Potty training

[luvmydoggies]

Help! We adopted a doberman/shepard mix from the shelter almost 2 months ago. She is 8 1/2 months old. Despite crate training, taking her out to go potty every 1-2 hours, and not being left alone as much as we can, she still poops on the carpet!! Even if we leave for a few seconds, when we come back, she has pooped on the carpet. We really are at our wits end, and we are so tired of picking up poop. please help us! She has been given a clean bill of health also. Any suggestions will be appreciated!

[Fundog]

Okay, step it up just a notch. Instead of every 1-2 hours, take her out every 30 minutes. And after every nap, every meal, every play session, every training session, etc. Make sure you accompany her, not just let her out, even if your yard is fenced. It is very helpful to have highly delectable treats in hand when you go out, so if she has a successful potty, she gets rewarded immediately. If she is pooping just after you've come inside, you will have to anticipate, and beat her to it-- that is, right after you've come in, take her right back out again. If it's usually ten minutes after coming in, wait five and take her out. Walk her around the yard a bit, as that helps to "move things along," if you get my drift. If she still doesn't poop outside, and you just *know* she has a poop in her, bring her in, but don't let her go unsupervised. Either crate her, or keep her on the leash, then keep taking her out every few minutes. She's got to go eventually, just make sure it's outside. When she does, make a huge deal out of it, and let her know how pleased you are. Pooping outside is FUN! Pooping inside is ho-hum.

[Fundog]

Oh-- and if you have her on a regular feeding schedule, same times each day, not free feeding, her bowel habits should be pretty regular, so you might be able to predict the approximate time she has her bowel movements. So if you think she's urinating outside reliably, then you might not need to take her out every 30 minutes. If her inside poops seem to happen at different/random times each day, then go ahead and do the every 30 minute schedule, just to be safe. You may not have to keep that up for very long-- once she has a successful outside potty, she should catch on pretty quick.

[maximoo]

What are you feeding her? And much/how often? At 8 mths she should have fairly regular potty habits. Make sure poo is thoroughly cleaned & deodorized using vinegar or enzymatic cleaner (from petstore/walmart) Any trace of a scent will invite her to make another deposit. You might have to tether her to your person for a week or so till she is back on track. By tethering her you can catch her before she does the deed & whisk her outdoors. make a mental note of her when she goes & get her out & keep her out (till she goes) at the same time everyday.
So tell us more about what she is fed etc & we may be able to offer more suggestions.

[MaiasMom]

When you take her out do you clean up right after she goes? I would leave at least one "event" in place. I have one place in my yard where they go. Take her to the same place each time.

It could be that when you leave the room she does this to get attention. I saw once that Victoria had this gal set a timer for about every 20 mins or so to take the dog out and one of them she clipped to her belt with a leash. When she saw the dog start to wee or poo, picked the dog up and took it outside and stayed there until the dog did it's business, praised the dog a great deal. This takes a great deal of time but well worth the effort.

[Dale05]

Here is my method of potty training puppies. It works for older dogs as well.

First off, confine him when you can't supervise. I can't stress enough the importance of this. For potty training, use a crate that is only big enough for her/him to comfortably stand, lie, and turn around in. He should not be able to potty in one end and lie down in the other. Make sure he's not confined for too long -- generally the age in months plus one hours (so 5 hours for a 4 month old pup). If you have to be gone longer, use an exercise pen with his open crate inside for sleeping, a potty pad for relieving himself, and some toys.

Every time you take him out of his crate take him outside. He should be on a leash. You should go through the same door every time. Take him to where you want him to potty and start repeating his potty command until he finishes. Then treat him and let him play or go for a walk.

Put food and water on a schedule. Give 20 minutes to eat and then pick food up until next scheduled meal. Give water every hour (or when he's obviously thirsty.) By scheduling meals and water, you are able to predict when he will need to relieve himself. Put him on leash and take him out.

Watch for behaviors that tell you he needs to go out: circling, squatting, sniffing, crouching, ....
I know peole who tell me their puppies won't go while they are outside, only to come inside and make a mess on the floor! If you find this to be a problem, give him a reasonable amount of time outside and if he doesn't go confine him for 15 minutes when you come back inside. At the end of that time, take him back out. Repeat this process until he goes. By doing this, you are teaching him that he will earn his freedom by pottying where it's appropriate.

Lastly, basic obedience training really can help. It clarifies leadership for your dog (and sometimes for the owners as well )

[Mattie]

Here is my method of potty training puppies. It works for older dogs as well.

First off, confine him when you can't supervise. I can't stress enough the importance of this. For potty training, use a crate that is only big enough for her/him to comfortably stand, lie, and turn around in. He should not be able to potty in one end and lie down in the other. Make sure he's not confined for too long -- generally the age in months plus one hours (so 5 hours for a 4 month old pup). If you have to be gone longer, use an exercise pen with his open crate inside for sleeping, a potty pad for relieving himself, and some toys.

Pups develop at different rates just like children do, one of my sons was trained at 13 months old, another it was 2.5 years old. Pups shouldn't be confined for long periods for this reason. You will either teach the pup it is ok to toilet in his crate or he will be in pain trying to hold it so be careful about confining pups. Personally I don't think it is fair to keep pups confined in short areas when they are so full of energy, they need room to play.

