House training a puppy

jammy_dodger

Anyone there with some tips for house training a puppy.
Its a terrier pup, 10 weeks old.
She can't go outside yet as her shots are pending.
We've setup a sort of kitty litter type system, and placed it in one of her favorite spots that she does her dirty deed. but she just pee's or poops around it.
Everytime she dose this i shove her face in said offence, then put said offence into box, and then display it to her. And if i catch her mid act ill place her in the box, but she just hops out. She just dos'nt get the message. and i know she's bright enough too.
She already recognisizes her name, and the commands sit, stay, come over,fetch and paw.
I don't expect her to catch on straight away.

But if any of you have any tips or experience with your own animals in this area id greatly appreciate them.

koneko

I personally don't like the sticking-their-nose in it approach. I think that after a while the puppy might have negative feelings towards the owner that way. Positive re-enforcement is the way to go.

Try it this way, make sure the puppy doesn't have a huge area to run around when she's not busy playing or being trained (so normal day-to-day time). The more space she has to run around when she isn't house trained, the more places she considers poo-corners. Watch her during the time she's likely to go (like the morning). If you see her squatting or getting ready to pee, use the ole "NO!" and take her to her area (whether that be inside in your case or just outside). After a while she'll hopefully pick up on the fact she's not meant to be doing it just anywhere. Sticking her nose in it might work for some dogs, for others they might think pooing in general is bad, or that they're meant to eat it (which some dogs do).
Establish a pattern for when she has to go "pee pee" (and say it to her too). Like in the morning, give her some food, wait a while then take her out or to her "area" and wait till she goes then give her plenty of praise. Dogs like routine just like people so if she knows when potty-time and feeding time are, she'll adjust to that. Associate it with a word like you've done with fetch and sit and so on. Give her praise when she does something wrong, tell her "NO!" or whatever buzzword you use when she dogs things wrong when she does something bad.

Hope that helps...

Gillie

Pushing the Animals nose in it will not help!
The dog will end up being afraid to go in front of you.
When you see the dog is about to go Distract it so he/she can't go and then bring them to where they can!
It takes time and patience but it works! Took my dog about 2 weeks to start to cry when he wanted to go. I would just not make a fuss and let him out and praise him whn he finished!

Hope this helps!
Please do not push the dogs nose into "it" anymore!

Lafortezza

Originally posted by Gilly2003
Please do not push the nose into "it" anymore!

It was good enough for me when I was small, tough love my parents said, tough love...

Gillie

Falkorre

LOL

Seriously tho, pushing the nose into it *wont* help, dogs noses are *extremely* sensitive and all that will happen is that u will end up with a seriously constipated doggie as it will be afraid to go near you.


I have fostered many many rescued puppies and I have found the best way is to buy a doggie cage (not box) from argos, cover the floor with newspaper, and every 1.5 hours place said puppy in there for no more than 20 mins. Eventually he/she will poop or widdle in there for the first time.
AT this point, let him / her out and praise and praise and praise and...guess what? praise!

very soon, he/she will associate the going to the toilet on the paper in the cage with praise and will do it every time.

Also remember, puppies are not usually accurate 100% of the time, even if they are trying to be, somtimes they cannot hold it, they are still learning how.

Lastly, a litter tray with cat litter will not work, and if he or she happens to eat a bit, as puppies tend to try esting everything at least once, they will end up with a bowel obstruction.

Hope that helps.

B

(BTW, the doggy cage from argos will be the best training aid you will ever buy, and is VERY handy. It is on page 909 of their catalogue, catalogue number 870/2135, I swear, it will be worth getting, and for a terrier, will suit her for her entire life, makes a very good indoor nite-time kennel too.)

Ronika

When we were house training are doggy we just put papers by the back door (so she knew in future to go to the door when she wanted to go) and would say to her 'on the papers a good dog'. When she'd go off the paper we would just say in a strong but not shouting voice 'on the floors a bold dog'. The main thing to do has Dawntreader said is to praise her when she does go on the paper.

skittishkitten

Originally posted by Dawntreader


......I have fostered many many rescued puppies and I have found the best way is to buy a doggie cage (not box) from argos,........

........very soon, he/she will associate the going to the toilet on the paper in the cage with praise and will do it every time.

....(BTW, the doggy cage from argos will be the best training aid you will ever buy, and is VERY handy. It is on page 909 of their catalogue, catalogue number 870/2135, I swear, it will be worth getting, and for a terrier, will suit her for her entire life, makes a very good indoor nite-time kennel too.)

