Nearly There With The Toileting But Now New Issue!

[Danois]

Hi - thanks for all the helpful advice I have received - my poor neighbours must have heard nothing but Angus, go toilet, toilet, good boy for 5 days!

We are about 85% of the way there - we still have problems in the morning when the trip from the bedroom to outside is just a little too far! He also does not consider his piles to be 'toilet'!

Anyway - the problem is him going to the toilet on his bed. He is confined to my spare room when I go to work. He does not cry etc according to my neighbour. He is left with food, water, toys, clock and 2 off my old tshirts. His bed is the mattress off a futon bed with a mattress protector and a blanket. I also have 2 old canvas sign/banners underneath to protect. However, we I came home today he had peed at least twice and pooed once - all on the bed and then he was also sleeping on the bed (different area).

How do I stop this behaviour? I have left paper down (replaced by pee mat tomorrow a I'd run out).

He had also vomitted - just a small one but it was a bit disconcerting.

He is otherwise a quick learner. I was foolish and let him sleep on the bed which is all well and good now but when he is 60kg....It took 10 mins and 5 times of saying Stop, Sit (which he understands) for him to settle and go to sleep on his pillows. He woke me at 4am for toilet (which he never did while up top!). I am a proud mummy today!

[♪♫LMBC♫♪]

Most dogs wont go toilet where they eat and sleep, but if they are given enough space (eg a whole room) they consider it enough distance to go toilet in. Have you considered a crate?

[poodlefan]

How long do you work for?

If your dog is forced at any time during the day to toilet in the house, you are undoing all the hard work you put in to getting him to go outside.

If there any reason why you can't set up a safe spot for him outdoors?

[Danois]

Bugger - there was too many connections and I lost my post!

Pitty and Poodle - I have considered a crate however while I see the merits they are not an avenue I want to go down. None of our family dogs ever had them nor anyone else I know. My main reason though is because of the impending size of Angus. The crate I would need would be about half the size of the room he is in during the day!

I do have a very secure escape proof yard however there is no adequate shelter for him (or a kennel) and it is all hard surfaces (concrete and riverstones). Everything I have read (and been told by 2 dane owners) is that danes are best not to be left outside especially because of their body fat ratio. Once he is fully trained he will have full run of the house which means he will be able to access my side courtyard which is 1m x 5m which is where he will toilet.

His outside training is not otherwise being affected by being confined during the day - I have had no puddles inside (except at 4am when it was too far!) for 3 days and he goes on command (eventually!)

I am away for about 8 hours a day (and yes I am well aware of the debates on this forum re having a puppy and working all day) - my neighbour said he makes noise for about 5 mins after I leave and that is it. I waited several houses down this morning and it took him 10 mins after I left to make any noise. She peeked in the window later and he was sound asleep. A student I know is going to come and spend some time when her timetable allows as of next week.

[Akitaowner]

i would consider a crate i have a large breed and have never had any problems it correct s exactly what you have described - anyone can tell you that if you leave a puppy in room all day its going to toilet, and i wouldnt suggest that you leave pup in a crate all day either - how is pup supposed to know where to go in the room ie on the paper?

can you leave pup in the bathroom or laundry (easier to clean up messes)

using a crate my boy was able to have free reign of the house by about 7 months - its isnt something that they will use forever - however my boy will still try to squeeze into his if i get it out for a foster !!!

what breed is angus? and i think some pics are essential!! :rolleyes:

[SoL]

using a crate my boy was able to have free reign of the house by about 7 months

Can you please tell me the basics of using a crate for toilet training? It's essential for saving my sanity (and my chux cloths LOL)

[Akitaowner]

Hi Emmark and welcome to DOL

there are heaps of threads on crate training - use the search button at the top of the screen

Crate training thread

this prob has most of the questions newbies have for crate training...

once you try it you will never imagine how people cope without one!!! - my 6 month old pup pee'ed in the house about 4 times before she was completely trained at 10 weeks i was very proud of her (and myself!!)

as a general rule a pup can only hold their bladder for 1 hr + their age in months. if you put in the work they will repay you - i was getting up twice in the night and they were outside during the day in a big pen on the grass when i couldnt be there to let them out or keep an eye on what they were up to!!

Edited January 23, 2007 by Akitaowner

[Danois]

Hi AkitaOwner

Angus is a great dane. I would love to add photos but I am not sure how. Can you help? He is a beautiful silver fawn colour - I think the proper term is Blue Fawn so his face & ears is a bluey silver instead of black. He has ice blue eyes. He is 11 weeks, weighs 12kg and is up to my knee already!

Toilet training is pretty much sorted while I am at home. He wakes me at around 4am (after 11pm bedtime) and that is it - I then take him outside when I wake at 6. When he was sleeping on the bed (yes I know...) he held his bladder as long as from 11pm to 8.30am and even then I had to coax him off the bed to go outside! The 4am has only started since I have enforced sleeping on his bed on the floor.

I have used a pee pad again now and shown him it and done the normal toilet routine. I use a pee pad in the backyard to delineate the area he is to use so it is a sight he recognises.

[Danois]

There we are - now I have added an avatar and some photos

The top one is taken around Xmas time (he was born 5/11) and the other 2 taken last Wednesday when I got him. The avatar ones was taken on Saturday.

[MyMontage]

I did the same thing as you when my boy was young. He was confined to a room inside the house where I left water, toys, etc. but I also put paper on the floor, and he had a crate which was open so that was where he slept. I was lucky though i didn't have to train him to go on the paper, he just did it! Slowly as he got a bit older, I started letting him have more rooms of the house (still kept the paper in that room) then we slowly introduced him to staying outside during the day. (we are lucky though as we have the shelter and a big back grassy garden!).

Same with the waking up..... he would wake me up in the middle of the night to go outside for the toilet, so I took him. Then we went on holiday and someone else said 'no way am I doing that' so he got used to holding it until we got up.

Now all he does is wake me up to get on the bed for a cuddle in the morning for an hour before we have to get up. He can hold on all night and all day if we have left him inside.

I guess you have to slowly train him....not let him train you. If you don't want to get up at 4am, then maybe slowly you should just not do it. Sure you might have a couple of accidents, but he might get the picture.

Another suggestion as far as peeing on his bed is concerned, I think a large crate would be fine (2 adults could fit in charlie's one!) and put his nice bed in that. Then leave something else for him to pee / poop on. You aren't going to be able to stop him from doing it at the moment, but you can at least try and get him to do it in a spot where it is easy for you to clean up!

[Akitaowner]

with the night training i was getting up twice in the nght to start with to prevent the need for any accidents - i let them out at 10 b4 i went to bed at 2am and 4am and i got up at 6 to play for a hr b4 work - i then slowly moved the times by about 5 mins a night until i had only 1 night trip and then slowly moved that to 6am and it worked like clockwork!

what kind of bedding are u using?

i would suggest while he is still very young to simply use a blanket or 2 which can be thrown in the wash every few days if he pees on it. If he has some kind of mattress which he has pee'ed on it will already be scented and he will continue to pee on it, unless it can be washed/sterilised.

i bought a few lengths of fleece fabric from spotlight for my furkids they can be washed over and over again (i use Napisan to remove any scent of pee and sterilise) and tend to be a bit less absorbant that some fabrics/blankets.

my boy has a trampoline bed now and dont like having a blanket on it as its too hot atm - the trampoline bed prevents elbow sores and allows plenty of ventilation to keep him cool in the summer - i add a blanket in the winter...