Caring for a Puppy (irresponsible owners)

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bendog
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Joined: Fri Jan 07, 2011 7:42 am

Caring for a Puppy (irresponsible owners)

Post by bendog »

I live in a house with my boyfriend and his family - 5 adults, a toddler and 2 dogs (1 dog and a ***** 7/8years old)
So naturally my boyfriends parents thought it would be a good idea to get a puppy!
She's an 11 week old Lakeland terrier and we've had her nearly a week, and already it has been left to my boyfriend and myself to care for her.
I didn't ask for this responsibility and don't have time to take on a pup, but I can't just ignore her.

She sleeps with me and my boyfriend at night in her basket next to our bed and is good as gold (3 nights with no accidents! I take her out every 4 hours at night) but I can't be with her all the time in the day as I have our other dogs to walk etc. and she can't come for walks with us yet.

I'm struggling to get her house trained because:
a) she gets scared of the wind outside and so doesn't go the loo
b) My boyfriends parents other dog wees in the kitchen at night so pup obviously thinks she go there in the day
c)If I go anywhere (even to have a shower) and leave her with any other member of the household they don't bother to let her out and she has an accident

When she's with me I'm pretty good at picking up when she needs to go....and she was really good at going outside...but the wind the last day or so has been scaring her, so I take her out and she just cries to go back in. I let her in and she immediately wees on the floor! It doesn't matter how long I stay out with her, she just won't wee outside though she's good at poos! She just thinks that she is supposed to wee in the kitchen so I can't really be mad at her, but its really frustrating!

How can I get her to go?

Also I'm worried about her when I go to work/uni next week. My boyfriends Dad goes out to work early and although my boyfriends Mum will be in the house she doesn't get out of bed until 1pm! And she won't get up early for the pup (even though its her puppy!). I'll obviously let her out before I go, but she'll be alone from about 8am until boyfriends Mum wakes up and she cries and wees everywhere when she's left on her own even for 10 minutes.

Like I say...she's not my pup and not my responsibility, I advised them not to get a pup, and they went ahead and got her anyway, so I'm trying to make the best of a bad situation and look after her when they won't.
bendog
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Re: Caring for a Puppy (irresponsible owners)

Post by bendog »

Its actually worse than I thought today.
Yesterday she at least did a few wees outside for me. Today everytime I've taken her out she just sits or lies down by me, cries by the door, or wanders round sniffing so I think she's going to go and then the wind blows and frightens her and its back to square one. I take pity on her coz she's frightened and let her back in and then she wees on the floor.

I wouldn't mind as much if I'd just missed the signs that she needed to pee, but I know damn well she needs to go, and that she's going to go, but when I take her out she just won't!

She hasn't done a single wee outside today (although she did have one poo which she got lots of praise for), but about 3 wees in the kitchen and I'm getting really frustrated because I'm trying my best and nothings working. I know its never the dogs fault, but seems like she's learnt to go in the kitchen now and its going to be hard to teach her not too. Would've been easier if everyone else in the house would co-operate and hadn't taught her to go in the kitchen in the first place! GRRRR

I tell myself it will be easier when I can take her for a walk with my dog and she learns to go to the loo outside on walks, I've even tried letting my dog out with her to do a few wees so she can smell them and get the idea, but she just follows him round and pesters him! I've practised recall with her outside, tried playing with her outside, anything to get her confident about being out there so she'll go but just nothing.

Maybe its easier with boy puppies? My boy (although he's 8 years old now) was housetrained in about 3 days no problem at 8 weeks old.
JudyN
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Re: Caring for a Puppy (irresponsible owners)

Post by JudyN »

I don't really have much advice, but just wanted to give you a big pat on the back for trying to help this puppy when you're getting no support from the people who should be doing it. I'd be tempted to shut the puppy in your bf's mum's bedroom in the morning and let her widdle in there - that'll get bf's mum out of bed :twisted: But it won't help the pup much :?

Is the windy weather expected to ease soon? I think I'd be tempted to ease up on the house training and concentrate on making pup feel more secure in the garden. This may even involve taking her out less for a while, or taking her out to play just after she's weed in the house so she won't sense any pressure to perform in the garden. I'm sure she can sense your frustration, which won't help.

Cleaning the kitchen first thing with a cleaner designed to remove dog smells may help though again, it's not something you should have to do :(

She really is very young, though, and some dogs take ages to get the idea even without a scary garden and people who won't put the effort in. It's very early days.

It's absolutely infuriating when people take on a puppy with no intention of putting in the effort required, even when they've had it pointed out to them :evil: Did they just assume you'd do all the work, or did they think the pup would train herself?

I'm sure the experts will be along soon with better advice, but my final piece of advice would be, if at all possible, find yourself a flat and move out!
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
Suzette
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Re: Caring for a Puppy (irresponsible owners)

Post by Suzette »

http://www.dogstardaily.com/files/AFTER ... 0Puppy.pdf

Look on page 10 of the above site. Under the circumstance you find yourself, this seems the best solution for the time being. Letting her go on the floor is not an option. But with the above method, at least the little pup will be going on the same material (grass) as she will whens she begins outside toileting. This will give her time to mature a bit, become more confident and hopefully let the windy weather that bothers her either subside, or give her time to get used to it. It will also help keep her contained when you are at school and the pup has no one looking after her.

The fact that they let their other dog pee on the kitchen floor is problematic as the pup will smell that and of course want to go there as well. When I was housetraining my pup, any accidents were cleaned with vinegar to remove the scent. There are other products, but vinegar is inexpensive and works great. I guess it's going to fall to you to keep the kitchen floor cleaned as well from the other dog.

