Housetraining Question
Discussion
Afternoon all,
We've taken on a 17 week old puppy (whippet/terrier/collie x) from the rescue home and am in the process of trying to housetrain her.
It's early days, as we've only had her about a week, but it seems to be going quite well, with most toilet breaks happening outside and not inside.
We're crate training her and she doesn't seem to have any problem holding it to keep her crate clean.
What is problematic is when we allow her out to be free in the house. I follow her about to make sure she doesn't have an accident but the kitchen and bathroom especially, seem to encourage her to go. We've got the enzyme cleaner etc so all accidents are cleaned up later after the fact and no scolding is happening beyond a NO to startle her before she starts to get her outside.
Now, my question is this:
I know she can hold it for several hours when crated but obviously she doesn't especially want to hold it when she's free to roam. She seems to understand that the lounge is 'the den' and doesn't try and go there and even sniffs at the door to get out, but what is the trick for making her not WANT to go elsewhere in the house.
Outside and she gets treats, praise, and all the rest of it, so I'm making a point of trying to make al fresco pissing the more appealing option, but she seems to be pretty happy to go inside right in front of me!
Any ideas?
Thanks!
We've taken on a 17 week old puppy (whippet/terrier/collie x) from the rescue home and am in the process of trying to housetrain her.
It's early days, as we've only had her about a week, but it seems to be going quite well, with most toilet breaks happening outside and not inside.
We're crate training her and she doesn't seem to have any problem holding it to keep her crate clean.
What is problematic is when we allow her out to be free in the house. I follow her about to make sure she doesn't have an accident but the kitchen and bathroom especially, seem to encourage her to go. We've got the enzyme cleaner etc so all accidents are cleaned up later after the fact and no scolding is happening beyond a NO to startle her before she starts to get her outside.
Now, my question is this:
I know she can hold it for several hours when crated but obviously she doesn't especially want to hold it when she's free to roam. She seems to understand that the lounge is 'the den' and doesn't try and go there and even sniffs at the door to get out, but what is the trick for making her not WANT to go elsewhere in the house.
Outside and she gets treats, praise, and all the rest of it, so I'm making a point of trying to make al fresco pissing the more appealing option, but she seems to be pretty happy to go inside right in front of me!
Any ideas?
Thanks!
Interesting as I was going to start a similar topic about our new Puppy who I feel, we are struggling to housetrain.
Barry is now 15 weeks old; we have had him from 8 weeks, he is in a crate and has been able to hold all through the night since the day that we got him and will hold if he is in teh crate during the day.
We put him out, originally every 30 minutes and started to extend that to an hour and treating him when he went to the toilet, he would come in, look at you and go for a wee on the carpet or at least start, sometimes 10 minutes or so after getting him in, look away and turn back and see a little puddle of wee, we just can't seem to break him, I would have thought that by now he would be hanging around the back door to be let out when he needs to go.
Are we expecting too much too soon; from memory our Pug; whom we had from 8-10 weeks old, was housetrained fully by the time that we got him?
Barry is now 15 weeks old; we have had him from 8 weeks, he is in a crate and has been able to hold all through the night since the day that we got him and will hold if he is in teh crate during the day.
We put him out, originally every 30 minutes and started to extend that to an hour and treating him when he went to the toilet, he would come in, look at you and go for a wee on the carpet or at least start, sometimes 10 minutes or so after getting him in, look away and turn back and see a little puddle of wee, we just can't seem to break him, I would have thought that by now he would be hanging around the back door to be let out when he needs to go.
Are we expecting too much too soon; from memory our Pug; whom we had from 8-10 weeks old, was housetrained fully by the time that we got him?
KFC said:
You could certainly keep the bathroom doors closed for now if she seems to want to piss in there. If the house layout allows for it then keep her out the kitchen for now too. And just continue to give her treats and/or praise every time she goes where you want her to.
Certainly, we can keep her out of any rooms we don't want her in but I'm disinclined to just put her in her crate any time I can't watch her (cooking dinner etc) so would like to have her free in the room as much as possible, even if just to allow her to get used to the house, albeit with someone to keep an eye on her.I spent yesterday evening in the lounge with her out of the crate and she started getting super fidgety, pacing about and so on.
Basically, I don't want to over-crate her!
If you've only had her a week then you're perhaps expecting a little too much, too soon.
If they need to go in the crate to be managed for now then there isn't a problem with that. I've got several of them in a pair of cages linked together right now, as I know I've got a conference call coming up and I can't trust them not to chew stuff while I can't keep an eye on them :
I would definitely be just keeping her out of problem areas until she's always going outside, then you can start introducing her to those areas under closer supervision.
If they need to go in the crate to be managed for now then there isn't a problem with that. I've got several of them in a pair of cages linked together right now, as I know I've got a conference call coming up and I can't trust them not to chew stuff while I can't keep an eye on them :
I would definitely be just keeping her out of problem areas until she's always going outside, then you can start introducing her to those areas under closer supervision.
