring them inside for about 20 minutes of play time then it's time for them to nap and they typically decide to nap after that so you want to keep them confined in a pen or a crate after that let them nap keep them confined in one area and then as soon as they wake up take them outside again and that will help them get used to not just peeing in the house all the time i wish i would have done this i did not do this i was kind of lazy but with my next puppy i'm definitely going to be crate training them and keeping them in a pen when i'm not supervising them and if it's been 30 minutes since their last potty tip number two that i wish i knew when willa was a puppy was how to stop her from biting me now i've written a few blog posts about this and puppy biting of course they grow out of it it's really just a teething thing it's how they play with their friends and their siblings and their mom so it's something that they will eventually stop doing and of course your patience is very much needed in this process but i have also learned a few things from hiring trainers and doing my research and talking to other dog parents about the best ways to keep your puppy from biting you like crazy all the time the first tip that i actually got from my trainer is to get a big you know long full carrot and put it in the freezer for like overnight and then give them this when it's play time and they're biting you give them this carrot and they will be able to eat it it's good for them and it keeps them busy for a long time another thing is you always want to have toys on hand so if your puppy starts biting you give them the toy instead giving them things like little small puppy bully sticks or a frozen kong with frozen peanut butter inside or even a frozen carrot is a great way to deter them from biting on you and direct their biting elsewhere another thing that you should totally try is reacting the way another puppy would react if your dog were to bite them too hard when puppies play and one of the puppets is too rough the other puppy will squeak or bark really loud and then walk away and stop playing so you want to actually be the puppy in this situation yelp really loud this will make your dog stop biting you and be like what the heck just happened and then you want to take it a step further and walk away go into a different room and don't play with a dog for like 10 minutes leave it alone and then your dog learns that when they bite you the play time stops now the third thing i wish i did with willow that i did not was really work on crate training with her willa was not crate trained i did put her in a pen or a gated off area at night or whenever i was at work but i never really got her used to or comfortable being inside of a crate discomfort and ability for your dog to be in a crate and happy within the crate is so important for their entire lifespan whether they're at a vet they're in a boarding facility they're traveling in your car if they have to travel with you on a plane and especially because it reinforces their comfort and safety and prevents them from having so much separation anxiety from you now i mentioned earlier that i wish i would have kept willow in a crate more as a puppy so that she didn't pee all over my house and of course that is one of the benefits of crate training but your crate needs to be a comfortable space for your dog do not ever force them in the crate and make it a place that is fun and comfortable and that they go to on their own give them things like treats and toys in their crate keep them all in their crate so that they have to go into their crate to get those things feed them in their crate this also prevents them from having any weird food aggression issues which willow also has so i mean i feel like if i would have crate trained her more properly fed her in her crate knew that everything she was getting was coming from her crate rather than outside she would have been much more comfortable now like i said you don't want to force your dog into the crate and lock them up because this is going to create a negative association with the crate what i would do is with a puppy start by getting a large pen especially with the corgi they cannot jump out of it ever at any point in their life so get a large circle or square pen and then put the crate inside that pen so if you are leaving the puppy for a bit they have the ability to crawl into their crate for comfort for somewhere that's cozy and warm and safe but they're not being stuck in there or locked in there put all of their toys in there put treats in there put their chews in there they will willingly go on the crate and just hang out there i also feel as though if i would have created a safe space for willow like that and made a crate a place where willow wanted to go she wouldn't have as much separation anxiety i did notice after getting a doggy camera that when i left her she would cry and howl and it was super sad and it's obvious that she has separation anxiety and i feel that if her crate was more of a safe space that she went to when i was gone she wouldn't have those issues another couple of tips i have for preventing separation anxiety in your dog which is kind of a bit of a sidebar from the main video but i just want to provide these resources as well what you want to do is not make a big deal when you're leaving the house or when you come home i know it's really hard when you get home not to get all excited because your dog's excited but it's just creating this feeling that your dog can feel really bad when you leave and then get really excited when you come home you want to keep their moods more stable rather than drawing attention to you leaving and coming back also it's great if you can just sneak out of the house i know a lot of times if your dog is crate trained they have to go into their crate and you have to lock it before you can leave what i do now with willow is i put around a couple of different treat puzzles in my house as i sneak out the door she's really focused on getting those treats out of the puzzles or out of the little toys that i put around the house with treats in them so she doesn't notice that i leave and then after she's done with the treat puzzle she just you know goes and lays on the couch and relaxes and calms down i will link a couple of my favorite treat distraction toys below just so you can grab some of those and help your dog the next time you leave to the fourth thing that i wish i knew before i brought home willow was to start training early now of course this means sit and lay down and roll over and all those fun tricks that you teach your dog but i'm really talking about those tricks that teach obedience and teach them to listen to you another thing that i wish i would have