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Puppy potty training
skippydumptruck
Registered User regular
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My puppy (1/2 shar-pei, 1/2 pug, named Oran) is about 7 months old. From the time we got him at 2 months until now, we've been crate training him, mostly with success. Oran does not soil in his crate, and will hold it from the time he is placed in the crate until he is let out. He will soil in the house proper, but only after repeated trips to the door in an attempt to gain attention and be let out to potty (this has only happened once in the past several months, that I can recall).
I'm a grad student with a job and my wife works full-time. This presents a problem, as Oran is spending upwards of 18 out of 24 hours in his crate (most of the day, all night as he sleeps). I don't feel like this is fair to him, and I think being confined most of the day in that little area is making him more rambunctious and. . . belligerent? than he would otherwise be.
So, today I left him in a cordoned off area of the house while I went to work, and came back at lunch to check on him. He hadn't destroyed anything (which was actually kind of a surprise), but he had peed and pooped on the floor.
My question is, how do I transition my dog from crate to the larger house? I want him to hold it for 3-4 hours in the morning and 3-4 hours in the afternoon, which is not unreasonable to ask of a dog, and which he has proven more than able to do if he's actually in his crate.
I'm a grad student with a job and my wife works full-time. This presents a problem, as Oran is spending upwards of 18 out of 24 hours in his crate (most of the day, all night as he sleeps). I don't feel like this is fair to him, and I think being confined most of the day in that little area is making him more rambunctious and. . . belligerent? than he would otherwise be.
So, today I left him in a cordoned off area of the house while I went to work, and came back at lunch to check on him. He hadn't destroyed anything (which was actually kind of a surprise), but he had peed and pooped on the floor.
My question is, how do I transition my dog from crate to the larger house? I want him to hold it for 3-4 hours in the morning and 3-4 hours in the afternoon, which is not unreasonable to ask of a dog, and which he has proven more than able to do if he's actually in his crate.
skippydumptruck on
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Yup, I realize that, which is why I'm here asking for advice on how to transition him out. He doesn't spend 18 hours straight -- usually from 10pm to 7am, 8am to 12pm, 1pm to 6pm, rinse, repeat.
I'd second the idea of getting a dogwalker, or you could always try to paper-train him...so that way, if he really can't hold it in (or until he's fully housetrained), at least he won't make a mess on your rug.
I might look into a dogwalker just for the exercise aspect, but he's demonstrated that he can hold it for the 4 hours between breakfast and lunch, and for the 5 hours between lunch and when I get home for the night -- in his crate.
How do I get him to hold it that long outside the crate, though?
The key is consistency, which can end up being exhausting, but you have to do it. You just have to stick with the routine until the pup finally gets it: be gentle but firm, shove his nose in the urine or stool so he identifies why he is being disciplined, immediately tell him no, and then place him outside. You might also want to take the waste outside and let him sniff it so he starts getting the message, "that's where it goes."
Also, I'm not averse to using some rolled up newspaper to give a rap on the nose or behind. It goes without saying that this isn't to physically hurt the pup or cause any pain whatsoever, but I've had to resort to this method--you're not using pain to enforce behavior, but a soft but firm rap will get their attention and let them know you are not pleased and that they did something wrong. Again, use this only if it's necessary--you don't want the dog to start associating certain behaviors with physical punishment.
Praising the dog when it does go outside is just as important as the discipline. You could try reinforcing with a treat, but usually plenty of attention and loving will do the trick if you're not big on handing out treats.
Repetition is the key, and always go discipline first, then attention/love afterwards. You're working on changing a behavior he already recognized (moving from one bathroom behavior to a different one), so it will take time. Trying to train him to realize that it's okay to go in Spot A in the house, but not okay to be in Spot B in the house will probably cause confusion, so making the whole house a "no go" zone is your best bet--make sure he only goes outside. Good luck and congrats on getting such a cute pooch.
