puppy housetraining stress !

[di]

Only information I read, not experience, sorry. Apparently, if you scold a pup for weeing indoors, it doesn't recognise the indoor bit, just that it weed.....therfore, when you stand with it outside,waiting for it to wee, it's scared of doing a wee in case you tell it off.

[Two_Sheds]

say "out" when she's peeing inside, open the door and shoo her out. and Good girl when she does it in the right place

Yep, that's exactly what I do do. She gets a NO! when I catch her going in the house, or trying to chew the parrot

Can't imagine doing everything with a dog attached!

It's very difficult, but preferable to finding poops all over the house

would prefer it if he used the litter tray...

I first started her on newspaper (wouldn't go) with a plan to go on newspaper in a litter tray (she just climbed out every time, so I gave that idea up).

I've been careful not to try too many different things, because that will only confuse her. So after a few days I gave up trying to get her to go on newspaper (near the back door, plus some in the front room if she was caught short).

The last 2 weeks I've been consistent with the OUT! - take her to back door - say OUT! again, she trots out before me (so I can be sure she understands what 'out' means). She will immediately pee and gets praise. Then I hang around for 5 mins, walking her up and down, round and round, saying "do a poo" ... sometimes she will have a poo, other times she won't and we go back indoors.

From my poop diary (!) I've learned ... nothing. She can go 5 times a day, or twice. It can be after meals, or not. It can be last thing at night, or not. There is no pattern. Her meals are consistent (6am, 1pm, 5pm), and I'm not overfeeding her

Akita 10 months old ... I spent hours in the garden with her letting her roam and all the time telling her to poop, hurry up ...She got it in the end but it was hard work

So you feel my pain ! I expected it to be hard work, I'm not afraid of hard work. How long did it take her, do you remember?

One thing if I may 'a sausage as a treat'?

It's actually a 1cm piece of dog sausage, not a whole one. Usually her reward treats are just bits taken out of her food portion, but for special treats or training a new trick I give her a tiny bit of dog sausage.

if you scold a pup for weeing indoors ... it's scared of doing a wee in case you tell it off.

I'd thought of that, so didn't tell her off at all for the first two weeks. I just cleaned it up with no fuss. Well, she didn't learn anything from that, except that it was OK to mess in the house because mum cleans up.

Then I got frustrated - she'd only just been outside, and did another one on the carpet - so a NO! just came out, pretty loud. She jumped, looked startled, and stopped messing. I didn't punish her, just took her outside and did the whole routine as we always do. That loud NO! definitely works at stopping her in the act ... I'd just prefer her not to do the act.

* sigh

[Two_Sheds]

I set my alarm clock for midnight last night, took her out, she did a wee and a poo. Good dog. It took me 2 hrs to get back to sleep again because I was then cold and wide awake

Woke up at 6am to howling - she'd pood on her blankie, right next to her food bowl. At least she hadn't had time to walk and roll around in it.


Some experts suggest cutting down on food for a while, even if you're giving them the right amount, so I'll try that.
I'm also going to buy her an enclosed plastic travel crate which I'll place inside the larger wire crate: a crate break

[di]

I don't know if it would help or not, just throwing out ides as you sound desperate.

Do you clean up her poo outside? I wonder if it would help if you left it for a couple of days, could help her distinguish between where to go and where not?

Wish there was a wand to wave, new pup should be fun and she is a cute looking thing. x

[Two_Sheds]

I feel desperate ~ it's the not knowing if I'm doing it right that's stressful. If I knew for sure that I was doing it right and it was just simply going to take ten months: that's fine, I can do that. What's stressful is thinking I'm doing the wrong things and just ingraining her bad habits.

Her poops stay outside for a day or two: there's always one or two out there at least. She doesn't seem to have a favourite spot, but then Star the Staffie doesn't either.

Thanks for the positive thoughts, help & advice everyone

[OverWyreGrower]

Small dogs can take longer to housetrain (small bladder = more wees); also - it's only been a few weeks. You wouldn't expect a human child to be out of nappies by 6months old! My sister's Chihuahua's were 9 months old before they were totally clean and trustworthy in the house.

How often are you feeding her, what type of food, what times for meals? Please don't cut down her food - she is a growing baby who needs the right type and amount of nutrition. A food stuffed with 'fillers' will produce lots of poop, better quality foods produce better quality poop.

