We are having a hard time housebreaking our new puppy. I think we have tried all the traditional methods but any advice is appreciated. He goes out fine if we watch him and catch him first--but he gives us no indication that he wants to go out. He does have a crate but until we made it tiny he would go into it to go potty. He will also go into our other dogs crate to go potty. I don't know how to get him to go to the door when he needs to go. He will bark after he had pooped somewhere but not before. It is weird. We were out of town and put newspaper in the hotel bathroom and he want on it just fine--but I don't want him paper trained--I want him to let us know when he needs to go and go outside. I am home with him during the day so I can keep a pretty good schedule for him. I appreciate all suggestions. Oh--he is 3 1/2 months
At 3 1/2 months, he's a little young to be telling you that he needs to go potty. He's at the age where he still needs to go outside about 10 minutes after he EATS / GETS DONE PLAYING / WAKES UP (even if it was a nap) You need to say "Do you want to go potty (or outside)?" and then take him to the door he will typically use (if you have more than one door for him to choose from to get to where you want him to potty, choose just one - he's young and this will limit confusion). You can hang a bell from the door (small windchimes work too) and when you go to the door with him hit the bell or chimes each time before you open the door. He will soon associate the word "potty" (or outside) with that door and whatever you choose for a sound. ((you don't have to do the bell thing - but some people find it helps to hear a sound)) Within a couple weeks, he should get it in his head that the door leads to a place to potty and he will go to it. Some dogs simply stare at the door and wait for it to open, some will come and get you, some will just be antsy until you take the him, it just depends on the dog. In the meantime, if he starts sniffing around and won't settle down, its a good indication that he might have to go. When you do take him out - stand with him and wait for him to go and say "Good potty!" so he realizes that what he did is in fact what you meant when you asked him if he wanted to go - they catch on fast. Personally, I don't encourage my dogs to bark for any reason - they bark if there is someone on the property, or they hear something. Be grateful he doesn't bark to alert you to needing a 'bio-break' My guess is he barks after pooping to say "Hey human, clean up on the living room floor, get busy!" :lol:
No help on this one, but based on the other thread you started today, make sure you let the exterminator know that you now have a household pet. It may impact the poison they/you use and how they apply it.
Thanks for the replies. Zoo I am doing everything you suggested I guess it is too early. He does not have many accidents because I usually am watching him. I do usually carry him out--should I let him walk to the door? I just bought a bigger bell that I thought may interest him more--we are also trying to train our other dog to the bell (Hught--it is a 2nd dog so they already know-but thanks for thinking of me with the pest control). I just don't remember it taking so long with Emma--however we got her in the summer and being outside was not as much of an issue as it is now with the cold. Keep the advice coming.
Definitely have him walk to the door. Carrying him will not teach him about walking through it of his own accord. Just say "Come on _____, lets go potty" and go to the door and go out with him. DO NOT just let him out by himself to potty even if you have a fenced in yard - there's too much to distract him and he won't know what the heck he's outside for - thus, many pups go out only to come back in and potty on the floor. If your yard is fenced, my favorite way of training them is to put him on a leash when you ring the bell or just get to the door and TAKE him outside to a designated spot in your yard where you would prefer he did his thing. ((this usually helps keep some yard areas free of poop)) Take him to the spot and stand there like a statute. Don't talk on the phone or with anyone else - don't pet him or play with him. Don't talk to him other than say "GO POTTY" He will be able to walk the length of the leash (make it no longer than a 6' one) and you can change hands so he can move about, but keep your feet stationary - he will sniff around and when he's sniffed all he can, he'll settle on a spot and do his thing. When he does praise him and say "Good ____ Good Potty!" and do your best to sound happy about it even if it's 3am, raining and 33 degrees outside. This is how they learn and build confidence that they know how to please you. They also learn that when they are in this spot it's all about business - no play till potty is done. Play with him AWAY from the area so he doesn't associate the potty area with it (and you don't step in poop) I reward mine with treats when they would come in from going potty successfully when they were young and tapered off on them for the most part as when they learned well and didn't have an accident for a few weeks. The only one in my household I got at 3 1/2 months, Quincy, only had 3 accidents in the house while training, BUT I took up all water at 8:30pm, he had his last outing at around 11:15pm - I slept on the sofa and set my alarm for 3am and got up, woke the pup and brought him out and waited for him to go, then went back to sleep and got up at my usual (at that stage of my life) 6:45 put water back down and took him back out again. I only had to do the 3am deal for about 2 weeks and after that, he'd sleep through the night or wake me on the occasions when he had to go. The dogs who were adopted as adults hadn't been in houses prior, but none of them had accidents, they caught on with the help of not giving them an opportunity to fail, brought them out after eating/waking and it went smooth - ((a couple fosters did have them, but one had a kidney infection, and the other I'd just brought home and was groggy from surgery)so have to allow for that)) Oh, forgot, I have one who is afraid of the dark and he did have a couple pee accidents before we got solar lights for out back - occasionally us stupid humans forgot to flip the switch at night. . .we have a dog door now, got it right after we adopted him, so they let themselves in and out, but the one who's afraid of the dark won't go out unless a light is on. When we have a real overcast day and the solar lights aren't up to par, he comes and wakes me in the middle of the night if he has to go, but if I get up, the rest of the pack does and they walk outside with him and I turn on the manual light - lol I always say, "IF your dog does potty in the house, take the newspaper and roll it up real tight, then hit yourself in the head for not taking that pup outside!" Good luck!
