I have written a short housetraining guide to help with some of the common questions left on the question page of the blog.
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Housetrain your dog or puppy
Archive for the ‘House Training Your Dog’ Category
Potty Training/House Training Questions
Tuesday, August 5th, 2008Lab Golden Mix Housetraining Problems
Tuesday, March 24th, 2009Jessica is having trouble with her new Labrador/Golden Retriever cross:
“my bf and i recetnly bought a 6 month old blk lab/ golden retreiver puppy hes not housebroken….we’ve had him for almost 2 weeks now. he ends up pee’n and pooping on the carpet right infront of me.. the family we bought him from said he was house broken as soon as we brought him home he went on the carpet … and then we took him on vacation with us to VA and he does nothing but go on my friends brand new carpet we’ve been here for about a week now my bf takes him out every hour and he wont go.. he’ll end up going when he comes home.. and weve tried alot of ways to make him go outside… we only leave the house for about 2 hours a day and leave him home alone. .please help.. i dont know what to do.”
OK, my first bit of advice is aimed at readers of this post, as it is too late for you to do this bit, but will help anyone who rescues or buys a dog that is old enough to go out after having all their shots..
Provided your dog is old enough to not have to be kept at home for the first few weeks (and in the case of this question, six months old falls into that category), the first time you bring them home, do not go straight into the house! Take them for a 15 or 20 minute walk around the neighborhood so they can get used to the new surroundings. This will not only help burn off some nervous energy (that might cause them to involuntarily pee or poop in your house), but also stimulates them to mark and therefore hopefully empty their bowel and bladder. By praising them when they do, you are teaching the dog where the right place to potty is.
The other issue that might make the problem worse is immediately taking the dog on a trip with you. Dogs are very sensitive to changes in their environment. Ideally, there should be a “boring” routine for the first few weeks when you rehome an older dog (the exact same walking route at the same time each day – seven days a week – etc..). You can get some great tips about what I mean and why it’s important here: The Two Week Shutdown
I would wait until you are back home and try to establish a routine (look at other posts in the housetraining category here). Food at set times and regular walks (not just taken into the yard – again, use the dog’s natural marking instinct – if you are out and about, the dog will pee and poop to leave their own scent for others to find)
Give your dog time to settle and set a routine to suit your lifestyle and the dog’s toilet habits and things should be fine within a few weeks
Toilet Training English Bulldog
Tuesday, March 24th, 2009Abby asks:
“I have an 11 week old English bulldog. I am not sure how to go about training. I have her sleep in a crate at night, which she doesn’t mind-But when I am at work, I put her in my kitchen which is hard wood floor, and easier to clean up messes. Is it ok to leave her out of her crate in the kitchen when I’ll be at work for 8 hours and then crate her when I sleep? Or will it affect her potty training??”
Hopefully, you will have read through the tips in my free report and Squidoo lenses.
There would be no problem allowing her to be left in the kitchen (though I would leave the crate in there too so she has a den to go to), but at such a young age, you will be setting her up to fail if you expect her to hold in her pee for 8 hours. Until she is at least six months old, you should expect to be letting her out once every two or three hours through the day. If you or another family member are not able to get home to let her out, I would consider arranging for a dog walker to come in and do it for you or have her in doggy day care until her bladder has developed sufficiently for her to hold it a little longer.
Leave Puppy to Her Own Devices Overnight?
Thursday, November 27th, 2008Michael wrote:
I’m getting a 2 month old Chihuahua mix in a week and we plan to put his bed in a large laundry room separate from our house. I was wondering, at night should I leave the door open so he can “go” outside or should I leave it closed, like my mom suggested, so she can learn to control herself.
House training is going to be the most important piece of training your dog will need if she is to be an indoor dog, so it is really important to get this right (more…)
New Puppy Causing Bad Habits
Saturday, September 27th, 2008Maria contacted me with this problem:
“I have a 19 month old chihuahua mix and a 5 month old chihuahua. My 19 month old was already potty trained but since we got the 5 month old she has picked up the pup’s bad habits. Now they both leave their mess all over my kitchen,dining room, and living room. In the mornings we take them outside to do their business and pick up after them. I also do for lunch and dinner. What is it that we are doing wrong because my husband is getting fed up with them and i do not want him to leave them in a shelter?”
