Help before i loose my partner or dog

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Butsies
Posts: 10
Joined: Wed Oct 09, 2013 3:11 pm

Help before i loose my partner or dog

Post by Butsies »

So we tried the crate in the bedroom trick as suggested on here but its not going great&if Jake continues to be naughty its going to be a case of "Its me or the dog" in my home. Ive been up since 5am coz Jake woke, i took him 2 toilet but he wouldn't go bk 2 his crate & my oh went mad coz it woke him & my 3year old son up. Im tryin so hard with trainin but its useless! Jake is so vocal & just cries,whines or barks all the time. He wont sleep at night, wont go toilet outside or in his mats most of the time, not good in the car he just yelps constantly and so in. :cry: Ive had puppies before but none have been this difficult.
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Sabrina
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Re: Help before i loose my partner or dog

Post by Sabrina »

Hi! Can you give a complete run-down of "a day in the life" of your puppy? The what/when/etc of: feeding, time alone, play, exercise, training, etc etc etc - no detail is too small!

Also: how old is your puppy? What breed? How long have you had him? Has anything changed recently in his schedule?

There are lots of puppy experts on this forum - the more details you can give, the better they'll be able to suggest things personalized to you and Jake!

(Crate training advice given in previous thread: viewtopic.php?f=4&t=17586 )
victorianpaws
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Joined: Sun Aug 11, 2013 8:38 pm

Re: Help before i loose my partner or dog

Post by victorianpaws »

First off, any steps in the right direction are a success! You are making progress whether you can see it or not. Puppies have a max of about 4 hours that they can be in a crate while sleeping before needing to potty. When you go outside make the entire experience calm.

Open the cage door quietly, and say "It's time to (insert potty word", in a low, calm tone and walk quietly and calmly to the door. Keep a yummy bone or treat in your back pocket or, as I like to do, in a bowl right by the backyard door that you have easy access to. It can be a good way to attract your puppy to the door. Say your potty word again as you open the door and lead them straight to the grass/potty area. Keep this quiet, calm, and remember to breathe! A puppy is a baby, just like your son once was. They need patience and understanding even if it's four in the morning.

Being in the yard is potty time before play time, even at o'dark thirty in the morning. So do not acknowledge anything other then the process of going potty. Quietly praise sniffing, and circling with some sort of a pleased noise that is very hushed to not distract your puppy. As soon as they go potty, praise with more reward with soft coos, gentle pets and a generally pleased attitude. Your puppy did his business like he was suppose to!

Adopt the calm, quiet, sleepy attitude you had before and lead your puppy back to his crate right away. If you need to, use a lead and a small chew bone (I recommend a bully stick) to guide him in and to get him in a calm and relaxed state if he has problems falling asleep. The more calm, patient, and quiet you are will reflect how quickly he can fall back asleep and so can you!

Keep your chin up, this a baby remember! You can do this!
victorianpaws
Posts: 13
Joined: Sun Aug 11, 2013 8:38 pm

Re: Help before i loose my partner or dog

Post by victorianpaws »

As for the noise, we need a few more details to really help you out.

How much exercise does he get in a day? When does he eat? How often is he taken out? Etc. the more details the better!

Also remember, he is a dog not a human. Dogs are just being dogs, they aren't naughty or trying to bother you. They are just trying to be a dog!
Butsies
Posts: 10
Joined: Wed Oct 09, 2013 3:11 pm

Re: Help before i loose my partner or dog

Post by Butsies »

Hi both,

Thanks for this. Ok so a life in the day of little Jake. During the week he goes to my mums house, she has a 5 year old staffy called Gunner and a garden so they play together while she also looks after my little boy. She walks him and feeds him and also lets him in the garden whenever but he still will not potty train at her house. He just wee's wherever he wants.

I pick him up with my son at 5.30pm and we drive 20mins home. Hes getting better in the car but still cries quite a bit. Once home, we play and i do the dinners. At 8pm i feed him and then about 15mins after hes eaten we go for a walk. Hes not liking the walks at the minute so end up only going out for 15minutes as he pulls me back home. He also refuses to toilet outside but he is getting better as he has started to toilet on my balcony and also on his wee wee mats.He's only been able to go out for a week due to injections. Once back home i get my son ready for bed and he plays with my other half or usually naps as hes tired from his walk. At around 9pm i put him in his crate next to my bed. He settles after a while but has a habbit of really chewing his bed inside even though he has toys in their. I took the bed out lastnight and he cried for it, i put it back and he went mad biting it again. He sleeps ok, when he wakes i take him into the living room and open the balcony door. I put him on his wee wee mat for a wee and then he goes outside to go poo but then wants to play. After around 20mins and i know hes been toilet i go back in the bedroom, he goes back in his crate but its very hard for him to settle. He cries quite a bit. Even with toys in there its just him playing in his crate or biting the bed, crate itself or barking he always manages to wake my partner and son. When we go out hes very noisy too, i can hear him before ive even locked the front door. Im worried about complaints.

