Housebreaking a Puppy

[lawrocket 3]

Almost three weeks ago, we decided that it was time for our son to have a friend. So we got a purebred yellow lab, whom we named Ruby. Ruby is now 9 weeks old.

Let me tell you - this dog leaves sevral poops per day that are bigger than she is. She is particularly fond of dumping on the nicer rugs we have in the house.

Fortunately, she only wants to pee on our nice new wood floors, which is easier to clean up than the rugs or the carpets.

I've had my fill of pee and poo. It's cute when it's from my son. But this is getting ridiculous with the dog. We try mightily to get the dog outside often to go to relieve herself, but we still have puddles.

What are soem techniques I can use to get this dog to go pee and poo outside and to hold it until we can get her outside (she stopped to pee on the way ou tthe door at 5:30 this morning, which is why I am making this post).

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[Muffin 0]

Crate training! The dogs love it, being naturally den animals, and it will allow you to let the dog out and immediately get it to the "proper" place to go...helps to give a command when you take her out to go as well...like "go pee"... then she'll know its time to go when youre in a hurry to get someplace and you need her to go.
Good luck!

[pop 0]

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What are soem techniques I can use to get this dog to go pee and poo outside and to hold it until we can get her outside

Beat the dog!! Kidding
One thing you can do is train the dog to poo in a specific part of the house. Place newspapaers in the kitchen and every time you see your dog is getting ready to fuck up another rug, simply pick her up and take her to the newspaper. Also give her treats for going there and let her know you are very happy about it.
When she goes anywhere else IMMEDIATLY stick her nose in her mess and let her know you are not happy with her. If more than 5 mintues go by from the time she made the mess to the time you are getting ready to punush her...DONT...after 5 minutes the dog will no longer know why she is getting punished.

Hope this helps


EDIT.....just reread your post...to train her to go outside is similar

7 ounce wonders, music and dogs that are not into beer

[flyinghonu 0]

I've had 3 dogs in my life and have 1 now. The only thing that has worked for me is something I really don't like, didn't agree with when someone first told me to do it, but.....it has worked for all three.

As a puppy, they just don't know. So, when I would get home I would start a very systematic routine and made sure the dog not only watched me do it each time but was there with me when I did it. I'd get home, search the house (and his usual spots) for his "gifts". Upon locating said "gift" I would bring the pup over to the "gift", firmly grab the pup's snout, make eye contact with the pup, and tell firmly tell him "NO." Then I would take him outside and let him be alone (no contact whatsoever) for at least 10-15 mins. When he came back, we acted like nothing was wrong. We had to repeat this routine for about 2 months until he finally got the idea that he was not supposed to go in the house.

When I was home, I knew his usual "gift" giving areas. What I noticed is that he slowly would try to get my attention - it's different w/ pups than w/ dogs. It's like they walk around with ADD or something not quite sure what they want or need. Anyway, when I saw him do this, I would follow him, sure enough he'd go to his spot. The trick here is being QUICK. Yeah, he'll stop peeing when you grab him but do the same thing. Grab the snout, eye contract, firm NO, outside for 10-15 mins.

I hate to say it but you will have to deal with a few mos. more of pee and poop but eventually, he WILL get the idea.

P.s. oh and those "pottie pads" have NEVER worked for me and make your house smell like..........

"Excuse me while I kiss the sky..." - Jimi Hendrix

[eeneR 3]

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Crate training! The dogs love it, being naturally den animals, and it will allow you to let the dog out and immediately get it to the "proper" place to go...helps to give a command when you take her out to go as well...like "go pee"... then she'll know its time to go when youre in a hurry to get someplace and you need her to go.
Good luck!

DING DING DING DING....

Crate training is your best friend for sooo many reasons. Not just potty training, though it helps tremendously. They do not want to poop or pee where they sleep/eat. If you allow the puppy to roam free all the time the will keep finding places to go if he is unattended.

One other thing about crate training, do not use it as a form of punishment for them. And do not get a crate that is too big. They make panels that you can buy to adjust the size of the crate as the puppy grows.

She is not a "Dumb Blonde" - She is a "Light-Haired Detour Off The Information Superhighway."
eeneR
TF#72, FB#4130, Incauto

[Icon134 0]

I'm going to echo the crate training (the reason it works is that the dog does not want to mess its den so if you create a location (A crate) that is small enough to lye down and get comfortable but not so large that she can go in one corner and still sleep in the other.

Also I read a training book that suggested that you shouldn't leave a dog for more hours then they are in months old (i.e. if the dog is 3 months old you shouldn't expect it to be able to hold it in for more then 3 hours.)

A routine helps as well... take the dog out 15-20 minutes after eating. Imediately upon arriving home, etc. a great reward for going to the bathroom outside is to play with the dog for a while.

