Koilz

My 7-month-old cavalier is still having toilet training troubles. I've done all the things I should be doing - taking him out when he wakes up, after meals when he hasn't been out for a while etc. I've even kinda got him weeing on command. The problem is he likes to wee on my clothes, which is absolutely disgusting. I usually have dirty clothes on the floor next to my bed and clean clothes on the floor in my spare room (before I sort and fold them). Even if my pup doesn't need to go, if he's let in those rooms he goes straight to the clothes and will try to pee. This morning he ran in when I was getting dressed, and even through he'd just gone, he managed to squeeze two drops out onto a clean top! How the hell do I stop this???? I'm already trying to keep him out of those rooms, but it's a habit I want to get him out of. Is it a dominace thing? Is he marking my clothes because they smell like me?

I don't really take any notice of the ingredients in dog food, partly because it all seems to be very confusing and/or misleading. eg. "real" meat. WTF does that mean?? I choose the food my dog does best on. He's tried five different brands of kibble from cheap supermarket stuff to expensive super premium. I have now found the one he does best on - a super premium - and I don't mind paying more becuase he looks so much healthier and enjoys his food with this brand. I couldn't care less about price or ingredients, it's about what my dog looks best on and the one he is happiest eating. But out of the two mentioned I would not pick B, something about the way they emphasise "real" meat makes me suspicious - McDonald's markets its beef as "real" as well.

Yeah, of course I like dog food. Yum! Seriously though, I'm not allowed to feed my dog canned food becuase my squeemish partners says the sight and smell of it makes him feel sick! I've been feeding my pup Nutro for the past three weeks and the difference in his coat is amazing, but like all premium foods it's bloody expensive. I know a lot of people here poo-poo the supermarket brands of food, but I really think they are fine if you supplement it with some raw stuff. Even without the bones, it's probably more nutritionally balanced than most human's diets. But back to Aldi canned food - I'm pretty sure my parents used to feed their two whippets it. But about a two months ago the vet found they had teeth problems so put them on some expensive dental food. Apart from the teeth problem (which probably could have been fixed with a few chicken wings a week to chew on) their dogs are fine and healthy.

I'm a big fan of of Aldi - more for myself than my fur kid. But I have given him some of the Aldi dog treats. He loved them and they didn't give him the runs the way schmackos and the Natures Gift treats do.

Well Winky is getting much better with his toilet training. I'm even trying to get him to pee on command - which is only kinda working. He has still had a couple of slip ups, but A LOT better. The thing that did it was putting him on a lead when I took him outside - he now knows I mean business and he can't run off and play. Lozzie - my parents have two whippets, and the boy still wees out of excitment when the breeder (my parent's friend) visits because he loves him so much!

Thanx for the comments guys. I actually think it would probably be alright to feed him - he always seems to be chewing on something gross - but I've thrown the food out anyway. I had some schmakos next to it that I've thrown out as well, but I don't really feed my pup them much becuase they give him the runs. Has anyone else had that problem with schmakos?

Yeah, looks like I'll have to get a proper container now. I keep my pups food and treats in shelves in the garage, high enough off the ground that I thougt mice wouldn't be a problem. Oh well.

Bugger, that's what I thought. What a waste of such expensive food! I'd just started mixing the Nutro with the Science Diet on Tuesday, so hopefully his little tummy will be ok if I do the full switch now. Thanks!

So I gave a little yelp this morning when I opened up my pups bag of dried food and found a mouse in there! Sure, the mouse was cute, and way more scared of me, but it still scared the bejeesus out of me. I shooed it out of the bag and it ran away but the problem is, is my pups food ok? It was only a little mouse, but could it pass on diseases? My pup's 18 weeks old and has had all his shots. The bag has about 1kg left of food. It's a bag of Science Diet, with a bit of Eukanuba mixed in. I'm just finishing it off before I get him started on the bag of Nutro I just bought him. Do I chuck the food out just to be sure, or will it be fine?

Yeah, I'm totally smitten with cavaliers now. My boyrfriend's family have always had them and he would never have any other dog. I grew up with a big german sherpherd X lab so I've always loved big dogs. After bad experiences living with an awful maltese I never thought I'd like little dogs until I met his mum's two cavs. Now I love them so much I'm trying to talk my grandparents into getting a cav!

Here's a pic of my baby. His name's Winky.

Thanks for all the tips guys! It looks like there will be no more roaming free inside until he can learn not to piddle on the carpet.

I'm away all day but my partner comes home at lunch to play with/feed the puppy. He stays in the backyard during the day now, but when he was in the garage my partner would take him outside to his spot. We wanted him in the garage at first because it seemed a bit more secure and out of the elements, but he's fine in the backyard now with his kennel, dog bed and toys. He knows were to go to the toilet outside (it's just a dead patch of grass now) and I do take him when he wakes up, after meals, after playing and when he's sniffing around but the cheeky thing still does little wees around the house.

Thanks so much for the reply. He's sleeps in bathroom at night - usually he sleeps right through - and he's never made a slip up. It looks like I'll have to get him a playpen for the lounge room. He knows his toilet spot in the back yard - and I leave the backdoor open usually so he has access to it - but I think half the time he can't be bothered going out there when it's easier to wee inside.

My beautiful fur kid (a 16-week-old CKCS) is having problems getting the hang of toilet training. It's got so bad my partner wants to keep him outside all the time because he just won't stop weeing on the carpet. The problem is I don't know why he won't go outside. He knows to poo outside, and everytime he wees outside I give him lots of praise. I take him outside regularly just in case he needs to go, but he will still wee inside. Often right in front of me. He doesn't go in the same spot each time either, and I use a good carpet cleaner to get rid of the smell. (I was rubbing the carpet so hard the other night to get the stain out my fingers bled) My dad thinks my pup might be agnry at me for something and is doing it to show me he's mad, but I don't think my fur kid thinks that hard about anything. I've been told I should try puppy pads, but others have said this could just reinforce that it's ok to wee inside. I think I might have set him up with bad habits because for the first four weeks I he lived in the garage while my boyfriend and I were at work. I set it up with evrything he needed including newspaper for toileting and a big piece of carpet to play on. He would poo on the newspaper but would wee on the carpet. Do you think this is something he will grow out of? What can I do? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.