A little confused

[domro]

Hello all,

I finally got my baby girl about 2 weeks ago. She is so adorable!! There is a slight problem, though, that concerns me.

She is 8 weeks now and we are trying to potty train her. We take her outside after she wakes up or plays for awhile. When we feed her, we feed her in the crate and then leave her there until a few minutes after she finishes eating. Then we take her outside. If she doesn't potty, we put her back in the crate and then try it again after about 10 minutes until she goes potty. When she does go potty outside, I praise her immensely!! The problem is, she will go outside to go poop but then come back in the house and go pee. Sometimes she does go pee outside when we take her and sometimes not. There were a few times when she would let us know when she had to pee by going to the stairs and whining but she isn't doing that anymore. Also, when we take her outside she will constantly try and go to the front door, tugging on the leash. (I just take her right outside the front door) After several attempts of her practically choking herself to get to the door she will eventually break down and go potty.

Does this sound like a decent method for potty training or is there something else I could do better or differnet? Any suggestions would be very much appreciated. This is the first pup I have tried to potty train!!!

Dom

 

[JulieM]

Sounds like you're doing well. 8 weeks is _way_ to young to expect her to "get it" - keep working with her, be patient, be consistent, be fair, and she'll figure it out. My puppy typically has to go out twice after eating - he goes out, does one thing, and then we send him back out 5 minutes later to do the other (it varies which he does first!) Be sure you're attaching a cue to it - "go potty" is what we use. As far as her choking herself to get back to the door - maybe a harness would be better until she gets past that

Julie

 

[domro]

Thanks for replying!

I do tell her to "go potty" when I take her out and I have been doing it since day one. I guess she is coming along well since the first day I got her was the first day she went outside to potty. We have about one or two accidents a day. Only once or twice have we had none. It just doesn't seem like she knows it is bad to go in the house. I don't yell at her or anything when she does, I just take her outside and tell her to "go potty." I have read so many differnt things to do when I catch her "going" in the house so I guess I'm not sure if I should continue to do what I am doing or try something else when I catch her in the act. Any suggestions?

 

[JulieM]

Just give her a firm "NO!" or "ACK!", then do what you've been doing - take her outside, tell her to go, and praise, praise, praise when she does.

Really, it sounds like you're doing everything right. All you need now is time....she probably doesn't know it's bad to go in the house yet, but she will eventually.

My puppy is 5 months and is just starting to get the hang of it, although he still sometimes has accidents in the house if we aren't paying attention. (Of course, he's also a boy and I do think they take longer, but that's just my opinion )

Julie

 

[ninersneal]

Sounds to me like you are doing the right thing. Housetraining Roxy reminded me of when I was potty training my son (Oh he would be SOOOO embarassed right now ) You try, and try, and just when you've given up hope, they GET it!! BTW Roxy justed turned one and still loves praise for going outside!!! I still have to tell her what a good girl she is.

 

[Aimee]

Lexi is 3 and she still requires praise when she goes outside...I don't think they ever outgrow the praise :D

 

[Tulsa-Dan]

One thing I'd suggest is that you wait about 30 minutes after the puppy eats to take her out for potty. I think perhaps it is too soon after 10 minutes for her to be ready to go. Also, I've noticed my 6 mo. old girl never seems to empty her bladder completely on the first try. She usually pees twice when we go out. I also suggest walking the dog around the yard or the block or something. Walking and smelling stimulates bladder and bowel movements. I try to walk Maggie for at least 20 minutes on each of our outings to do business and she usually always pees twice in that time.

As for trying to get back to the door, I would suggest taking the dog further from the door to do her business. Take her out into the yard on a leash and walk her around and let her find her "place" where she wants to do business or lead her to a place further from the door where it is ok with you for her to do her business. But go with her and encourage her to do business and then lots of praise and even a treat.

As for going inside and knowing that that is unacceptable, perhaps you need to make a bigger deal of it when she goes in the house. I found the same thing with Maggie; she didn't take me seriously because I gave her a little scolding and then cleaned up. After all, she was just a little puppy. But once I made a big deal of it, yelling and scaring her some, it only took about twice before she started giving me signals that she needed to go out. She learned it wasn't safe to go inside and that if she went outside, she got praise and a treat. After that, it was only a matter of me catching her signals (which are subtle, but you can train them to give you one that works for both of you -- I've done that with Maggie, finally. That may take a little longer) and we had very few accidents.

I just made a mental note the other day that Maggie has been very consistently telling me when she needs to go out now, and she is holding it longer and longer in between trips outside. I guess at a little over 6 months old, her bladder is finally gaining some control. Hooray!

It takes time and patience and consistency. I was very frustrated and I confused Maggie at first, but once I got the hang of it, she figured it out in short order. I fully expect to continue to have an occasional accident in the house for a while yet. If not, then I'll consider myself very lucky and Maggie a very good girl

Good luck. You're on the right track.

 

[domro]

Dan, Maggie is my pups name as well!! My girlfriend used to have a boxer named Maggie when she was younger so I really had no choice!!
Anyway, I read the house training section in the book Culture Clash that someone recommended to me before I got her. I started bringing treats with me and waiting a little longer to let her out. We have not had one accident today and she is doing "both" in relatively close proximity to each other timewise. Also, as soon as she comes in from doing her business I play with her immediately as a reward. Otherwise if she doesn't go, she knows its time for the crate until she does.
Culture Clash is really a great book and I would suggest to anyone who doesn't have to get it now!! There is so much knowledge in that book that I was oblivious to and reading it has been invaluable as well as the help and support from everyone on this forum. Thank you all for your help!!

 

[Tulsa-Dan]

Great! I'm glad you are making some progress on the potty issue. It is probably the most frustrating of training issues to deal with. Once that is over, you'll find the rest is relatively easy in comparison.

I'm also thrilled you found the book as valuable as I did. It sure has saved my sanity. It is some work, that's for sure, but well worth it in terms of results and peace of mind that I'm not harming my dog in any way and she's being trained in a humane and loving way.

Keep after it. It actually gets to be a lot of fun, seeing what you can get your Maggie to do, taking each command a little further, asking a little more and they always try and give you a little more. I love it now whereas before, I dreaded training and working with Maggie.

I think Maggie is a great name for a dog. Glad to see someone agrees with me. :D

 

[Cindy and Lacie.]

Dan, I totally agree about giving them enough time to "potty" twice and also to walk them a bit to get things moving. I think Im going to order your book Culture Clash next pay day, you are making me sooooooo curious about the book.