Puppy Advice (merged)

stokechick16

We are in the same situation at the moment. When he wakes up, we take him outside. And when hes had something eat, we take him outside after. Or we take him outside when he starts to sniff. But of course we do miss sometimes.

Good luck xx

ms.prong

I'm after some tips on toilet training my puppy please. She is a boxer and is approx 14 weeks old.

She has only just had her final jabs so was only able to start going outside last week. Before she was allowed out we had a puppy training pad for her which she seems to get the hang of.

How often should I be taking her out to the garden? Poo is not a problem as she only seems to go when we are on walks so its just the weeing that we are having trouble with. Obviously I realise that she will need to go quite often at the moment but she seems to show no signs of needing to go. People have talked about looking out for sniffing, circling etc. She does this when she needs a poo but not a wee.

We have started taking her out every hour to the garden but she won't go. She justs sits there and my partner has waited up to an hour with her before and she still won't go. As soon as we take her inside she goes on the carpet. We have never got cross with her as we were told that this is counter-productive and when she does go if we are on a walk then she gets lots of praise.

The thing I don't understand is that she manages to go the whole night quite a lot of the time without going in her crate (we are crate training). Also she is really clever and has learnt loads of tricks and how to sit etc really quickly so I think myself and my partner are doing something wrong with the toilet training.

Any ideas please?

summerday

Just to say tI know how frustrating this is and it will just take time. Try to clean the carpet really thoroghly and put down scented sprays etc as pups will tend to go in the same places esp if they can detect a trace of their own urine from before.Best tactic is to catch her peeing in the right place- even near the back door if not outside and give immediate praise and food treats as soon as she starts to urinate (not afterwards). When she starts to pee on the carpet quickly lift her up and take her to the place you want her to go, and reward her when she does.Hope that helps a bit, Sarah

WeirdoMagnet

Sounds like you're doing all the right things ms.prong. The only reason she might be a bit slow on the uptake is because she's already been trained to go inside on the puppy pads, and now you're having to re-train her to go outside. Although a pup hasn't had it's jabs, it's OK to take it into your own enclosed garden, just not on the street where lots of other dogs might be.

Take her outside every half hour (more often if necessary), and after every play/sleep/meal and stay with her. Close the door behind you - that creates a physical barrier between 'inside' and 'outside'. She may not go, that's fine, but when she does, you need to give her lots of praise:T , like weeing/pooing outside is the best thing in the world. :j Also take a really yummy treat with you (like cheese/ham), that you give her once she's done. Same when you go for a walk, praise and treat her for going.

She will soon realise that outside is the place to go. And once she's really reliable, you can introduce a cue word which will be really helpful when you need her to go quickly.

It will take time, and you have to be patient. As you say, never reprimand her for going inside, pop her in another room and clear it up with no fuss, and 'mop up' using a solution of biological washing powder which will digest the enzymes that would ordinarily encourage him to go in the same place again. I would not advise using perfumed/fragranced cleaners - they could still contain ammonia/the enzymes that the dog can still smell. Biological Powder is the best and cheapest.

Finally, when we were teaching our dog (she was 'part' house trained when she arrived from rescue) - and I'm sorry for those who are a bit squeamish - I put an 'old' one of her poos (pickup on a walk) in the place where we wanted her to go, which worked a treat. I encouraged her over, she smelt it (seemed a bit surprised it was there TBH!), which had the desired effect. You could do the same with wee, if you mop it up with kitchen roll or similar, I suppose, and just leave the wet kitchen paper under a stone. I don't think you can get a more practical solution than that!!! :rotfl:

Hope this helps - let us know how you get on.

Georgie

happytails

Hello. We have 5 dogs and 1 of ours sounds just like yours!
My GSD mollie took a while to toilet train (compared to my other dogs) - she is now 11months old and has been toilet trained since 5months.

We took her out every 15mins - NOT JOKING ! and nothing - let her in and she did it on floor/in her bed etc.

Best advice, Clean carpets thoroughly with ammonia free products - as this is in urine. Get a spray that breaks down the enzymes in the wee that attracts the dog back - the vets will sell a good one!

if you are in garden and she sniffs floor - praise her, and obv if she toilets praise praise praise!

If you catch her in the act inside, Shriek (to alarm her) this should stop her weeing and pick her up if you can and take her outside ASAP and wait for her to finish - may take a while but she gotta empty her bladder some time!

after drinking take her out 15mins late - give her chance to need to pee. same with feeding, sleeping and playing.

Be patient, keep up the good work, she will get it eventually.

IF you need anymore tips PM me, i am a dog trainer (in training) and a full time dog walker (aka MAD woman :rotfl:)

Sarah

ms.prong

Thanks for your replies. Perhaps I am just being a little impatient.

I have some spray that gets rid of the smells and I have been cleaning the carpet with a vax too.

happytails-I will give it a week or so and if I have no luck I will take you up on that PM if thats ok

supermezzo

I have to be honest, I'm not a fan of making any noise or fuss when they 'go' inside as sometimes it can frighten them and they then learn to 'go' in places where you can't see them. I'm also not a fan of carrying them outside if they are mid wee as you end up with a trail of it as well as the original puddle!
Do you have a command for her to 'go'? (Any word you like, so long as you're prepared to use it in the park!) We use 'busy' but toilet/wee/spend/clean etc...you get the jist, work. Repeatedly say your chosen command when she does 'go' outside, then make a huge fuss and reward her, then make a note of the time (no, really) and take her outside again in half an hours time and if she goes, repeat the above comand and treat. Giving her a command may be the hint she need that you're putting her out in the garden for a wee, as she may not have twigged thats what you're on about!

WeirdoMagnet

supermezzo wrote: »

I have to be honest, I'm not a fan of making any noise or fuss when they 'go' inside as sometimes it can frighten them and they then learn to 'go' in places where you can't see them. I'm also not a fan of carrying them outside if they are mid wee as you end up with a trail of it as well as the original puddle!

I completely agree. The last thing you want is for your pup to be wary of weeing in front of you.

happytails

The idea is supposed to work so the pup does not realise the noise came from you and also unaware it is related to what she is doing.

Sure if you shout at her she will go in other places, hiding the mess. You have to be very careful about this

Also picking pup up will ensure she doesnt wander off course whilst your trying to get her outside (she may squat again enroute). My dogs havent continued to pee after being picked up to get outside - ive toilet trained 7 so far this way.

Goodluck, and i agree with poster above - write down the time - you will see a pattern

suki1964

Never ever ever make a fuss if a pup has an accident in the house. its never the pups fault, the pup wont know whats happening and will no doubt be scared and confused.

Only ever praise and make a huge fuss when a pup is doing the behaviour you want - in this case going toilet outside. Ignore the accidents in the house, just mop up and move on.

You will be in effect starting from scratch because you have already taught your pup that its good to go in the house on puppy pads. Georgina has given excellent advice and I cant offer any more to that myself. It just takes time and patience, be thankful that summer is here (although I read its wet in many parts of England) - I toilet trained two pups through winters, one I never had a garden for and had to go walkies all hours of the day and night

Just thought, I would add I also did get up in the night to take my pups out for toilet. Once I got them used to the idea that outside was the place to go I didnt want any confusion by letting them use pads or paper at night