I'm from the U.S. and am a bit confused by what you mean by "doggie cage". So when I read this bit it threw me into a mild panic . From how it's being described ..... this is a crate ? Not an stand alone pen ? As a former dog show enthusiast it goes against everything I lived and breathed for a major part of my life to teach a dog to mess it's crate. However if it's a excersice pen that is like a small moveable fence area ..... then it's definitely a must have ! The crate is it's sleeping area , it's den, and the puppy should learn that messing it's bed is also a major NO NO .

Dawntreaders advice is excellent as always . Try to remember to put the puppy in it's potty area when it first wakes and shortly after it's eaten also. Those are two crucial times for having to "go potty". Then Praise , Praise , Praise in a high excited voice. Your puppy wants nothing more than to please you and make you proud of her. She's a terrier , she can't help it , she'll learn fast - the good and the bad .

Falkorre

SK
The cage is not a movable "run", it is a very large cage,
I have found tho, for a puppy, as a wheelchair user, it makes toilet training a whole lot easier. See, im really only talking about it for getting said puppy to associate pooping with paper, not the cage, and they seem to see it that way too.
To a puppy, the texture of the surface seems more important than the place lol
Besides, of course u should never put a dog in the same place it poops at night, lol, i meant it makes a good indoor nite-kennel *after* they are trained lol.

I have successfully potty trained my own 2 doggies in it, and now they use it as a night kennel (volunterly (sp?) I might add lol.

They have never once soiled their bed since i used it to paper train them in, as I did the whole moving the paper outside finally ( i should have mentioned that really), its purely just till they understand that paper is the preffered surface.
With another, who just plain dint like the sound of paper, what I did was eventually move the cage towards the door, and when faced with the choice of pooping in the garden or in the cage, 99.9% choose the garden lol

And that cage, has a slide out tray on the bottom so its easy to clean any "mistakes" they make.

Hope thats a bit clearer

B

L5

The problem is puppies dont go to the toilet inside. Since they were born its their instinct to find their own patch and use it as a toilet. Even if her shots are pending, put her on a lead and take her out every four hours. And dont shove her face in it, dogs respond to physical punishment, dont hit her either! Just every time she does something thats not right, tug on her ear sharply and she'll soon learn.

skittishkitten

That does make alot of sense And the tray that slips out would be alot easier to sanitize than doing the whole floor all the time ! I've never had wire crates since I never trusted them to hold up at the shows if we were required to stack the crates. I detest cleaning the airline crates as they are heavy and cumbersome since I have large dogs. The method you describe for the paper training is excellent especially in nasty weather when neither you or the pup would especially care to go out for the potty session Of course I usually got my puppies in the spring or summer so training them was not "as bad" as if I had gotten them in the winter. But it still takes alot of love and patience. Thanks for explaining that method for me , I'll have to give it a try if I should ever get a pup in the winter !

Falkorre

NP Kitten,
I have even found, that, using that method has worked for older dogs who u might think were "set in their ways"

It is also great (when potty training is over), for the inevitable "time-outs" at times when they do somthing particularly destructive, (Never give more than a 5 min time-out for puppies, and a 10 min for older dogs), for a puppy, 5 mins seems like forever, as their minds start associating behaviour and repercussion.

B

jammy_dodger

Cheers fro all the replies
(especially Dawntreader)

I always thought putting their face in it was the way to go, obviously not.
Thats all stopped now. Were gonna give the paper method a go, and pick her up a cage. Ill keep you posted on 'Tiggy's' progress, and what method eventually worked for her.

Cheers

luckat

You really don't need cages, papers, smacks, noses shoved in ****e or any of that. What you need to do is reinforce the desired behaviour.

For a start, if you have a garden, bring her outside to pee or poo. She's only a baby, so you feed her, then she'll flop down with her belly bulging; about half an hour later, call her, put her on her lead and bring her out to the garden.

She'll probably crouch to pee. When she does this say: "Good dog! Do your pee!" (or whatever phrase you choose to use) And give her a treat. I like to use dry cat food, which is a big treat for my dog - just one piece plus petting is nice.

Do this every time you see her peeing outside. Soon, you should be able to say "Do your pee!" (or whatever phrase you've chosen - it can be anything, you could say "oranges and lemons" and it would have the same effect), and your dog will crouch obediently to pee.

As for peeing inside the house, well, she is only a little baby; if you got her at 8 weeks or over, then her mother has probably taught her not to foul her own area already, but babies do have accidents.

She obviously doesn't realise that the kitty litter tray is for doing her stuff in, and probably thinks you're pretty weird - this huge monster leaping at her and shoving her nose in her ****e for no apparent reason, probably shouting and scolding too.

