potty training not going so well

[axel_2078]

The wife and I got a new puppy last week as a playmate for our current dog, Mocha. The new puppy is Cashmere and she's 9 weeks old. We've been crate training her since we got her because we're trying to get her used to it since we don't want to let her roam free when we're gone, and to teach her bladder control. This method worked great on Mocha and she learned very quickly. Cashmere, though, is a different story.

Now from what I understand, crate training helps pups to learn bladder and bowl movement control because they don't want to eliminate where they sleep, right? Well, Cashmere's getting better with peeing outside, but she still poos wherever, whenever. Most dogs will hold off on pooping in their kennel because they don't want to be laying it for hours until you let them out. Not her though. She'll gladly poop in it whenever she feels the need and be happy to lay in it. Every morning the bathroom smells like someone took a monstrous dump and didn't flush and we have to give her a bath. Is this because she's still young and doesn't know better, or does she not want to hold it until we let her out to potty?

[poodlesmom]

I think it is her young age & you should see improvement as she gets older. What time is her last meal of the day? I am assuming you take her out for a potty run just before you go to bed at night. Since you've only had her a wk she is still adjusting to her new home & might be experiencing some anxiety at night. It could also be due to the food she is eating. You may need to get up to take her out once during the nite so she can go outside.

I would just continue on taking her outside & praising like crazy when she does go out there. She will eventually get better control.

[WingedFoal]

I agree completely with Poodlesmom. I've always had to get up in the night to take my dogs out when they were babies. I hated having to get up, but a lot of times it saved a smelly mess and bath.

[Akita/Husky Mix]

I'm pretty new to this but we have had a great deal of success with the potty pads. We also have a crate. We only put Egon in his crate when we are not home. Egon's crate serves as a gate as well, I have a very large kitchen with hardwood floors and the crate blocks the entry to the rest of the house. When ever we are home we take Egon out every 20 minutes or so. We have a potty pad in the laundry room which is right next to door to go outside, we also have a potty pad outside (slightly soiled). Anytime he has to go between the times we take him out he goes on the potty pad. And when we do take him out he runs right over to the potty pad outside, smells it and does his little walk in a circle thing and relieves himself in that general area. Egon is 7 1/2 weeks old and he has NEVER gone to the bathroom where he should not have. Maybe we are lucky in that aspect, now if we could just get him to quit puppy biting!!! LOL!!! Oh yeah our vet told us to keep his food and water in the crate at all times with the door open obviously, she said that dogs for the most part will not poop or pee near their food???? Good Luck!!!

[axel_2078]

Update: Cashmere is doing better with her potty training. I think she's learning from going outside when our other dog needs to go potty. She'll still go inside if we don't watch her constantly and take her outside regularly though. I took her to the vet for her first puppy check up yesterday and the good news is her hook worms are gone. The bad news is she has coccidia. The vet gave me some medicine for her, so hopefully it will be cleared up soon.

[Lil'Paws]

Glad to hear shes doing a little better.
You may wanna try a bell hanging from you door knob. I use this for Mia. If were in another room in the house and she needs to go out she will hit the bell and we can hear it. It works great for us. She don't bark to go out. Unless the cat is at the door. The look out.

[flyndog]

A 9 week old puppy should not be expected to control itself for "hours". How long is "hours"?
Kit

[jthomas44]

She can't control herself for minutes, much less hours. I get so mad sometimes when I catch her peeing on the carpet because by the time I've got it cleaned up, there's another pee spot somewhere else, and by the time that's cleaned up, she's pooped on the carpet, and by the time that's cleaned up, she's peed on the carpet again. One night she pooped on the carpet twice and peed on it 4 times in a span of 15 minutes. I kept taking her outside, but she didn't want to go because it was cold out.

[gaddylovesdogs]

Originally Posted by flyndog

A 9 week old puppy should not be expected to control itself for "hours". How long is "hours"?
Kit

I agree. That's a young puppy. It's like potty-training a little kid. You don't usually do that until they're two years, and it will most likely take a while.

She can't control herself for minutes, much less hours. I get so mad sometimes when I catch her peeing on the carpet because by the time I've got it cleaned up, there's another pee spot somewhere else, and by the time that's cleaned up, she's pooped on the carpet, and by the time that's cleaned up, she's peed on the carpet again. One night she pooped on the carpet twice and peed on it 4 times in a span of 15 minutes. I kept taking her outside, but she didn't want to go because it was cold out.

