Housetraining...and other random questions.

[RLucky]

This is my first puppy and I'm curious...how long does it take for the housetraining anyway? Is it a year? I've read some pups pick it up in like a month but that makes no sense to me. You can't potty train a child in a month. Zelda whines and barks sometimes and I bring her out and she goes #2. And there are times I catch her at the door and I let her out and she goes pee outside. But recently I noticed a yellow stain form right in front of the door so she's obviously gone w/o me realizing. And the stain isn't coming out either. I guess she knows to go out, so is that a good sign of where the stain is?
Oh, another unrelated thing...When I'm around a half hour late to get Zelda her breakfast or supper, I catch her finding her own "food"...aka her own poop or the cats' poop. Anyway of stopping this? Or is it a losing battle?
And digging...how do I get her to stop digging up the yard? I mean, I have a small patio area out back my apartment bordered by dirt, weeds, and rocks. I understand Boxers are diggers. I really don't care about my little space but if I take her to other people's homes I don't want her digging up the yard. How do you stop this?

 

[kayboxer]

It can take months to fully potty train a dog. Olive is 7 months and although she hasn't had an accident in a while, I don't fully trust her yet. You just have to be dilligent on letting your pup out every 45 minutes to an hour to make sure they relieve themselves outside and don't forget the praise! I have bell trained mine and when they need to go out they ring the bell. One warning about this is they ring the bell more often than that though. It can turn into a game, but at least I know when she needs to go out. If you can't be around to let her out I would crate her to prevent accidents. They have got to learn to hold it also. It could take up to a year, but it very well could be a few months less.
Good luck with the poop eating. I know there is stuff you can do to help with them eating their own poop (I've never had this problem so I don't really know), but the cat poop is a tougher one. Either move the litter box, find a way to gate it or buy a new one that is more dog proof. If you search the forums there are posts on this subject that gives many great ideas.
Digging can be tough. I know there are many products out there to help stop this behavior, but for other houses that you visit, you are just going to have to watch your pup and scold when they dig. Use a phrase every time like "no dig!" so they will learn that when they do this, they get in trouble. They will learn what "no dig" means when you say it. Just like "sit" or "stay". But you have to use it at your house too as not to confuse them. They won't understand why they can dig at someone elses house but not yours. Other may have other suggestions for this problem also. Good luck!

 

[RLucky]

I believe she's doing okay with housebreaking, I was just curious to how long it would take. I'm not crate training her at all. I've found that she won't have accidents when I'm gone, which is weird to me, but she will when I'm home at times. If I'm leaving for a short period of time and the weather is good and she has shade, I'll tie her outside. If the weather is bad, I let her stay inside. I come back home and she's snoozing on the couch, . Right now I'm unemployed, so I'm with her quite a bit, but she's okay with being alone too, which is nice. She doesn't cry like she used to. She doesn't chew up my things when I'm gone. The worse I've seen is sometimes she'll steal my bras when I'm in the shower, . Zelda is an awesome puppy.

 

[Skywalker]

I would guess it varies anyway as far as house breaking is concerned. We also bell trained ours from the start and he got it right away. He still had some accidents in the house but very few and since he was six months he's had none at all. But I was still cautious and made sure I took him out if he hadn't been for a while but I'd say now he's one (today!!) I have confidence in him.

The digging is persistance!! My boy loves to dig and who can blame him! The only way I have begun to stop him from doing this is going out with him every time and using different commands - leave, no dig etc. He's pretty good now but every so often if he thinks I'm not looking he'll have a go...little monkey

Just a word of warning - you mentioned you leave her outside in the shade. Good she's in the shade but don't forget there may still be different bugs including bees etc about and these can be harmful to your pup. My boy had an allergic reaction to a bite when we went camping and if we hadn't been there we don't know if he would have made it, he virtually stopped breathing. I don't want to be dramatic but I would not leave my boy unattended in the yard because of this issue and I think there are many others who will tell you the same thing. Just something for you to consider in case you haven't thought about it.

