Ugh, please tell me it gets better!!

    • Gold Top Dog

    Ugh, please tell me it gets better!!

     Housetraining, that is!! I take Dawbie (a 9 week old shih tzu mix pup) out not only every hour on the hour, it's more every 20 minutes sometimes!! And yet she STILL pees in the house. We are crate training her, so she goes in her crate when I can't supervise her, as well as during the night. I honestly try and watch her like a hawk every second, but sometimes she just squats without warning and pees. I say "eh eh!!" to startle her, grab her and bring her outside. Sometimes she continues to pee once she is out (and I praise the holy heck out of her) and sometimes she just stares at me like "what am I doing out here? I already peed!!" I can usually read her body language pretty well and see when she is looking for a spot to pee and I can intervene before she has the chance and get her outside. Pooping is easy to look for, I know the 'waddle' she does as well as the sniffing, circling and how she gets really wild and nippy when she has to poop. But this morning, right after I brought her outside (she peed a little) brought her back in, she came into the living room, played for about 30 seconds, squatted and peed. I brought her back out waited a few minutes while she refused to pee anymore, brought her back in and started to clean up the spot. I turned to once again see her peeing AGAIN!!! I was livid, but I just told her "eh eh!" and once again brought her out. Then later on this morning, I was doing some leash training outside with her, so we were out there for about half an hour or so just walking, playing, a little bit of training. She peed once outside and I brought her back over to her potty spot before I brought her back inside. She didn't offer to pee, so I figured she didn't have to go. Brought her in, she instantly went into the living room and peed. ARRGGHHH!!! I bring her out immediately after she plays, after she wakes up, after she has been in her crate, after she has eaten. I bring her out randomly throughout the day, I bring her out once or twice during the night/early morning. I know housetraining can be tricky, but what am I doing wrong?? Even if I did the stationing to my side with a leash, it still wouldn't stop her, as she will squat and pee in front of me so quickly that I don't catch her right away! I know you should crate a pup when you can't watch them, and I do. But even when I'm watching her, she still sneaks a pee in once and a while!! Help!

    • Gold Top Dog

     The only thing I can say is hang in there, it WILL get better!! Toy breeds are notorious for taking longer then average to housetrain...

    If it makes you feel any better, my 6 month old border collie pup is still being taken out every 20 minutes during his waking time...

    Misery loves company Embarrassed

    • Gold Top Dog

     I'm currently house training 3 puppies. They are almost 5 months old and still have accidents if I'm not fast enough to get to the door. Puppies do not quite have an off button as young as yours is. They are still learning bladder control, so while you are taking the baby out, the bladder may  not be getting completely emptied. That, and they just have to go more frequently, especially when they are playing and excited.

    I would dare to say you are letting the puppy have to much freedom. Especially if she has the full house to roam. The rule of thumb is to leash them to you where you can see them while you do other tasks but can still watch her, or confine her to an area with an expen and a piddle pad if she can't have all of your attention. I see nothing wrong with putting a piddle pad in the back corner of the xpen and a bed for her upfront for her to have while you do other things. And the reason I say put it in the back, is you don't want her walking through the piddle pad to get to you when you walk up to her pen. I bought several of the washable bed pads that are used in nursing homes, etc so that I wouldn't have the expense of the puppy piddle pads. I would rather wash stuff than put it in the landfill. If you want, I'll give you the link to where I bought mine if you are interested. The xpen also gives her more room than the crate, though the crate can be set inside the xpen with the door open so she has her 'den'.

    It is aggravating - but she will catch on as she grows and she will develop better control. 9 weeks is still very young, and toy breeds do take some time. Consistency consistency consistency and lots of chocolate. LOL

    • Gold Top Dog

    I would agree that she has way too much freedom.  When a pup is THIS young, you must confine them to an easily cleaned area at ALL times and be super vigilent in watching them.  Make sure that her crate is small enough that she isn't able to toilet and get away from it.

    Every time she pees in the house, it's one more "success" that she carries in her brain forever about where to pee.

    • Gold Top Dog

     Thanks for the tips, guys!! I will reign in her freedom a bit and see if that helps. And I will definitely pick up some chocolate for myself to get me through the housetraining phase!! Wink

    • Gold Top Dog

    Chocolate is a great help in surviving housetraining!  Wink

    • Gold Top Dog

    glenmar

    Chocolate is a great help in surviving housetraining!  Wink

     

    Yes, but remember not to give any to the dog, lest only one of you survive the house training.  Wink

    • Gold Top Dog

     Theres a reason why puppies are so stinkin' cute. Stick out tongue

    • Gold Top Dog

     Well, of course Anne!  Why waste good chocolate on someone who pees on your floors? Wink

    • Gold Top Dog

    glenmar

     Well, of course Anne!  Why waste good chocolate on someone who pees on your floors? Wink

     

     

    LOL!! I agree!! I still am a bit upset that nobody has mentioned this in any of the dog training books I've been reading: "One must have a good stash of chocolate ready to survive the hardships of house training!!" Seems like it is the only way to get through this phase!! Now, off to raid the chocolate stash!! Wink

    • Silver

    i am so glad to see this thread!!! Our baby Grace is nine weeks old and housetraining so far has been two steps forward, one step back. We had one accident free day and it was one of the greatest days of my life. We have the exer-pen & crate/direct supervision thing going. I set my cell phone alarm religiously so I am never late for a trip outside. And she is still having an accident or two most days. I know that is actually pretty good but sometimes I think "why am I putting in THIS much effort just to be mopping up the floor AGAIN?!"

    Dosing myself with chocolate and basking in the puppy cuteness are the best solutions I have discovered. I knew this would be an involved process but I didn't expect to be so frustrated by the setbacks! (I've mostly had older rescued dogs - this is the first baby pup in a long while!)

    Hang in there, puppy parents... I'm sure we will all get through this one way or another :-)

    • Gold Top Dog

    But, again, Grace is just a baby too.

    Take heart folks, I've potty trained whole LITTERS of pups over the years.  One at a time is childs play in comparison!  I know....doesn't feel like it, but this too shall pass.  That's another one that ought to be in the books....

    Chocolate, and, THIS TOO SHALL PASS!

    • Gold Top Dog

     Leash her too you, try to figure out when she is going, and give yourself a piece of chocolate every time you get it right. It seems like she doesn't really finish up outside. You might have some success with coming right back in, crating her for 5 minutes, then taking her back outside before letting her out to play. If that works, you get a chocolate for each time you have to take her out of course.

    • Silver

     Glenmar - thanks for the words of encouragement! I can't imagine trying to corral a whole lot of pups and get the point of housetraining across... egads!  Suddenly my one little girl doesn't seem so bad! :-)

    • Gold Top Dog

     I also forgot how much work house training is. Working in a vet clinic, I would constantly get questions from clients about how to house train their puppies. Giving advice is easy, but actually going through it sure is a lot trickier than I remembered. Especially when I think I am doing everything the books say, and still dealing with occasional accidents. We had an accident free day 2 days ago, got her outside plenty, watched her very closely, was so proud of her and myself (so I helped myself to some chocolate). Yesterday there were two accidents, one a few minutes after I brought her in, one when I was busy with my 16 month old son and didn't happen to catch her sniffin' around the living room we were in (so I helped myself to some chocolate to "punish" myself for not watching her more closely) Wink This too shall pass, this too shall pass, this too shall pass....this is my mantra when my toddler is throwing hissy fits and random objects at my head.

    Yup, definitely did not remember how much work the house training phase is!!!! Tongue Tied