house training

gubby

as someone new that all this, I need help to house train my new puppy. She is a maltese/bichon she is 9weeks old. I really need to house train her as I take care of my gradson (15 months) 3 days a week. I have pads around the house. she does tend to pee on the pads but she poos anywhere. the girl in the pet shop said she wont poo near her bed but I find she often does just outside her house.
any tips or trick would be very much appreciated. or a good website. I have goggled but there is so much there I would be reading forever.
cheers

westies4ever

it just takes a lot of patience and bichons are notoriously hard to train. take the pup outside every hour and every time they pee or poo outside act like a million euros came out of their bum!

use a trigger word/phrase - i use 'go pee' - mine pretty much go on command now.

do not punish the dog for going inside and never push their nose in it. if you catch them in the act indoors or see them squatting, take them outside immediately and again praise them for going.

you;ll have to get up at least once during the night to bring them out as well. id get rid of the puppy pads etc as well. clean up accidents with biological washing powder and hot water - never bleach - as you want to kill the smell.

just remember they're only a tiny baby and it will take some time.

andreac

Get rid of the pads for a start. It only confuses the poor pup. If you want it to go outside then you need to be consistent with bringing the pup outside as much as possible and encourage it to go and reward it then.

It can take weeks or months to toilet train a pup so you need lots of patience but you need to put the work in too.

Bring the pup out after every meal, sleep, drink, play session and as much as you can after that. The pup will eventually realise that outside is where you want it to go.
I highly recommend crate training.

gubby

create training?

DBB

Hi OP,
It is important to try to confine the pup at times when you cannot fully supervise, so that you have control over where their bladder and bowel are!
Once you can manipulate things so that it's really difficult for the pup to go to the toilet inside the house at all, but gets lots of opportunities to go out into the garden, then you're seriously increasing the speed and effectiveness of the housetraining.
A crate is a metal cage, big enough for the pup/adult dog's bed to fit in, giving room for the dog to stand up, turn around, and stretch out. Pup goes in there when you can't keep a 100% full eye on him, because pups tend not to toilet on their bed. This teaches pup to hold on for a very short while until you're ready to bring pup out to the garden, and you MUST go out with him, and wait for the toileting to happen.
Do not speak to pup whilst you're waiting, do not interact with him at all. Then, when he finally goes, coo gently at him, and as soon as he's finished, make a big deal of him: lots of cuddles, definitely a delicious food treat, and then go back inside with him for a play.
This teaches pup that he doesn't get back inside until his bladder.bowel feel empty.
Pups are most likely to want to go after sleeping, after eating, after play, and with one as young as yours, a good few times in between. Always bring pup out at those times, and every hour in between.
Pup should NOT be imprisoned in the crate, it is only for short bursts, and for sleeping in at night. At his age, the door should be left open so he can come out and pee on a pad at night, or much better, you should get up and bring pup out at least twice during the night now, dropping to once per night in a couple of weeks... Putting up with a few weeks of this cuts the time it takes to toilet train by a pretty big margin.
You will also need to gently, gradually accustom pup to the crate. set it up in a safe spot, put his bed in it, and let him come and go to his bed as he wishes. Put treats in it to attract him in, and feed him in it. Do not, whatever you do, put him in and lock him up! He should not be closed into it until he is entirely comfortable in it, and when you do close him in, you need to do it for short periods and stay in the room with him, until he gets used to it and you can leave him alone for short periods.
Now, I'll fess up now and tell you that I prefer puppy playpens to crates, especially if there is any question mark over whether you can get him out of that crate often enough. He should never, ever be left long enough in it that he has to toilet in his bed. I'd much rather that if the pup has to toilet in the house due to not being let out on time, that he toilets on the floor, not his bed.

Here's a link to some really good info OP, you need to be really careful what you read online about these things, but I can assure you that this is the site of choice for puppy owners, because the man who runs it is extremely well respected as a puppy behaviour specialist, he's been around a long time too! You will need to create an account, but it's well, well worth it, as this site has a wealth of really good information for new puppy owners!
http://www.dogstardaily.com/taxonomy/term/51

Dodd

Crate training is keep the dog in a crate that has its bed in it.
Dogs don't like to do their business where the sleep.
It works but still need to take them out often and treat them in order to train them.