Good luck

 

[jinkiesp]

The worse I've seen is sometimes she'll steal my bras when I'm in the shower, . Zelda is an awesome puppy.

LOL! Coco steals my underwear when I am in the Shower. Never fails, she sneaks in after I get in and takes it in the living room.

 

[RLucky]

Omg, when I had my Shar Pei dog that I found another home from, he used to EAT my bras and the crotches out of my undies. It was a male, don't know if that made a difference...but he's another story, . As for the bugs...Zelda eats EVERY bug she can get her mouth on. I think it's funny and I got a little bug catcher for when they wander inside or the cats bring them in. I got a video of her eating a grasshopper and a cricket. As for bees, she'd eat those too. I hope she doesn't have any allergies but I'll keep that in mind, thanks. Fortunately I'm not much of a gardener () and my little yard is lacking of flowers and enticing things for bees so I barely see them. Also, while she's wandering outside in her fenced in area I'm gonna have to keep a close eye on her or tie her. She's found out she can climb/jump the gate! Lol one of my neighbors has a dog that Zelda plays with and I got a call from her: "Do you know where your puppy is?" Oops, just like a little kid.

 

[ehayes21]

I believe she's doing okay with housebreaking, I was just curious to how long it would take. I'm not crate training her at all. I've found that she won't have accidents when I'm gone, which is weird to me, but she will when I'm home at times. If I'm leaving for a short period of time and the weather is good and she has shade, I'll tie her outside. If the weather is bad, I let her stay inside. I come back home and she's snoozing on the couch, . Right now I'm unemployed, so I'm with her quite a bit, but she's okay with being alone too, which is nice. She doesn't cry like she used to. She doesn't chew up my things when I'm gone. The worse I've seen is sometimes she'll steal my bras when I'm in the shower, . Zelda is an awesome puppy.

Please don't tie your puppy outside. There are so many things that could happen, she's safer in a puppy proofed room and or a crate.

 

[RLucky]

Please don't tie your puppy outside. There are so many things that could happen, she's safer in a puppy proofed room and or a crate.

It's for less than an hour. And otherwise she's fine being loose in my apartment.

 

[whiskers]

I've read some pups pick it up in like a month but that makes no sense to me. You can't potty train a child in a month.

They can pick the -concept- up in a month, but a puppy that's only been worked with for a month probably isn't reliably housebroken, no. Juno has understood that she needs to go outside to potty since she was 9 or 10 weeks old (and by that I mean she was signaling she needed to go out--she'd sit by the door, she'd go out and pee/poop, and come right back in), but because she had zilch bladder control, accidents still happened. She'll be 6 months old next week and I can't remember the last time she had an accident. Anything within the past couple months is completely my fault, as in I remember a time when I ran outside for something and I left her inside, and I came back in to find her squatting in front of the door.

Digging is tough. Juno was a MASSIVE digger when she was a younger puppy, it seems to be fading out the older she gets. She used to dig holes to China I swear , she was able to fit in them. Now every once in a while I catch her pawing at the dirt but it's not nearly as bad as it used to be. It just requires constant supervision when they're outside and I wouldn't allow Juno to dig ANYwhere. I'd be tempted to let her dig at the dog park or beach or whatever, but I didn't want to encourage the behavior at all. Anyway what I did to curb the behavior was to put a couple pennies in a can and shake it whenever she started to dig. Startled her enough into stopping and after a few times she realized that it was the digging that created the noise, so she didn't want to dig anymore haha.

 

[RLucky]

What's the easiest way to get the recall working properly? Zelda does good indoors and in her fenced in area when I call her, but when she's out playing with her "friends", she naturally won't listen. She listened really well a couple months ago, now she won't listen. I find she'll listen to other people more than me even, people she just met, . I got her a long lead but how do you use it properly? I feel like I'm reeling in a fish when she won't listen, . She also runs off to other people's apartments that I've introduced her to once I let her loose to play. Is it that I can't trust her loose yet at all? She's almost 5 months old. I thought she was doing well being loose out back with me, but not so much anymore. Phases in development? I dunno...suggestions?