Toilet Training Problem

[jin]

I understand your frustration!

Just got our puppy this morning and we've lined up 2 training pads in our apartment - everytime we catch her in the act, we'll let out a stern "No!" and quickly pick her up to put her down on the pad... but unfortunately everytime she gets to the pad, she doesn't seem to want to go. Tried it 4 times and each time half of the wee still gets onto the carpet...

The first time we confined her to the toilet area for over 15 mins and she still doesn't want to go.

Oh well.... hopefully it gets better - she's already napping in her crate!

Thanks for your comment It will get better don't worry. When we first got the little guy we had him a confined area the whole time and had paper everywhere. we gradually reduced the paper and he started to go just in the litter area. i think i let him out into the house too soon though because after a few days he started to pee on the carpet (although he still poos in the litter area for some reason). i confined him again and so far there's been no problems.

anyway keep at it! if you like, i can recommend a trainer that i've found to be really great to work with. i totally recommend him. he helps you find a solution that works for you. i chose an in home consult because a lot of the group training/ puppy school sessions teach you stuff for people with gardens. i still recommend doing them for the socialisation and the ongoing learning, but i found it really helpful to have someone come and see my set up and help me work out something.

and don't worry about the whole no-backyard thing. i'm not a breeder or an expert but i grew up in a city where heaps and heaps of people had dogs and everybody lived in an apartment. i knew heaps of people with dogs in apartments and they all lived/ are living long, happy and healthy lives. i did consult a few experts before i bought my little guy and they said that while it is more challenging it can definitely be done.

so take heart, get good advice, and keep at it!

Edited March 13, 2009 by jin

[Dogsfevr]

. i'm not a breeder or an expert but i grew up in a city where heaps and heaps of people had dogs and everybody lived in an apartment.

Did these dogs never leave or where they taking outside on walks to the park every day??

[jin]

. i'm not a breeder or an expert but i grew up in a city where heaps and heaps of people had dogs and everybody lived in an apartment.

Did these dogs never leave or where they taking outside on walks to the park every day??

walked everyday, some of them twice a day.

[chrish]

we also seem to be going backwards. Our 12 week old pup is also an indoor dog and has a doggie door to go outside to the court yard. She goes in and out the door without any problems. During the day she never goes out on her own to toilet but if we take her and encourage her to go we have some success. First few weeks we had her home we had more success than we are having now. Now we take her out often wait a little while and then go back in when nothing happens. As soon as you both go in she will go on the floor. We take her straight out again and leave her out until we clean up. We have waited for a few minutes to 10-15mins still same problem. It's like she is waiting to go back i before she goes.

When she does go we praise her heaps and give a treat. If she goes she will even now look to you for the treat. When she goes inside she never looks for her treat so I guess she knows it's not right. What are we doing wrong? How long shoudl we wait?

[Drumbeat]

Do you think you're expecting too much of a 12 week old pup?

My understanding was they aren't able to control their bladder until 16 weeks of age.

[dancinbcs]

we also seem to be going backwards. Our 12 week old pup is also an indoor dog and has a doggie door to go outside to the court yard. She goes in and out the door without any problems. During the day she never goes out on her own to toilet but if we take her and encourage her to go we have some success. First few weeks we had her home we had more success than we are having now. Now we take her out often wait a little while and then go back in when nothing happens. As soon as you both go in she will go on the floor. We take her straight out again and leave her out until we clean up. We have waited for a few minutes to 10-15mins still same problem. It's like she is waiting to go back i before she goes.

When she does go we praise her heaps and give a treat. If she goes she will even now look to you for the treat. When she goes inside she never looks for her treat so I guess she knows it's not right. What are we doing wrong? How long shoudl we wait?

How long should you wait? - As long as it takes.

If you cannot wait it out until she goes put her straight into a crate inside for an hour then back outside and try again. Repeat over and over until you get success then bring her inside and let her have the run of the house for a while and make a fuss of her. She will soon catch on that she ONLY gets the run of the house after she has been to the toilet outside. The trick with housetraining is to never give the puppy a chance to make a mistake. Puppies confined to a crate just big enough for them to stand up and turn around will hold out eliminating until they are released so use this to your advantage. Female puppies often don't have complete bladder control until 12-16 weeks so be patient.

[Starkehre]

I agree. Sounds like you are expecting too much.

I always say when training, you need to set yourself up for a win. Work the situation so that pup will not eliminate in the house. Otherwise everytime she does, you are not moving forward, and in fact are going backwards. Everytime your pup eliminates in the house, you need to consider that you are training your pup to eliminate in the house.

As dancinbcs has said, you need to wait outside until pup goes to the toilet. Just wait quietly, in a non intimidating way. do not stare down at pup. Try to face the other way, and just peek out of the corner of your eye.

If pup does not go, then straight back into crate, no play, no reprimand, just quickly and quietly, no fuss. Try again in half an hr or so.

A 12 week old pup can hang on for quite a while, particularly at night if emptied before bed and remain quiet and crated. But generally they won't hang on during the day, as they are not focusing on toileting where you want them to. They have generally gone to the toilet before they have even though it about it.

With your pup, I doubt that she even realises yet where you want her to go, as she has been able to eliminate in the house. The behaviour you desire will take quite a while to be really solid. And whilst pup is still eliminating in the house, the solid training is still not even getting started. It is likely that she won't just grow out of it. By doing what you are doing, it is just instilling the behaviour you don't want.

Good luck. You will get there. With puppies it sometimes might feel like we are getting no where, and sometimes it seems easier to not stick with our plan. But it is important to keep it up, as things will get better more quickly.