Poop privacy?

[KevLinsLayla]

Hi everyone,

Our little Layla is coming along with her house training, we are trying "puppy pads" and are having a little success, however she has only been home for a few days, but it seems like she is embarrassed or too shy to eliminate in front of us (she won't leave your side at any other time).

We have a large space behind the couch and a wall (easily walk two people down it) and it appears to be her preferred spot to poop, out of sight of the rest of the room.

We started with a pad near her crate (which she loves) and she will use that when she comes out, usually we place her on it though.

I am aware maybe we are expecting to much, but we make sure we praise her *a lot* when she does pee/poop on the pad.

So my question is, any other pups out there a little shy?

 

[BxrMommieNAZ]

My puppy wasn't shy but my dog that we got from rescue when he was a year to a year and a half, his entire life he wouldn't go if you were watching him. When he was ill and had to stay at the vet all day for observation they were giving him IV fluids and he would not pee when they took him out to walk him in the back to go and they called me very concerned, I told them he wouldn't go if you were watching him they thought I was nuts. At my request they did release him that night even though he hadn't pottied he whined ALL the way home, we got home and I'm not kidding you (yes I timed it) he peed for a SOLID 6 minutes in my back yard (I would watch from a window that he couldn't see me so I was watching but he didn't know. When we moved out here and we had to take him on leash at rest stops we would have to turn around otherwise he wouldn't go. Darn dog just assume let himself explode before he'd go if someone was watching. I'd recommend since she is a puppy DO NOT encourage her behaviour. I made sure to watch my puppy EVERY TIME he pottied so he'd get used to it because it makes it beyond difficult when they get older. I mean come on, it was like 12 hours that my dog was boarded with IV fluids being pumped into him and he STILL refused to go, moving and having to take him on leash we'd have to turn around, etc it makes life tough so don't feed into it and encourage it is my advice having gone through 7 years of it.

Good luck.

 

[EAO76]

Can I ask why you are using pads? Is this where she will eliminate permanently (for life)? If you plan on training her to potty outside its much easier to just train that from the get go. Also at her age you shouldn’t allow her out of you sight long enough to eliminate in private. By allowing the opportunity for this behavior you are setting her up for potty training failure. The best thing to do is keep your eye on her constantly and when she starts to give signs (or if you catch her in the act) that she needs to potty take her to her proper place and praise & treat like crazy for any success. The more failures/ mistakes she is allowed the more it will become a habit. And if she is making her mistakes in private then she isn’t learning it’s a mistake because no one is correcting the behavior at the moment it is happening (correcting after the fact does no good).

My puppy wasn't shy but my dog that we got from rescue when he was a year to a year and a half, his entire life he wouldn't go if you were watching him. When he was ill and had to stay at the vet all day for observation they were giving him IV fluids and he would not pee when they took him out to walk him in the back to go and they called me very concerned, I told them he wouldn't go if you were watching him they thought I was nuts. At my request they did release him that night even though he hadn't pottied he whined ALL the way home, we got home and I'm not kidding you (yes I timed it) he peed for a SOLID 6 minutes in my back yard (I would watch from a window that he couldn't see me so I was watching but he didn't know. When we moved out here and we had to take him on leash at rest stops we would have to turn around otherwise he wouldn't go. Darn dog just assume let himself explode before he'd go if someone was watching. I'd recommend since she is a puppy DO NOT encourage her behaviour. I made sure to watch my puppy EVERY TIME he pottied so he'd get used to it because it makes it beyond difficult when they get older. I mean come on, it was like 12 hours that my dog was boarded with IV fluids being pumped into him and he STILL refused to go, moving and having to take him on leash we'd have to turn around, etc it makes life tough so don't feed into it and encourage it is my advice having gone through 7 years of it.

Good luck.

At some point (prior to life with you) this dog was probably severely punished for eliminating so he learned that it wasn’t safe to eliminate in the company of humans. It’s actually a really sad story you told. Poor boy!

 

[BxrMommieNAZ]

Can I ask why you are using pads? Is this where she will eliminate permanently (for life)? If you plan on training her to potty outside its much easier to just train that from the get go. Also at her age you shouldn’t allow her out of you sight long enough to eliminate in private. By allowing the opportunity for this behavior you are setting her up for potty training failure. The best thing to do is keep your eye on her constantly and when she starts to give signs (or if you catch her in the act) that she needs to potty take her to her proper place and praise & treat like crazy for any success. The more failures/ mistakes she is allowed the more it will become a habit. And if she is making her mistakes in private then she isn’t learning it’s a mistake because no one is correcting the behavior at the moment it is happening (correcting after the fact does no good).



