The Puppy Diaries at 9 Weeks

It’s our second week with Herbie already, the time is flying by. We are all used to having him around now and the kids know to shuffle along and not run just in case there’s a dog under their feet! Anyway, let me fill you in on how his week has been, now that he is 9 weeks old.

You can check out last week’s update here, or pop to here for all puppy posts.

Herbie the Miniature Dachshund at 9 Weeks Old

Herbie has settled in well now. He knows us and his home and I think that he is starting to get used to the routines around him. He still needs the reassurance that we are around, and we’ve yet to leave him alone. Next week will be the holidays so our routine will change, and I know he’ll enjoy having the kids around more.

Training and Behaviours

Housetraining continues and I’d say we’re in a similar place to last week. He is definitely going towards the back door if he’s close to it when he needs to go. If he’s in the living room, it’s just too far for him to make it, so we limit time spent there. I’d say we are averaging one accident a day at the moment, and all of those that are outside are because I am taking him out regularly. He can hold it quite well over night, though the nights vary as some nights he’ll be up a couple of times and others he can sleep until morning.



Crate training is progressing and Herbie is starting to choose to spend some time in his den. I have moved it into the hallway and he seems to prefer it being there, perhaps because it’s darker and cooler. It’s where I want the crate to stay so I am glad he seems happy with its new position.  I am building up the training steadily to ensure that he always sees his crate as a good place to be so that he can settle happily here when I do leave him for short periods.

The clicker training is going well. Herbie seems to enjoy these sessions (he knows that there are treats involved) and is picking things up very quickly. We’ve worked on ‘leave’ and ‘come’ this week, along with a positive interrupt. I am trying to prioritise the ones that I feel will be the most useful and keep him safe. I need to continue to train them and train them in different places so that he can respond in any situation.

Other behaviours, such as sitting when waiting for something and playing independently are being reinforced when I spot them, rather than specifically trained. When we play, I also use ‘get it’ when he grabs a toy and then ‘thank you’ when he drops it so that he comes to associate these behaviours with these words and, fingers crossed, will respond to them in time. We will see!

We have also been playing him this CD with various noises on it, to get him used to sounds that I can’t necessarily expose him to during his socialisation period, such as thunder and fireworks. He’s been fine with it so far.



Out and About

Herbie is now much happier travelling in the car. He tends to look around for a minute or two (for me to give him some cheese!) and then settles down to sleep. He’s only been on short journeys so far, so we’ll see how it finds a longer journey that we have planned this weekend.

He’s been on all of the school runs with my over the last week and is now getting used to his routine. I try to ensure he has had lots of playtime before we go so that he just naps in the carrier.

Herbie had his first trip into our local town centre over the weekend. It was a great place for socialisation with so many sights, sounds and smells for him to take in. He has also visited a pet shop and the park to see some dogs, people and geese. He has taken it all in his stride.

Fun and Favourites

Herbie has had a couple of new toys that he’s been enjoying. Yes, more toys, he is so spoilt. I’d definitely recommend this Kong Wubba as it’s his current favourite.

He has had his first chew, a natural chicken and bacon treat, and he absolutely loved it! He continues to enjoy cheese and chicken as training treats and I added in some cottage cheese to his Kong this week which he loved.

Herbie has discovered that he can climb the stairs. It is baffling on those tiny little legs, but he can do it and was delighted with himself for doing so. There is now a stair gate in place, sorry Herb!

He adores having his tummy tickled, absolutely adores it!

We taught Herbie ‘find it’ so that he can enjoy foraging for food and he gets better each time we do it. We have set up a few forage courses for him using boxes and tubes from our recycling, so it’s an easy thing to do and hopefully fun for him. I got the idea as I enjoy this Canine Enrichment Facebook page, packed with fun ideas for dogs.

Herbie now knows that he gets sofa snuggles with myself or the Husband every evening after the kids go to bed and he settles in for those happily. He doesn’t make a peep, other than the occasional shout as he dreams!

So another busy week for Herbie, and us, and I do like to think that he’s happy here. He sleeps soundly, eats everything and plays with gusto, all good signs!

What do you think of Herbie’s week? Have you been up to much with your dog?

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6 thoughts on “The Puppy Diaries at 9 Weeks”

  1. Love reading this, we also have nine week old puppy Dachshund…… they are beautiful but hard work…. Love reading your story ☺️

    1. Ah, I hope you’re all doing well together! Hard work but well worth putting in the work at the beginning as it does pay off!

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