HOUSE BREAKING - Support Thread (Mind your pee's and poo's!)

beautiful-dreamer

katchambers wrote: »

How did it go for everyone this week? Was it dry?

Great news - new record - 4 nights and 4 days dry!!! Lets see if she can make it 5 tonight!

Hope everyone else is going well.

kat x

Hi Kat and all who follow

My little puppy is doing really well. Since being in the crate we have had dry nights. He did have me up at 5.30am this morning though :rolleyes: then that's it he's up!!

I did leave him this morning to get him ready for when i go back to work and he seemed ok when we got back (about 1hr and a half, to build up gradually)

Little monster is asleep now, he's so grumpy when he gets tired :rotfl: I'll take him out before i go to bed, then that's it until morning.

Well done with your puppy Kat :T

elsien

Well done both, pleased for you both that things are heading in the right direction (as it were!)

katchambers

6 NIGHTS DRY!!!! YIPEEE!!!!

Well done BD!!

Kat x

manda1205

Well done both of you! :T

Molly's been brill all week, had one accident in the day during the week, but I put that down to workmen being here all week (finally getting central heating in, yay!), so she's been a bit put out this week. Although has loved the extra tools shes been able to run off with and have a chew on! lol.

Now trying to work on her not pulling on the lead! Got training classes next week, so hoping they can teach me some things, and Molly of course.

sarabe

No dog should be considered fully house trained until they are about a year old. Up until that time they are in training. That doesn't mean that you should have accidents in the house though it just means that the dog must always be in the right place when they need to go.

To house train a pup or older rescue dog or any dog for that matter you should take them to the garden after they have eaten, when they wake up, before, during and after a period of activity, before you go out, when you come in, before bed, during the adverts and every half an hour inbetween unless they are asleep. Stay out there with them until they go. Try not to distract them or to nag but just calmly walk about which should encourage them to do the same.

Once they have 'been' then you can play a game or go back in whichever suits.

If you wait until the pup looks as if they are about to go then it is too late. They have already decided to go in that place and even if you interupt them and get them out they will be unlikely to understand your motives.

Over night a young pup will need to go to the toilet. The best way to deal with this is for the pup (or older rescue dog) to sleep in a crate beside your bed. Then when they wake needing the loo they can be taken out straight away and will eventually be able to hold on whilst waiting for you to find your slippers.

The pup that is left in the kitchen overnight will wake up needing a pee and take a pee and so will take longer to learn to hold on.

The other advantage of having the pup beside the bed is that they learn to settle at night and do not get distressed about being left. All dogs need to learn to be alone but it should be done gradually. Leaving them alone for 8 hours from the get go, in the dark, in a strange place is often the start of future anxiety problems and difficulties with being alone.

Back to the house training.

Take a typical day in the life of an 8 week old puppy.

7am Puppy is taken out into the garden, does a pee and a poo, owner present, is praised and rewarded.

8am Puppy pees on the kitchen floor, owner present, gets a reprimand.

9am Puppy wanders out into the garden and has a pee, owner not present, nothing happens (except relief of course)

10.30am. Puppy pees under the dining room table, owner not present, nothing happens.

11.am Puppy pees on the lounge carpet, owner present, gets a reprimand.

11.30am Puppy is taken to the garden, has a pee, owner present, is praised and rewarded.

1pm Puppy pees and poos under the dining room table, owner not present, nothing happens.

and so on and so on....

What is the puppy learning from this? That it is right to toilet outside and wrong to toilet inside?

Nah. What the pup is actually learning is that it is always safe to pee when the owner is not present and that so far the safest place is under the dining room table.

When the owner is present sometimes it is rewarding and sometimes it is dangerous and to most dogs the appeal of the reward is not worth the risk of the punishment so they choose to toilet when the owner is not looking which is most often indoors when the owner leaves the room.

As far as the dog is concerned you are angry at WHAT they are doing not WHERE they are doing it. Similarily rewarding a dog for toileting can also backfire as the same applies and a dog may pee indoors as an appeasment if you are displeased with them for something else or just to get attention if they believe that taking a pee is going to get rewarded.


