Potty Training

[kendra]

My Maagie is 5 months old. When will she be fully potty trained? I leave for work at 8am, come home at lunch (12) to let her out, and there it is right there in front of the door, pee. Is is because she is still growing, her bladder is not fully deveolped? Please try to help?! I feel like a bad mom when I have to yell at her, because she knows she was wrong, but was it really her fault?



Maagie, fawn female, born 10-31-00, natural ears

[Edited by kendra on 04-02-2001 at 09:28 PM]

 

[Tulsa-Dan]

Yes, 5 months is waaaay to young to expect the dog to be housetrained. Females take longer to develop bladder control than males, as well, so you are going to have to be patient. At 5 months, I took Maggie outside to pee every 2 hours, without fail. It is only now, at almost 10 months, that Maggie can "hold" it for up to 5 or 6 hours if need be. I generally take them out every 4 hours anyway, so they aren't uncomfortable and I don't have to put them in the position of having to relieve themselves in the house.

Keep training. I used rewards to train that they are good dogs when they poop and pee where and when I ask them to. It has worked very well. And you do need to let the dog know that going in the house is unacceptable. I know you feel guilty, but scolding the dog verbally is not a horrible, abusive thing. Dogs NEED to know what's appropriate and what isn't. They are more comfortable and happier if they know what is expected of them. If you have ever noticed, dogs get real hyper and weird when they are in strange places where they don't know what they are supposed to do. Same with housetraining. If you don't let them know what to do and what not to do, they are nervous and hyper and this will also contribute to more accidents in the house. So, the scolding is really quite necesssary. But the good news is that you won't have to do it forever once the dog understands that she is supposed to go outside (and is rewarded for doing so) and is NOT supposed to go inside (and is scolded for doing so). Your dog will be happier in the long run and you won't be scolding her anymore, for that reason anyway .

Keep up the training. It takes a lot of time. Good luck.

 

[kendra]

Thanks Dan, I was hoping that I was doing right, or had the right idea about her potty training. She makes it hard for me to reward her, because she does not like any of the treats that I have tried for her, can you believe that? So I have to pet her and tell her how good she was for pottiying outside. She does know when she goes on the floor that she is bad, when I come home form work she won't even go into the kitchen she has her ears back, with that sad look on her face. Poor girl...

Thanks again Dan, I will continue to work with her.

P.S. Your Maggie and my Maagie, look like they could be sisters.

 

[Tucker's_mom]

doggy trears

Kendra--

I was having the same problem with Tucker (not liking his treats) and then I found these Nutro training treats. They're soft like a little piece of steak or something (and smell really meaty). He really loves them lovicon. I make him sit before I'll give him a treat and he pretty much skids to a halt on his butt when he gets in the house after pottying . He goes potty outside 90% of the time after I started rewarding him with those.

It never hurts to try...

Good Luck with the housebreaking. Believe me, I know how frustrating it is.

Andrea

 

[kendra]

Thanks Andrea,

I will have to try those treats for her. Do you know where you bought them at? Or are they only available at like a Patsmart?

Good news, went home today for lunch and no potty on the floor!! Gave her a bunch of loves for that!!

Thanks, Kendra

 

[Tucker's_mom]

doggy treats

Kendra--

I've been getting them at Petco. But because they're made by Nutro, they're probably available at any pet supplies store. I'm not sure if there's a Petco in your area, but they have "Petco Plus" cards that give you an extra discount on weekly specials and when you buy 10 bags of dog food, you get the 11th free!! Not too bad when you own a boxer!!

Congrats to Maggie for successfully making it thru the day!!



Andrea

 

[kendra]

 

[kendra]

Andrea,

We do not have a Petco in this area (figures doesn't it) But I will check around to a couple of different stores up here to see if they have it.

I agree with you about that dog food, but she is not bad with food, I keep her dry food (Science Diet) out for her all day, then at night I mix up dry and wet food for her at she seems ot like it that way, so I will keep it going until she lets me know otherwise. I went through about 5-6 different brands until she made up her mind on if she was going to eat it or not!! She has been with Science Diet now for about 2 months with no complaints, so I think that I found a winner!

Thanks for all of your help.

I hope Tucker is wonderful.

 

[Maggi Torres]

Hi! I had the same problem with my 5 month old. He was doing good pottying on the puppy training pads, but then he decided that the entire house was as good a place to potty as the paper. I decided about a month ago to put him in his crate in the mornings until my lunch break. He's in his crate for about 4 1/2 hrs. until I come home to let him go potty (outside), feed him, play with him, and let him go potty one more time before I put him back in his crate. He's doing very well so far. He was suffering from separation anxiety in the beginning, but now that some time has passed, he is getting used to it. Since my Zeus likes to sleep alot in the morning, I feel comfortable leaving him in his crate (w/toys and blankies). If you decide to crate her during the day, make sure she goes potty before you put her in. Also, don't leave any water or food in the crate. They tend to have to potty about 45 minutes after they eat. By the way, as far as treats go...my pup loves Bil-Jac liver treats. Well, whatever you decide...GOOD LUCK!!

 

[kendra]

Hi Maggi,

Thanks for the advise about the treats, I need something besides ice cream cones to treat her with : )

I tried to cage train her when I first brought her home. She HATED it. She had sores on her feet, from scratching at the sides, she would sleep in her own. After about a month, I could not let her do that to herself anymore, so I blocked the kitchen off for her, and she is much better in there. She has her accidents like I said, but at least she has no sores, and I do not have to give her a bath anymore on a daily basis.

Thanks again.

Kendra

Maagie - almost 6 month old, female, natural ears, fawn