Fricking dog!!!!! Help me!

[CarlyD]

Being an impulsive genius, me and DH got a puppy. Collie x Lab - trainable right? Wrong!!!!

We have had the little guy almost a month, he is now about 13/14 weeks old and will NOT get the hang of house training :'(

We followed all the books advice, didn't tell him off for going in the house, just interrupted him and took him out to the garden. LOADS of praise when he does go outside. Cleaning everywhere he goes in the house quickly so he doesn't smell it. He just will not hold it or tell us when he needs to go!

We got a crate, which has been a godsend because he decided he could hold it in there. So he is crated at night and after meals for half hour or so before we take him out. If he goes outside he gets lots if praise and has the run of the house again, but half hour later *bam* he's peeing right in front of us! Just a bit! It's always like "he definitely could have held that" We even restricted his water intake to meal times and after walks.. It made a tiny difference...

Basically it's like he doesn't know it's wrong to go in the house. Should we have told him off when he had accidents? Argh!!!! DH is really losing it with him and I don't want to come home one day to find one of them gone

 

[NinjaKitty]

Eeeeek! No advice. I hope she doesn't mind me mentioning it but Cazza is an experienced dog trainer. You might want to tap her up for advice. Sorry Cazza.

 

[CarlyD]

Haha thanks message of plea has been sent!

 

[Jazz]

random question what you cleaning the accidents up with if you bleach or other cleaners you will make house smell like a big toilet to him, need to use bio washing powder or liquid (liquid is much easier) x

 

[NinjaKitty]

random question what you cleaning the accidents up with if you bleach or other cleaners you will make house smell like a big toilet to him, need to use bio washing powder or liquid (liquid is much easier) x

FYI this works. Has to be bio so the enzymes break down the organic smells.

 

[Constantstar]

Have u tried I the scent u up on the paper? Worked wonders when we had our dog x

 

[CarlyD]

Thank you for your replies!

We use an anti-bacterial spray and then every few days a foam carpet cleaner on his areas. So you think bio washing liquid on the carpet might do the trick? He does seem to have a few favourite spots!

Sorry constantstar, I'm not sure what you mean? Xx

 

[tinkerbell86]

Boys do tend to do this and tend to pee when excited!have you tried puppy raining pads by the back door?also he might not go in the crate as he classes it as his bed/den!my dog was virtually trained when I got her! Have you tried putting his nose in it and telling him he's been bad? That's the only way my nan could get her dog to realise he couldn't keep messing in the house!

 

[Hope81]

We got a puppy recently. Putting its nose on it just teaching it that you don't like pee, not that it peed iykwim. So next time it may decide that pee is ok in the house but not in front of you.
Go to the pest store and get a special spray that clean the urine smell
Get your puppy out after everything. You play it goes out .it wakes from a nap it goes out. Sop chewing it's toy it gets out etc etc. 13 weeks is still very very young. Our puppy is now 23 weeks old and still has some accidents I overexcited.
You will get there believe me but you need to really clean the pee spots with special cleaners.
I run after she has an accident and lean very thin with soap and white vinegar and then the special spray.

 

[Cazza]

Please please don't shove your poor pups nose in it...........I thought that method had long been forgotten about!!!


Consistancy is the key.

Immediately after feeding, drinking, sleeping or a period of play take pup to the place you designate for toilets, give a verbal cue (command) for toileting ie 'be quick' 'empty' 'go pee pee' and say/do nothing more - keep your eye on pup and wait for nature to take its course and as soon as they finish a wee (however small) make a big fuss of them.

As above treat all accidents in the house as just that - an accident - no shouting no reaction at all. Wipe the area with a solution a bio washing powder (cheap one is fine as they have no fragrances) then blot dry with a towel. When dry wipe over with either surgical spirit or white vinegar. If you have a tiled floor, put a splash of surgical spirit or white vinegar in with your normal detergent too.

Puppy pads can be useful but all you are teaching pup is that it's ok to pee indoors, getting them outside is the key. Water restriction can help if the problem is acute but pups should always have some water available to them at all times.

If you catch pup weeing pop one hand under the chest and with the other wrap the tail underneath the pup which will automatically cease the weeing until you can carry them outside to give them your command.

As for the breed. well yes in theory they should make a really trainable dog, but in my experience probably not!!! Get booked in for some puppy classes preferably clicker or reward based training and get that huge brain working with you not against you!!!

One book I would recommend to every puppy owner (I think it should be compulsary reading!!!) is Sarah Fishers book '100 Ways to train the Perfect Dog'

http://www.amazon.co.uk/100-Ways-Tr...9413/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1325696151&sr=8-1

This book is full of modern, proven training methods in a really easily uinderstood format giving you mini goals along the way. It covers house training, lead training, tricks and even doggie massage!!!

Really worth £8!!!!!

Hope that helps..........feel free to ping me for any more help!!