Put food and water on a schedule. Give 20 minutes to eat and then pick food up until next scheduled meal. Give water every hour (or when he's obviously thirsty.) By scheduling meals and water, you are able to predict when he will need to relieve himself. Put him on leash and take him out.

Food should be on a shedule for all dogs not just pups, fresh clean water should be available all the time and a dog should never be left without it. In the UK you can be prosecuted if you withold water for any animal. We all know how bad we feel if we need a drink but can't get one, animals are the same and they can get dehydrated.

Lastly, basic obedience training really can help. It clarifies leadership for your dog (and sometimes for the owners as well )

What has leadership to do with a dog toileting outside? That is just nonesense.

To house train a puppy or aduld dog.

Always take them outside so you can see them go, when they do give lots and lots of praise, go over the top, make them feel like a king or queen, etc.

You take them outside as soon as they wake up, even when they have a sleep during the day.

You take them outside before and after they are fed.

You take them outside after a play or training session.

You take them outside every 30 minutes for young pups graduating to every hour for adult dogs.

You will soon be able to pick up when your dog is likely to go and be able to adapt it to those times.

Watch for the double pee with pups, they will often pee outside, come in and pee again, don't bring them in as soon as they have gone, keep them out for a little longer.

Keep the door closed while toilet training a pup or dog, an open door means most dogs can't distinguish which is outside and which is in, this makes training them longer.

If they do go in the house, put them outside before cleaning up and use white vinegar or biological washing liquid or get something for the job from a pet shop.

NEVER WITHOLD WATER FROM ANY ANIMAL.

[Dale05]

You seem to think you know all the answers. Your way is not always the best ways. Offering a puppy every hour is NOT going to dehydrate the puppy re read my adice you act as if I am being cruel and I am far from being cruel !!! quit thinking you know it all on this forum!!!!!

[Wes]

I don't believe Mattie is trying to be a know-it-all, Dale, relax. She's offering her advice and thoughts on the situation as she's quite experienced in training.

For water if you're trying to keep a pup on a strict schedule, how about leaving the pup ice cubes instead of taking up their water? That way they still have access to water, but can't gulp it down. When we were training Rosie to toilet outside, we left her with all the ice cubes she wanted to keep her on her pee schedule, but to make sure she had water if she wanted it.

And one doesn't need to show leadership with toilet training, just as you don't need to be the leader when toilet training a child. Just need consistency, patience, and much ado when they do what you want.

[Nettle]

Dale05, Mattie is an extremely experienced dog trainer giving her free time and knowledge to help people like you, so less of the snippy attitude and hearken to what she has to say, because she is right.

Dogs and especially puppies should always have water available, and keeping them without a basic need to suit humans is not how we work here. It is straightforward to potty-train dogs but it does require effort on the part of the human. If the human is not prepared to make the effort, then they are not ready to have a dog.

[Mattie]

You seem to think you know all the answers. Your way is not always the best ways. Offering a puppy every hour is NOT going to dehydrate the puppy re read my adice you act as if I am being cruel and I am far from being cruel !!! quit thinking you know it all on this forum!!!!!

WOW I have touched a raw spot, if you lived in the UK you could go to jail for not giving a pup access to water all the time but you seem to think that the RSPCA are wrong in getting our Government to bring in this law. It is cruel to deprive any animal of anything that they need to survive and one of those is water.

Anyone who gives wrong information on here is corrected, sometimes it is by me other times it is by one of the other very knowledgeable people who give their time and experience free to help people with their dogs. If you don't like it tough, if you continue to give wrong information you will be corrected, especially information that deprives an animal of something they need.

Depriving a dog of water to house train them is abuse, you are depriving a dog water for your convience not the dog's. You want the dog house trained, your dog is just doing what is natural to them. If anyone needs to deprive an animal of water to house train them they shouldn't have a dog. It is easy to teach a dog to toilet outside but it does take time and work.

[Dale05]

I don't think I ask for your advice and in the future I'd appericate you NOT replying to any of my post. and P.S. I live in the USA not the UK so I could care less about your UK laws period!!!

[Mattie]

The advice I gave on toilet training a pup wasn't for you, it was for vmydoggies.

As this is an open forum for everyone to read and post, if I want to reply to your posts, especially when you give out wrong information, then I will. If you don't want me to respond to your posts, then dog post wrong or dangerous information.

Sorry vmydoggies, this isn't helping you, lets get back on track to help you with your pup.

[Dale05]

The advice I gave on toilet training a pup wasn't for you, it was for vmydoggies.

As this is an open forum for everyone to read and post, if I want to reply to your posts, especially when you give out wrong information, then I will. If you don't want me to respond to your posts, then dog post wrong or dangerous information.

Sorry vmydoggies, this isn't helping you, lets get back on track to help you with your pup. and what makes you the expert to say what is the right way this is just your opinion and my way is far from being cruel and dangerous many trainers suggest my way so if you don't like what I write then don't read it. you are just a know it all so no matter what I write you will have something negative to say..

[Mattie]

Dale, please stop the personal attacks, just because you don't like the way we do things on this board doesn't give you the right to make a personal attack on someone.

If you look you will see that witholding water is against what this board is about. If you don't like the board rules then complain to Emmabeth who is the moderator, but no more personal attacks.

You are taking the help away from the OP just to attack me, that isn't fair to the OP who needs help not you attacking someone.

Now please let us get back on track with this thread.