It took awhile, but the bell really does work. I had a thread about similar issues with my Molly. She STILL won't bark or whine to go, but will ring the bell......................most of the time. 8)
My puppy is stressing me out. She is a 12 week old poodle and I am trying all of those things also, but she is peeing in the floor a lot. Yesterday 3 times, the day before 5 times in 7 hours and I took her out a few times during that time too. The thing that drives me most crazy is that I took her out yesterday and she wouldn't go so I put her in her crate and waited an hour and took her out again, put her in the crate and she was whining like crazy and I thought she wanted my hubby to take her (he's her favorite) he took her after about 15 more minutes and she still didn't go. She came right in a peed in the floor. It had been 3 hours since she went and I knew she had to. We do use a leash and make it all about business, if she starts playing we redirect her and keep saying "go potty". I don't want to have to get rid of her but I don't know if I can do it!! If I catch her, it's too late, she just squats and pees.
What do you do after she goes? immediately put her outside and leave her there a little while each time.... after you put nose near it and firmly say no no no. In time they will do it when they are ready be paitient but firm.
takes alot of time I am in process of housebreaking myself for the zillionth time, each dog is different, personaly i have found it easier to train females (since they dont feel the urge to mark everything) that's not to say your male might be fine , whatever he or she is stick with it, right now I watch holly, when she wakes up we go outside i say go peeps and keep saying it when she goes potty i praise her like she won a blue ribbon and take her inside, sometimes treats help but then you could have a weight problem later on (as i learned for experience) the bell did work for some of my dogs, in fact one of my dogs new if he hit the bell he got to go out, sooooooooo he kept wanting to go out to explore (needless to say I did alot of running back and forth to door so he could romp play and hunt insects). I have seen the leash your dog to your side method, haven't tried it but heard that works so literly you are with he or she the whole day so can catch them before accident happens. right now Lysol wipes are my best friend! hehe , enjoy housebreaking cause next stage is chewing everything (i am experiencing that now too):cry: don't ever stick a dogs nose in its mess it will have no clue why your doing it, if you catch dog doing bad scold then, if you see it after its already done clean it up and forget about it cause the dogs already has.:ack: God made them puppers soooooooo cute so we can't get mad at them, I for one am a huge sucker for puppy dog eyes! Good luck if you come across any good tips please share!:cheers:
ya i wasn't picking on you just that you have to catch them and say noooooooo and take them out unless its to late making them smell it doesn't connect to them it's just like " ya it's mine i know what it smells like whats your poin"t? stuff is already not part of their control anymore at that point so they don't get it...........ya get it??? not bustin on ya just saying.:
its also not true a dog wont mess where he or she sleeps, both my chihuahuas peed on their bedding and then layed there to sleep:ack:, ya their are weird but just goes to show every dog is different.:?
One of my dogs used to pee and poop in her crate too. She would also jump into her toy box and then pee! This one was more difficult to train than my first one. In hindsight, it was all my fault. I wasn't as regimented with her training (plus she had coccidia - see thread from months ago), so the whole thing was generally a mess. She's 9 months old now, and she's only been not pooping in the house for the last two weeks, which coincides with the exact amount of time I've been out of work... If I had to do it again, I also wouldn't let her use the doggie door until she was potty trained.
My Sheltie was a BREEZE compared to my pup now. Not sure what her deal was, but it has been an uphill battle with this dog. I think Shelties are generally smarter than Schnauzers........... Anyway, I think I am beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Partially my fault, because I let her self feed, same as the cats. Now that I am home more, I am hoping to get more of a schedule going for all of them. We haven't had a pee accident in a long time, poo(at least it's easier to clean up after :ack is another story. No accidents for a while, but I am wearing myself out taking her out all the time to prevent it, LOL.