On the weekends his routine is different. He goes out in the morning and then again at night, i try to keep his evenings the same no matter what.

He still wees and toilets all over the house when im busy doing dinner or if im in the bath etc. I try to catch him before he fowls but its very hard when i cant watch him all the time.

What am i doing wrong? x
Butsies
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Joined: Wed Oct 09, 2013 3:11 pm

Re: Help before i loose my partner or dog

Post by Butsies »

Also i forgot to say my puppy is 13weeks. He is meant to be a chihuahua X jack russell but looks very much like a pure jack russell. my neighbour has his brother and has no problems at all. my dog sees to be the noisy, loud, energetic one. Hers is very calm and hardly chews.

My mum feeds him at 9.30am and i feed him at 8pm. Also she fees him at 3pm-ish.

I do training with him on his walks outside but as he hates outside its hard. Also i do some training at home once my son goes to sleep. x
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Nettle
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Re: Help before i loose my partner or dog

Post by Nettle »

The mats are totally confusing for him because they show him it is okay to empty indoors. You need to ditch the pads and install a strict regime of taking him out every half hour at first, then every hour, waiting for him to empty and then rewarding him. He is a baby and can no more understand what you want than a human baby, so you have to show him and make it worth his while. This should be continued at your mother's home too. We have a great pinned thread about how to housetrain :) so do read it and come back with your questions.
A dog is never bad or naughty - it is simply being a dog

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Butsies
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Joined: Wed Oct 09, 2013 3:11 pm

Re: Help before i loose my partner or dog

Post by Butsies »

Hi Nettle,

Thanks for this but as i work full time im out of the house most of the day and it would be hard for my mum to walk him every 30mins as she is caring for my son and my nan. is there anything else you can suggest. could she maybe let him in the garden every half hour. Does this have to happen every half hour all day? id never sleep or get chores done!! :?
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Nettle
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Re: Help before i loose my partner or dog

Post by Nettle »

It isn't for ever, and it is how you potty-train puppies. He is a very young animal. It's the same with getting children trained :) you have to make it easy to get things right.

He does not have to be walked but he will need to be taken outside on a lead, waited with, rewarded when he performs and then led back in. Every half hour soon changes to every hour, then longer as his body matures and he is able to go for longer intervals without emptying out. I do appreciate that this is a big task when you/your mother have other things to do, but he didn't ask to be homed with a very busy person and you do want him trained to potty outside. He cannot gain bowel and bladder control any faster than his body allows. I do sympathise with this seeming an enormous task but actually it isn't - it only requires a change in priorities.


You might well consider crate-training but this has its difficult parts as well as the obvious easy ones. It would be so easy to leave him too long in the crate, or to rush his introduction to the crate, or for him to be exposed to unwanted attention from your son and his friends while he is in the crate. You need to commit to seeing that these things don't happen (oh dear, more stress - sorry). Otherwise there is the option of building a proper kennel and run in the yard and putting him there when nobody has time to watch him, but this will not house-train him either; it will simply be easier to clean.

Potty-training is very straightforward but very labour-intensive in the early stages. The good thing is that dogs potty-train a whole lot faster than people! Keep that in mind and it won't seem so bad. :) He isn't doing this to annoy you - he's a baby dog and when he needs to go, it's NOW.
A dog is never bad or naughty - it is simply being a dog

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Fundog
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Re: Help before i loose my partner or dog

Post by Fundog »

One point of clarification: the reason it is important that he is accompanied outside and *watched* while he potties is so that a reward can be given immediately upon the action of pottying. In other words, your mum needs to carry a baggy of tidbits in her pocket while she takes the puppy outside, and stand there watching him, then praise, and shove that treat right in his mouth. It can't wait until he comes back inside to get the treat, or he will think he is being rewarded for coming back inside-- which is likely that he will not potty outside, and will potty once he is back inside instead.

As Nettle said, it is just like training a human toddler, except you can actually tell a human toddler, "Pee pee goes in the potty. Yeah! You made a pee pee! Let's go get a treat!" That is too much dialog for a puppy, though. :wink:
If an opportunity comes to you in life, say yes first, even if you don't know how to do it.
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