What do you use to clean it up? I recommend PetZyme and Nature's Miracle. You have to make sure you clean it up thoroughly. When you find a puddle, immediately place her outside. You can stay with her or go back inside to clean up after her. What breed is she? Where did you get her?

[jthomas44]

We use either Resolve pet stain remover or an alcohol solution to clean it up. No, she's not a purebred. She's a dachshund/Italian greyhound mix and we got her from a rescue shelter.

[flyndog]

To get rid of the odor so your puppy can't smell it, you need to use an enzyme based cleaner like the ones Gaddy recommended. "Incredible" is another brand.
You just have to watch her more closely. A few minutes after she eats or drinks or plays or wakes up, she needs to be taken out to relieve herself. Puppies are usually pretty regular. You can make a note of what times she pees and poops every day and then you'll have an idea of when you need to be especially vigilant. Pick up her water bowl a half hour or so before bedtime. There is a housetraining article in the articles Section here.
Do not spank her or rub her nose in it or yell at her. Just ignore it. And don't let her see you clean it up.
Kit

[axel_2078]

Ignore it??? How will she learn that's a no-no if you don't discipline her in some way? Ignoring is like condoning.

[flyndog]

Ignoring isn't condoning. And if you discipline her for it, she learns that you don't like pee and poop. So she does it behind the sofa or under a table where you can't see it. It takes months to house train a puppy. It doesn't happen in a couple of weeks. You have to be more vigilant. You have to watch the puppy and take it outside before it has to go inside. You have to teach the puppy, not punish the puppy for something it doesn't understand. Sorry, but unless there is a medical problem, if the puppy keeps relieveing itself in the house, you're not paying close enough attention. Don't blame the dog.

[axel_2078]

I place her in her kennel for a time out when she goes inside the house. Before you go saying that doesn't work, it worked wonderfully on our other dog. She was housetrained in 3 months after we got her. And if she refuses to go outside when I take her out and then goes immediately when she gets back inside, that is not my fault. She had an opportunity. I've been taking her out when I know she needs to go for days now. Sometimes she will go outside. Sometimes she will hold it until she gets back inside and then go. I realize it is going to take her a while to learn, but not everything she does is my fault. I'm not going to ignore the poop on the floor and then pat her on the head and pretend everything is ok. I believe in discipline, even if it isn't physical. If your idea of discipline is spanking or yelling, then maybe you should be questioning your ethics, not mine. Do you not discipline children when they are wrong, or do you just ignore that too?

[WingedFoal]

Axel, Flyndog has great advice to give. Please don't get upset with her, you came here looking for answers and now that you have them you get upset. A normal puppy takes a good while to housetrain, and cannot hold it long at all. Everything that Flyndog said is great advice.

PATIENCE is the only way you are going to make it through this. You say you take her outside, well you need to stand there with her until she finally goes, repeating the phrase you use for pottying. It may take thirty minutes but you need to make sure she goes outside, even if you have to bundle up into ten layers of clothing and get a lawn chair. I had to do that with my new puppy, and within a week she finally understood that if she finished all her business we could go back in. It wasn't a "sometimes she went" type thing. It was she went EVERY TIME. I praised her and gave her a lot of treats and love, and did not show any animosity towards her about past accidents. I had to take her out quite often too, because she sounds like your pup, constantly peeing/pooping.

If you say you don't have time to stand around outside and wait, then obviously you do not have time to train her properly. In that case, you needed an already housetrained dog that came from rescue.

Putting her in the kennel after disciplining her (which by your posts, I'm guessing you do) only makes her associate the kennel with bad things. It teaches her that when she gets placed in the kennel she's done something wrong. Therefore if you need to put her in the kennel for a time even if she's being good, she will automatically be confused about what she's done wrong.

She is not doing this to make you mad, hurt your feelings, whatever. She is just a puppy and does not understand the rules yet. No it's not your fault for her having to use the bathroom, but yes it is if you aren't watching her close enough to keep her from going on the carpet.

As I said, patience is something you HAVE to have with housetraining, along with a lot of treats and praise for a job well done.

Also, don't bring disciplining children into this. It's two completely different things.