 

[CarlyD]

Thank you so much for your advice! He had his last puppy jab last week so he starts going to training classes tomorrow! Fingers crossed! DH has given him to the end of Jan to show some improvement

He's really good in some ways. Walks nice on the lead, has grasped recall the majority of the time, knows 'sit', 'wait' and sometimes 'down' lol. But he can't get it into his little puppy head not to pee in the house!

Bought some bio washing liquid so will work a bit of that into the carpet to try and deter him. We do take him out very regularly, but like I said he goes outside, gets loads of praise, then comes in and goes again after 5 mins right in front of us with no warning We thought it might be diabetes or an infection but cos he holds it in his crate I dont think its that now. So frustrated! We've had rescue dogs for that past god knows how many years that have already been house trained, so it's all been a shock how hard it is!

 

[Constantstar]

It's a spray u put on the newspaper so they know where to go wee! We used to put newspaper in a few spots for dog to use it and then take them away until the only paper was by the back door and it learnt that it had to go outside zx

 

[Bellarina]

Hi hun
sorry to hear you and OH are fustrated with puppy, but he is still quite young and he will learn believe me.
Like Cazza said dont tell puppy off when it wees just pick up quick and take it outside to where its meant to wee and even if only a couple of drips then come out lots of praise!
Is your puppy also showing subtle signs as to when he is going to do it? coz i found myself being very observant of my puppy when we first had her and the second she started behaving differently i.e. sniffing floor, or looking agitated etc id pick her up quick and take her outside and wait for her to go then praise her loads.

It is possible it could be a little water infection as mums puppy had one once and was just doing little dribbles all the time of wee and once had antibiotics the toilet training came really quick.

It seemed to take my puppy a while to get the gist of toilet training (espec coz our living room is on middle floor so having to run downstairs everytime to let her out was hard to do intime) but it seems to just click with them and then they know what they gotta do.

also well done on going to the puppy training classes

Good luck i really hope it doesnt come to having to rehome him. Just takes alot of patience

xxx

 

[CarlyD]

Thank you. How long did it take your puppy to get it? He does sniff the ground a lot when he's about to go so it's slightly manageable.. I just wish he'd try and tell us! Go to the door/whine/anything!!

I have a similar problem with quick timing in that our garden isn't directly accessible from the house, you get to it by going out the front door and through the side gate, so when we need to get him out we have to put out shoes on, get his lead on etc! It's a shame cos he's a gorgeous dog and I know he'll get it eventually. But with baby due in a couple of months he's on a deadline DH refuses have an accident prone dog with a newborn, which I guess is fair enough. Definitely going to have my plate full!

 

[Bellarina]

Thing is it ont happen overnight hun, with puppies and dogs its all about consistency so unortunately for him to understand it needs to be done EVERYTIME.

It depends on the dog and individual circumstances but it took our dog a good few months to get fully trained and actually ask to go out (sometimes she doesnt ask he just stands by the door so we have to be on the ball with her!) also the fact youve got him in winter time if hes anything like mine was she didnt wanna go out and stand in the rain she much prefered weeing indoors in the warm lol but i was really strict and made her stay out until she weed then gave loads of praise...eventually they associate praise wit good behaviour....he'll get it hun its just a matter of staying calm and not shouting at him. they learn from positive not negative thats the man thing to remember. good luck and i hope he remains a part of your family for your children to grown up with as i loved having a dog growing up xxx

 

[Kayelle]

I agree with cazza. I would never get a follies anything, never had any luck training them! We had a staffy pup and it took her a few weeks but if you can take pup out every single time and lots of praise, in silly high pitched voice is good. Bio washing powder is amazing also.
I know it is difficult to not tell them off especially men, but I got my boyfriend to growl deeply when she did something he did not like, as this is what their mother does, works for biting also.

 

[prettypenguin]

Hi, don't know if this helps but my dog was litter trained when we got her so we had to retrain her to go outside and even now she still sometimes goes on the rug/mat indoors if we don't see the signs in time. It is all about persistance and lots of patience, easier said than done though. Lucy usually sniffs the floor and paces quite a lot, or she will walk really close to your legs if you are sat in the sofa and rub her side against you and then sit right in front of you and stare at you. Also, when she used to sleep in the kitchen she would always pee near the fridge/back door, I caught her doing it literally minutes after letting her out and locking her up for the night, soooo frustrating it was like 'you've JUST been!?' Think it was an attention thing she hates being left out. Since we moved her into the cupboard under the stairs (sounds mean but she's a Shi Tzu so it's still a big space for her) she doesn't do it, our kitchen is huge so she had all that space to wee and not have to sleep near it. She also eats in her bedroom too so she doesn't pee theere. What we did when she slept in the kitchen was wherever she pee'd we'd move her food bowls to and she never pee'd there again, we also put oven cleaner on the spots when cleaning up which stinks and deterred her away lol. X

 

[VikkiR]

Yikes, out of my 2 great Danes one totally got it at 3 months the other still had the odd accident at 8 months good luck x

 

[emmalou82]

Are you still having problems?