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Help Please! Toilet Training :(


mickey2081
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Hello,

my partner and I recently got another dog a mini foxie x, we already have a 1yr old purebred mini foxie. He was rescued from the petshop as he had been there for months and I thought they were going to send him to the pound if he didnt sell. We brought him home at 4.5 months and are nowing having extreme trouble toilet training him, so I am after any(!) advice or suggestions that people can offer, everything will be much appreciated!!

He is now 5.5 months, and just been desexed (today), he has also had blood tests done, which came back with no problems.

Our main problem is that he sleeps in our bed, but will regularly jump up there to do a wee :cry: he has absolutely no nest instinct, which I believe was due to the long period of time he spent in the petshop, where he was forced to go where he also slept.

we have been trying to take him outside as much as possible and there is also newspaper inside which he does use sometimes if I cannot get him out there quick enough. But he will still jump up and wee on the bed. I cannot work out why, when he will go on the newspaper sometimes (I have keep some old newspaper there with the scent) and knows that he will receive a treat if he goes outside.

I would really appreciate any advice about how to stop him weeing on the bed, or how to recreate the nesting instinct (if thats possible). I am simply at my wits end about what to do, as we toilet trained our other dog using the same method (code word and treats/lots of praise when he goes outside) not too many months ago, and it worked perfectly :thumbsup:

Help!

Thankyou

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Treat him just as you would a new puppy. It's up to you to show your pup where to toilet. Block off access to your bedroom so he can't get there to toilet. No free access to the house if you can't supervise him. If you can't supervise him put him in a playpen with newspaper down or puppy pee pads. When he's out of the playpen have him on lead all the time so you can supervise where he goes. Take him out every half hour initially, preferably on lead, with no play beforehand and say "do wees" or whatever your toilet command is, until he pees and then really really praise him and then be quiet so there is a clear distinction of what he was praised for. You could try taking him to the same spot every time so it will smell like urine which might give him a better idea of what to do. Wash your bedding where he's wee'd in an enzyme cleaner. I think Bio Zet is one. He will probably take longer to toilet train because he has been confined for so long at the petshop. Good luck! :laugh:

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Great to hear that medical reasons have been checked out.

You say your dog came from a pet shop and at quite a late age (4.5 months). That sounds like he's had plenty of practice at toileting where he needed to eat and sleep - which as you point out is not natural, however he never had a chance.

As already mentioned you need to go back to basics as though he was an 8 week old puppy just brought home. I recommend checking out http://www.dogstardaily.com/training/errorless-housetraining for info. Note that it talks about a long term confinement area because in the USA it appears that many dogs are brought up totally indoors - so for here that might be the time you have him out in the yard.

Free access to the house and your bed needs to be earned. For now it would help if you kept him with you when you can keep a 100% eye on him to watch for signs of needing to go. Get him used to a smaller contained area and maybe a crate for other times. See http://www.dogstardaily.com/training/puppy...m-amp-doggy-den for some ideas on that. Some of the info in the videos at http://www.dogstardaily.com/dogstars/video...west?filter0=51 might suit you better if you prefer to see and hear info.

Good luck

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Thankyou for the great advice everyone.

I will start having him on the lead with me everywhere I am. I am hesitate to try and crate or confine him or thats how he spent the large part of his early life :thumbsup: and from how he now reacts to strangers in the house, there were obviously some very bad experiences had at some stage.

Thanks again everyone, I will keep you updated! :D

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Thankyou for the great advice everyone.

I will start having him on the lead with me everywhere I am. I am hesitate to try and crate or confine him or thats how he spent the large part of his early life :thumbsup: and from how he now reacts to strangers in the house, there were obviously some very bad experiences had at some stage.

Thanks again everyone, I will keep you updated! :D

It's a rough start, and another reason why it's best not to purchase from a pet store again in the future - keep in mind that even though it may have seemed like you were saving him, buy paying any money for him you're getting money back to exploitive back yard breeders that bred him, and encouraging them to replace him in the shop with another poor puppy.

That said, best of luck with him, and good on you for being a responsible owner with the desexing and everything, sounds like you'll take good care of him.

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mickey2081

Keeping him leashed and under observation is a great strategy in place of the crate if you can manage to maintain it.

The reaction to strangers in the house though is of even greater concern. Check out

http://www.dogstardaily.com/training/fearfulness, http://www.dogstardaily.com/training/teach...-respect-people

and if you feel out of your depth or the issue isn't quickly resolved or gets worse please get professional help right now. Check out trainers in your area through your vet or try organisations such as the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (www.apdt.com.au) to identify someone in your area that can help. If not dealt with quickly it's almost guaranteed to get worse.

Good luck

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Thankyou for the great advice everyone.

I will start having him on the lead with me everywhere I am. I am hesitate to try and crate or confine him or thats how he spent the large part of his early life :thumbsup: and from how he now reacts to strangers in the house, there were obviously some very bad experiences had at some stage.

Thanks again everyone, I will keep you updated! :D

Not necessarily. It's possible that NO experience with people during important weeks of his early development may be to blame. This is not uncommon in puppy farm dogs.

What does he do?

Edited by poodlefan
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He is particularly scared of children, bolts in the opposite direction as fast as he can. For adults who are strangers, he is also really wary and wont approach, will also run away, but not the the extent he does with children. I guess the silver lining is that he is in no way aggressive towards them.

Everytime I saw him, he was in a little ring enclosure so that people could come up and pat him, so I assumed that he'd maybe had his tailed pulled or something.

Im trying to have people over to get him used to other people being in the house, with them feeding him little treats...

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He is particularly scared of children, bolts in the opposite direction as fast as he can. For adults who are strangers, he is also really wary and wont approach, will also run away, but not the the extent he does with children. I guess the silver lining is that he is in no way aggressive towards them.

Everytime I saw him, he was in a little ring enclosure so that people could come up and pat him, so I assumed that he'd maybe had his tailed pulled or something.

Im trying to have people over to get him used to other people being in the house, with them feeding him little treats...

Lack of socialisation in the early weeks of a pups life (eg. from 3 weeks on) can lead to a life long wariness of strangers.

If your pup was raised in the usual sort of environment for a puppy farm (shed, little human contact) this could be the case.

Sounds like you've got a good program going but the wariness may be there for life. Unfortunately those early weeks leave indelible experiences on a dog.

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Thankyou Poodlefan and Addicted to Dogs for your input and the article links.

The toilet training this evening has worked beautifully,(leashed, no crate) 3 wees and 1 poo outside :thumbsup:

It's my uni holidays next week, so I'm planning on doing as much socialisation with different people and places as we can take, we've got a lot of catching up to do!

Thanks again

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