We used newspaper with our boys...it went right by the back door. If they were toileting elsewhere, they got taken outside mid-toilet and placed on the grass and the command word given (wee-wees/toilet/be clean etc). Eventually we moved the paper to outside the door...

This is a good article... House training your puppy

[Two_Sheds]

Thanks for the help OWG, you know you've consoled me in the past

You wouldn't expect a human child to be out of nappies by 6months old! My sister's Chihuahua's were 9 months old before they were totally clean

Quite, and I do understand it will take time. She's 8 mths old, and I was told by the breeder that she always went outside to do her toilets (but I know she was crate trained too, so I suspect a lot of her toilets were done in the crate)

How often are you feeding her, what type of food, what times for meals?

Lathams Vet Plan, 6am, 1pm and 5pm, although the 5pm meal is usually split into smaller portions as rewards for training (Sit, Paw, Stay etc).
She's on quality food, and isn't overfed, no treats no scraps, no human food except a 1cm cube of cheese occasionally. In fact the vet says she's pretty bony still and needs to put on more weight

We used newspaper with our boys...it went right by the back door. If they were toileting elsewhere, they got taken outside mid-toilet and placed on the grass and the command word given (wee-wees/toilet/be clean etc).

Tried the newspaper, she wouldn't stay on it let alone do toilet

[chris]

If that's your dog, can you keep her on the tiled area? At least cleaning up from tiles is easier than scrubbing your carpets -- I know you said it's all carpeted, unless that's a small porch area or something (mind you, probably larger than the crate?)

[di]

I feel desperate ~ it's the not knowing if I'm doing it right that's stressful. If I knew for sure that I was doing it right and it was just simply going to take ten months: that's fine, I can do that. What's stressful is thinking I'm doing the wrong things and just ingraining her bad habits.

Her poops stay outside for a day or two: there's always one or two out there at least. She doesn't seem to have a favourite spot, but then Star the Staffie doesn't either.

Thanks for the positive thoughts, help & advice everyone

You'll get there. There seem to be so many methods, I think the only wrong one would be mixing too many up.

To my dad's disgust, my Mum used to use the word 'tiddies', said in a particularly high pitch as our dogs command word when I was little. Can still hear my Dad, last thing at night, taking them out for their last wee calling tiddies. So either choose your word carefully or think of one that will cause Mr TS the most embarrasment Oh, and try to enjoy her too. x

[Glutton4...]

Bloody hell, TS! Sounds like you're having a tough time of it, Hon. In my opinion the chuffing Breeder wants a good slap for being so bloody lazy in the first place, and not training her properly.

Firstly, I would restrict her to a penned area on a wipe-clean floor. I moved the table and used a corner of the kitchen. She's only little, so an area of around 2' x 5-6' will suffice. Put her in it, have a cuppa, and get your breath back! A strip of fence, baby gate, car dog-guard, guinea pig run, or anything you have handy, or can borrow for a month. Make sure she can't climb out. (Mine was an escapologist!)

Put her bed at one end, in an open-ended crate/cage, cover it with a blanket, so it's her own special 'den' that she can hide away in, if she chooses. Place her water bowl outside the crate, safely in a corner, so she's less likely to trample in it. Cover the floor of the entire area with a good layer of newspaper. (It's cheaper and 'greener' than those nasty expensive puppy training pads.) Giving her more room than just her 'den' gives her the option of where to lay, depending on whether she's hot/cold, and will teach her to sort out her own territory.

Leave her in it at all times, just taking her out for wee/poo trips and training sessions. At the moment she is bewildered and confused, as everything appears to be rolling in to one. I certainly wouldn't attach her to me - it would drive me totally potty, and cause me to over-react to her, which is counter-productive (I do tend to have a short fuse!)

Cut out treats, I would use these for obedience training purposes only, not house training. Only give her her food at breakfast, lunch and dinner times, and remove the bowl after 15/20 minutes, even if she hasn't eaten it all. Over-fed puppies poo and pee more, and it's not good for them to have a constantly full/working bowel. They wouldn't in the wild. She needs routine or this to work. Two obedience sessions a day, one am one pm, will suffice. You can add an extra one in the evening if you have the time and patience. Restrict them to a few minutes at a time, and always end on a 'high' point.