At some point (prior to life with you) this dog was probably severely punished for eliminating so he learned that it wasn’t safe to eliminate in the company of humans. It’s actually a really sad story you told. Poor boy!

I don't think so because he wasn't like that when we very first got him. I don't know exactly when it started to be honest (we adopted him well it would've been coming up on 8 years now), but he was never one to pee many times a day anyway. Even letting him out frequently he usually only went twice a day, dog had the bladder the size of a pony (no joke). But I know WE never punished him, in fact I can count on one hand the number of accidents he had with us to be honest (well until he got sick), and since it started after we got him, not long after, but after, I don't know where it came from. He was a good dog, very balanced, other than that quirk.

But, that definitely isn't something I would want someone to encourage. I made darn sure to watch my puppy (who could care less) frequently so that he got used to it and wouldn't be that way because it can really make life tough if you go on vacation, move, anything where they have to be walked to go potty.

 

[KevLinsLayla]

My wife had done some research about the pad training and the idea is you move them gradually closer to do the door, so they will go to the door when they need to potty.

Thanks for the advice, we know what to look out for when she needs to go, so we will work from there.

Since it hasn't been a long time hopefully we can do any bad habits we may have let slip in.

Thanks again.

 

[BxrMommieNAZ]

My wife had done some research about the pad training and the idea is you move them gradually closer to do the door, so they will go to the door when they need to potty.

Thanks for the advice, we know what to look out for when she needs to go, so we will work from there.

Since it hasn't been a long time hopefully we can do any bad habits we may have let slip in.

Thanks again.

I can't tell you how many dogs I have potty trained, I have NEVER used pads and they ALL figured out how to go to the door when they needed to go out and within anywhere from a few days to a week. I'd ditch the pads especially if you want her to go outside. You can tie a bell to your door that you take her out of and ring it everytime you take her out to potty that way she can ring a bell when she needs to go. But really if you simply take her outside frequently and when she needs to go she should figure out within a few days to a couple of weeks to sit by the door when she needs to go. My puppy starting pawing at the door and eventually that escalated to whining if we didn't seehim pawing. IMO training with puppy pads just confuses the dog not to mention you usually end up needing to train twice, and sometimes end up with a dog who keeps going in the house simply because they're confused.

This is just my opinion based on my experience with my own dogs (3 of them) and fosters that needed potty training help.

 

[EAO76]

I can't tell you how many dogs I have potty trained, I have NEVER used pads and they ALL figured out how to go to the door when they needed to go out and within anywhere from a few days to a week. I'd ditch the pads especially if you want her to go outside. You can tie a bell to your door that you take her out of and ring it everytime you take her out to potty that way she can ring a bell when she needs to go. But really if you simply take her outside frequently and when she needs to go she should figure out within a few days to a couple of weeks to sit by the door when she needs to go. My puppy starting pawing at the door and eventually that escalated to whining if we didn't seehim pawing. IMO training with puppy pads just confuses the dog not to mention you usually end up needing to train twice, and sometimes end up with a dog who keeps going in the house simply because they're confused.

This is just my opinion based on my experience with my own dogs (3 of them) and fosters that needed potty training help.

I totally agree. I too have potty trained many dogs (my own & many fosters) and allowing them to eliminate inside on pads is confusing for the dog. I recommend teaching exactly what you want (going outside) from the start.

 

[KevLinsLayla]

I totally agree. I too have potty trained many dogs (my own & many fosters) and allowing them to eliminate inside on pads is confusing for the dog. I recommend teaching exactly what you want (going outside) from the start.

Ok, well we know what to look for, but we should NOT pick her up if it looks like she isn't going to make it?

I mean her crate isn't a million miles from the door but it is in a different room, thats another thing, is it better for her crate to be in our room? or a different room?

She likes her crate and will go in on her own if she gets tired after playing.

 

[BxrMommieNAZ]

Yes pick her up if she starts to go in the house and put her outside. If it's just time to go out and *try* then let her walk out on her own. But if she starts to squat, or circle, scoop her up and rush her outside to potty.

Personally I had my pup's crate in the room outside of ours across the hall (in our loft) and since it's been that way since day 1 he hasn't ever had any issues with it.

 

[KevLinsLayla]

well we are working on it now