The best book I know about dog training is this one by Karen Pryor:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0553380397/ref=sr_aps_books_1_1/202-5914312-9078258

df001i6876

you can buy a scent or some thing . FROM the pet shop its in bottle with a droper. You just ? put a thew drops on a paper or were you want your puppie to go .ok :rolleyes:

jn5

hi i was talking to my vet and he also reccomends the pet cage from argos but he thinks to potty train your puppy you should for about 1 week leave him inside at night with door open and newspaper just outside for him to use, after this time he will know this is his bed and will not pee there.after this time you can close the door at night so he will know this is bed time and first thing next morning bring him straight outside to go he will get the message also my vet advises this cage is also a great idea for taking your pet to visit friends and family once he is used to it and accepts his time inside is relax time and not punishment i have used this with my puppy very successfully. you should ALSO make sure to get right size cage for your puppy as it will be when grown, but dont go too big or he will be tempted to use half for sleep and half as toilet HOPE THIS HELPS.

miniz

hi guys im new to this but i need yer help! im cracking up with my 10 mnth old bichon , he will not house train!! hes wild, very active and very bold. he understands that he must go out side but most days refuses to and first chance he gets he wil go on my carpet upstairs , i have to let him sleep in my bed room at nite as if he is left anywhere else he will wee and poo!! even though he wud have been left out before bed!! he is very unruly and when i correct him he doesnt seem to care , please has any1 some advice as i am starting to think about giving him away although i love him very much.

andreac

miniz wrote: »

hi guys im new to this but i need yer help! im cracking up with my 10 mnth old bichon , he will not house train!! hes wild, very active and very bold. he understands that he must go out side but most days refuses to and first chance he gets he wil go on my carpet upstairs , i have to let him sleep in my bed room at nite as if he is left anywhere else he will wee and poo!! even though he wud have been left out before bed!! he is very unruly and when i correct him he doesnt seem to care , please has any1 some advice as i am starting to think about giving him away although i love him very much.[/QUOTE]

Seriously??? What is it with people wanting to give their dog away for ridiculous reasons like this. These things take time and patience so you cannot blame the dog.

What method are you actually using to train him?
Have you had him at training classes? Is he spoiled?

I would suggest crate training him. If you do a search you will find loads of info on here and online for it.

Jinxi

Things are going well with toilet training my pup(4 months). She will go outside herself to pee/poop, but only if the back door is open. She has not figuresd out a way to signal us that she wants to go out, so if the door is closed(as it has been with the bad weather) she will go by either the front/back door.
When in her crate she will tell us she needs to go by whining(even if its 3 in the morning).
Weird thing tho, today at a friends house, she was outside playing with the friends two dogs, but every time she needed to pee she came and peed beside me????(in their kitchen).

andreac, i think you are a bit harsh on the poster who said they are thinking about giving away their dog. They didn't say they would abandon/drown them ffs. Like humans, dogs are all different personalities, and sometimes a persons lifestyle might miss-match with a dogs personality. I am lucky that I got a really good pup, but I have heard of people who did the exact same thing as me and had a really hard dog to train. I agree that it take dedication and hard work but is it not better for a dog to be in a home that suits it rather than an unhappy, stressful owner!

Cherry Blossom

Toilet training is going very well with my 11 wk old puppy. It took a few days for me to understand what she was doing, I was using the spray on newspaper and she was going beside the newspaper so she obviously picked up that was were she's supposed to go but thought the paper was already soild because of the smell so I stopped using the spray and she went on the paper after that. I decided to switch to puppy pads as newspaper was so messy and we had quite a few accidents as even though the pads were in the same place she kept looking for paper to go on, (the phone book sitting in a corner of the kitchen, a letter that had fallen off the table, the newspaper my dad hadn't read but left sitting on the living room floor :P) Now I just put a single sheet of newspaper on the puppy pad and it works great. She goes in the crate at night and I take her out first thing, after she wakes from a nap, and half an hour after food and she now looks to go out to do poo's by jumping up at the window in the hall. She just can't hold the pees long enough but always goes on the pad and paper except when someone forgets to close the bathroom door and then she goes beside the toilet :rolleyes:.

