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
Posts Tagged ‘housetraining’
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…)
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…)
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…)
Labrador Peeing in Crate
Wednesday, July 9th, 2008Hester asked the following via email:
“My 12 week old chocolate lab pees in the crate constantly. His crate is small and he’s got room to turnaround and lay down but he doesn’t seem to mind laying in his urine. I don’t want him to think that it’s o.k. to pee in the crate and I’m at my wits end with cleaning him and the crate up all the time. He can’t even make it in the crate for 2 hours”
Here are my suggestions… (more…)
Snoodle Peeing in House
Thursday, July 3rd, 2008Nancy has this problem:
“Just rescued a 2 yr old snoodle, Scooter, is is name, he was housebroken at one time but now is confused, you can walk him for an hour and he will wait until you are not looking or even looking and he will pee inside and hide to poop
I am now crating him when he is out of my site, is this the correct procedure? The only time he is safe to not pee or poop is in the bed with me at night, in his dog bed at the end of my feet in the bed with me. Please tell me how to teach Scooter to pee and poop outside so he can have free rein of the house when I am not home” (more…)
Some Options For Toilet Training Daschunds
Monday, June 23rd, 2008Daschunds (often referred to as Sausage Dogs) are a really popular breed nowadays, but are gaining a bit of a reputation for being difficult to train – with housetraining being a particularly troublesome time for inexperienced owners. As every dog is different, this is definitely not going to be a step by step guide to getting your Daschund toilet trained, but rather giving you a few pointers to help you make a success of whichever housebreaking method you choose. (more…)
Difficulty House Training a Boxer Pup
Sunday, June 8th, 2008Tracy contacted me via my Squidoo housetraining lens:
“I have a seven month old Boxer and I can’t get her potty trained. She doest seem to care if she soils where she sleeps and she gives no signs of needing to go out. I take her out every time she wakes, plays or eats, sometimes she goes outside and then within a few minutes she goes in the house. I have a four year old great dane so i thought she’d learn from him, but she didn’t. I’m really at my witts end so if you have any ideas please let me know. Thank you “
Here is the assistance I was able to offer… (more…)