Finally, you should only Scold the dog if you actually catch it in the act of going to the bathroom and then sufficient "punishment is a firm "NO!!" then take her outside to "walk" for a while.

Shoving the dogs nose in the poop doesn't really help as the dog doesn't remember/understand why they are being "punnished"

http://www.petcratesdirect.com/ these guys make great crates...

oh and you can gradually limit/eliminate the crate... it use to be that Karma would always be in the crate at night/throughout the day/etc... now she sleeps on a pet bed in the corner of my bedroom or livingroom.

Scott

Livin' on the Edge... sleeping with my rigger's wife...

[ROK 0]

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Crate training! The dogs love it, being naturally den animals, and it will allow you to let the dog out and immediately get it to the "proper" place to go...helps to give a command when you take her out to go as well...like "go pee"... then she'll know its time to go when youre in a hurry to get someplace and you need her to go.
Good luck!

I third this motion!

I trained both my Ridgebacks with the crate. I kept it in the bedroom right by my bed at night.

Between both puppies, I've cleaned up one pile while training them, and a hand full of pees..

Take them out on a schedule, and stay with them until they go. It can be very frustrating at times. Take them out after you feed them in the morning, and after you feed them at night. Wait after they pee, and they will do the rest.

I was fortunate enough to be able to let them on the porch during the day, until they were old enough to go out into the pasture. I'd put the crates on the porch before I left for work.

[Katzeye 0]

I fourth this motion!

We also were not keen on crating until we were fed up of coming home everday to something new (and was valuable) being chewed to bits, the older dog sick from harrassment and "gifts."

We now crate our little one and she is just fine. She doesn't cry, moan, carry on. Every morning I carry her down and put her in her crate, give her a few pats and when my hubby comes home 90% of the time she's still all snuggled up and asleep, tension/stresss free.

It's a wonderful thing

Is a chicken omelette redundant?

[stratostar 5]

Yo what everyone else posted, I too have a 14mos old yellow lab, it didn't take long for her to learn.
I did just what most everyone already posted, and a big HELL yea on the crate training, I got one that you can make bigger as they grow, helps a lot.
at first we put her in it and locked it up, now we can leave it open and she can roam the house, I often come home to find her asleep in the cage.
Also we covered it with a old sleeping bag to make it more of a 'den" feeling, seemed to help.
Good luck , oh yea be on the look out for the eating of poo anyone know how to stop that?

~

you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

[eeneR 3]

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Good luck , oh yea be on the look out for the eating of poo anyone know how to stop that?

then they want to give you kisses...bluch.

I think there is stuff you can add to the food to make the poop nasty for them, but I cant remember now. check www.jbpet.com

Also even worse then that, is when they munch on goose crackers (goose poop) Gross and can make them sick, they can get worms and another parasite that the name is eluding me that begins with a G and humans can get it as well.

She is not a "Dumb Blonde" - She is a "Light-Haired Detour Off The Information Superhighway."
eeneR
TF#72, FB#4130, Incauto

[peregrinerose 0]

Ditto on the crate training. I have 3 dogs, one we got as a puppy, the other two as adults (3 years and 5 years old). None housetrained. All did beautifully with crate training.

The dog has no idea why you are shoving it's face in crap, so no point in doing it.

However, if you catch it in the act, flip it on it's back, grab the throat, and growl. Worked extremely well on the 3 year old since he had alpha tendencies big time, so it gave him the picture that I was boss as well as got him housetrained. He figured it out within a couple days. The other two took a week or so, max.

Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

[flyinghonu 0]

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Good luck , oh yea be on the look out for the eating of poo anyone know how to stop that?

Well I'm not a crate trainer but I have NEVER witnessed my dog eating poop (his or anyone else's). Sniffing it yes, eating it no. I think that must be a pure-breed thing

"Excuse me while I kiss the sky..." - Jimi Hendrix

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[unlucky1 0]

First of all... It is VERY important to remember that your puppy is a "baby". Period. Just like a human baby, don't expect him to be pottytrained in just a coupla weeks. Won't happen. The key is to take out the puppy until he does his business. Once he is done.... praise him and take him inside immediately. A puppy that young you may have to take outside every hour or so.Even if the puppy doesn't appear to be ready to go potty in the house, take him outside until he does it. Just like changing a baby dozens of times a day, you'll have to do this for the puppy. You will be well rewarded after a couple of months and you puppy turns into your son's (and your) best friend. Don't give up or get frustrated. I know two months sucks...but the reward of having a best friend for your family for a dozen or more years afterward far outwheigh the potty-training stage! And yes, the crate is a very good idea....but i STRONGLY urge you to have the puppy free roam when somebody is around. Don't keep the puppy in the crate while you are all home. He will think that he is punished. The only exception is to keep him in the crate at nighttime while you all sleep. I've had over a dozen dogs (4 now), and i believe this worked well for us.
Good luck AND DON'T GIVE UP!. You'll hurt yourselves and your puppy. If you get rid of the puppy when he is almost fully grown, it is very hard to adopt him out to another decent family. By then, he has lost his "puppy appeal".

