Toilet Training

[Jacquel83]

Hi all, I have a 16 wks Golden Ret. named Bobby. He is my first puppy so i'm kinda of a worrier and also sometimes helpless about training him.

THis is the situation.

Bobby is a bit newspaper trained when we got him from the breeder, so he knows how to do it on the newspaper(in the laundry area and hes confined there). However, when hes let out around the house he simply likes to do it in carpet areas. Many times when hes done it(finished with it) i will then bring him outside and put him on the grass and use the toilet word to let him know thats the approved area, but he still doesnt gets it. I would also let him out after his meals etc..but when hes around the house he poos everywhere. Some of my friends advice mi to put him outside until hes fully toilet trained, and I'm doing that now, cuz he can now get out himself if we put him in the laundry area, and we only let him in the house when we're back from work. Every night, he would sleep beside us as well, but no accidents yet. I;m also assuming he can control his bladder better as compared to when we first got him already so I also take away the newspaper to encourage him to ONLY do it outside.

THe question is, am i doing right? SHould i only let him in the house when he is fully toilet trained? Or should I let him inside the house to train so next time when he comes in he would not do it?(there might be a possibility of i trained him outside but he stil does it inside?)

this is all so confusing..help!

[Dog_Horse_Girl]

IMO, a pup needs to be toilet trained while kept indoors, otherwise how does he know the toilet is NOT on your carpet? He doesn't!

You need to be consistent with your teaching, that is, no mistake is the dog's fault b/c you are supposed to be teaching him how to behave. If he has an accident, it's b/c you didn't catch him in time to take him out.

Set a routine, confine him when you cannot supervise, and keep the rules consistent, and he'll be trained reliably in no time.

Don't train to paper, it's more confusing for a dog that way IMO.

Read a decent book on training and caring for a pup and focus on getting toilet training right ASAP. At this age, he should be fairly reliable already, but he's not, so start from the beginning again and go from there.

HTH.

[shoemonster]

We are going thorugh toilet training at the moment with a 9 month old pup who was outside her whole life

She has no concept of house training

We were taking her out every half hour til she understood the word toilet and that it meant she was meant to go (no playing or qanything outside til she went, sometimes on lead if she was being silly)

Now she has started to take herself out sometimes - doggy door and only has accidents when she has been playing alot so we just have to keep an eye on her when she is in and make sure we are still taking her out

She is outside during the day when we are at work

There are some good points in Kojak's post in puppy probs too that might help

http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?showtopic=60829

[*Karma*]

Im having the same problem with a 12mth old maltese we recently adopted. He has no concept of toilet training.

During the day while Im at work he is outside, but at night he sleeps inside with us (in a basket beside my bed). I take him outside to go to the toilet before I go to bed (around 10pm'ish) and then if I get up to my son during the night, I also let him out again in case he has to go. Regardless of this, he still poo's and wee's in the house (!). The problem is, Im usually asleep when he messes so I cant be there to quickly pick him up and carry him outside.

We've tried putting newspaper down, which works - but once he's dirtied it once, he wont go there again, so if he needs to poo or wee a couple of times (believe me, this little guy has loads to empty, its scary!) he goes somewhere else. Our laundry is very small and Im hesitant to put him in there because he's a timid little boy and I dont want him to think he's being punished (if that makes sense?).

Any suggestions?

[Devo]

Last night my PPS teacher told me that when your pup has accidents on the carpet.. soak it up with paper and take it outside side with your pup.. Put the paper down outside where you want your pup to 'go' and when he sniffs it give him a little praise..

This will encourage him that when he goes in this place you will praise him..

I am yet to do this but has anyone else heard of doing this...

[Nekhbet]

yup the dog will go where it smells previous poo or wee. Thats why you will find the dog will toilet in similar places inside.

leave an area outside with some poo there and dont be too pedantic about cleaning. Dont let it get too bad but leave something there for the dog to get the idea. Inside if there is an accident clean it will, make sure places like tile grout and between floorboards are remembered too. Citronella and some good cleaning/stay away products need to be used to prevent the dog being encouraged. Remember you may not be able to smell anything but the dog will smell the tiniest amount!

Edited May 2, 2006 by Nekhbet

[Natashja]

Chomsky, my 15 week old mini poodle, is having some toilet training issues. While he's pretty good with going on newspaper, he prefers to go on the carpet, most specifically, the rugs on the floor in our bathroom! For the time being, he's confined to our kitchen and only allowed in other areas of the house after eliminating. That said, when taken outside, he eliminates on command ("Pishy time" - the genius of our 4 year old human neighbour) and can hold his bladder and bowels throughout the night when crated.

OH tries to take him outside as often as possible during the day, but training is still taking a while to sort out.

Ahhh, that's the joy of puppies for you!