Poor thing! But how lucky for her that you at least are in the house to give her some love and direction.
My avatar is Piper, my sweet Pembroke Corgi. b. 5/11/11
bendog
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Joined: Fri Jan 07, 2011 7:42 am

Re: Caring for a Puppy (irresponsible owners)

Post by bendog »

Thank you both.
My dog is the only dog I've had from a pup, and though I was only 13 at the time I did everything myself and dare I say it, I did a pretty good job and he's a superstar and my best friend. Many people have said to me that they'd love to have a dog if it was going to be like mine. He has his issues (what dog doesn't!) but he's an angel compared to other dogs I've met.

The attitude with this pup was "oh, you can train it for me so its as good as Bendog".
Bf mum has had 5 dogs before and none of them have been housetrained (or trained at all!)
They genuinely just don't seem to care if they wee in the house so I am tempted to just leave it.
Its not my problem and if they want wee on their floor for the next 15 years then so be it.

To be fair, pup is doing well with her training. She's a lovely little thing and will do Sit, Down, and recall. We are just starting to work on Stay.
Which isn't bad for a weeks work. Just the house training business is frustrating.

Judy....trust me, we are working on moving out! Hence another reason why I don't want Pup to get too bonded to me and boyfriend as we will hopefully be moving soon. A flat isn't an option though as I'd have to take my dog with me! :D

Shame though coz if we do move no-one will even walk the pup :(

Fingers crossed that when she starts coming on walks she will learn from the other dogs to go outside.
Til then I'll take your advice and wait until the weather improves.
I've noticed that my dog doesn't even like to toilet in the part of the garden Pup is allowed on, so I might start sneaking her onto the grass where he prefers and see if that helps too.
Sarah83
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Re: Caring for a Puppy (irresponsible owners)

Post by Sarah83 »

A flat isn't an option though as I'd have to take my dog with me!
Dogs can do fine in flats, I lived in one when I got Rupert and am back in one now. Less convenient for me as I have to take him out every few hours but other than that it's no different to being in a house really.

Is there any point even trying to house train the pup when the other dog is peeing in the kitchen? It seems the dogs owners are fine with that (not a mindset I understand AT ALL, I don't want pee anywhere in my house unless it's down the toilet!) and from what you say it's possible the dogs have no choice anyway if she doesn't get out of bed till the days half gone. If I spent half the day in bed my dog would be peeing somewhere in the house too and he IS house trained! In this sort of situation I'd probably try litter box training. It's not ideal but preferable to the dogs peeing on the floor. You may find as she gets older she's more willing to go outdoors to pee but with the kitchen smelling like a doggy toilet I'd think she's going to be drawn to that. What happens if you take her out, wait a few minutes then go back in turn right around and immediately go straight back out?
Suzette
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Re: Caring for a Puppy (irresponsible owners)

Post by Suzette »

Did you have a look at the link I provided in my post above? The set-up Ian Dunbar shows on page ten really seems like a good answer for you. (When you click on the link and the page opens, just scroll down to work your way through the pages.) This way, the pup isn't running around unsupervised while you're at work/school and she can't get into the kitchen to pee where the other dog has gone. She has a substrate to potty on that mimics the outdoor environment, which will make potty training easier once you can get her past her fear of the wind. When you're home to take care of her, she can be free as you'll be watching her, but I'd still find a way to keep her out of the kitchen since that's where the other one pees. Some folks do this by tethering the dog to themselves via a leash so it always stays by their side.

You are in a very tough spot and so is this dear puppy. I think you can just do the best you can do until (hopefully) you soon have a place of your own to do things the right way. But please do have a look at that link. You might find this a good solution for your situation.
My avatar is Piper, my sweet Pembroke Corgi. b. 5/11/11
bendog
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Re: Caring for a Puppy (irresponsible owners)

Post by bendog »

Suzette, since she's not my puppy I can't really do anything as radical as that, though I can suggest it. Its a good idea.

Sarah, the other dog only goes in the kitchen because she doesn't like going in the garden. She goes to the loo on her walks so me and the boyfriend are taking her for a walk last thing at night and first thing in the morning and hoping that way she can hold through the night. Like you say, she only goes in the kitchen because she has nowhere else to go and her owner is in bed most the day!

My dog will "ask" to go out, and goes in the garden before bed and in the morning and whenever he asks throughout the day as well as on walks.
I'd prefer to get the new pup used to doing things the way my dog does preferably. Its much easier for everyone that way.

Ideally, even though I'll hopefully move soon, I'd like to live in a wee free house for now!
Plus its not ideal for the toddler to be playing in the kitchen when theres been wee on the floor.
The toddlers mother hates the situation too, its only boyfriends mum and dad that are happy with it, but because I get up earlier than them I either have to clean it up, or avoid it until they clean it. And its not very appetizing making breakfast with poo on the floor! Especially not when its from an adult dog!
bendog
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Joined: Fri Jan 07, 2011 7:42 am

Re: Caring for a Puppy (irresponsible owners)

Post by bendog »

Sigh....she was fine again overnight and all morning she didn't wee on the floor once, just outside.
(Except one tiny one but that was my fault because I left her to go for a shower and I think it was just anxiety - shes happy to be left for 2 minutes, but 10 minutes was bit long maybe).

Then I left her with boyfriends Mum for 2 hours whilst I went to the shops and walked other dogs, come back and find out she's weed in the house twice and done a poo inside as well!
The wind hasn't been quite as bad today so she was quite happy at being outside this morning, but now the washing is hanging up so she is scared of that instead!

Its like one step forward, two steps back at the moment.
Really fed up and trying hard to show it to poor little pup.
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