I heard somewhere that dogs can only hold it for a certain amount of time based on their age. If the dog is 3 months old, then it can only hold it for about 3 hours. If the dog is 4 months old, then it can only hold it for about 4 hours. First establish an eating schedule, this helps with the potty schedule. After the animal eats take him to potty within 30 minutes to an hour afterward since the puppy is young and may not have an established potty schedule. With a puppy you must control when it eats and when it potties. Basically, establish a feeding time then you can set a potty time. For example: Feed the puppy at 7 am and walk the puppy at 8 am. Next take the puppy to potty at the top of each hour to prevent "accidents". Next feed the animal again at 10 am then walk again around 11 am. I know it sounds like a lot of walking the puppy to potty, but you will quickly see results and be able to adjust the schedule based upon the puppy's progress. You should see results within two or three days of doing this. It sounds like the puppy is learning what accidents are since it is barking afterwards. The puppy just doesn't know how to express his/herself. Also, remember the puppy may continue to have over night accidents due it's young age but you should see progress in this over next few months. Training the puppy to learn the word potty: Put the puppy on a leash, walk the puppy to the door, then get his/her attention and say "potty". Walk the dog outside to where you want him/her to potty. Walk around that spot and keep saying potty. When the dog potties, give him/her a treat. If the dog doesn't potty do not give a treat. Repeat this process throughout the day. The dog will get used to the schedule, learn to go to the door when he/she needs to potty, enjoy the treat as a reward, have a regular place to potty, and will learn what the word potty means. We have an australian shepherd and I can now tell him to potty and he will go potty on command.
Okay, I need more help. My 13 week poodle puppy is still giving me a hard time. Here's what she does. She sleeps all night in her crate, she's great, no whining or anything. In the am she goes #1 & #2 right away of course. Then she's good for every 2-3 hours all day.It's in the evening that she looses control. Yesterday we were good until 8pm. I started taking her water up in the evening so I can control when she drinks. So yesterday at 8 she peed the floor (my fault-I should have taken her out) Then she pees the floor in excitement at 9 when DH gets home. She pees herself every time he gets home. Is this normal? So I figure I'll let her out when he gets home and let her meet him outside. I let her drink then and took her out at 10. Then she peed the floor while we're sitting here watching her at about 10:15 and then again at 10:30. I am keeping her confined to the room I'm in so I caught her and scolded her each of those times and took her out. She actually peed outside too at 10:15. What's up with the frequency of it in the evening? Any suggestions? Thanks so much, it's been a long time since we've had a dog and we've never trained one.
13 weeks old - miniature or toy poodle? either one has a very small bladder and at this age, during the hours they are awake they can hold it about 2-3 hours tops. When you take up that water at 8pm - DO NOT put it back down. She doesn't NEED another drink. She will not dehydrate (unless on meds that are diuretic in nature) overnight. If you think she's dieing of thirst - give her an ice cube. It will wet her whistle and not overload her in the H2O department. When your husband gets home - or anyone gets home (yourself included) DO NOT acknowledge her. IGNORE her. It is not being rude - but rather it is showing her that the humans who come and go ARE the leaders. Gate her in a kitchen, or crate her - have her AWAY from the door when humans come in and WALK right by her. Wait a good 5 minutes and THEN CALMLY go greet her. If you have an excited voice and change from normal speaking pitch, it in turn excites the pup and they forget all about bladder control. When that person goes to greet them, IF its been about 2 hours since she's been out - have them leash her and take her outside. REMEMBER- if you don't get that 'excited pee' deal under control, you may live with it for the life of your dog. IGNORING them is not hurting their feelings. When they go outside - make sure they don't come back in the second they pee - make sure they are out for at least 10 minutes and also make sure they aren't being WALKED around. Take them to their designated spot and WAIT ((((refer to my posts under this thread about this)))) don't talk to them or whatever - just WAIT. IF the pup has been alone for a couple of hours, then come in, and wait about 2 minutes, rather than 5 and then approach them with their leash - as their bladder is probably full and they NEED to get outside. When they go potty outside praise them! When they potty in the house DO NOT SCOLD THEM - it doesn't work - it's your fault the puppy pottied in the house. Small breeds can take a bit longer to gain control of their tiny bladders than larger breeds - it is not their fault. She should be going out every 2-3 hours that she is awake. She'll learn, so will you. Just remember, she can't help it and the only way you can help her is to be calm, take her out frequently and when she has an accident, clean it up and move on with life. Scold yourself if need be. Getting pups in the winter is ruff! ps - IF you follow these instructions for a couple of days and she still has accidents - take her to the vet and have her checked for a urinary tract infection. This could be the cause of frequent urination.
Toy poodle,right under 5lbs, and the 2-3 hour thing is great, it's what I expect and I am home with her so it's not a big deal. My problem is the every 15 minutes in the evening. Literally. I am thinking of crating her after 8 and taking her out every hour or something. That's what I don't understand, why she goes 2-3 hours all day and can go all night but pees every 15 minutes between 8-11 pm. It's not my fault if I am taking her out at all the appropriate times. Thanks for advice, I will tell DH to start ignoring her, I was concerned that it would be a lifetime problem.