Edited May 2, 2006 by Natashja

[Nike]

As far as I know dogs usually dont poo on where they or their masters sleep. Thats probably why this pup doesn't do his stuff in the bedroom. I had a puppy for a short period of time who had a passion of pooing on the carpet. (I put him on the balcony and he walks inside on the carpet and does his things) I had these special pads that were supposed to be smelly and make the dog to poo on them but the funny part was my puppy very much liked to sleep on the very pad I had bought him to poo on. I guess this is partially because the pad was nice and clean and he thought it's not to be pooed on. Maybe if a puppy is placed in a smelly, messy kind of place rather than a clean sheet he would want to poo on it.

[hlk70g]

My little girl ALWAYS goes to a carpet or rug if she is going to have an accident inside!

Why can't they go on the hard floors which are easy to clean?????

[Natashja]

As far as I know dogs usually dont poo on where they or their masters sleep. Thats probably why this pup doesn't do his stuff in the bedroom. I had a puppy for a short period of time who had a passion of pooing on the carpet. (I put him on the balcony and he walks inside on the carpet and does his things) I had these special pads that were supposed to be smelly and make the dog to poo on them but the funny part was my puppy very much liked to sleep on the very pad I had bought him to poo on. I guess this is partially because the pad was nice and clean and he thought it's not to be pooed on. Maybe if a puppy is placed in a smelly, messy kind of place rather than a clean sheet he would want to poo on it.

I don't know what kind of home you keep Nike, but there are certainly never any smelly, dirty or messy places in or around my house.

[Lozzie]

I;m going through the same thing with a 10 week old pup, and have just finished toilet training with a 9 month old.

I know my 10 week old can only hold his bladder for about 20 minutes, so every 20 minutes I take him out. He also shows signs of when he is going to go- wandering off by himself. Pls, I take him out after sleeping, after eating and after a big drink. He sleeps in a crate at night so we are woken up when he needs to go through the night, but can generally hold for about 7 hours overnight.

If he goes inside and I catch him, he gets told off in low, growly tones and carried outside. I put him down where he should go, then wait until he goes and give lots of praise.

I would take away the newspaper, I think it would be confusing too-you are saying 'you can go outside, or you can go on the newspaper inside' rather than saying 'you are to go outside only'.

it takes a while, and how long until he is reliable depends on how much you can watch him. If you are home alot and have an eagle eye, it shouldn't take too long because he will get reprimanded every time he goes inside, and praised outside. The more you miss the longer it takes.

good luck!

[PAX]

Puppies and dogs always prefer to toilet on soft surfaces like carpet and grass because when they pee on a hard surface like tiles, urine will splash their legs.

It is really good if you confine your puppy to hard surface areas while toilet training. Baby gates make excellent barriers to keep puppies out of the carpeted rooms. Only let them on the carpet areas when you can supervise them 100%. If you pay enough attention to your pup there are usually signs before toilet breaks, like sniffing around and circling.

If your puppy does have an accident DO NOT scold them because all you will teach them is not to toilet near you. They do not understand that you are cross for toileting in the wrong place and you will teach them to be sneaky and go when and where you can't see.

Happy puppy training.

[Alpha]

Our fellow would wee inside if left inside too long,when younger he was in the laundry at night and would wee on the paper but he would wake up during the night (0400 or 0500am) to go outside for his biz. We did nothing more than praise him when he did his stuff outside but if he did it inside he was placed outside straight away. We have an older dog also, so this may have helped. When we did bring him inside before he was trained we would encourage him to "take a wiz" before we bought him inside...he soon caught on.

Incidently, if you want to get rid of wee odour so they don't do it , can't smell it and get any stain out. Try this :Mop up excess moisture, sponge with white vinegar or soda water, then with Windex. Or Steradent (white ones)tablets( for cleaning false teeth I think)dissoved in a cup of water and sponge the area with a clean cloth., Nilodour will neutralise any smelltoo. Courtesy of my mums old Martha Gardeners Household Help Book. She used this method for years when breeding pups and having to clean up accidents x10 or more, many times a day

[Jacquel83]

having started this topic for about a month, my puppy has some progres. Right now i will let him out after every meal, and then when he wakes up first thing in the morning, and also b4 he tucks in. I have taken away the newspaper(its no use toilet training him inside cuz big dogs dun do it accurately anyway so u'll still have to clean up), so i believe the easiest way is to go OUTSIDE only. He responds to my "pee" and "poo" command and will go straight away, no playtime for him when hes to go to toilet..and give him ample praise and keep saying the word when they do it so they will know what that means, then sometimes follow by a small treat straight after.

He still have accidents once or twice and its ALWAYS on a carpet on that particular area. NOw and then, we watch him closely. I believe perhaps the odour is still there cuz i use a carpet spray on it..wonder if that will neutralise the odour...