Remember to clean up all messes thoroughly as soon as possible because they tend not to go somewhere that is already soiled and will look for a new place which is what I would see the problem being with the OP and the kitty litter.

andreac

[.

andreac, i think you are a bit harsh on the poster who said they are thinking about giving away their dog. They didn't say they would abandon/drown them ffs. Like humans, dogs are all different personalities, and sometimes a persons lifestyle might miss-match with a dogs personality. I am lucky that I got a really good pup, but I have heard of people who did the exact same thing as me and had a really hard dog to train. I agree that it take dedication and hard work but is it not better for a dog to be in a home that suits it rather than an unhappy, stressful owner![/QUOTE]

No i am not being harsh at all. The op said they are thinking about giving the dog away because it wees and poops, eh hello, its a puppy and thats what puppies do.
Its up to the owner to teach and train the pup so they cannot blame the dog as they obv arent doing the right thing and training it properly.
So am i being harsh?? no way, far from it. People expect dogs/pups to be trained quickly and arent prepared to put in the time and effort to do this and then when its not going the way they want it to go, they want to give the dog away?? seriously, if someone wants to give a dog away for a silly reason as stated then they dont deserve a dog in my opinion:mad:

tk123

Jinxi wrote: »

andreac, i think you are a bit harsh on the poster who said they are thinking about giving away their dog. They didn't say they would abandon/drown them ffs. Like humans, dogs are all different personalities, and sometimes a persons lifestyle might miss-match with a dogs personality. I am lucky that I got a really good pup, but I have heard of people who did the exact same thing as me and had a really hard dog to train. I agree that it take dedication and hard work but is it not better for a dog to be in a home that suits it rather than an unhappy, stressful owner!

No I'm with andreac on this - our pup was trained by 3 months because I was up with him anytime from 3-6am in the dark in winter on poo patrol. It takes time and hard work to train a pup and if it's not working then the owner needs to change what their doing instead of dumping the dog because they're not bothered. And in miniz's defense this is what they're trying to do by asking for advice and is probably just stressed out with no intention of giving the dog away :pac:

miniz crate training worked with our guy. I had the crate in my room at night (so i'd hear him lol) and out to the loo before I went to bed and the first whine in the morning straight down the stairs and out to the loo. During the day out the back every 30 mins - no playing and once he goes to the loo lots of praise and games. If he's still going to the loo on the carpet all the time he can get his scent off it so you need to clean it with vinegar/washing powder/cleaner from the pet shop etc. We used 'get off my lawn' spray for our guy and it worked a treat. Also if he's getting upstairs on the sly a stairgate will keep him out - we have one for our guy since he ran upstairs all muddy and jumped in my bed!! :pac:
If he's ignoring you - have you tried obidience classes? They're brilliant because they'll teach you how to train the dog. Also training the dog and getting them thinking etc is a brilliant way to use up their energy and take the divilment out of them :pac: and also to build a bond with them and make them see that you're in charge.

ISDW

Sorry, had a reply but hadn't moved onto 2nd page, and didn't realise the thread was so old.

miniz

how dare u ppl b so nasty and presumptious !!! saying i was thinking about giving him to a better home is not the reality that i il actually abandon him! i have had him 10 months now not 10 weeks so its not like i am DUMPING my dog because i cant train him ,and its certainly not like im lacking patience to train him!:mad: ten months of lino floors , carpets , chairs shoes and cloths eaten is hard to deal with never mind soiling every floor. i live alone, my bichon is my baby he is wel taken care of and im just runnning out of ideas not try to teach him not to soil the carpets (least of all) as i live alone i fear he is the boss not me , he seems discouraged from any tactic i try with him and is very unruly. hence it was a tounge in cheek comment about a better home 4 him. it crosses my mind. besides this has any kind person any advice 4 me on how to defer my dog from the carpets ? i tried vinigar it didnt work. does ne1 else have a bichon who was particularly hard to train?? or extreemly hyper active ??

miniz

ps . thank u TK123

Cherry Blossom

miniz wrote: »

how dare u ppl b so nasty and presumptious !!! saying i was thinking about giving him to a better home is not the reality that i il actually abandon him! i have had him 10 months now not 10 weeks so its not like i am DUMPING my dog because i cant train him ,and its certainly not like im lacking patience to train him!:mad: ten months of lino floors , carpets , chairs shoes and cloths eaten is hard to deal with never mind soiling every floor. i live alone, my bichon is my baby he is wel taken care of and im just runnning out of ideas not try to teach him not to soil the carpets (least of all) as i live alone i fear he is the boss not me , he seems discouraged from any tactic i try with him and is very unruly. hence it was a tounge in cheek comment about a better home 4 him. it crosses my mind. besides this has any kind person any advice 4 me on how to defer my dog from the carpets ? i tried vinigar it didnt work. does ne1 else have a bichon who was particularly hard to train?? or extreemly hyper active ??

