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Potty Training a Puppy?
Erin The Red
The Name's Erin! Woman, Podcaster, Dungeon Master, IT nerd, Parent, Trans. AMABaton Rouge, LARegistered User regular
The Name's Erin! Woman, Podcaster, Dungeon Master, IT nerd, Parent, Trans. AMABaton Rouge, LARegistered User regular
Good morning one and all.
I adopted a puppy from the local animal shelter out here about a week and a half ago.
She's been good and is willing to learn, and as such, we've been able to teach her to sit and lay etc.
One problem, though, is that she is always peeing on the floor. Sometimes she'll drop a deuce as well, but more often than not, it's pee. This isn't as bad as it could be, as we have wood and tile floors as opposed to carpet so the cleanup isn't as hard.
There is really no pattern to her "accidents", and a lot of times she will pee inside shortly after doing the same thing in the backyard. We keep her kenneled (is that even a word?) at night, and after a few minutes of whining, she goes to sleep. She hasn't had a single incident in the kennel, which is great, but I'm honestly at a loss as to what to do to get her to stop.
Have any of you had any similar problems with your dogs? Any tips you'd be willing to share?
If it matters any, she's a Rottweiler/Australian Cattle Dog mix, according to the vet. She's about 4 months old also.
I adopted a puppy from the local animal shelter out here about a week and a half ago.
She's been good and is willing to learn, and as such, we've been able to teach her to sit and lay etc.
One problem, though, is that she is always peeing on the floor. Sometimes she'll drop a deuce as well, but more often than not, it's pee. This isn't as bad as it could be, as we have wood and tile floors as opposed to carpet so the cleanup isn't as hard.
There is really no pattern to her "accidents", and a lot of times she will pee inside shortly after doing the same thing in the backyard. We keep her kenneled (is that even a word?) at night, and after a few minutes of whining, she goes to sleep. She hasn't had a single incident in the kennel, which is great, but I'm honestly at a loss as to what to do to get her to stop.
Have any of you had any similar problems with your dogs? Any tips you'd be willing to share?
If it matters any, she's a Rottweiler/Australian Cattle Dog mix, according to the vet. She's about 4 months old also.
Erin The Red on
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I think what you should be doing is trying to teach her how to let you know when she wants to go to the bathroom. Try paying attention to her and see if there's something in her behavior that is consistent before she pees on the floor. Heavy sniffing, maybe tail down if she knows she isn't supposed to be going inside. A good rule to follow is, if it looks like she might need to pee, take her for a walk. Worst case, you're outside for another five minutes out of the day.
You can also try placing a potty pad by the door and spraying pheromones that encourage dogs to go on it (or some other way to encourage), that way (theoretically, it doesnt work for all dogs) when she is looking to go she will head for the door, and you will know to walk her. Eventually she will make the connection that outside is for using the bathroom.
I come home for lunch around 3 1/2-4 hours later (I live a few minutes from work) and take her out for another 5-10 minutes and we come and play inside after I eat some lunch.
Then I come home about 4-5 hours after that, and take her out immediately, and every couple hours after that.
Should I maybe take her water bowl after a certain time?
I try to look out for warning signs, but between her and a 4 year old, it's hard to keep up with both haha.
I read online that the sniffing is an indicator, but she seems like she's always sniffing around indoors.
Do you know where I can get that pheremone stuff? My work internet blocks virtually any pet-related site, so I'm having 0 luck searching for it.
There's some solid information on puppy housetraining here that you should read through, as well.
Awesome, thanks for the info. I'm reading the page right now while i wait for the servers for our stupid ticketing program to come back up.
For clarification, I DO kennel her while I'm at work, and she has yet to have an accident while I've been gone. I'm mostly just confused by the fact that she pees on the floor almost immediately after coming inside from peeing in the grass.
May look into the sod box until she is more used to letting us know she has to go, and we are more used to reading her signals.
Like I said before, we've only had her for a week and a few days, so we're still trying to figure out the ins and outs of her behaviors.
Just keep a close eye on her, and if she exhibits any warning signs (scratching, sniffing, circling a spot a few times), take her out immediately. When she does pee outside, reward her with lavish praise and a small treat of some sort. If she pees on the floor and you didn't notice, there's nothing you can do other than clean it up, but if you do manage to catch her in the act, tell her "NO" sternly, pick her up, and put her down outside.
Praise her like crazy when she goes outside--and make sure you are THERE to praise her, don't just put her outdoors and go watch TV or something. When you catch her in the act indoors, say "no" sternly, then take her outside and praise her. Even if she doesn't go just then. Eventually she will figure out "going outside is good, going indoors is bad."
But remember . . . she is just a baby. So this learning process may take awhile. It could take months. Be patient. And never scold her for a mess if you weren't there to catch her in the act. There is no point. She will already have forgotten about it.
Also, you want to make sure that you get rid of all the pee smell inside, because smelling it is a signal to her that "this is an appropriate place to pee." And just because you can't smell anything doesn't mean she can't. For carpeting, Nature's Miracle or other enzyme based cleaners will get rid of the smell completely, but I'm not sure if it is okay to use on wood. (Should be okay to use on tile.)
Finally, when I say "praise her like crazy" for going outdoors, I really mean like crazy. Use a high-pitched happy voice, jump up and down excitedly, use that "WHO'S A GOOD PUPPY, YOOOOU AAAARE" baby talk, the whole nine yards. Not just "Good dog." You want to convey to your pup that she has just done the BEST THING EVER!!!11oneOMG
Spoilered For Possible Huge
Laser Eyes
When we first saw her at the pound and went outside. How could you say no to that face?
We have been using the nature's miracle stuff, and it seems like she's not going in the same place every time, so I guess it's working?
I'm going to work more on the leash thing, as she hates being on it and basically flops on the floor and refuses to move.
Maybe this will help me get her used to the leash AND going outside? Hmmm that could work.
Thanks everyone for all the advice!
And as Kate said, you also have to observe what her warning signs are for going to the bathroom. If you see her doing the behavior or see the signs, preemptively throw the leash on her and take her outside, then reward her when she pees and whatever in the grass.
Having the leash attached also has the benefit that you can stop her (by stepping on the leash) is she's headed somewhere you don't want (out the door, going after food, charging the cat, etc.).