Advice from you dog owners

Jeimuzu86 · 11 Sep 2009 at 17:13

Me and my girlfriend have just gotten ourself's a puppy and we're looking for some advice on toilet training her. The way it is at the moment is that her 'space' is in the kitchen. In there is her bed, a few toys, food and water and at the far end of the kitchen is her newspaper to pee and poo on. When she's in there over night its fine she'll do her stuff on there and not miss. When we leave the door open so she can roam the living room with us she'll sometimes just take a slash on the carpet and not go to her papers.
So what we've been doing is when we catch her sniffing and showing signs that she wants the toilet we call her to get her attention then take her to the papers but she just won't go there and wonders back out and 15 mins later starts trying to wee in the living room again.
Has anybody got any tips that can help us?

Azagoth · 11 Sep 2009 at 17:15

Sell it and get a kitten!

Flukester · 11 Sep 2009 at 17:22

Sell it and get a Micro Pig

You tube it... but guy working next to me bought his in and it's amazing.

Tiny thing, 6kg, size of a v small dog. It's more intelligent to (humans, primates, dolphins/whales, pigs) .....so a lot more, uses litter tray, house trained, plays with balls, walks on lead, answers to name...

edit:

Rainmaker · 11 Sep 2009 at 17:28

How old is she? Sounds young from your description. Toilet training doesn't happen overnight, and can take up to about six months to be totally perfected. Restrict the amount of room she has - the kitchen *and* living room is too big at this age really. Define 'her' territory. She'll want to pee and poo as far away from it as possible (instinct).

At the moment, at night she HAS to pee in the kitchen, in her space. During the day the living room becomes the 'obvious' choice (for a dog) because it's further away from her own living space, and thus her bed.

I suggest you get a dog crate just big enough for her, with a towel over the top and three sides. Make her a den. Put her in it when you need (and/or she wants) to rest/sleep. Immediately upon her waking, take her outside and allow her to empty, and THEN she can come in to play for a while.

Pups always need to go to the toilet upon waking, after eating, and after drinking something. Use it to your advantage. Every time she empties outside, "YAAAAY GOOOOOD DOOOGGGGG!!!!!!!" (yes, that enthusiastic). If you catch her trying to go inside while she's free-roaming/playing with you, "NO!!", quickly scoop her up, run outside, and "Goooood dooogggg!!" while she finishes.

They soon catch on, but as I said full biological control of the bladder and bowels does take some time. I suggest you get a couple of puppy books, and maybe join a socialisation/training class until you master the basics. Don't worry, it's not that hard and you'll get there in the end.

More importantly you should remember what NOT to do. Don't hit her for mistakes, do NOT rub her nose in it (cruel myth, it doesn't work and just scares the puppy senseless around you) and do be consistent with rewarding the good behaviour. That pretty much sums up puppies.

Rainmaker · 11 Sep 2009 at 17:35

Oh, and just to add:

You can't take a puppy to a sheet of paper and expect it to know what you want it to do. "Um, yeah... this is boring. Let's go and play..." (runs to living room) "Ooh, ooh, I need to pee... ahhhhhhh". Obviously the thought process isn't quite there

but you get the idea. This is why you need to establish a routine yourself - locked in the crate to sleep, and outside to pee immediately.

Also, you'll need to clean your living room to eliminate the "you're supposed to toilet here" chemical marker the previous indiscretions will have left, invisible to human senses, on your floor. Soap and water doesn't work - you need a biological enzyme. You can buy expensive products designed to do this at a pet shop, but Febreeze et al. seem to do the job just as well by breaking down the chemical bonds of the 'marker'. It'll save you a lot of frustration in the long run lol Good luck, and enjoy the pup.

doofer · 11 Sep 2009 at 17:41

You just need patience, bitches are harder to house train than dogs as they are more naturally submissive, a bitch will urinate to show submissiveness, once she becomes more accustomed to you and grows in confidence this will stop, don't ever chastise a puppy for doing wrong, but always praise it for doing right, if you chastise/make a fuss it just gives mixed signals to the puppy.