Peeing Inside - Housebreaking Advice?

[Sticks1977]

Henry has had a few accidents inside recently when it comes to peeing and going to the toilet - he is fine when it comes to #2's (poo) as he has only ever done one inside but the rest have been outside even when we are not at home. He is currently just over 12 weeks of age.

Both my wife and myself work full time, yet due to my permanent morning shift Henry is home alone from 9am until 2pm. I notice when I arrive home that he does not pee or mark at all in the laundry (where he sleeps) and I praise him alot when he has a pee or poo outside.

The problem seems to be when his bed is out in the living room after dinner. We take him out regularly (after a play / sleep / meal), yet twice in the past day he has had a pee on his bed. I immediately reprimand him with a loud "ahh!!" and take him outside. He has been wonderful over the past week or two with hardly any accidents inside and the praise ranging from carrying on like a clown outside (happy like I've won the lottery), or giving him a treat immediately after he has had a pee especially out in the backyard.

The setup at the moment is that the laundry interior door is blocked off by a baby gate and he has rear access via a dog door in the external laundry door to his area of the backyard. Half of the backyard has been fenced off so that he only has a small area to run and play (and to also protect him from tanbark and a small garden bed).

My methods and routines when trying to housebreak him is to place him into the laundry, close the baby gate, and then I venture outside and step over the fence into his area. He then comes out the dog door and I walk around relaxed and not paying him any attention until he begins to sniff the ground and eventually squat and have a pee. As soon as he is finished I praise him greatly since he has gone in the correct area - and it will either be in the form of a belly rub and pat on the head, or a treat, or simply saying "good boy" in a happy voice - or even a combination of all three.

At times he will be taken out to the other section of the backyard via the sliding door in the living room - again out to a grassed area and the same method of praise is used when he has a pee or poo. I just cannot understand why he is having these small accidents - particularly on the bed that he sleeps on during the night. So far each time he has done this I have emptied the stuffing out of the bed (it has a concealed zipper) and have washed the outer cover in the washing machine with powder (Cold Power), it is rather time consuming to wash the cover, then wait for it to be tumble dried before I head off to sleep myself!

I realise that every dog is different when it comes to housebreaking and the amount of time it may take. I feel I have been following all the basic rules when it comes to praising Henry and that after 4 weeks that he would have housebreaking under control, the last labrador we had (Fraser) had toilet training under control after 2-3 weeks and rarely had an accident inside, again each dog is different so I do not expect Henry to be at the same stage - but it seems there is no light at the end of the tunnel... I guess why I'm typing this...

If anyone has any advice on how I can manage his toilet training and peeing housebreaking issues I would love to hear from you - I feel that I am doing everything right and eventually I would want Henry to be using the dog door independently (he already goes through the door numerous times himself through the day when we are and are not home) and heading out to his area to go to the toilet.

Thanks for reading my rather long post, look forward to some replies and my apologies if this topic has been rather common over time - it just seems really weird that he is going to the toilet on his own bedding, I thought that dogs did not like to soil where they sleep or play?

Regards, Shaun (Sticks1977)

[Dogsfevr]

okay so if i read it correctly you are using 2 doors for training but he doesnt really have access to either???

I would suggest stick to the one door you expect him to use & get him into the routine of going out himself now,some dogs dont deal well with confusion at this age.

I would also not allow access to the bed.

Either get another bed or just use a mat/blanket to break the routine of that bed

[Sticks1977]

okay so if i read it correctly you are using 2 doors for training but he doesnt really have access to either???

Henry has access via the laundry external door that the dog door is installed into. The internal laundry door has been blocked off by a baby gate so he still is able to see into the rest of the house (mainly the living room and kitchen).

When we are home, I place him into the laundry and close the baby gate, then I proceed out the sliding door at the side of the house (in the living room) and step over the fence to see him in the rear of the yard - when he comes out the dog door.

There are other times where he will come out the side sliding door with me, we walk over the deck and then onto a grassed area where he then does his 'business'. Perhaps I should limit where he is going to the toilet to only the rear of the yard (in his fenced off area) until he starts to have toilet training more under control.

[Daydreamer]

It sounds like you have a similar kind of set up to our house, with your pet gate on the laundry and a doggy door, isn't it a pain that you can't go out of that door

I'm sure he'll get it and he's still only a baby at 12 weeks, we have a 19wk old pup who hasn't had an accident inside since about 12wks

Do you have the pet gate open when he's allowed into the rest of the house?

If he has wet his bed its likely the stuffing has got wet too, he'll be able to smell this and therefore repeat the process I think you may have to wash the complete bed, stuffing and cover and maybe invest in a different bed for the living room.

Good luck

[Sticks1977]

Yeah we are thinking of getting a different bed for the living room eventually, or even having that one in the living room and getting a different one for the laundry (which has had an overhaul since Henry's arrival).