Pretzill

I'm in puppy mode at the moment too. I haven't used pads or paper what I find effective is using a timer after feeding with my little one it's 20 minutes after food and outside for play and poop! The poop training is working really well and quite quickly though it can get exhausting with the pees - thankfully I have another dog who lets me know she wants to go outside and the pup is falling into her routine. Accidents will happen - the washing powdwer tip is a brill idea thanks for that! Patience and perseverence will win the day.

gubby

I am not making very good progress. Not easy to take pub out as I take care of my grandson (17 months) 3 days a week.

andreac

gubby wrote: »

I am not making very good progress. Not easy to take pub out as I take care of my grandson (17 months) 3 days a week.

How does that stop you bringing the pup outside for a minute or two? You just need to bring it out the back garden.

To be honest if you dont put the work in its going to take a lot longer.

oldyouth

I'm looking for a bit of advice on training myself. My lab is now 4 months old and for the last 6 weeks has being going though the night from 10pm to 7am as dry as a bone

However, for the last 4 nights in a row, I've come down to a 'present' left for me near his bed. He sleeps in the utility room on a warm cushion twice the size of him and we section off an area around 2m x 2m. He's usually back asleep when I go down to him, so I don't know when it is happening

His last feed is about 6pm and he usually gets a couple of pees and poops before he is put in for the night. Any thoughts???

DBB

Hi oldyouth,
Even in a youngster like yours, sudden changes in behaviour need to be investigated at a medical level, and after a thorough think about whether anything is different in the past, say, week?
New food? New treats? New person in the house? New animal? New bedding? A change in routine? Any change in the consistency of the poop?
If you're sure none of these, or others, apply, then I'd be checking in with your vet to make sure there's no underlying, hard-to-spot problem... I've said it here before, I've seen toothache cause loss of housetraining! It may be a low-lying tummy bug, or anything really.

gubby

andreac wrote: »

How does that stop you bringing the pup outside for a minute or two? You just need to bring it out the back garden.

To be honest if you dont put the work in its going to take a lot longer.

It would not be a problem if it was a minute or two.. I have been told that I need to stay with her until she does something but I have been outside for over half an hour and she doesnt even pee.
I am sure it would only take a minute or two if she was already trained... hence the reason for my post in the first place

andreac

gubby wrote: »

It would not be a problem if it was a minute or two.. I have been told that I need to stay with her until she does something but I have been outside for over half an hour and she doesnt even pee.
I am sure it would only take a minute or two if she was already trained... hence the reason for my post in the first place

But if you go out with her regularly she will get into the habit of going when you go out and you shouldnt be out for too long. If you use a command to encourage the pup to go they should nearly go on command. The trick is to use lots of praise and treats after they have gone.

Try anticipate when the pup needs to go, like after playing, a drink, eating, sleeping. Most pups will need to go straight away after these times.
Crate training could help too. You could crate the pup for a little bit everday and bring them out then every so often straight from the crate and they will want to go.
I have a pup (13 weeks) who goes on command when i bring him outside, and looks up at me then for his praise/treat. He is still going inside but thats my fault for not bringing him out quick enough or watching what hes doing.

tk123

gubby wrote: »

It would not be a problem if it was a minute or two.. I have been told that I need to stay with her until she does something but I have been outside for over half an hour and she doesnt even pee.
I am sure it would only take a minute or two if she was already trained... hence the reason for my post in the first place

You might have more luck if you introduce a word/phrase when the dog actually goes outside as well as the praise and treats. That way you can say it so the pup knows what you want it to do. It really helped with training my pup.

oldyouth

DBB wrote: »

Hi oldyouth,
Even in a youngster like yours, sudden changes in behaviour need to be investigated at a medical level, and after a thorough think about whether anything is different in the past, say, week?
New food? New treats? New person in the house? New animal? New bedding? A change in routine? Any change in the consistency of the poop?
If you're sure none of these, or others, apply, then I'd be checking in with your vet to make sure there's no underlying, hard-to-spot problem... I've said it here before, I've seen toothache cause loss of housetraining! It may be a low-lying tummy bug, or anything really.

