House training question...

tankgirl1

thanks again. have also just come accross this website, which seems to have quite sensible advice (apart from the bit about only letting them out at 8am, 12 noon, 5pm etc!! :eek:!)

WeirdoMagnet

Would echo exactly what JennyW has said.

I wouldn't advocate paper/pad/tray training - it is thought that you are teaching the dog that it's OK to go inside, and then you'll have to reteach it to go outside! Best to start as you mean to go on and as you've said, go outside every 30 mins (or more frequently if necessary), so you can reward the pup when she does go. That way you are also (hopefully) preventing the pup from 'practicing' the unwanted behaviour of going inside.

Also (if you don't already, although you probably do in this weather!), keep your entrance door shut, so there is a definate barrier between 'outside' and 'inside', IYKWIM.

For clearing up any accidents, its best to use a solution of biological washing powder - it breaks down the enzymes which if left encourage the dog to go in the same place.

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:

Good luck,

Georgie

tankgirl1

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:

:rotfl:

thats actually a really good idea, as she is just looking at me like i'm bonkers each time i take her out, and is not even attepting to sniff around or anything :rolleyes:

thanks for the advice- all good :T

toffeepennys

it could all be caused by how your cleaning it up also, a dog will only wee if he or she can smell ammonia from either urine from another annimal or from cleaning products, it recognises the smell which is undetectable with our nose, there are a few cleaning products which contain no ammonia, but the best is non biologiacal washing powder, either mop or was the floor in a mix of powder or if its outside sprinkle the powder down and wait for the rain.nearly everything else contains ammonia and therefore confuses the dog. We took our puppy to puppy school, the tips we were taught all worked fantastic on our rotweiller. to train a pup not to jump or to correct bad behaviur, put a few pennies in the hole of a drinks can, cover the hole with card and tape and keep handy, everytime the dog does anything naughty, attempts to wee,. jump up,gets aggitated ratlle the can near the puppy, it makes a horrible noise that will deter the behaviour. good luck

tankgirl1

a dog will only wee if he or she can smell ammonia from either urine from another annimal or from cleaning products

hmmmm- ds is potty training also at the mo, so the whole house probably smells like a loo to the pooch! and guess what ive been cleaning it up with? yep- thats right- disinfectant- doh! :doh:

tankgirl1

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.

have just tried that, and the darned creature just tried to eat it :rolleyes:

:rotfl:

supermezzo

The only thing I might be tempted to do is to actually ignore the 'going' in the house - your pup is learnign to get a response from you by doing it and may well use it to get your attention in the future. It also makes the outside praise far more exciting.

WeirdoMagnet

toffeepennys wrote: »

... but the best is non biologiacal washing powder, either mop or was the floor in a mix of powder or if its outside sprinkle the powder down and wait for the rain.

I think it is biological washing powder that should be used - as that destroys the enzymes in thre urine, where as non-bio does not 'digest' them properly. I may be wrong tho!

toffeepennys wrote: »

... put a few pennies in the hole of a drinks can, cover the hole with card and tape and keep handy, everytime the dog does anything naughty, attempts to wee,. jump up,gets aggitated ratlle the can near the puppy, it makes a horrible noise that will deter the behaviour.

Using aversives to train your dog can actually exacerbate the problem. It may seem to work, but it is much better to teach the dog (through positive based training methods) what is good, rather than punish (which is what the rattle tin is) the bad. So, teach your dog it is rewarding to go to the toilet outside - it will stop going inside; and that by jumping up it gets no attention, but with 'four on the floor' it gets lots of cuddles. Dogs are dogs - they aren't naughty for the sake of it, it's because we haven't taught them what we deem to be right.

Georgie

WeirdoMagnet

tankgirl1 wrote: »

have just tried that, and the darned creature just tried to eat it :rolleyes:

:rotfl:

Whoops! :doh:

tankgirl1

supermezzo wrote: »

The only thing I might be tempted to do is to actually ignore the 'going' in the house - your pup is learnign to get a response from you by doing it and may well use it to get your attention in the future. It also makes the outside praise far more exciting.

hiya

do you mean ignore her if i catch her 'in the act'?

i am already ignoring it (not literally!) and not making a fuss if i dont catch her, but have just been saying 'no' and taking her out if i do catch her.

thanks