Two problems

[stuartl]

Hi all,

Willow is doing well on a whole, the two main problems we have are quite big ones.

1st - Recall, when she sees another dog or person or pretty much anything that moves, she will not come back. We have tried Treats (many different kinds) lots of different toys, but it is no good she will just not come back.

Any Ideas ??????

2nd - Willow is about 5 mths old now and she is still not dry through the night. We put down paper in the kitchen overnight and she will use it, I have tried taking the paper away but now she just goes in the Kitchen. I realise that this is our own fault because we allow her to go in there, but the problem is that I have never crated her and I have no way of closing down her space.

Any suggestions please !!!!!!!!

Many thanks

Stuart

 

[gerami]

HI Stuart,

I have a 8month old male and a 7 month old female. I too have trained my babies to go on the paper on the tile. My husband and I are away from the house about 10 hrs per day so we do not crate our dogs but just dog proof the house. We had similar problems with the dogs going in the middle of the night, so I take their food and water away at 8:00 pm and take them out at 10:00 just before bedtime and that way they sleep all through the night without using the bathroom. If they play really hard after I take the water away I usually give them a bit of water but not too much and make sure they go the bathroom before bedtime.

Hope this helps.

gerami

 

[mancin]

Try doing recall training on a leash. That way when Willow sees another dog or cat, she doesn't have the option to "flee". If you call her and she still doesn't come, give her a slight (SLIGHT) tug on the leash to get her attention.
Take up her water a few hours before bedtime. Before you are ready to go to bed, get her to exercise a little... play w/ her, take her for a walk, etc. Then give her at least 10 minutes outside. If she still pees in the middle of the night, you will have to get up w/ her during the night and let her out before she has a chance to pee on the floor. However, this is going to be a bad habit to break as you've allowed her to pee in the kitchen on paper. Just be consisent and patient.

 

[gmacleod]

For the night time peeing - have you thought about trying a crate? She's not too old...

Even if you inherently don't like crates, there are good reasons for your pup to be comfortable with being in one. Travelling, un-scheduled vet visits, accident or illness that requires restraint, or just a safe place for your dog to be when you can't supervise... In any of those situations, it really helps to have a dog that's used to the crate

In so far as toilet training goes, the crate is a very good tool. It's not easy to get it into the head of a puppy that peeing should always take place outdoors, especially when her bladder is telling her she needs to go now. She is old enough that she should be able to hang on, but that still will be a bit of an effort for her, so you either have to get up during the night or very early in the morning to enable her to relieve herself outdoors, or else you have to provide a disincentive to her relieving herself until later. That is where the crate comes in - if she has no other option but to pee in her bed, she is far more likely to choose to hold on (even if it's a little uncomfortable). Given that she's had puppy pee pads up until now, you're otherwise going to have a difficult time re-training her to pee outdoors only.

If you don't want to go the route of the crate, I think the best option is to limit her water after about 7 or 8 pm, and get up very early to let her out to relieve herself. That way, you minimise the risk of her needing to pee indoors and maximise your opportunities to praise her for going outside.

Now - as for the recall thing. I'm afraid that every single time you let her offleash and she doesn't respond to your call, she is learning that she doesn't have to come back unless or until she chooses. That's not good - and obviously you can't scold her for not coming back, because by doing so you give her a disincentive to obey. Catch 22? Not really. The answer is actually NOT to let her offleash outside of your own yard, or anytime there's a risk she won't come when you call her.

She's just a puppy, and she clearly doesn't have her recall command down yet. As mentioned, every incidence of "successful disobedience" (LOL) makes the situation worse. So keep her on leash - for quite a while yet. You can take her out places and let her run on a long line. Periodically call her back to you (preferably for a game) - and if she doesn't respond, you now have the ability to make sure she does Just reel her in... Only after her recall is 100% reliable (and preferably after she's finished the 'deaf, dumb and blind' adolescent phase that she'll hit in a couple of months or so) should you let her off leash anywhere you can't control her by other means.

Just to make things a little harder, it is still good ofr her to have socialisation time with other dogs. If you don't happen to have lots of friends with dogs that she can play with in your or their yard, then she really would benefit from occassional visits to a friendly dog park. Pick a fenced one so she's safe, and in letting her off leash to play, do see if you can get her to come to you every once in a while for a treat and a game before being sent back to play. That way you reinforce that coming to you is a good thing, and doesn't always result in being leashed and taken home.

Finally, do a search of the forums on house/potty training and on recall. There's a ton of information here that I'm sure can help you out. Good luck

 

[Jan]

I only have a couple of things to add. For the recall, you always need to have the best yummiest treats. The recall should not end playtime untill she comes all the time. Go and get her. You need to add distractions to your recall training. Have people throwing balls and toys when she is coming. She needs to learn to come no matter what, but you have to make it worthwhile to her. You have to be the most exciting thing out there and no matter how long it takes her to come you need to tell that she is wonderful.

Good luck!