It is a pain that I am unable to get through the exterior laundry door, at the moment there are two ramps setup on either side of the laundry door so that Henry has access to go through the dog door itself. During his growth spurts I will be able to lower the ramp down in height and eventually not need it at all when he is fully grown.

The baby gate door is usually left open when he is in the house, he is fed in the laundry and also the water bowl stays in the laundry as well - so I'm sure it is one of his favourite rooms in the house.

When I get around to it I shall post some pictures of my handyman work when it comes to making ramps.

Regards, Shaun (Sticks1977)

[Daydreamer]

I got some blankets from Salvos for about $6 and cut them into quarters, that way I had lots of bedding for when I had to wash some

[macka]

What have you used to clean the bed? If there is any trace of urine smell left on the bed he will be tempted to go there again. Try urine-off or mix up a cleaning paste using bio-zet laundry powder and soak it, then wash in the same powder. And I would be taking that bed away for a while.

[missmoo]

Shaun,

You have to be patient with Henry's toilet training. He is just a baby afterall. Teach Henry to wee on command, this will come in handy for putting him to bed or when you want him to go to the toilet for any other reason. Take him out 20 mins after he has eaten and stay with him until he goes, praise and allow him back inside. Get him to follow you outside regualrly not just for toileting use the same route each time if you can, this will alleviate any confusion on Henry's part on which route to taek outside. Toilet training can take a couple of months. Finn wasnt toilet trained till he was approx. 16 - 18 weeks and we worked hard and were diligent from the day he came home at 8 weeks. As a measure, you can consider Henry housetrained when he has not had an "accident" inside for about 4-6 weeks.

If you are still having trouble talk to us on Saturday.

cheers

MM

[Clyde]

He is still only a baby. All pups will get it at different ages. My 12week old is no where near getting it, whereas previously I've had pups house trained at around 10 weeks.

Give him time, be consistent (as you are by the sounds of it) and he will get there. I know people who have had pups at 6 months who still wee inside. My 2 yr old will still do the odd indoor wee overnight.

[Doglet]

If you both work full time, and Henry pees on his bed while you are out, perhaps it is an anxiety problem?

I have found with my pooch that he is fine while I am home, he isn't anxious, but until he learned that it's okay to be alone, he would pee all over the place, to make it smell "less scary".

A couple of things you could try to console him, is to give him multiple favourite toys to play with while you're away, and a "cuddle toy". A lot of people recommend not letting pups have something of yours, but if you have an old piece of clothing he can cuddle when you're not there, it might help him calm down. (I have repeatedly found my dog, even after toilet training cuddled up with one of my shirts when I walk in the door. He just misses me)

Don't fret too much about these accidents, in time, all dogs will settle down, and find their own "rhythm". Your job is to make sure he is comfortable until he does.

Hope that's been of some help.

Greg

[GoldenWei]

I feel your pain. Willow isn't toilet trained either, she is almost 13 weeks. I really wish she'd let us know when she wants to go out, but she doesn't. She will wee on command which is great, but she can't hold it overnight, and if we forget to get up in the middle of the night there will be an accident, she'll also go inside if we are not watching her carefully enough, our bad, and I can't blame her for this, I just really wish she wouldn't do it on her bed!!! I can't remember when Phoenix was toilet trained, but he would use the puppy pads, Willow won't. If we didn't have cats I'd be getting a dog door, but we do so that is out of the question. Consistency is the key. Good luck, just know that you are not suffering alone!!!!

[Aussie_Ollie]

Hi Sticks. I know what you mean! Don't think that you're alone

We've had Ollie for 2.5 weeks now (he is 11.5 weeks) and just when we think we're winning the war, we lose a little battle!

We have a doggy door which we would like him to use. He seems quite happy using it most of the time to follow us around (I try to get out of the back door before he can make it too and then treat/praise him when he uses the doggy door instead to get to me) and he uses it to do poo (we've never had a poo accident inside and he'll always bolt out the doogy door for that) but he just can't seem to get it into his head to use the doggy door or to give us a signal when it is wee time.

I think from what I've observed that he likes to be around us when he wees because he knows that praise/treats follow wees. So sometimes he'll be playing away happily inside and then he will seek one of us out, stand behind us, and wee. I suppose it's just a matter of making sure there is no reward or fun when he does that and trying to be more vigilant in getting him outside in time.

We are both back at work this week so we have penned in an smallish area around the doggy door. He doesn't seem to like to pee in his immediate vicinity so hopefully this will start getting him in to the habit of going out the doggy door to wee!

[RallyValley]

Lincoln is almost 16 weeks and seems to be getting it. The only time he has accidents is when he gets so caught up in playing that he forgets he needs to pee. Otherwise he will try to make it to the door to be let out.

With Toby who is now a year and a half we just suddenly realised 'Oh he hasn't peed inside for a few days' and then he never did again! He will even try to get outside when he needs to throw up.