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Housebreaking Question
posted at 10/24/2008 7:43 AM EDT
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Posts: 21
First: 10/24/2008 Last: 7/18/2009 |
We adopted a puppy last week who is about 10 weeks old. We're training her to go to the bathroom outside, and she has caught on to the concept pretty well, however she still has accidents inside on a daily basis. We take her out often and praise her when she goes, but we've also been paper training her inside so that when she has accidents inside, she knows to go on the paper, which she also understands the concept of. Are we confusing her by paper training her and trying to get her to go outside? We've stopped praising her when she goes inside, but we'd like her to continue to use the paper if she does accidentally go in the house. My husband thinks we should get rid of the paper altogether and deal with the messes when they occur, but if she knows to use the paper, the clean-up is much easier! Help! |
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Housebreaking Question
posted at 10/27/2008 7:12 AM EDT
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Posts: 1102
First: 4/5/2007 Last: 12/11/2009 |
Our breeder told us never to use newspaper or puppy training pads as it only confuses the issue for the puppy. I would recommend not using the newspaper. Are you crate training as well? The crate help tremendously for us. |
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Housebreaking Question
posted at 10/28/2008 5:55 AM EDT
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Posts: 34
First: 7/14/2008 Last: 12/10/2009 |
Does anyone have any recommendations for house breaking an older dog. I recently adopted a dog that was found as a stray. The vet thinks she is probably about 10 years old. She is a tiny little thing only about 8 lbs. My sister had her first and said she had no issues with accidents but I think this is because my sister has two other dogs and a dog door. Her dogs go in and out of the house regularly and the little one would just follow them. Now that I have her she is having quite a few accidents, usually when she is left alone, but not always. When I let her out to go she doesn't seem to understand. She only goes when she is walked which I do at least 3 times a day. Any suggestions? |
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Housebreaking Question
posted at 10/28/2008 5:59 AM EDT
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Posts: 1867
First: 5/30/2008 Last: 12/23/2009 |
[Quote]
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Housebreaking Question
posted at 10/28/2008 6:51 AM EDT
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Posts: 34
First: 7/14/2008 Last: 12/10/2009 |
Thats what I was afraid of. Oh well, it's a small price to pay for the knowledge that this sweet little dog can live out the rest of her life loved and taken care of. I don't know how or why she became homeless but I'm just grateful I was able to take her in. |
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Housebreaking Question
posted at 11/25/2008 11:00 AM EST
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Posts: 2253
First: 5/7/2008 Last: 7/3/2009 |
KEK-2- |
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Housebreaking Question
posted at 3/18/2009 4:59 AM EDT
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Posts: 14
First: 2/11/2009 Last: 11/25/2009 |
There's a terrific, very inexpensive, booklet out by Patricia McConnell called "Way to Go," all about housetraining challenges. Dr. McConnell offers strategies to solve all sorts of housetraining issues. You absolutely CAN house train an adult dog. You can find Way to Go at Dogwise or Amazon. |
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Housebreaking Question
posted at 3/18/2009 9:01 AM EDT
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Posts: 5597
First: 10/17/2005 Last: 12/23/2009 |
KEK, I think your dog can learn because it was learning from the other dogs in your sister's house. If it wasn't getting the point, it probably would have still had accidents there not knowing why they were outside. I wonder how to teach it without the other dogs' influence, though...good luck!
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Housebreaking Question
posted at 3/18/2009 1:04 PM EDT
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Posts: 34
First: 7/14/2008 Last: 12/10/2009 |
As an update, she is doing much, much better. She's probably down to one or two accidents a week. I still have to walk her to get her to "go" but maybe now that the weather is improving I'll be able to be outside with her for a longer time. I've brought her out to the backyard several times to see if she would get the picture, but she pretty much just stands there and looks at me. At her last appointment the vet estimated her age at probably closer to 12 so she really is doing very well for an older dog. She is very sweet so that makes up for it! |
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Housebreaking Question
posted at 3/20/2009 7:46 AM EDT
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Posts: 2253
First: 5/7/2008 Last: 7/3/2009 |
That's so great to hear! It sounds like she's getting used to her walking schedule, and as long as you stick to it, she'll soon be accident free. |
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Re: Housebreaking Question
posted at 8/28/2009 10:54 AM EDT
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Posts: 14
First: 2/11/2009 Last: 11/25/2009 |
There's a wonderful (very inexpensive) booklet written by Patricia McConnell called "Way to Go" that deals with all sorts of house training problems. You can get it from Amazon or Dogwise. I will say, however, that barring a medical problem, if your dog/puppy is having accidents on a daily basis, you're probably not doing your job monitoring the pup. The burden for errorless housetraining is on the human end of the leash. |
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Re: Housebreaking Question
posted at 8/28/2009 11:48 AM EDT
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Posts: 5597
First: 10/17/2005 Last: 12/23/2009 |
ship is right - learning their subtle signs (they don't learn to signal effectively until quite awhile after they learn it's bad to go in the house) is the key. Also, at 10 - 15 weeks old, they should be taken out signs or no signs after 30 - 45 minutes and given the opportunity and encouragement ("go peee") to go. We had one daily accident from the time our pup was 8 weeks to about 11 weeks. After that, we (both us and the puppy) learned how to avoid them. She started signalling (weakly), and we started picking up on the "uh-oh, she's gonna go" signs. One big one for us is her going out to the front door even though we always take her out the back to go. We figured she wanted to go for a walk or a ride or something when she went out there. Nope. So, now when she runs to the front, we run after her and lead her right out the back. Also, when she stops playing with her toys for some reason and wanders off (anywhere) we take her out. Once in awhile she'll go to the door and then walk away like "false alarm" but don't be fooled. She just got distracted for a moment and really does have to go. So, again, the burden is on the trainer after they know at all to not go in the house like ship said. I can agree 'cause I'm right there with you...well, actually a few weeks ahead. I hope you ditched the papers. That confuses them. They think it's OK to go in the house because it is. I know it's debated, but we are doing it without papers, and we haven't had an accident for about 3 weeks. The last time it happened she did whine and bark first, but we thought she wanted a treat from the counter. Oops. She was so sad and even finished peeing outside after we scooped her up. |
