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Getting frantic - potty nightmare

3K views 19 replies 15 participants last post by  lise 
#1 ·
Teddi is almost 4 months old. When I am at work, Teddi is confined to an area by our back door. In her X-Pen are puppy pads that she mostly uses correctly. When I take her out of her pen to play, she will squat and pee wherever she is playing. Sometimes she will head to a corner or behind a chair to pee. She pees and poops beautifully outside and always gets a treat after. How do I get Teddi to stop peeing and pooping inside? I a quite certain she knows it's wrong to do this. When she has these accidents I always say no to her. Does anyone have any ideas? I am getting discouraged.
 
#2 ·
Our little ones are a challenge to potty train. Don't lose heart! hang in there.

One of the difficulties is that b/c they are little, they don't view ALL of the house as inhabited. First thing I would check is to make sure she doesn't have a UTI or anything (b/c you mentioned she'll just pee in the middle of playing, right where she stands). If she is healthy, you should put her on a potty schedule. my rec is the frequency of outside visits is based on your puppy's success. so if you take her every 1/2 hour but she's still peeing in the house, you need to try every 20 minutes. also limit her access to the rest of the house.

I'm sure you'll get a boat load of great advice. hang it there it does get better.
 
#3 ·
Every time she is taken out of the pen, take her outside to pee. When she does act like it's THE BEST thing that ever happened, then a treat for reinforcement. Repeat, repeat, repeat all day long . I agree that perhaps you need to take her out every 20 minutes, and use the same phrase each time "Go potty" or whatever you've been saying. I know it is exhausting, but she'll catch on. You're persistence with her will pay off big time later. There's my two cents...
 
#4 · (Edited)
Just to give you some perspective, my co-worker, she has a rescue pitty. her dog pees on command, even if it's a drop. just to hear her owner's praise.

My dogs, they do their thing on a walk in the place they select. and I wait. I personally don't have it as a priority that my dogs pee and poop on command.

but it's possible. and if this makes you feel better, my 3 yr old, 1/2 hav, every winter, he doesn't want to go outside to the backyard to pee. so I gave up last yr and just put a pee pad down for him, b/c he's select his own spot to relieve himself. btw my sliding glass door is almost always open for the dogs to come and go freely to the backyard. I've seen my ollie, stand at the doorway of the yard, and seemingly think, Hmmm, naw too cold for me, then turn around and look for an alternate place in the house to pee.

also, your girl is young so her bladder is tiny. as she gets older she'll be able to hold it longer. Ollie can go 12 hours without peeing (sleeping in on the weekends).

it's all about consistency.
 
#6 ·
Take her outside immediately when you take her out of the x pen. Make sure you are giving the commands as she goes, pee pee poo poo and praise like crazy. When she is inside keep a close eye on her. If you can't watch her she should be in the pen. If you see her about to go, catch her in the act and say, no pee pee outside! Even if she is finished going, scoop her up and take her outside. The more accidents she has without you catching the more of a habit you are creating. It will click, but you have to do your part.
I always put a bell on my guys collar when they were wee pups. This way I could hear when they were on the move!
 
#7 ·
my little girl just turned 1 and she's finally getting the hang of it! My havanese was much much harder to train than my other big dog. A few mistakes I made:

if you scold her when she goes then she may become afraid to go in front of you. I made this mistake and it set us back by months. She would poop in the house, in a quiet corner when i wasn't watching. Instead of scolding her for going in the house i simply put her outside and cleaned up. When she did actually go outside it was a big party with lots and lots of praise and treats.

the second problem is that their signal to go is very vague it's hard to know when to let them out. it was a lot of work to get her to make a sound, use a bell, etc. Finally she knocks on the door to go out (she never liked the bell, but will take her paw and bang on the door when she wants to go out). it's cute; looks like she's knocking! If that doesn't get my attention then she'll stand up on her hind legs and frantically paw at the door until i open it.

Finally, when they are young they have tiny little bladders and can't hold it very long.

Good luck and don't get frustrated. it will happen.
 
#8 ·
the second problem is that their signal to go is very vague it's hard to know when to let them out. it was a lot of work to get her to make a sound, use a bell, etc. Finally she knocks on the door to go out (she never liked the bell, but will take her paw and bang on the door when she wants to go out). it's cute; looks like she's knocking! If that doesn't get my attention then she'll stand up on her hind legs and frantically paw at the door until i open it.
This was the most tedious and frustrating phase for me. Kodi didn't have accidents because WE knew his schedule, and got him out at the right times. But I felt like WE were trained instead of him! As smart as he is, the bells were useless with him. I tried and tried, but he never ONCE touched them independently, and I finally took them down because they were scratching my woodwork. (anyone want some just-like-new bells? ;))

Then one day, when he was well past two, I heard this deep "woof" at the door. A sound I'd never heard him make. It was very clear that he wanted to go out, so I took him out and he pottied immediately. It was like a switch flipped in his brain, that HE could control the door!:biggrin1: From that point on, he has been completely reliable about telling us when he needs to go out, and I've been able to stop watching the clock.

NOW the only problem is that at the moment, he CONSISTENTLY "needs" to go out in the middle of me cooking dinner.:frusty::pound: Ah, well. It is what it is. THIS is a compromise I'm willing to make!
 