[thegreekone 0]

Crate trainig is good but only half the battle. Obviously when you remove puppy from crate he should be taken diurectly outside, blah, blah, blah. Keep your puppy on a leash for the first few days. When it looks like he is gonna raise a leg or crouch, a loud well timed NO will do the trick and outside they go. Hassle, sure.....but sure fire way of ending the problem pronto.

[eeneR 3]

Again I will agree with this 100%...Just want to add though, if you are home but not able to keep an eye on him, you do have to understand also what is mentioned. They need to potty very often. Dont wait for them to have to go, just take them out every hour to begin with, then increase time between...if they go potty give them lots of praise and tell them what they are doing right when they do it...If they start to pee.."Go pee...good boy" etc. Poop "Go poop...good boy". Both of mine are trained to go on command. That is exactly how I did it. They learned ot associate those commands with the action. When they do good, let them know this...ANYTIME they do. If you see a behaviour you like, pet them let them know this is good. They will repeat it. Ex..puppy being good chewing a bone....let them know this is good. That will teach them what is good to chew.

The more effort you put into training your puppy the first 6months to the year...the better the rest of the puppys life will be.

Along with the potty training is manners. Yes it is cute when a lil 10lb puppy jumps on you...but when it is a 60lb dog, not so cute. Dont let behaviours start now that you do not want them to have when they are full grown. You must be firm with these decisions. Another good example if you dont want your dog stealing food, NEVER EVER feed them from the couch, table or anywhere where you eat from EVER. Always either done treat style while training or in the food dish. In general neither one of mine will take any food off of my coffee table. I had one incedent in 7 years of having the two dogs.
Please invest the time now, you will be so greatful later.
I have my Shiba Inu Nikita, I got her when she was 4months old, and My husky Dakota I got when he was 9months old. Both rescues. Had to house train both of them, and the husky had serious seperation anxiety problems. Now they are both well adjusted and just amazing dogs. I feel soo lucky to have them both.

She is not a "Dumb Blonde" - She is a "Light-Haired Detour Off The Information Superhighway."
eeneR
TF#72, FB#4130, Incauto

[Richards 0]

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Quote

Crate training! The dogs love it, being naturally den animals, and it will allow you to let the dog out and immediately get it to the "proper" place to go...helps to give a command when you take her out to go as well...like "go pee"... then she'll know its time to go when youre in a hurry to get someplace and you need her to go.
Good luck!

Agreed!!

Richards

My biggest handicap is that sometimes the hole in the front of my head operates a tad bit faster than the grey matter contained within.

[sclosoma 0]

I have been watching The Dog Whisper on the National Geographic channle and some of the stuff that he shows you to do is absolutly amazing. Even if you don't own a dog its still a good show to watch. You'll be amazed!

"Don't mistake common stupidity for common sense"
-Bill Dause

[Chrissay 0]

What a coincidence, we just got a puppy about 3 weeks ago and are going through the same thing! So here is my experience so far with it. As many others have said, crate training is extrememly helpful in housebreaking a dog, because they will not soil their sleeping place. We have not opted to do this, even though I know it is not cruel to crate train, I just don't have the heart to pen up my little pup for that long.
Very important is developing a routine. You should take him out to the exact same place outside to do his duty. Also, use a one word command (such as Potty) everytime you take him. If he doesn't go after 5 minutes, them bring him back inside, it isn't play time. Don't offer him food and water all through out the day, only offer it at specific times and take him outside 10-15 minutes after he eats or drinks. -- although we do offer our puppy water all day long.
I found that my puppy knew it needed to piddle and poo outside, but didn't know how to tell me when he needed to go. I did some reading, and you should link some sort of action (like teaching him how to speak) with going outside. After barking at my puppy for 10 minutes one night trying to teach him how to speak, i realized that that was not going to work for us. I taught him how to scratch at the door when I ask him if he wants to go outside. Since then, his accidents inside have totally decreased. We are down to one every other day. But I am lucky that since my dog is only 6lbs, his piddles are very small too!
Also, they say the only time to punish your dog for going inside is when you actually catch them in the act. Then give them a firm NO, and take them outside to finish their duty. And of course if he does good, a lot of praise and reward!!
Good luck with everything!

[hookitt 1]

Haven't read the thread so if this is a repeat... well, who cares

Get a cage and a collar with a bell. The cage should be big enough to sleep in and have just enough room to crap over the edge of the bed inside it. Don't make it convenient to go in the cage. They don't want to go where they sleep so don't make it easy.

