Dog Community

3 Yr Old Not Housebroken

Posted : 5/8/2006 8:36:50 AM

Hi, I am so glad to have found this site. I am an extreme animal lover. I have 2 cats, Porky and Bumble, and 3 dogs, Dunkin (shepard mix), Izzy (picawinnie...lol, he is half picanese and half dachsund), and the newest member to our family, Adi (poodle). My problem is with Adi, we brought her home from the local pound after she and seven other poodles were rescued from a very bad situation. Her owner kept her and the other poodles shut up in a room, it is believed that most of these younger poodles had never even seen daylight, they were conceived, delivered and raised in this room. When the elderly man who owned them passed away, animal control was called out to pick them up. They were covered in their own waste, hair knotted and matted beyond belief, Adi's hair around her mouth was so knotted when I got her that she could hardly even open her mouth. All the poodles had infected eyes among many other things. Animal control gave the relatives the option to take care of the poodles or he would have to take them (which I personally did not agree with considering their condition) To make a long story short, the relatives took the eight poodles to a nearby mountainside and turned them loose, three of which did not make it through the night, they were ran over. Animal control was called out to pick them up and of course recognized them from the home the day before. My daughter had recently lost her best firend, a toy poodle, Buffie. So I took her to the animal shelter to find a new friend, she of course spotted the pitiful poodles and wanted to help them all (she takes after her mama...lol) I had to be the bad guy and say no, only one can go home with us. As she walked up to the pin they were in, most ran, some growled and snarled, and some just shyed away, but not Adi, she sat there looking so sweet and so scared that my daughter knew right away she had found her new baby. Adi is doing wonderful now. It took her a long time to get over her timidness. Being shut up in a room all of her life, she couldn't jump or climb stairs and was terrified of the rain, she had never had the opportunity to see or do these things. She can now jump up on the furniture by herself and flies up and down the steps and loves to play in the rain. The vet estimated Adi's age at about 3 yrs. We have had her now about 8 months. Here is the problem, I can not housebreak her. It is extremely frustrating to me because I have never had an animal that I couldn't housebreak. I have tried all the techniques that I have always used, and nothing is working. I am so frustrated, my husband is trying to force me to adopt her out, but I wouldn't adopt out my children if they didn't potty train, and I feel the same way about my pets.
I am sorry the for such a long post but I felt you needed toknow her history before asking for advice. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know.

schleide

Posted : 5/8/2006 9:43:02 AM

It is a wonderful thing that you are giving this sweet dog a new chance at the life she deserves! Please don't give up on her - she probably has the same problems that puppy mill dogs have, due to their constant confinement, they lose the instinct that keeps them from going to the bathroom where they eat and sleep. Is the dog crate trained? If so, does she have accidents in her crate? Although I never had a dog like this, I have read that they are very diffcult to housebreak, because you can't work with the normal disinclination to go where they eat and sleep.

Your post says you have tried everything that has worked for you before - maybe you could post what you have already tried and it might help some people here try to get creative for you??

If you aren't already doing this, I think I would try leashing the pup to you, or another member of your household at all times (whenever you are home). As soon as the dog gives the slightest sign that she needs to go, take her out and treat and praise to high heaven if she goes. Throw a big party, make sure the dog knows how very very pleased you are with this behavior. I don't think you mentioned whether the pup will ever go when she is outside? If so - at least you have a behavior to praise and treat.

If you can keep her with you indoors, and catch it before it happens - this is probably your best bet. Sounds like this is a tough one - please don't give up on her, I am sure it can be done and that there will be some good suggestions coming!

Mandie Miller

Posted : 5/8/2006 1:12:28 PM

Thanks for your quick response. I have not tried crate training due to the fact she was raised the way she was, I was not sure if it would be a good idea or not but I guess it would be worth a try. She does use it outside some when she is out, and even comes to me to get me to let her out. That is one reason I was so hopeful that she would be easier to train. My husband scolded her when we first got her for her accidents and would then put her outside (against my better judgement) and that only made her afraid of going outdoors for a while. I have tried praising her when she does her business outside, I have tried taking her out at different times of the day, but of course my work schedule does not allow me to have a certain routine. Thanks for your suggestions.

angelamarie

Posted : 5/8/2006 6:35:38 PM

Dogs who have gone through what your darling has experienced make progress in little tiny baby steps, as you well know.

You may want to start out by either paper training or pee pad training her. She's not used to having much space to wander, and she may just be too afraid to approach the outdoors comfortably.

Mandie Miller

Posted : 5/8/2006 10:35:23 PM

Angelamarie, thanks for your suggestion, I bought the pee pads and she wouldnt even think about using them. How should I go about getting her to use them? Thanks again

spiritdogs

Posted : 5/9/2006 6:01:03 AM

Wow, too bad your husband set you back like that.
If Adi is not frightened to be in a crate, use it. If she is, use a tether instead. Meaning, she is leashed to you 24/7. That way, you can wait for signals that she has to potty, and get her right outside. It's important to go with her, so that you can reward her (carry Cheerios in your pocket) the moment she's finished. If she makes a mistake inside, just say eh-eh and "Outside?" and take her out. If she doesn't finish outdoors, you must either crate her or watch her carefully, and then take her out in ten minutes or so. Keep trying till she goes (so you get the opportunity to reward). If you use the same word for "outside" all the time, pretty soon you can start asking her "Outside?" if she looks squirmy or starts to sniff around.
Tell your husband not to scold her for any reason. With a shy dog, it's better to reward good behavior and ignore bad - otherwise you can destroy their confidence and they will just shut down. (Dogs get depression, too.) Good luck!!! I know you can do it. Poodles are smart - it just takes time to undo what it took three years to do.

angelamarie

Posted : 5/9/2006 7:42:01 AM

Hi Red,

If you decide to use the tinkle pads, confine her to a small area that almost completely covered with tinkle pads, and keep an eye on her. When she has to go, chances are she'll just happen to be on a tinkle pad when she does, just because there are so many there. Reward her for it, throw a party, treats included. After you have a few of those experiences, then reduce the number of tinkle pads in the area. If she pees or poos off a tinkle pad, put the poo or absorb the tinkle with the pad and leave it there, with a clean one next to it. Evenutally, she will get the idea.

Once she's reliably tinkle pad trained, you can transfer that to outdoor training without too much trouble. You slowly, and I mean very slowly, move the location of the tinkle pad(s) towards the door that you will be taking her out. Move it by inches each week. Bit by bit, get it to a spot directly in front of the door, and leave it there for a week or two. Then, move the tinkle pad outside the door and leave the door open, so that she can hop out the door onto the pad at will. The weather doesn't always cooperate, I know, the system's not perfect.

Remember, praise and treats are very important each time she succeeds. And, like Anne said, scolding should never take place.