taught willow right off the bat was place for me the term is actually called go go to your bed because will you have already known the word teaching your dog to go to their bed or to their place or to their mat every time you say that word it's going to help them be way more well-behaved let's say someone comes and rings your doorbell and your dog starts going crazy you say go to your bed go to your place they go there they stay there they're so much more obedient and they don't attack people when they walk in the door what i do with willow is i make her go to her bed every night and every morning before she gets to eat i say go to your bed she goes there she stays until i say okay and that is her release word the first day you get them start teaching it to them because it could take a while and it's going to be so important for the rest of their life the really important trick to teach them is watch me i make willow watch me every night before she can eat her dinner and just doing these tricks consistently will reinforce the trick and make them even better at it teaching watch me i just took a small treat you know got willow's attention and put it between my eyes and so she would wash that area and eventually i was able to remove the treat say watch me she always looks up at me or in between my eyes and then i say okay another really important trick to teach them is wait and leave it weight is also something that i use every night before she's allowed to eat dinner so i'll say wait and she'll wait until i say okay she would wait if i left the room and went to the bathroom and came back and she would still be waiting for me weight is something you can practice every single day now leave it is really important for trying to keep your dog from eating something that could potentially be bad or make them sick so when you're teaching leave it you want to maybe put a treat or something that is tempting to them right in front of them and say leave it and when they stop trying to get it and you can move your hand and they leave it then you give them a different treat from like behind your back or your pocket and give them that treat so they're learning that leaflets can never be eaten but if you wait and you're given the weight command then they can eventually be eaten another really important thing you should teach your dog that is not necessarily a trick is that they are not the leader and basically you're going to teach your dog this by not letting them walk through doorways before you you're the boss you're the leader they're not in control you are and so whenever you walk through a doorway whether they're on a leash or not make them sit wait until you walk through and then give them the okay to walk through after you and this is just going to make your dog listen to you better and just make them way more well behaved i wish i would have taught this to willow way before i hired a trainer when she was eight weeks old because i feel like she would have she would respect me more and she would listen to me more cory's are stubborn and they're smart and willow thinks she's the boss honestly she's a sassy little corgi so if i would have started this training process when she was eight weeks old it would have probably made her respect me much more all right the fifth thing i wish i knew was how important socialization is and honestly i think i already knew this but i'm just going to give you this tip because it is so important to socialize your corgi and to wait until after they've gotten all of their shots do not take your dog out in public don't take your dog petsmart don't take your dog to the dog park before they have gotten all of their shots please it is so easy for them to catch something like parvo and it kills puppies so the best way to socialize your puppy from the beginning is to have dogs that you know that have been vaccinated that our friends and family's pets come over to your house and that way your dog gets the ability to socialize with dogs that are older and can teach them how not to play too rough and that it's fun to play with other dogs and that dogs are not threats but it's also a safe environment where you know your dog's not going to get parvo but socializing is very important you might notice a lot of dogs that come from shelters that have had rough lives they just want to be aggressive towards other dogs and even other people dogs need to be socialized with humans and dogs and cats you know everything that you can provide to your pet in order for them to be a well-rounded dog that is not afraid of anything like the sixth thing that i wish i knew before i brought willow home as a puppy was to just chill out willow had so many emergency vet visits when she was a puppy because she had like runny stool or was vomiting which vomiting can be a lot more scary than diarrhea but just know that puppy's stomachs are very sensitive and they're learning what they can and what they can't eat and their bodies are adjusting and you might have some runny stool at some points and try not to freak out about it you can try giving them things like plain boiled chicken and rice or some pumpkin puree like plain no sugar just all pumpkin or baby pumpkin food put that in with their kibble and this should help harden up their stool just know that puppies get stomachaches a lot and be aware of that and try not to freak out when it happens because i definitely freaked out all the time you're going to want to be really conscious of what they're putting in their bodies make sure you're feeding them things that the breeder recommends feed them a multivitamin or a probiotic and add that in with their kibble make sure they're getting the proper diet that puppies need and make sure they're not eating rocks or random dirt or weeds or whatever another side tip about dogs eating things i did learn from my trainer that if you have a puppy that is outside chewing on rocks that the best thing to do is if you see them chewing on something that they shouldn't be chewing on or that you think is going to be dangerous what you're going to want to do is ignore it because like children they are just seeking your attention and they're not gonna eat that rock they're not gonna swallow it so most times you know nine times out of ten if you just ignore them they'll put it down and they will continue on with their puppy journey if you react and you chase after them they're gonna think it's a game and they're going to develop a habit in doing this and you don't want that to be created so yeah for all those puppy rock eaters out there just ignore them they will not swallow the rock hopefully um just keep a close eye on them but don't react like crazy this kind of leads into my next thing that i wish i would have known when willow