I don't have a bichon but I have a friend who has one and from what I gather they are notoriously hard to house train. Have you tried crate training him? Get him a crate and any time you can't give him absolute full supervision put him in the crate. I'd say go back to absolute basics here. You can put him in a small pen with the crate door open. Do not let him have free access to your house. If he is allowed to sleep in your room this is a great privilage for him to share the pack leaders den so your own room should be off limits as should any room with carpet in to start with. Make sure you are the boss at all times. Ignore any attention seeking and reward him when he's good. Keep him confined in the pen until he has worked out that he has set times when he's taken outside to do his business. Gradually increase the space he has access to when he has worked out that if he soils, its his own area he is soiling. You can use the pen and a baby gate to keep him in his area as it increases. If he starts soiling go back a step and reduce the area he has access to again. Try to be consistant and have set times during the day for going out. Take him out last thing at night and close him in the crate for the night (make sure he is used to the crate before leaving him in it all night) and in the morning open the crate, carry him straight out side and wait for him to go.

Never let him see you cleaning up any messes from his area, if he sees you do this he'll know it doesn't matter if he messes his 'den' as you will clean it up for him It may take a bit of time till he has access to the whole house again and even after he is fully house trained I'd still keep him out of your room and continue crateing him at night. Try not to get angry or frustrated with him, just take a deep breath and reduce his area.

Hope I've been of some help, at times you will feel it defeats the purpose of getting him in the first place, but hopefully it will be worth it in the end. I've never had a lot of problems with potty training but am having some difficulty with hyperactivity and chewing with my new puppy, she is still a baby though and I'd hate to see it go on untill she's 10 months What i've done with her is no food after 7pm and no water after 10pm, I started with no water after 8pm but gradually put it back to later as she's never peed in her crate during the night. You're lad should be able to hold it better being older but I'd just treat him like a baby if he's going to act like one

ISDW

when you say he refuses to go outside, do you mean he refuses to go to the toilet outside, or he just won't go outside? If its the latter, then he's small enough, carry him and put him outside. If its the former, then I'm afraid you have to stay out there with him until he does go. Once he goes, lots and lots of praise and back inside, but don't let him back in until he goes.

Does he go to the toilet on walks? If so, do you know his signals that show he's about to go? Learn them if you don't, and just as he's about to go, tell him to go, you can choose what words you say, some people say be busy, some say go to the toilet, whatever you feel comfortable saying. Then, when he finishes, lots and lots of praise again, some treats, and off you go. He will then start to learn that when you say something, he has to go to the toilet. This can then be carried on in your garden, you can let him or take him out, say the command and then hopefully he'll go and come back into the house and be clean.

Its not easy, you may be outside for hours sometimes, go out with a good book, but obviously keep an eye on him for when he does go.:D

andreac

miniz wrote: »

how dare u ppl b so nasty and presumptious !!! saying i was thinking about giving him to a better home is not the reality that i il actually abandon him! i have had him 10 months now not 10 weeks so its not like i am DUMPING my dog because i cant train him ,and its certainly not like im lacking patience to train him!:mad: ten months of lino floors , carpets , chairs shoes and cloths eaten is hard to deal with never mind soiling every floor. i live alone, my bichon is my baby he is wel taken care of and im just runnning out of ideas not try to teach him not to soil the carpets (least of all) as i live alone i fear he is the boss not me , he seems discouraged from any tactic i try with him and is very unruly. hence it was a tounge in cheek comment about a better home 4 him. it crosses my mind. besides this has any kind person any advice 4 me on how to defer my dog from the carpets ? i tried vinigar it didnt work. does ne1 else have a bichon who was particularly hard to train?? or extreemly hyper active ??

No one said anything about abandoning your dog:rolleyes: But thinking of giving it away because its not house trained is just ridiculous.

Have you crate trained your dog? This will help a lot.

You havent actually said how you actually train the dog to go outside.

Do you bring him outside after every meal, sleep, play session and every so often? He has to know that outisde is where he has to go and unless you teach, show and reward him for going outside he wont know that he has to go there and not inside.

How much exercise is the pup getting? Have you brought it to training classes at all?

andreac

Jinxi wrote: »

andreac, i think you are a bit harsh on the poster who said they are thinking about giving away their dog. They didn't say they would abandon/drown them ffs. Like humans, dogs are all different personalities, and sometimes a persons lifestyle might miss-match with a dogs personality. I am lucky that I got a really good pup, but I have heard of people who did the exact same thing as me and had a really hard dog to train. I agree that it take dedication and hard work but is it not better for a dog to be in a home that suits it rather than an unhappy, stressful owner!

Who said anything about drowning/abandoning??
I said that the reason stated was not a valid one for rehoming your puppy as thats what puppies do, they wee, poo, chew etc. Some pups take longer than others to train. If you get a dog its your responsibility to have it trained etc. A dog is for life, not just because its convenient and just because you arent getting somewhere within a few months then you rehome it.