I asked her for a little more info about where they slept, how much freedom they had in the house, what the walking/exercise regime is and I got the following extra information
“We take them out in the mornings,afternoon, and evening. They usually have half of the house when we are home. When they are alone i put them inside their gate. That’s also where they sleep at night,have their food,water, and their potty spot”
By the looks of things, Maria is doing everything she should here, so I will have to offer a couple of different suggestions to try out. (more…)
Toileting on Command
Saturday, September 27th, 2008Patty posted a follow up question about het malti-poo:
“Thank you for the advice on getting my malti-poo to eat. It has helped and today she ate almost all of her breakfast! I have one other question, When you take the puppy outside to go potty on her normal routine, I say “Go potty”. She will pee and then just walk around, try to play with leaves, etc. How long do you wait for her to go Poo? I repeat over and over again “Go poopoo” sometimes if she has to go right away it’s simultaneously, other times I can sit there for 20 minutes and nothing. So now I’ve missed the opportunity to tell her what a good girl she is for peeing, because I’ve waited so long for her to poo! I can’t find an answer that addresses this specific issue. I hate for her not to know how proud I am that she went pee the first time. I bring her back to the crate afterwards and then I have to go to work. So if she really does have to go???????????
I look forward to your answer.
Patty” (more…)
Toilet Training Woes
Sunday, September 21st, 2008Lots of readers seem to have similar problems with house training their dogs, most of which I have dealt with in previous posts and in my Squidoo lenses. Here are a couple of questions posted recently:
“i have a 4 months old golden..got it one week ago..tried to train her by confining her to the kitchen..and placed newspaper with doggie scent sprayed on it..but didnt work.. (more…)
4 Year Old Chihuahua Mix Potty Training Problem
Friday, September 19th, 2008Angie posed this question:
“I have a 4 year old chihuahua mix that weighs about 25 lbs., is it possible that she cannot hold her urine or bowel movements the entire day being a small dog? The problem is that we take her out in the morning and she won’t do anything because it seems like she’s always more worried about what the squirrels are doing and then she ends up going in the house, this even happens at night, she does go outside sometimes and is usually good on the weekends when we’re home with her but during the work week she goes back to going on the piddle pads in the house. My Boyfriend refuses to use a newspaper on her but then we rarely catch her in the act either. I am also 7 months pregnant and was wondering if she can sense this and that might be making her make a mess as well. I don’t want her doing this when the baby is here so I could really use some help in the matter. Thanks!” (more…)
Housetrained Siberian Husky Peeing Indoors
Wednesday, September 17th, 2008Kristina emailed for advice regarding her 4 year old Siberian Husky, who has recently started messing in the house after previously being very good at staying clean indoors. The vet is going to test for any problems. The dog is walked once a day and occasionally tethered in the garden for short periods. The yard where she is tethered is not currently fenced in, but the family use an ‘invisible fence’. One of the main problems is that she seems to ‘hold it in’ when outside then pee when she gets in, often near the cat litter box. Here are my suggestions: (more…)
Potty Training 7 Week Old Puppies
Sunday, September 7th, 2008Kathy has just gor two new puppies and is experiencing difficulties:
“We just got two 7 week old puppies – on is a Shih-Tzu and the other a Yorkie. I am having a hard time crate training them. We are putting them each in a “kennel taxi” at night with a towel, a toy and a wind up clock. The Yorkie doesnt make much noise but the Shih-Tzu will whimper off and on during the night. I check each of them atleast twice each night and they both poop in their crates. I know they are puppies, but what can i do to help them understand they cant sleep in their poop? We will be having to leave them alone during the day and dont want them to be sitting in their poop all day. We also put their crates out in the day time for them to get use to them, but they would just go inside and poop. Are we using the right kind of crate? HELP!!!!” (more…)