The puppy should sleep near your bed and when you hear the bell, get your tired ass out of bed, put the dog on the leash and take him outside. Praise the little whizzer when he goes outside.

During the waking hours, you'll have to be observant. Take the puppy outside now and then to go and praise it when it does.

If you notice it being ancy, then just take it outside. If the puppy is caught in the act, then suck it up, grab the puppy, curl the tail under and take it outside... then praise it.

Never mash it's nose in it's excrements or pee. That's just cruel and doesn't teach a dog anything except that the owner is a sick f***.

It's a puppy so prepare to lose sleep.

That's about all I can think of... break is over, so back to work.

My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

[Icon134 0]

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Good luck , oh yea be on the look out for the eating of poo anyone know how to stop that?

I believe that part of the reason some dogs do this is because they aren't able to digest some parts of they're food.

having said that... the only poop that Karma has ever eaten is/was cat poop and that's because cat food is higher in protien (and subsiquently cat poop is higher in protien and tastier smelling...)

Scott

Livin' on the Edge... sleeping with my rigger's wife...

[Chrissay 0]

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I have been watching The Dog Whisper on the National Geographic channle and some of the stuff that he shows you to do is absolutly amazing. Even if you don't own a dog its still a good show to watch. You'll be amazed!

I love the Dog Whisper, I started watching it after we got a puppy and that guy is AMAZING!

[cruzit 0]

Take a deep breath. 9 weeks is still a baby. The rule of thumb is puppies can usually hold their water (or poop) 1 hour for every month they are old.

A crate is a great idea for the pup to sleep in, but you'll want to keep her leashed in the house with you until she is well house trained. The crate at night gives you some respite and since most dogs won't mess their den, she'll wake you by crying when she wants to go out.

Get some "Simple Solution" from your local pet store to get rid of the urine and poop smell if she has gone on the carpet (it also will discourage her from using the same place over and over).

I agree with some of the others, you need to take puppy out every hour or so. When you do, tell your pup what you want her to do. We use the phrase, "get busy." But something similar will work. Praise when she goes.

Its very important to remember, scolding only works if you catch her in the act. Dogs live very much in the moment. If she went potty ten minutes ago, it does you no good to scold for it, she won't connect the two. If you do catch her in the act, a firm no and touch to break her concentration should stop her and then you can take her outside and remind her with your phrase what you want her to do.

Vigilance is your best defense. She's a baby and will have accidents. Fortunately, it doesn't last long.

Our pure bred lab is one year old this month. He hasn't had an accident in the house since he was about 3 months old. He is well mannered and sleeps on his bed in our room (we transitioned him from his crate at 10 months). Every morning he fetches my paper:)

I highly recommend you picking up Cesar Milan's Dog Whisperer DVD. His training methods work very well.

Hang in there...this phase doesn't last long.

J

[MagicGuy 0]

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Never mash it's nose in it's excrements or pee. That's just cruel and doesn't teach a dog anything except that the owner is a sick f***.
.

I agree, this doesn't help at all. I did it once, and felt really bad afterwards. I know I wouldn't my face shoved in a pile of steaming shit.

There's been a lot of great advice, so I won't repeat it. Crate training is nice and works great. You'll soon start to see the accidents become less and less. This is the worst part, but once this phase is over, you'll have a companion and a part of the family for (hopefully) many years to come!

Dogs Rule.

[skymama 37]

So, is there anything you can do for the tiny little rat-dogs that pee when they get excited? This dog (I swear it doesn't look like a dog) that my daughter brought home does that and it's ruining my carpets!

We crate her when we're gone and she pees when we let her out of it, on our way to take her outside. She's a very nervous type dog, she'll practically pee if you just look in her general direction! She's not a puppy either, she's over a year old.

She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man,
because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

[Katzeye 0]

Peeing when excited is one of three things - she's been crated too long or was not let out to "break" (pee/poop) after her last drink of water / feeding time.

Or, it's from pure excitement. Some dogs are "softer" than others and will release their bowels when excited. The rule of thumb here is to greet her VERY QUIETLY. I know she's cute, I know you're happy to see her, but the trick is to greet her as if it's no big deal. Give her a nice (low toned voice) hello and a simple pat on the way out the door. Be as mellow and matter of fact as possible.

The last reason could be submission issues. Again a very soft dog will release their bowels as a sign of submission when their leader greets them. They will also flop on their back or lick constantly. Here you must develop her confidence. One, that you're a cool leader and she doesn't have to be so soft. The best way to develop their confidence is simple - train em. Sit, down, stay. In that order. Once you, as their leader, teaches them things, and they get praised for doing things right they learn their place in the world and won't be so soft.

Make sense? PM me if you have more questions.

This place has some good resources also Leerburg Kennels. He's like the "stricter"version of the Dog Whisperer.

Is a chicken omelette redundant?