I need help potty training

[Tracy]

I have a 6 month old white male boxer named Captain. I have been potty training him since I got him when he was 6 weeks old and he still just doesn't get the concept of "going" outside. For example..... I will put him outside and then I will stand and watch him...... he will not go. I will leave him
out for a good 20-30 minutes just to make sure that he's gone potty. As soon as I let him in he goes pee!!! I don't know what to do. He sleeps in our bed with us at night.... I take him out often through out the night, sometimes he will go while outside and sometimes he won't. Then first thing in the morning, I will be taking him towards the back door..... he's all excited because he know he is going outside but then on the way to the back
door.... he stops to pee in the house.
I just don't know what to do to get him to understand that he has to go potty outside.

OH.... I can't forget to mention - we have a really big screened in porch and going through the porch is the only way to the back yard. We leave the back porch door to the back yard open and he always goes potty on the porch,,,, he has access to the yard and he still goes inside!

I don't know what to do with him.... he just won't learn. I don't want to sound bad or offend anyone but could he be stupid and just not understand. I was thinking that maybe he is slow or maybe mildly retarded like some humans. Is that possible in animals??

I love my dog and I want him to be a part of our family but I can't have my house being destroyed. He is also starting to chew when that has never been a problem before.

I really need help!!! Is it too late for him to learn.... am I doing something wrong???

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

Thank you,
Tracy

 

[Tulsa-Dan]

Tracy,

Training a dog, especially housebreaking, is not an easy task. It takes lots of time, patience and consistency. It is practically a full time job. Don't be so hard on yourself, and don't be so hard on the dog either. Captain is just confused, he isn't being bad or spiteful. He just doesn't know that you need him to go in a specific spot rather than where he's now going (on the porch).

Please go buy a copy of the book "The Culture Clash" by Jean Donaldson and read it. You will be able to train your dog to go where and when you want without pain and so much frustration.

Secondly, starting now, I would suggest taking Captain on leash to the back where you want him to do his business and stay WITH him until he does it where you want him to do it. If he goes on the porch, make a loud noise, yell, do something to scare the dog into stopping, take him immediately to where you want him to go and let him go there. Then immediately give the dog a treat and PRAISE HIM like no tomorrow for a good piddle or poopie (or whatever term you use). Keep doing this over and over and over until Captain understands that it is not safe (he gets scared) when he poops on the porch, but gets a treat and praise when he poops in the proper place. He'll soon understand where to go and where not to go.

I have been doing this for about a month now and I can even get Maggie to piddle "on command." She is now so well conditioned by my words and receiving treats for a "good piddle" that when I say, "do your good piddle," she'll stop at the next tree or clump of leaves and piddle. It is amazing. And it was very, very easy. Just a simple plan of showing them what you want, rewarding them for doing what you want, and not rewarding them for doing what you don't want them to do. This method will work excellently for the chewing too. Be sure to give the dog an alternative to chewing on the furniture or whatever he's chewing you don't want chewed. Have lots of toys and chew sticks and bones, etc., to give whenever the dog is chewing on the wrong thing. You have to show them what's right after you show them what's wrong.

I know you are frustrated, but it is possible and you can do it fairly easily if you understand the reward concept AND the dog understands it too. Believe me, it has worked wonders for me and Maggie. Patience and consistency. Don't give up. You and Captain will get there.

Good luck and keep us posted.

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Dan from Brooklyn
Proud Pappa to Maggie Mae, Born 6/16/00
Flashy Fawn (Red), docked tail, natural ears.
Pictures: http://www.d-batt.com/Maggie.html

 

[Jan]

Dan has given you very good advice. I really don't think I can add anything to it.

Good luck,

------------------
Jan
Markus, dark brindle
neutered male, 6 yrs old

 

[Boxer Family]

Tracy,
My Emma is now 12 weeks old and she's doing awesome with her housetraining. But I must tell you I'm a stay at home mom so I have all day long to help Emma along with her learing. Captain just needs a little extra help. I went to a web site called www.boxerbytes.com and it gives you SO MUCH information it will amaze you. Plus it's FREE !! It helped me with the do's and dont's of working with puppies ets. The housetraining tips and chewing and biting tips were exceptionally good. You might also invest in a crate for Captain. And put it right next to the door that he will be going out of. Keep him on a food schedule and limit his water intake. (don't let him drink after 9:00 p.m.) There is no reason why he shouldn't be able to hold it through the night. Then when you get up in the morning take out of his crate and say, "got to go outside"? Then take him immediately on a leash to where he needs to go potty. I always use the "go potty Emma" word. Keep repeating yourself until he goes. And when you see him going say,"good potty". Emma usually goes pee first because it's so cold out and trys to come back to the house. But all I have to do is snap my fingers and say,"you go potty Emma" and she'll go back to the yard and poop. This has worked with every dog I've had. So keep up the work he's not retarded; just confused as to what you want. Also, use the same words everytime and go out the same door every time. He'll get it...promise.