#10 ·
Thanks everyone for such good, practical advise. Just hearing from you makes me feel that I am not alone. You have all been through what I am going thru right now. I know Teddi will catch on when she is older. She is such a good, loveable and smart little girl����❤
 
#11 ·
I bought Woolite pet carpet cleaner and its important to try to get all the sent out. My two have had to move several times and it was hard to house train them. They totally ruined the rug at their second home the stains never came up. I think they just thought it was okay. When I moved into my sisters the rug was new and they only had one accident in the 8 mo I lived their. Now I'm in an old apartment with old rugs and another dog lived here before. They have had several accidents I feel like we are on a loosing battle. They are fine on the days I have off of work. They ask to go outside. They use their indoor potty area 99% of the time when I'm gone. But about twice a week I find a mess on the rug.:frusty: Lately I have tried the carpet cleaner and a rug deodorizer that seems to help a bit. I would rather have accidents then keep them in a kennel so I just live with it. Mine are over two years old.
 
#12 ·
Jude was really doing well with the training, and in fact, actually barked at the back door about the 2nd day I had him at less than 6 weeks! I felt like I had been blessed by the doggie gods - then he seemed to regress. . .He's doing pretty good, he's at about 75% out doors, but I have to watch him closely cause, as you all know, somehow they can manage to leave a gift no matter how alert you think YOU are lol! I did have pee pads for him, but now he just wants to drag them around and tear them up. . . sigh!
J
 
#15 ·
Hi everyone. I moved Teddy's area to the kitchen and blocked off the entries to the rest of the house. Teddi seems happier with the new arrangements. During the day I take her out every 30 mins. We are doing better. I am feeding her cooked rice and hamburger at the suggestion of our Vet when she got diaherra. I mix her dry food with the rice/hamburger. Sometimes she has diaherra a couple times a day and then her next BM will be normal. Has anyone else seen this type of GI problem?
 
#16 ·
I have. many years ago we adopted a 14 month old Weinheimer from the pound. She was so thin you could count her vertebra all the way down her back to the end of her tail. She was a very sick puppy. I immediately took her to the vet and got her shots, and he recommended rice and hamburger - nothing else. She would eat (she was starved) and then either throw up or have diarrhea. I gave her less more often and it seemed to help. This, along with sneezing mucus everywhere, lasted for about 3 days, and then her system seemed to settle down. She actually got to be a bit chunky - and wouldn't leave me for a moment she was so grateful. So was I, I loved for for a very long time, she had a good life.

The only reason I relate this story to you is to suggest that you may want to feed your baby less of the rice and hamburger more often. Sounds like you're on the right track!
J
 
#17 ·
It seemed to take forever to get Marley potty trained. We literally had to watch him every second he was out of the pen and not sleeping. Took him out every 20 minutes, later every half hour, then every hour. One day he finally got it and has been golden ever since. But just be aware that 16 weeks is just a starting age for many Havs, this is a long term project and you have to stay on top of it or it will drag out even longer. Frustrating, I know, but worth sticking with in the long run.
 
#18 ·
Maccabee is just getting over a UTI and bladder stones. He has been more reliable, but not 100%, since a couple days after the UTI was diagnosed. His trainer suggested I limit his access to the litter box to when he is in his expen. When he out of the expen she wants me to take him outside regularly. Does this make sense?

I know Maccabee can hold his urine, because he doesn't have accidents in his crate at night. But when he has free rein of the living room, he goes back to his litter box frequently to pee (or he pees on the carpet). As I mentioned previously, the carpet peeing has reduced significantly since he was treated for the UTI (many fewer accidebnts, and none since last Thursday). But, since he was peeing on the carpet somewhat regularly (not every day, but sometimes multiple times in one day) for many months we really need to treat him like a puppy in training.

The trainer thinks he will catch on quickly. Does limiting his access to the litter box when out of the ex pen make sense?
 
#19 ·
Maccabee is just getting over a UTI and bladder stones. He has been more reliable, but not 100%, since a couple days after the UTI was diagnosed. His trainer suggested I limit his access to the litter box to when he is in his expen. When he out of the expen she wants me to take him outside regularly. Does this make sense?

I know Maccabee can hold his urine, because he doesn't have accidents in his crate at night. But when he has free rein of the living room, he goes back to his litter box frequently to pee (or he pees on the carpet). As I mentioned previously, the carpet peeing has reduced significantly since he was treated for the UTI (many fewer accidebnts, and none since last Thursday). But, since he was peeing on the carpet somewhat regularly (not every day, but sometimes multiple times in one day) for many months we really need to treat him like a puppy in training.

The trainer thinks he will catch on quickly. Does limiting his access to the litter box when out of the ex pen make sense?
Only if your decision is to permanently train him away from the litter box. Even very good trainers often don't understand about litter boxes, GOOD breeders who start their pups RIGHT on indoor potties. It's up to you, but I find maintaining litter box use to be useful to us. If you chose to continues with it, I would STRONGLY suggest that you call Pam and talk this through. Have your trainer help you with everything else you want, but let Pam, who has successfully trained hundreds of puppies to use a litter box AND go outdoors help you with is one.
 
#20 ·
The two outings I hate is the 6pm and the last one which is usually around 7:30-8:00. I miss being able to get in my Jammie's and lounge around in the evening. I'm a news junkie and I swear when he hears the news start that's his signal that its time to go!
 
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