Should I move my puppy's food bowls away from his potty area?

Thank you for submitting your question regarding your dog. A dog will typically have a bowel movement 20-30 minutes after eating a meal. So I usually recommend feeding two meals per day, one in the morning and one in the evening. This will give you time to get him outside to go to the bathroom before you need to leave for work or go to bed. If he is used to free feeding, it can take a bit of time to make this transition. Put the food down for 15 minutes in the morning and let him eat. Then give him another 15 minutes to eat in the evening. Soon he will realize that he needs to eat during these time or the food will go away. I hope this information helps!

Stop hand feeding your puppy, as he might get used to it and then generally refuse any food that is not being fed to him by hand. Depending on what type of bowl you are using, there may be an odor that he does not like. Plastic bowls often emit chemicals which could be uncomfortable for the dog (and also can cause skin problems). Change his food bowl to either ceramics or metal and keep it meticulously clean, ie wash it and rinse it well after each meal. Make sure he is hungry when you feed him, ie feed small amounts more often. Take away any food he has not eaten within ten minutes.

Hopefully he will be less insecure as he grows up. I would not feed him breakfast on the days you go to work, and make sure he has gone outside to the bathroom and had some exercise before you leave. Have him stay in another area of the house away from the door, and have other family members try to give him his food or treats after you've gone. If he has a special treat or toy only let him have it when you are at work and leave his crate open so he can rest in a familiar place when he's anxious. If he will walk with a family member have them take him out during the day. When you come home ignore him for five minutes or so even if he's going crazy, then calmly take him out without petting him or talking to him. If you make too much of leaving and returning you are reinforcing this behavior. Continue with the trainer in another month or two as he may learn better when he is more mature. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Papi.

You can start with the pad on the carpet where he goes. Each time he doe sit correctly give him a treat. Then you gradually start moving it back to where you want it and still reward him each time. The other option is start taping the edges down so he can't move the pad anymore and limit his roam of the house. Keep him confined to a smaller area until he gets better. At his age, it is very early for him to be house trained, so keep trying, he will get there over the next month

Kudos to you for being so concerned about Buddy! :-) As long as Buddy is at a healthy body weight, he is likely getting plenty to eat. To make sure he seems to be a healthy body weight, run your hands over his ribs to assure that you can easily feel (but not see) his ribs. You should also be able to see a "waistline" when looking down at him. I can't see Buddy well enough in the pictures to help you determine if his weight is appropriate. Some dogs are naturally picky or have been conditioned to eat less dog food because they know that treats or more appealing food is coming. I always recommend offering food twice daily as you are doing, but some dogs choose to only eat once a day. Avoid midday treats or snacks to try to train Buddy to eat at mealtimes and continue avoiding table scraps. Make sure that Buddy is being offered a high quality kibble (I generally recommend Science Diet, Purina ProPlan or Royal Canin foods) and if you choose to switch foods, be sure to do so by mixing old and new foods together over 5-7 days. If the canned diet seems to tempt him to eat, you can continue mixing a bit in with the kibble, but I would recommend avoiding Beneful and looking for a higher quality canned option. Feel free to request a consultation or post additional questions if you have further concerns! :-)

There are many different options and opinions on the best way to house train - I personally think using a crate is best and quickest. Basically you have pup in the crate (no pee pad) whenever you aren't actively watching him AND take him out to go to the bathroom every hour, after eating, after drinking, after waking, after playing, or any other times he pauses for a second. The rest of the time, you're either 100% focused on him, or he's in the crate. As long as the crate is the right size (easy for him to turn around, but not a whole lot bigger), he won't eliminate in his resting place. if you go with the play pen method, it relies on him just figuring it out a bit more and may or may not work as well or quickly. Instead of having a clear resting place it's also a potty and meal place - some dogs do great with this and others not so much.

Hi and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I think it is fine if the water bowl is not near Sherlock's food bowl. However, I would make sure that the water bowl is readily available to him/he has easy access to it.