Need an idiots guide to dogs......

Tygermoth

Morning all.

I need help! if you just want the short version jump to the red section at the end

Meet Pip, 10 month old Staffy Lab cross. Re-homed with my friend 4 months ago by Dogs Trust. Pip has some issues and looks to have been very badly treated before being abandoned at the Dogs Trust.

We had a behavourologist come in to help her settle in because she was scared of everyone and everything. Would wet herself if approached by someone she didn’t know and bark and growl at doors, doorway, knocks or bangs. Pip eats her poop and was not house trained at all. She was fanatically attached to my friend and would not let anyone else walk or pet her.

The behaviours above have been mostly resolved by loads of love, positive reinforcement or treats! Except one.... House training..... Kind of...

Now i should explain my friend for reasons outside her control now has to stay with me one week out of every month sometimes a little more (this arrangement will now be in place going forward for a min of four years and would take too long to explain the whys and wherefores). While at her own home Pip is mostly house trained. But while at mine.... not at all.


At home as they are in a flat they have a set walking routine which is by the minute. Pip knows the routine and as such has got in to the rhythm of poohing and wee’ing while in the great outdoors. While they are here there is no routine and Pip is just let out into the garden. My feeling is she doesn’t associate the garden as a place to do the business as at home she just happens to do the business outside while on her walk. Do you see what i mean?

Ok, this has been brought up with my mate on a number of occasions who agreed with my hypothesis.... but then didn’t seem to do anything about it.. If I’m feeling mean my thoughts are that it’s not her house or carpets so is not a big deal. So far since yesterday alone she has wee’d in the house three times and poohed once. Despite me walking her out of desperation (it’s not for me to do if my friend is here and able grrrrr) and letting her out often to the garden. The marking of the carpets are becoming terrible and the smell.....:eek:


So on to my plan. As I can’t tell my friend the dog is not welcome (she needs to be here for that week and there is nowhere else the dog can go) I have decided to take matters in to my own hands. I am off for 14 days over Christmas and I think I am going to ask the dog stays here while my friend goes back home. I will take the 14 days to try and get Pip in to a routine here to break the cycle. (Ps Pip is happy to stay here and does not get stressed at being left)

Please please please can I have your tips and hints on house training.. I have never done it before (only had cats) please remember she is a timid dog and it’s not her fault so none of the ‘rub her nose, smack and out to the garden’ type approaches as this will confuse, upset and unsettle her.

I am utterly clueless and really need an idiots guide to toilet training... Can someone lay me down a list of when to take her out? How long? Do we need a set walk? Or can I let her out into the garden and just reward her when she does to deed? How to teach an ‘I need to pee’ signal? How can I disassociate the want to pee in the house (I have been cleaning with bio wash) or any other helpful tips? I really need help because if this is not resolved it will have dire consequences for both my friend, Pip and her arrangement to stay here.

Kind regards and season’s greetings


Tyger

gettingready

Sorry but why doesn't your friend stick with her/his dog to the same routine that works while they are in "their" place?

At home as they are in a flat they have a set walking routine which is by the minute. Pip knows the routine and as such has got in to the rhythm of poohing and wee’ing while in the great outdoors. While they are here there is no routine

You see, I do not agree with "take the dog out same time to the minute" thing as problems start when one is late from work for example etc but it that is working for that particular dog - why not just simply stick to it regardless of where the dog lives? And I do not mean YOU but your friend sticking to this routine.. his dog.....

Lobell

Treat her like you would a puppy...take her into the garden regularly. As she's not atiny puppy she won't need to go as frequently, so once an hour or thereabouts should suffice. Also take her out after food and after seh wakes up from a sleep.

Take her out and stay with her. You need to be there for the instant that she pees/poos so that you can reward...you can choose how to reward her dependent upon what she likes most...food/toys/games. Praise lavishly each and every time she goes in the garden and she soon get the idea that it's a good thing. Once she appears to be getting the hang of it, you can introduce an associated word which becomes her cue to 'go' when an where you want.

Ignore any accidents in the house and just clean them up as you have been doing (with a bio solution). If she is soiling at night, try confining her to a small area (kitchen, or hard floored area for ease of cleaning, preferably).

You should be able to crack this within 2 weeks but it takes 100% attention and consistency on your part.

Best of luck.

sarabe

Well done for taking on this task.

You should be able to accomplish it easily in the 2 weeks.

Take her out into the garden after eating, when she wakes and at every opportunity, at least twice an hour until you have established how often she needs to go.

Stay out there with her until she goes. Don't nag her, just mooch about, perhaps take up bird spotting to pass the time. I tend not to recommend giving treats as this can cause her to do lots of little ones or not finish and even to go indoors in the hope of a treat. A game afterwards outside would be good though.