was a puppy and this is not to you know promote any negative behaviors that your dog is doing and the way you need to do this is basically by not overreacting if your dog is eating rocks you don't want to freak out if your dog is whining or crying when you're leaving or when you come home you don't want to like enforce that by giving them more attention if your dog is scared of something like a loud bang you just want to distract them get a toy get something that's going to make them happy again don't baby them and cuddle them because they're going to think oh yeah this is really bad and i need this comfort in order to feel better for me when i brought willow home i was living with my mom at the time and my mom had two other dogs that were kind of um their food was just down all the time and they weren't fed breakfast and dinner basically they were free fed they could eat whenever they wanted whereas i was teaching willow to only to eat all of her food when i put the bowl down which is another thing i would recommend doing with your puppy sorry that's not a number but definitely have them eat when their food is in front of them because this is going to make it so much easier if you're around any other dogs anyways my mom's dog's food was always down we gated it off and tried to keep willow out of the area but sometimes she would get into the area and i would run out grab her and pull her up from the food and she'd be inhaling it trying to eat it all as fast as she could because she knew that i was going to come and pull her away from the food and freak out and i honestly think that i'm the reason that willow has developed food aggression towards other dogs because so many times i pulled her away from that food that she thought was hers so now she gets really protective around food and i would just recommend being more calm all the time and not making a huge deal out of things that your dog is doing wrong get them health insurance right off the bat i had pets best for willow i actually still have pets best but i've heard good things about nationwide's pet insurance lemonade just make sure you're looking at how much your deductible will be and how much percentage of coverage they're going to give you when you submit a claim the way that health insurance works for pets is that you go to the vet you get your bill you pay that bill and then you upload that bill to your insurance company and they decide how much they're going to reimburse you basically willa was a puppy i had the wellness insurance which was a little more expensive but it did cover things like her heartworm test and her vaccinations and her spay so when your dog gets spared neutered you don't have to pay like 500 it's a lot cheaper and then once she was a year old i switched to just like accident insurance which just covers accidents but health insurance is going to give you so much peace of mind because you never know if something horrible is going to happen to your dog all right the last tip that i have for you which i wish i would have done from the get-go them used to you putting your hands in their mouth and playing with their paws get them used to you brushing their teeth even if they have puppy teeth it's so important for you to be able to brush your dog's teeth because there are so many dogs that have to get dental extractions because their teeth start rotting out and stuff you need to be able to brush their teeth and also your vet needs to be able to look into their mouth because their gums are very good signs of whether or not they're sick another really important thing that i think a lot of pet owners do not do unless their dogs are groomed regularly is to trim your dog's nails this is so important and it is important to get them used to nail trimmings at a young age i try to do it once a week to keep them short enough and to keep the quick short which is the part that you know basically where the blood supply is going to be you don't want to nick that because then their nails will start bleeding the longer you go without trimming their nails the longer the quick is going to grow so then their nails cannot get short enough it's really important for your dog's nails not to be too long because the pressure of the nails on the ground going up into their like metacarpals or whatever can cause them a lot of pain and can also make them start having to stand weird and can lead to things like arthritis and back problems and hip problems and that stuff is really bad for corgis obviously because they have long backs and short legs and they're already prone to having these types of issues so keeping your dog's nails short is going to prevent them from being in pain like that i would recommend getting them used to a dremel what you're going to want to do is start by you know getting the dremel i bought mine from amazon and you just put it near the dog when your dog is letting the dremel be near it you give it a treat and then have them touch it touch it with their nose touch it with their paws touch the dremel to their body and say yes good reward them and slowly over time you're going to teach them that this is a safe tool and that they get rewarded when they're around it then you're going to want to move up a level and turn on the dremel it's kind of loud it's kind of intimidating it's kind of scary for them so bring out the high value treats give them a piece of chicken a piece of cheese and say yes good when the dremel is on you know get it closer to them get them more used to it treat yes clicker bing bang boom then you slowly start bringing the dremel to their nail and then try actually shaving the nail down yes reward and this may take some time but it is so worth it if i were just getting willow today i would literally start the dremel training on my first day all right everyone thanks for watching i hope this video was helpful that was everything that i wish i knew was tired i just picked her up from the ground that is everything i wish i knew when i brought willow home that i did not know hope this is helpful for new corgi parents thank you so much for watching all the way to the end we really appreciate you and we're going to continue making more corgi information videos i got so many ideas for videos just while making this video so subscribe if you want to see more let me know if you have any other questions in the comments and don't forget to like this video if you liked it thank you so much for watching hope you all have a good day and willow says goodbye she's so tired see ya

Channel: Devon Noehring

Views: 311,723

Keywords: willo the corgi, corgi, corgi puppies, awoo corgi, corgi howling while eating, corgi howling video, corgi howl puppy

Id: tP8wptkxFJ8

Length: 21min 41sec (1301 seconds)

Published: Tue May 11 2021