Mary
Emma 12 weeks old
flashy,fawn,cropped & docked

 

[Lisa M]

I agree with all of the above, he needs patience and also consistancy. Casper also had to really go bad in the mornings so we kept his leash in our room at night after his last walk then put it on him first thing before we left the bedroom so we could lead him directly over to the door and go out with out any stopping along the way on his part. (We could not even stop in to our bathroom for brushing our teeth or our own potty breaks like we can now or there would be a present waiting from Casper nearby when we came out!)

Maybe your pup needs restricted or supervised access to the porch until he understands that it isn't the right potty place. You really have to catch them in the act of going in the wrong place and then as mentioned above stop them and bring them to the correct one in order for them to start putting two and two together.

One morning after I thought we were in the clear with Casper I walked him and he didn't poop on our regular route but I was in a rush and figured, "OK he doesn't have to go". Then when was in the house just a few seconds I heard my hubby exclaim at the huge pile Casper had just left us on the floor. I realized it was my fault not Casper's - I should have kept him out that extra minute or two instead of rushing in - so that time Casper reminded me what he needed when it came to training.

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mama to:
-Sumi, lab mix "pound puppy"
-Casper, white boxer rescued from the Dade County Animal shelter

 

[Alisha Mobley]

Sorry if I repeat other suggestions but I'm at work and didn't have time to read them all.

About the peeing before making it to the door mine did the same thing. We crate them when not at home and at night, as soon as I would open their door to go outside they would take a few steps ans stop to pee. I learned after a few times of this to open the door and grab the puppy and quickly carry it outside. This way it can't make a mistake and pee in the house. I did this until they were at least 3 months old. Another thing that helped was the crate. Since dogs don't like to pee where they sleep they will hold their pee while in the crate. This is helpful in teaching the dog how to hold it's pee and not just going when it needs to. I have read too about putting the dog on a leash and taking it to the same place everytime so they go only in one spot of the yard. I didn't do this and trust me I regret it now. I plan to attempt to train this as soon as summer gets here but I'm sure I will have a hard time since they all will be over a year old by then. Good Luck and I'm sure you have be given some good advice from the previous posts also.


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Tyson - brindle male, cropped ears (6/18/98)
Prudence - brindle female, cropped ears (8/29/99)
Sheeba - fawn female, cropped ears (1/17/00)
Alisha - Indiana

 

[Chad and Mav]

Maverick went thru the 'normal' pottytraining annoyances but is perfect now. what i did was when i was home with him, i started out takin him out every half hour. i would say 'go pee' every single time. whether he would pee or not, i would reward him, more so if he did pee (with a treat AND praise, lots!). i would gradually increase the time in between takin him out by like 5 minutes or so and repeat the whole 'go pee' once outside.
every time we would go outside for any reason, goin for a ride, walk, or even maning the grill, i would make him pee first, again saying 'go pee', every single time. repetition works. if he/she knows what to expect, it makes it easier for them to learn. Mav learned pretty quickly what 'go pee' meant. also, if i said 'go pee' and he wouldnt go then he would start peeing another minutes later, as he was peeing i would say again 'go pee' and tell him 'good boy' as he was peeing. i still do this with him. he will be a year Jan 5.
for when he would pee in the house, the best thing to do would be to catch him in the act, snatch him up, and take him outside and do the whole 'go pee'/'good boy' thing with treats and praise. he learned pretty quick.
these are things that worked with me. repeat what works. stop what isnt working.
if you have any other questions, please feel free to ask.
i hope everything works out well.

take care

Chad and Mav

 

[Chad and Mav]

oh yea, forgot to mention that Mav was crate trained. shes right, theyre clean dogs and dont like peeing in there place (im the same way!). when takin him on walks, i would take him the same route everytime and if i couldnt be there to take him out, i would supply a map for whoever would take him out if i would be late from work! remember, he wants to please YOU! he might just be confused. repetition, repetition, repetition!

Chad and Mav