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Re: Housebreaking Question
posted at 8/29/2009 3:37 PM EDT
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Posts: 217
First: 5/31/2008 Last: 12/20/2009 |
toilet training a child and a puppy are very similar: they have to 'get the concept' that they need to pee/p00p in the potty (a child) or outside (a dog). THEN they have to be able to 'hold it' long enough to get to the desired place before letting go. And they ALSO have to be able to 'tell you' that they have to go. All 3 skills are necessary for success, and all are developed slowly over time, as they develop physically (larger bladders, understanding of how it feels to 'have to go' and how to hold it and then let go in the right place) and mentally/emotionally (mostly for a child, but also a puppy has to mentally understand so they can tell you they gotta go.) AND you have to get good at reading the signs, whether it's the "pee pee dance" we've all seen young children do or the whining/going to the door/scratching/looking at you intently while you read the paper/whatever sign that a puppy does. Our golden retriever could bore a hole in your newspaper with his gaze when he "had to go"! he never barked to go outside (golden retrievers don't tend to bark much, it's a breed thing), but he had a "look". Also, adult dogs can wait a long time, puppies not so much. Same thing with adult people: we can hold it all day, a child not so much! |
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Re: Housebreaking Question
posted at 8/31/2009 11:31 AM EDT
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Posts: 5597
First: 10/17/2005 Last: 12/23/2009 |
CT, good post. I wish I'd known that before we trained our pup. I thought all three things came together at once, but it's really one at a time. We're in stage 3, her learning the best way to let us know she has to go. In the meantime, we're watching her very subtle signs. She doesn't bark, either, but sometimes she'll whine.
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Re: Housebreaking Question
posted at 9/2/2009 10:12 AM EDT
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Posts: 748
First: 6/15/2008 Last: 12/2/2009 |
You might go to the breeder's home who sold you the dog and told you the dog was housebroken.or was easy to train. After sitting around for twenty minutes or so,go over in the corner of the house and go to the bathroom on their rugs. This should change the general claims of the breeders and bring back some reality to their business practices. |
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Re: Housebreaking Question
posted at 9/2/2009 1:50 PM EDT
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Posts: 5597
First: 10/17/2005 Last: 12/23/2009 |
Is this your regular mode of communication, Tarheel, in your everyday life, or just a form of entertainment you use here? I hope for your social life's sake it's the latter. You're not nearly as amusing as you imagine. Not sure anyone in your real life would dare say so, but trust me. Sarcasm CAN be funny - you just aren't as good at it as you seem to think for all your prolific use of it.
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Re: Housebreaking Question
posted at 9/2/2009 6:45 PM EDT
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Posts: 5597
First: 10/17/2005 Last: 12/23/2009 |
In Response to Housebreaking Question: Does anyone have any recommendations for house breaking an older dog. I recently adopted a dog that was found as a stray. The vet thinks she is probably about 10 years old. She is a tiny little thing only about 8 lbs. My sister had her first and said she had no issues with accidents but I think this is because my sister has two other dogs and a dog door. Her dogs go in and out of the house regularly and the little one would just follow them. Now that I have her she is having quite a few accidents, usually when she is left alone, but not always. When I let her out to go she doesn't seem to understand. She only goes when she is walked which I do at least 3 times a day. Any suggestions? Posted by KEK Sorry, just saw this, now. Do you crate her? If you put her in a crate that's only big enough for her to turn around and rest comfortably, she will do everything within her power to not soil her crate. It's instinctual. If she has too much room, she'll eliminate in one area and go back to sleep in another, also instinctual. The other thing to do is take her out every 30 minutes even if she isn't acting funny or like she has to go at all. Walk her, throw a stick a few times, and get her elimination system going. If she doesn't go within 5 minutes, take her out 10 minutes later until she does. The key is to set her up for success both by utilizing her instincts (crate) and by giving her every opportunity to go outside. |
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Re: Housebreaking Question
posted at 9/2/2009 6:46 PM EDT
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Posts: 5597
First: 10/17/2005 Last: 12/23/2009 |
Pink, I noticed a change every week or so with our pup - how about you? It's been over a week since you posted. Please let us know your current observations, successes, frustrations, etc. We're here!
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Re: Housebreaking Question
posted at 9/3/2009 11:58 AM EDT
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Posts: 1386
First: 7/5/2009 Last: 12/23/2009 |
Max is clingy because I went away two weeks ago, DH and I went away last weekend and I went away Tuesday as well. All that plus 4 of the apartments in our building had people move out and move in, so it's all new noises and new smells from new pople in the building. He's a little confused. He'll adjust and things will go back to normal. Dogs really don't like it when their routine gets shifted. Luckily DH spoils him even more than I do when I'm away for the night or the weekend, so while he misses me he's getting lots of treats and playtime. In Response to Re: Housebreaking Question: Pink, I noticed a change every week or so with our pup - how about you? It's been over a week since you posted. Please let us know your current observations, successes, frustrations, etc. We're here! Posted by kargiver |