Having the same issue with my Lab' puppy Ted. Every time he wakes, or after he eats, I take him into the garden and praise him for going where I want him to. Unfortunately, he's still going inside the house too! I refrain from telling him off but how long does it usually take (on average) for the penny to drop? I crate him also, but he's taken to waking at 4am and has quite a bark and howl for one so small! Luckily I'm an early riser anyway but I lie in would be nice. 
I foster puppies, I have a never ending stream of them passing through here. Some of them will take to toilet training brilliantly, some of them not.
If its going badly I don't agree with the "don't punish them or shout at them" line of thought. It just seems to prolong the problematic behaviour. I just switch to shouting at them if I catch them in the act, and lots of praise/treats when they go where I want them to.
Just don't shout at them or punish them later on - a puppy can't comprehend that he's being shouted at now for something he done 20 minutes ago. You really need to catch them in the act and deal with it there and then.
If its going badly I don't agree with the "don't punish them or shout at them" line of thought. It just seems to prolong the problematic behaviour. I just switch to shouting at them if I catch them in the act, and lots of praise/treats when they go where I want them to.
Just don't shout at them or punish them later on - a puppy can't comprehend that he's being shouted at now for something he done 20 minutes ago. You really need to catch them in the act and deal with it there and then.
Well, it sounds like we're doing broadly the right things, which is good to know. She's a timid wee thing so a bellowed 'NO' from me sends her about a foot in the air and promptly closes any orifices that were considering opening! 
Maybe we just need to use the crate a bit more. She's very good in it (except when she's a bit hyper) but I've never used one before so have been wary of overdoing it and making her come to resent it. At the moment she does maybe 3-4 hours over the course of the day (If I have a meeting etc) with plenty of walks to make her sleepy.
She always goes when outside (she knows she gets a treat!) so at least we seem to have crossed that bridge.
Maybe we just need to use the crate a bit more. She's very good in it (except when she's a bit hyper) but I've never used one before so have been wary of overdoing it and making her come to resent it. At the moment she does maybe 3-4 hours over the course of the day (If I have a meeting etc) with plenty of walks to make her sleepy.
She always goes when outside (she knows she gets a treat!) so at least we seem to have crossed that bridge.
KFC said:
If its going badly I don't agree with the "don't punish them or shout at them" line of thought. It just seems to prolong the problematic behaviour. I just switch to shouting at them if I catch them in the act, and lots of praise/treats when they go where I want them to.
Just don't shout at them or punish them later on - a puppy can't comprehend that he's being shouted at now for something he done 20 minutes ago. You really need to catch them in the act and deal with it there and then.
I asked the vet for advice when I took Barry in for his second lot of injections, she said the same thing; shout, clap your hands, make a racket and say "NO" if you catch them at it and take them straight out, don't chastise or shout after the event as they won't know why you are telling them off.Just don't shout at them or punish them later on - a puppy can't comprehend that he's being shouted at now for something he done 20 minutes ago. You really need to catch them in the act and deal with it there and then.
Disastrous said:
Well, it sounds like we're doing broadly the right things, which is good to know. She's a timid wee thing so a bellowed 'NO' from me sends her about a foot in the air and promptly closes any orifices that were considering opening!
Maybe we just need to use the crate a bit more. She's very good in it (except when she's a bit hyper) but I've never used one before so have been wary of overdoing it and making her come to resent it. At the moment she does maybe 3-4 hours over the course of the day (If I have a meeting etc) with plenty of walks to make her sleepy.
She always goes when outside (she knows she gets a treat!) so at least we seem to have crossed that bridge.
Its ideal if a puppy is relatively happy in its cage as it makes life easier. Not many people can really fully puppy proof a room otherwise. Too many plug sockets, wires, chewable furniture and so on!Maybe we just need to use the crate a bit more. She's very good in it (except when she's a bit hyper) but I've never used one before so have been wary of overdoing it and making her come to resent it. At the moment she does maybe 3-4 hours over the course of the day (If I have a meeting etc) with plenty of walks to make her sleepy.
She always goes when outside (she knows she gets a treat!) so at least we seem to have crossed that bridge.
If I know I'm going out at a specific time I'll try and tire them out before hand if possible. Also I have the cages in sight of my desk so they're happily sleeping in them during the day with the gates open on them. So they don't bat an eyelid when closed in.
Sounds like your doing all the right things but yrs may take a little longer to learn all the rules. Our 6year old British bulldog still wees on the kitchen floor when it's very wet and cold outside as she hates that weather and simply won't go out the dog flap. I've taken to ordering her out before we retire at night on those sort of days and she can spend 10minutes being stubborn looking at me before we see any water works!
If it's any help we have trained a blind Sphynx kitten to use the litter tray in 4 days with no accidents but it's taken 4 days of constant vidual to do that. All animals can be trained but some just need allot of time and effort put in up front.
If it's any help we have trained a blind Sphynx kitten to use the litter tray in 4 days with no accidents but it's taken 4 days of constant vidual to do that. All animals can be trained but some just need allot of time and effort put in up front.
Gassing Station | All Creatures Great & Small | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff