Problem with house training

    • Puppy

    Problem with house training

    We recently adopted a black and tan hound puppy from the animal shelter.  He's a great dog, very sweet and smart, but we're having some trouble ;potty training him.  It seems that he's grasped that potty means to pee outside but he isn't getting that it means to poop out there as well.   When I take him out and tell him to go potty, he pees and then looks at me for praise but he never poops in conjunction with peeing. 

    Oftentimes, I could be outside with him for 20 minutes before he poops (except for when he first wakes up in the morning, then he goes instantly) and he often poops about 3-4 times a day so it's always quite a production.  If he doesn't poop when I'm outside with him and I bring him back in, he'll just squat down and poop whenever he wants - right in front of me.  I do the whole "Eh" thing and grab him if I can (sometimes he runs from me) and take him outside and tell him to go potty there. 

    I'm almost wondering if I should come up with 2 different words since he's not getting that potty means both?  I'm also wondering if there's any way to train him to tell me when he needs to go out since most of the time I have no idea until he's doing it in the house.  Once in a while he'll go to the door (to which I'll praise him to no end) but he never whines or barks so I just have to watch him and wait for him to go to the door.  Any ideas or suggestions?

    • Bronze
    I'm having a a similar problem with my puppy. Her problem is that she gets scared outside and runs back in before she is done going potty. Or runs around and sniffs but never goes. One thing that I have found helps is to try to take the dog for a short walk when you go outside, leaving my property seems to make my dog want to go instantly. One new thing I am going to have my dog try is bell training to go outside, where you teach them to ring a bell attatched to the door when they have to go.
    • Puppy
    It sounds like this is a very common thing among hounds.  LOL.  Riley doesn't really scared outside but he certainly does get distracted by everything else in the yard which I really think interferes with his potty training.  I've even started taking him into the yard on a leash so I can control where he goes and what he plays with (he loves eating sticks, leaves, whatever's out there).
     
    I've tried walking him a couple times but all he does is sniff everything and he doesn't seem at all interested in going to the bathroom on his walks.  With all the constant sniffing It takes about 30 minutes just to get around the block.  As I'm sure you know, they like to follow their nose all over the place.  I would love to bell train him, I'll have to research that more.  Or I thought about getting one of those mats that makes a doorbell sound when they stand on it.
    • Bronze
    I just got a puppy last week that looks remarkably similar to your pup, but they told me it was a beagle/terrier mix,
    I bet the black and tan hound is closer to the truth.


    have a gander,
    For my puppy, there is a physical change when he needs to go, his bottom starts to kind of bulge out.  Which i interpret as him beeing filled to capacity, and knock on wood when it looks that way hes usually quick to poop when we get out side.  Mabey keep your eyes peeled to see if your puppy has similar warning signs. Good Luck

    • Puppy
    Yeah they actually told us that our puppy was treeing walker coonhound and lab mixed.  But my fiance had a black and tan growing up and said that Riley looked exactly like his old dog.  I did some research on hounds online and sure enough he looks like the spitting image of a black and tan and not at all like a treeing walker coonhound, down to every single marking on his body so I've decided they have no idea what they're talking about.  Yours is very cute though and will probably be a lot smaller than ours (he's supposed to get to be 50-60 lbs).  I really wanted a beagle mix but my fiance fell in love with this one and now I'm crazy about him too (although not too crazy about the problems with potty training). 
    • Gold Top Dog
    To be honest this does not sound like a potty training problem, at least on the dog's part. You can't fault him for not peeing and pooping at the same time - that's just the way his individual digestive system works! Going first thing in the morning and 3-4 times a day overall sounds normal for a puppy. If you have to walk him for 20m to get a poop going, well... so be it. It's really just a waiting game with puppies - waiting for their bodies and minds to mature. Good luck with it!