If she empties outside then you know you have about half an hour when you don't need to be watching her. If she doesn't then attach her to you by a long lead and take her everywhere around the house with you and try again in ten minutes.

At night let her sleep beside the bed, preferably in a crate and if she needs the toilet she will wake you.

She just needs zero opportunity to pee in the house.

Tygermoth

Hi Gettingready,

Many thanks for your reply. Regretably while here my friend has to be out and about meaning the routine comes unstuck. I can not keep the routine up as i am out at work all day.

To be honest i have left my friend to get on with it as i didnt want it to become 'my problem' and take up dealing with Pip, walking her cleaning up after her ect because my friend has a habit of just sitting back and letting people pick up the slack (And before people jump in, she is a darn good friend... no one is perfect and this is her one and only flaw - trust me i love her dearly and she is a great mate)

However i just cant cope with the repeated soiling in the house!

Tygermoth

Thanks everyone!

So half hourly outside.

Have small treats handy (shes a very food orentated dog - will prolly use tiny bits of chicken)

Errrm keeping and eye on her to praise when she goes may be an issue he ahve a large garden (she bombs about the garden vanishes for a sec and the deed is done) would you recomend keeping her on a lead?

foreign_correspondent

Tygermoth wrote: »

Please please please can I have your tips and hints on house training.. I have never done it before (only had cats) please remember she is a timid dog and it’s not her fault so none of the ‘rub her nose, smack and out to the garden’ type approaches as this will confuse, upset and unsettle her.

I am utterly clueless and really need an idiots guide to toilet training... Can someone lay me down a list of when to take her out? How long? Do we need a set walk? Or can I let her out into the garden and just reward her when she does to deed? How to teach an ‘I need to pee’ signal? How can I disassociate the want to pee in the house (I have been cleaning with bio wash) or any other helpful tips?

You are not as clueless as you think! you are dead right, no aversive training methods, she does not need any extra anxieties - what you need to work on it peeing an pooing outside being a really positive experience - you could start off like you would with a pup, take her outside as soon as she arrives (before she comes in the house) and then every 30 minutes at first.

Wrap up warm and keep her on lead at first, and just have a quiet and steady stroll round the garden - (if she stops and sniffs a lot she is probably looking for the right blade of grass to pee on, so let her snuffle!) if she pees or poos, gently praise her, and maybe give her a nice little treat (a sliver of cheese is good, and if she is a lab x she is probably quite food motivated!) - I have just spotted sarabe's post though - who recommends not treating with food - and I can understand her rationale.

But, basically, try not to give her the chance to make a mistake, and give her plently of chances to get it right, and act like she is the best dog n the world when she toilets outside!

gettingready

Tygermoth - I do feel for you, obviously we do not kow the reasons while your friend can stick to routine wt his but not at yours and the poor dog gets confused but...

With you working full time... despite all the excellent advice you got from posters above, I can not see this practical.

Hopefully you may be off for a few days around Xmas and able to implement this?

Failing that - get a dog crate (read: get you rfriend to buy one).

Dog crates are excellent for toilet training as dogs do not like to pee/poo in a crate.

Pets at Home normally has quite a good selection of those.

Get one big enough to put a balnket in with space for some toys, possibly food and water bowl too.

I had one for Zara (German Shepherd) when she was young - she loved to be in there (with the door open, not locked in). I have put a blanket over the top and 2 sides of the crate, third side was against the wall so it was "cosy" for her inside, it was her special place (she would never pee or poo inside the crate as she used to drag all her "trophies" in there - shoes, sachets of cat food, her own bones, toys etc).

Once she is comfortable in her crate, you can lock her in there when you are unable to keep an eye on her around the house and take her out to the garden straight from the crate - tuill she gets the message...

Good luck

Tygermoth

Thanks FC,

Do you do half hourly overnight? or drop to hourly? (she does pee quite a bit over night)

It was recomended taking up water at 1900 to stop this (but seemed mean) and in humans concentrated wee is harsher and an irritant to the bladder so you wee just as much..... so ipsofacto would it not make her go just as much?

Tyger

gettingready

Just to show what type of crate I meant:



Although the one on the photo to me seems a bit small for the dog in there..... I would get a bigger one

Tygermoth

Hi again Gettingready,

As she is timid i have a feeling that the crate idea would just upset her.

However i see the logic behing the sugestion and will hold it in reserve.

I have 14 days off over the holidays to bring the plan into action.

Just broached the subject with the OH he is less than impressed its down to us to 'do somthing'

However he has also said enoughs enough (just found Pip in the bathroom poohing despite being out a moment ago) and advises he will put the effort in with me for the fourteen days and if its does not stick we will have to reconsider.....