Puppy Advice ?
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I need some help please !
10yr old Ds wanted puppy for Christmas, he's very responsible, we agreed, he has a dachsund/King Charles Spaniel mix (wanted a King Charles Spaniel, couldn't find a breeder locally, PLUS, they're about $700 agghhh ! needless to say, we're good with the mix, still expensive, but not out of this world !)
Anyway, puppy ("Leia" what can I say, 10yr old Star Wars fan !!!) is doing great, incredible temperment, knows who her "boy" is, etc .....
ONLY problem (well biggest problem) is that we are having trouble potty training her .....
We are doing the crate thing (honest, I've done this before, this dog just defies everything I know about puppies !) so when she's not with one of us, at night and when we are gone she is in the crate.
Son walks her on walks (before school, after, etc ....)
We have a big fenced in back yard ....
The problem is that she will go outside, (walks, out the back wherever) and come INSIDE to tinkle. AGGHHH !
The only think I can think of is that she was trained to use "piddle pads" and now she thinks our entire house is a piddle pad (???) vet agrees this may be the problem. Also, she goes outside with the lab, and they play, SO I've started having her go outside FIRST on her own (lab has to wait, but she's 3, she can cross her legs and just wait a couple of minutes) then I let the lab out. Thinking maybe Leia's just a puppy, play is more important to her than doing her business.
We are using positive reinforcement for when she DOES "go" outside, and negative when we catch her in the act here in the house.
We have a large house, I try to keep her downstairs with me when it's just us (me, the three year old, and the dogs) during the day so I can keep an eye on her, but a- I've been sick, b- I work from home and c- can't be everywhere at one time.
Does anyone ANYONE have any other ideas for me ?
Maybe any books you can suggest ? I've watched the dog whisperer, I've gotten "those monks from up north somewhere who train dogs" (forgotten their names) books from the library.
What else can I do ?
Maybe just time ? I do NOT want this to still be a problem in 6months because I didn't handle it correctly now. I do NOT remember this being such a big issue with the lab, but at the time, she was the only dog, and quite possibly my memory is deceiving me.
What do you guys think ?
Good luck its tough at first as you know. The only suggestion I have is to keep her in the crate when no one can be right there to watch her.When you are working or busy with your little one etc. Sounds like your doing everything else okay. I have a new pup too and a large house Ugg...keep us posted on how you are making out.
W-E-L-L
same thing different day .... picked up the rugs to sweep and mop today, and when I went to put the rug back, the little bugger had peed on it ... didn't even SEE her do that one !
I think I'm just not remembering puppy-potty training accurately, because at this point I think it's easier to train a 2yr old than a puppy !
You shouldn't be punishing your puppy if you didn't catch her doing it. She won't know why she is being punished.
Housebreaking Info
The Rules
House Training Rule Number One: /b{This is The Most Important Rule – If you don't catch your puppy doing it - then don't punish him for it!}
House Training Rule Number Two: Praise your puppy when things go right. Don't let this be a situation where your only action is saying "No" when they are caught in the midst of using the wrong area. If they do it right – let them know!
One of the key issues in housebreaking is to follow Rule Number One: If you do not catch your puppy doing it, then do not punish him for it! We do not care what someone else may tell you or what you read, if you find a mess that was left when you were not there, clean it up and forget it.
Discipline will not help because unless you catch the puppy in the act, he will have no idea what the scolding is for. Your puppy has urinated and defecated hundreds of times before he met you. Mom or the breeder always cleaned it up. Nobody made a fuss before and the pup will not put the punishment, regardless of its form, together with something he has done without incident numerous times before. Especially if he did it more than 30 seconds ago! Puppies are just like our children. Unless something was really fun (and a repetitious act like going to the bathroom is not), they are not thinking about what they did in the past. They are thinking about what they can do in the future. At this point in his life a puppy's memory is very, very poor.
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I know it's hard. Jasmine was a year old, or so, when we adopted her, but we had to start from scratch, with potty training, when we brought her home. The little stinker even went 24 hours without urinating, in the first few days we had her. Sometimes I kept a leash on her, in the house, and had the leash on my wrist, so that she didn't always have to be in her crate, up in the kitchen alone. I know that one time I saw her sniffing around, she squatted to pee and I made a big deal of getting her upstairs to go outside and then that's when she finally started figuring it out!
I think it was a combination of us needling to learn her signals as much as her learning where to do her business. Then she learned that putting her paws on my arms, so that I can't type, was a good way of getting me to take her outside. Eventually she learned that just staring at me would work, too.
thanks for that info .... we are NOT punishing her or being harsh or anything unless we see her actually doing the deed, if I do find poop, we are taking her (son holding her) outside along with the poop (me carrying it) and transferring the poop outside and then putting her down beside it, so she starts to understand that poop is an outside activity. But not berrating her or anything, just showing her it goes OUTSIDE ....
it's just going to take time. I know, the vet said we're doing everything right .... she is just a sneaky little one, she can run off and be right back and you not even know she's done anything til later, at which point it's too late to do anything but clean it up. Ds is learning a lot of lessons here though, he's involved in the cleaning up part too .... he's a trooper and hasn't complained one bit though !
we have quite a bit to work on still, she is not leash trained at all either, and does NOT like it, pulls on it, bites it, shakes her head, etc ..... Ds is walking her a couple of times a day, to get her used to the leash. We have large back yard, so it isn't necessary exactly, but good practice for her.
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