Thanks for that

We did start giving him small cooked pieces of liver as a reward forming part of his overall training but I stopped that a few days ago because of this problem. We give him a rawhide stick every night and where he used to chew it for a while then leave it, he now consumes the whole thing.

The biggest change in his routine is that he recently discovered that there is an upstairs to our house and we sleep up there. He charges up there any time he gets free. Our room is directly overhead from where he sleeps. Perhaps he hears us getting up for a piss ourselves in the middle of the night and thinks, 'well while I'm awake, I might as well...'

He has boundless energy, so I think he is healthy enough. He did get his worm tablet yesterday, so perhaps it is a combination of events coming at once

DBB

Ah, the presents he's leaving are puddles, not mounds?
Are we talking big puddles, real bladder-emptiers, or is it more a small pool or sprinkle?
It's possible alright that your moving about in the night is disrupting his sleep enough to make him think about needing to pee, I always dealt with this by mooching downstairs for a few nights to let dog out... no chatting, just out for a pee, praise/treat, and back to bed again. Then I'd gradually make these night-time pees a little later over a week or so.
Or, if it leads to the outside world, would a dog flap in the utility room door be an option?
Either that, or stop going to the loo yourselves during the night :P

Has he got a bowl of water in the utility room with him? I'm just wondering... chewing on rawhides can be really thirsty work, especially if it goes on for longer than a few minutes. I wonder is he chewing the whole rawhide, and then drinking too quench the thirst, thus producing more pee that he used to?

oldyouth

DBB wrote: »

Ah, the presents he's leaving are puddles, not mounds?
Are we talking big puddles, real bladder-emptiers, or is it more a small pool or sprinkle?
It's possible alright that your moving about in the night is disrupting his sleep enough to make him think about needing to pee, I always dealt with this by mooching downstairs for a few nights to let dog out... no chatting, just out for a pee, praise/treat, and back to bed again. Then I'd gradually make these night-time pees a little later over a week or so.
Or, if it leads to the outside world, would a dog flap in the utility room door be an option?
Either that, or stop going to the loo yourselves during the night :P

Has he got a bowl of water in the utility room with him? I'm just wondering... chewing on rawhides can be really thirsty work, especially if it goes on for longer than a few minutes. I wonder is he chewing the whole rawhide, and then drinking too quench the thirst, thus producing more pee that he used to?

Apologies for misleading you. No, they are mounds. I thought that I was waking him when I was going out for (just) a pee. Strange thing is he doesn't pee at the same time. He bolts out the back door as usual when I go down and wake him in the morning.

No, we never leave food or drink in with him and the utility room doesn't have a door to the outside, so a flap won't help there.

The rawhide does make him thirsty and he will have a drink afterwards, but that is long before his last pee of the night. It's only been a few days, so perhaps he might revert back just as easy.

I don't make a big deal of it and he gives me a look each time that he is trying his best, which melts my heart. However, I know that I might need a bit of tough love if it continues

DBB

Ah okay, so we're talking poop here! Thanks for clearing other stuff up.
So, without going any further into your own toilet routine , what are the dog's poops like? Hard and firm, or is there any looseness to them?

oldyouth

DBB wrote: »

Ah okay, so we're talking poop here! Thanks for clearing other stuff up.
So, without going any further into your own toilet routine , what are the dog's poops like? Hard and firm, or is there any looseness to them?

Night ones are firm, earlier in the week, some of the daytime ones were loose

DBB

oldyouth wrote: »

Night ones are firm, earlier in the week, some of the daytime ones were loose

This could be getting close to the problem. If the stools are loose on any sort of a regular basis, then you're looking at a possible food allergy. And certainly, you're more likely to have accidents because the dog isn't in full control of what his bowel is doing.
It might be well worth having a good look at the diet and making some changes.
But also, always have it in the back of your head my first caveat that although he's in great form, there just might be a bit of a bug making him not have full bowel control too.

oldyouth

We're booked in for training next week and the 1st class is us without the dog. I know I need training about giving in to those sad eyes when I'm eating my own food. Treats are probably doing him no favours (he loves a few auld cornflakes sprinkled over his breakfast). Don't get me wrong, I don't give him much but his little tummy is better off without it, I know

oldyouth

Nice & dry last night . Hopefully we can get back in to a good routine. No late nibbles anymore