Getting the puppy into the habit of going to the toilet on your schedule teaches bowel and bladder control and ensures that you can ask the dog to eliminate before you are going to leave him shut in for a period of time, or before bed. Relying on the dog asking to go out often ends up with you being the dog's butler and the dog having accidents when you are not there to ask or when you are in the shower or on the telephone.

During the house training process if your dog has an accident take a rolled up newspaper and hit yourself over the head whilst repeating the words "I forgot the dog needed out" "I forgot the dog needed out". If your dog laughs at you - praise him.

pinklover

Thanks so much Sarabe for the sound advice,:A it is exactly what is happening to my new pup of 9 weeks old Shih Tzu x Bichon.:o I've not had a small dog before and toliet train him is getting really difficult becos of his size, I can't tell if he is actually weeing at all until I see a wet patch on the carpet, then it is too late to reprimand. Same applies to when he does it in the garden as I can't tell if he is doing it or not, I can't give him the praise for him to learn. At the minute, he does it everywhere in the house, just as you said away in another room from us. It is easier to see him wanting to do a number 2 as there is the usual circulate and sniffing around but he still does it inside. We got training pads down as well but he only use it once in a while, so no use there.

I tried to bring him out in the garden after food and waits a bit with him, but apart from number 2, I can't tell if he's done a wee and therefore to let me know I can bring him back or not..

I tried to put him in a crate in the kitchen with training pad at the far side at night, he is so stress that he cried all night banging on the door..so now he sleeps in his bed next to our bed but not in a crate and he does poo in the middle of the night in the house which I've to wake up at 2am last night to clean up, not fun! So your advice to put the crate in our bedroom and lock him there sounds good, so at least he can wake me up and go with him outside...

Apart from the above, he is such a loving, well behave puppy..just need to get this training done properly..my husband is losing his patience with him as he is messing the house in a bad way!

mumhug

Hi all what a helpful thread, i am picking up our new pup in 2 weeks and i am trying to pick up some tips. There is one thing i am not clear on when i crate at night should i be putting a puppy pad at the far end or not ?

sarabe

mumhug wrote: »

Hi all what a helpful thread, i am picking up our new pup in 2 weeks and i am trying to pick up some tips. There is one thing i am not clear on when i crate at night should i be putting a puppy pad at the far end or not ?

It kind of defeats the object if you give your dog an en-suite in his crate so no, don't encourage your dog to pee in his crate. Make sure that the crate is small and cosy so that the pup will want to move away from his bed to pee and this will give you the opportunity to take him out so that he only ever pees outside.

I've not had a small dog before and toliet train him is getting really difficult becos of his size, I can't tell if he is actually weeing at all until I see a wet patch on the carpet, then it is too late to reprimand.

Don't ever reprimand your dog for going to the toilet. If he goes on the carpet it is your fault and your fault alone for not making sure he was in the garden when he needed to go. There is no way that a puppy can know where he is supposed to go to the toilet until you have taught him and reprimands do not teach pups anything except to engage in the behaviour when you are not looking.

At the minute, he does it everywhere in the house, just as you said away in another room from us. It is easier to see him wanting to do a number 2 as there is the usual circulate and sniffing around but he still does it inside. We got training pads down as well but he only use it once in a while, so no use there.

Don't wait until you see him wanting to go. It will be too late. Just take him outside at every opportunity. Take a comfy chair, a good book, a coffee and your fags if you smoke and stay out until he has been. The only time your pup should be allowed to wander at will about the house, especially the carpeted areas is when he has an empty bowel and bladder. This is usually only for about half an hour after going to the toilet for an 8 week old pup, slightly longer if they are resting and often much less if they are very active.

If you are struggling to see that he is going then perhaps have him on a lead or stay close to him. You'll soon recognise the change of posture once you have observed it a few times.

As for puppy pads they should carry a warning on the packet along the lines of - 'Warning - these will seriously screw up your house training'. They may make it easier to clean up the pee and poo but there is really no need to teach your puppy to pee on the floor in the house if you have a perfectly good garden outside.

mumhug

Thank you very much for the advice

mumhug

we have ordered quite a large crate and the dog will not be very big
border terrier x king charles. is that going to cause problems do you think?