Potty Training Woes

[Louwants]

OH......I just read another thread about the belly bands. You may want to look into that. Here's are some websites you can look at:

Belly Bands

http://www.bellybandsrus.com/index.html

Those are other options you can look at.

[Peggy]

Originally Posted by rleechb

We'll start using the Nature's Miracle again. I don't like using it, because I always find a way to step in it with socks on (did it this morning). How does your homemade concoction smell/work? I'm not sure I like the smell of vinegar any more than the smell of dog urine, lol.

Get an old towel and fold it up and put over the spot until it dries. That will mark it so you won't step there and if you do shouldn't get so wet.

I use a towel to sop up the urine first, then spray well with a cleaner, and then put a towel on top of that.

I'm assuming if we see him start to pee, we should pen him up in the kitchen w/ a pad, until he finishes business, then give a treat?

TAKE him to the place and stay with him. Then praise when he does what you want. If he doesn't pee then he goes in his crate for 15 min. and you try again.

You might try leashing him to you so you can pick up his signals and get him to the pads in time.

Peggy

[Dillydoodle]

I have to agree... It may be inconvenient to be in an apartment and have to run the puppy outside, but everytime a dog is allowed to potty in the house, the message is solidifying in their mind that this is ok. Regardless if it is a pee pad or newspaper... they are getting the message that it is ok to pee in their home ( their den) It is less confusing to teach a puppy to just go outside. This means, you take the puppy out every hour or two and when they go, praise them and give a small treat.. Make a scene - that they just did the most wonderful thing in the world.

I too live in a climate that is very snowy and cold ( New England) and the corgis always go outside to potty... even as a puppy.

I would not give a puppy run of the house for quite some time, Dillon had very few accidents in the house ( 9 accidents in total, 3 of them were in the first 24 hours as we were not sure of his signals and couldnt tell the difference between standing and squatting LOL! ) The way we did it was i would crate him for nap time, and when he woke up, would would immediately take him out and say go pee ( pick a word that you want to use) and when he did, praise and a treat. then we would come inside and he would get play time, we would play and have fun...and if he started to sniff, out to the yard he would go... if he peed , great, if not, we would bring him back in and in the crate he would go for an hour or two, then out again and potty time... we just did this and it took him no time to figure out that when he had to go , he should run to the door. then we added a little bell... and we taught him to ring the bell at the door when he wanted to go out to pee...

Again, he earned more out of crate time as he became more trustworthy with the housebreaking... he didnt earn the right to have free run of the house until he was 1 yr old... he wasnt crated after 5 months except at night as he was reliable ( and i was home to let him out), rather he was GATED in an area of the house with me.

It takes consistancy- feed at the same time every day, take up the water a few hours before bedtime.. and let them out after every nap, after every play session and anytime you even remotely thing they might be sniffing or having to go...

I would not let him anywhere near the area he has been peeing on the carpet.. you need to clean it really well and then put something over it and keep him away from it... or this problem area will keep undermining your training.

Good luck with your very cute puppy... remember he is just confused with what you want him to do- Some puppies get it faster than others and some , a light just clicks one day and they finally get it!!

Emilie

[rleechb]

Thanks for the advice everyone. The wife and I had a chat about Jack's peeing, and we decided to make him an outside dog. The reason I'm a touch reluctant to, is because we live on the 3rd floor of an apartment, and spend a bit of time away from the house at work. Plus, it can get pretty rainy here, and I'd hate for Jack to get soaked every time he went out for a pee.

I've heard about the bell idea; I'll probably give it a shot.

I'm not so worried about him peeing outside, I'm a bit more worried about him NOT peeing inside. He goes as soon as we take him out, but if he needs to go while he's inside, he just... goes. He also doesn't do much sniffing; it's just stop and go, lol.

[Corgis4me]

Originally Posted by rleechb

Thanks for the advice everyone. The wife and I had a chat about Jack's peeing, and we decided to make him an outside dog. The reason I'm a touch reluctant to, is because we live on the 3rd floor of an apartment, and spend a bit of time away from the house at work. Plus, it can get pretty rainy here, and I'd hate for Jack to get soaked every time he went out for a pee.

My dog is not the biggest fan of going in the rain, but he goes out fast and gets the job done quickly; we have been out in rain, sleet, and blowing and drifting snow and I think it bothers me more than it does him.

[rleechb]

quick update:

He's gettin it. He still makes mistakes here and there, but he seems to be holding it a lot longer. He makes the pee pad too occasionally (which garners great praise), even though we stopped training him (have to leave it out for our other dog). Yay!

[Louwants]

That's good to hear! It just takes time and patience, but the job does get done.

[samaria]

Dogs are instinctively clean animals. If they can avoid it, they would rather not soil themselves or their usual eating and sleeping areas. Dogs also naturally develop habits of where they would like to eliminate. For example, dogs that have a habit of eliminating on grass or dirt would rather not eliminate on concrete or gravel. You can use these natural tendencies for rapid and successful house training.
There are two things you can do to set your dog up for successful house training. First, establish your dog's living area in a small confined space such as a bathroom, part of the kitchen or garage. Please note that a den is not a crate. Read about crate training for more information on this. Try to spend as much time as possible with your dog in her den. It is important to play with her in this area as well as let her eat and sleep here. Give your dog a special bed; this can be anything from an open crate to a large cardboard box to a beach towel. In the beginning, she may eliminate in here but once she realizes that this is her special den, she will try to avoid soiling it.
Once your dog gets used to sleeping on her very own bed, you can move it around your house from room to room, where ever you go. Confine your dog to her bed when ever you are somewhere other than her den. If her bed is a crate, simply close the door. If her bed is a towel or blanket, place it next to a piece of furniture and leash your dog so she can't get out of her bed.
To make things easier on both yourself and your dog, you should put your dog on a regular feeding schedule. What goes in on a regular schedule will come out on a regular schedule.