She has to learn to fit in with your routine, not the other way round. Take her out, on the lead, first thing every morning. Even if she has messed in the pen. Give her the 'Do a wee' and 'Do a Poo' commands, or your equivalents, and plenty of praise when she does. Then put her back in her pen and feed her. If she didn't 'perform' before the meal, take her out after, but not straight away. She must have 20 minutes or so to digest. If she's asleep, leaver her, but take her out as soon as she wakes - that's when she'll go.

Repeat this out-door visit at intervals throughout the morning and afternoon, and the same at lunch and dinner times. At her age, she shouldn't need many visits apart from the meal-related ones. She will still have accidents, but she must get into a routine. Restricting her to a 'safe' area is better for her, and also for your sanity.

Personally, I wouldn't shout 'NO!' for toilet mistakes, it confuses them - just drag her straight outside to finish, but with no scolding (I know, it's natural to be cross), and re-enforce the praise, afterwards.

I'm sure you know most of the above waffle, but I got a bit carried away. I do go on a bit, sometimes!

Good luck!

[Farmer_Gyles]

patience patience patience .... it'll take more than a few weeks to undo 7 months of "habit" ....

definitely agree with the kitchen / newspaper thing .... will make things much easier until she's learnt the rules .... cover the entire kitchen floor with newspaper and she'll know that she can go on the newspaper .... gradually reduce the area of floor that you cover ....

definitely agree with the feeding / toilet routine .... be strict with yourself, stick to it .... dogs will pick up on routines quite quickly ....

always use word association with everything she does, indoors or out .... eventually she'll understand that when you're out in the garden and say "wee wee", you're actually telling her to do a wee ....

by nature, dogs don't want to poo and eat in the same place .... she probably doesn't understand why you put her food near her toilet .... or why you make her sleep in her toilet .... that's how she sees it .... she needs 3 separate places for food, toilet and sleep .... (see gluttons 3rd paragraph) ....

her existing crate is somewhere she already poos .... and you're planning to get a new crate and put it in her toilet .... (that's how she'll probably see it) .... i'd say go with gluttons 3rd paragraph, and at the same time, just replace the crate, don't do one inside the other .... and make sure it's the right sized crate .... dogs like their own space, they don't want to roll around in poo .... if you have a big crate, there's room for sleep and room for poo ....

stick at it, be patient ....

[OverWyreGrower]

Neither of my dogs were allowed free run of the house when puppies - they were relegated to the kitchen (tiled floors) unless on specific 'playtimes' - in fact, at 5 and 6, they still are!!

Because she has had a 'lazy' breeder, you'll need to go back to treating her as you would a small puppy - she will need to learn from the start about toileting (this is a common problem with kenneled dogs apparantly). A friends JRT was bred in a stable, and just toileted where he wanted (he was kept on straw). Took him ages to 'get' his training, and one day it just clicked....

I would definitely get a routine - pup should be taken OUTSIDE to do toilet on wake up, after food, after play, after training, before bed (and during the night if she cannot hold it). Even if you think she won't go - still take her anyway. I still remember the nights of 11pm toilet trips in the howling wind and rain, shouting "wee-wees!" over the wind noise ;-)

Latham's is an OK for a supermarket-stocked food, but does have quite a mish-mash of grain in it. Personally, I would choose a food with only one source of grain in it. We currently feed Arden Grange (light, not large breed),

[snuffer]

Several years ago I had a Basset Hound pup (Molly, sadly no longer with us). She was very slow to toilet train and had a problem with submissive urination for months and months.

As has already been suggested by mothawk in post No.10 (and I know it sounds a bit gross, but it worked for Molly) when taking her outside to defacate massage arround her anal orifice (perhaps rubber gloves are the order of the day but personally I never bothered). It's as easy to wash your hands after taking her outside as it is after cleaning up after her inside.

She may be a little old for this trick but it might be worth a try. Sorry it's not particularly pleasent.

Try not to let this setback spoil your enjoyment of a beautiful little dog. Once she gets the hang of it you'll forget about all the problems.

[Two_Sheds]

try to enjoy her too. x

oh, I do, I do, and I can't wait for Monday when she has her first Big Girl Walkies

I would definitely get a routine - pup should be taken OUTSIDE to do toilet on wake up, after food, after play, after training, before bed (and during the night if she cannot hold it). Even if you think she won't go - still take her anyway.

I'm already doing all that



There isn't an Arden Grange stockist near me, that's why she's on Lathams

[Two_Sheds]

when taking her outside to defacate massage arround her anal orifice

She doesn't have a problem going outside. She goes outside. It's just that she goes inside as well