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What you do is, when you see the puppy sniffing and squatting, immediately give a firm "no" and physically move him. Pick him up and bring him to the proper spot to go, even if he has already started to pee. I don't know if your puppy is too heavy now. It has to be done while he is doing the act, because that is how he associates peeing in a certain spot = wrong. If he has already finished and walked away, just clean it up and wait for the next time you catch him. When he goes in the right spot, praise him lavishly and give him a little treat. If you want him to go in a specific spot in the house, you should use those pee pads people have mentioned. Just make sure you always put them in the same exact spot, because that is where he will keep going. They have these sprays that you can use on the pee pads or on newspapers that smell like dog pee or whatever, and that sometimes helps them learn that that is where they should go.
This is what we did with my dog, and she now absolutely refuses to go inside the house. One time we had to keep her inside for like 8 or 9 hours during a hurricane, and she kept pawing at the back door and complaining, but she still wouldn't go inside. We finally had to let her out during the eye of the storm.
I guess I don't know how to adapt this to my situation, though. Because he knows the wrong spot to go is in his crate, and that's good. And when we're home, he'll go to the door, and that's good. But when we're not home, I'd like him to hold it -- and I can't catch him in the act when I'm not around.
So how do I associate all of inside the house with a "no-go" area like you did with your dog?
I'd say the only problem with giving a dog treats after urinating is he'll begin to associate being outside with treat.
I know some of my dogs ended up clawing at the door, running out, running back inside, and would have a "where the hell is my treat" attitude.
Altho, those were our daschsunds...and they were spoiled brats. Our lab is more innocent and less manipulative.
Once I noticed he was going on the corner more and more, I put pee pads out by my back door. Then once he was used to going there, I moved them outside. Soon enough, he got the message, and would head to the door and whine until let out. Took me like a month too.
That said, 18 hours a day is an awful fucking long time for a dog (let alone a puppy) to be left alone every day. You may really want a dog in your life right now, but are you sure it's fair to the dog? I would at least urge you to hire a dogwalker to give the little guy some extra attention.
He's alone 9 hours a day, which I imagine is on par with most working people's dogs. The other 9 hours in the crate comes when we and he are asleep.
I can't change that he is alone while we are at work (except by perhaps hiring a dog walker), but it doesn't seem cruel to me as long as he doesn't have to spend those day hours in his crate.
As I said, he doesn't go inside except when he's alone -- I'm going to try the positive verbal reinforcement (which we do) and add in treats every time he goes outside instead of inside. Hopefully that will give him some incentive to hold it while inside (but not in his crate) and unsupervised.
Any other suggestions are welcome.
If you can catch him in the act indoors, act freaked out, and then hustle him outdoors . . . That's what made it "click" for my dog. But all dogs are different, of course.
Or you can continue crate training and hire a dog walker.
It's going to take time either way . . . Personally, I would leave him in the kitchen or another room with a washable floor and just clean up the poo / pee and continue training until he "gets it."
My take on this is, if you want to train him, I think you ought to be there. Catch him in the act once or twice, and he'll probably understand pretty quickly. It's something to do during the weekends.
EDIT: That's the only thing I can think of right now, anyway. Since he doesn't normally pee inside when you're around, it might be he'll also just get the idea on his own eventually.
EDIT again: Everything Betelgeuse has said is excellent advice, actually.
Dogs will not walk on tinfoil. They will jump over it, but they will not let their paws touch it.
Anyway, you are going to have to be consistent. I disagree that the rubbing the dog's face in it (not literally of course, you more just force the dog to look / smell it) doesn't work. It has to be done almost immediatly or the dog will lose the connection though. Just as you should shower your puppy with verbal praise and treats immediatly after they do their bidness outside, you should also immediatly yell "no!" / deliever a gentle smack / bop them with a rolled up newspaper / be upset with them.
Also, 3-4 hours may be pushing it. We have a bichon frise and a great dane and a jack russel, and while they're all housebroken we'd never let the dane nor the frise stay inside for 4 hours alone without being in their crates. If someone's around they're fine, but if they're left alone they usually find a rarely traveled bit of the house to leave a present in. Before they do that though they generally ask to be let out.