Please help me potty train my 6 months old toy poodle

 Hi,

 I sympathize with your problem.  I have a little maltipoo who is 1 year old now, and she will go on potty pads, but if I don't keep the door shut, she will still go into my bedroom and go on the carpet.  I have hardwood floors everywhere else and she doesn't go on them, although I had a big expensive rug in my living room that I had to throw away.  I think the thing is that you have to always contain them into an area where they have somewhere that they can go potty. Sophie is only allowed to hang out in the main house area where her potty pads are.  Sophie never had a cage, she has always slept with me and when she needs to go potty at night, she will let me know by licking me until I get up.  She seems to know not to go in the bed, thank goodness!  I don't think yelling or spanking would do any good.  I think they just forget.  I don't have any solutions for you, except to put down potty pads and see if Tippey will use them.  I also would not take away her water after dinner.  Now I just keep my bedroom door closed and she can go in there with me if I am cleaning, but I have to keep saying, "Remember to use your potty pads, Sophie, don't go potty on the rug."  And she doesn't.  So maybe they just get forgetful.  I hope someone else can offer you more help than I could.

Was she potty trained at her last house?  If so, this could just be that she is confused and/or upset with the move. 

Good Luck with Tippey!   

 Here's what I do to housebreak my dogs...Take them out on this schedule:

• Every 15-20 mins after eating and drinking
• Immediately after waking up from a nap
• Immediately after a play session
• Every 2 hours in between.

 Make sure that you are taking the dog to the exact same spot each and every time so that the scent is clearly there. That will become the default potty spot and the dog will learn what you expect to happen when you're at that spot.

I put a set of jingle bells at nose height on the back door so that the dog can learn that when the bells jingle, that means the door is opening. The dog will learn to jingle the bells himself eventually to tell you that it needs to go out.

If you catch the dog in the act of going potty, startle to dog with a sharp NO or nah nah nah noise to interrupt the dog. Pick it up and take it immediately outside. Once it finishes its business, praise it like there's no tomorrow. Never yell at or spank the dog, especially if you see the accident after it happened. Dogs won't associate the action with the punishment after the fact. If you see the accident after it happened, just calmly clean it up with a good enzyme cleaner and act like nothing happened.
 

It sounds to me like you are in for some extra hard training. At 6-8 months a dog is normally already trained. It sounds to me like maybe your friend messed up on the crate training (like maybe left her in there for too long all day or overnight) and now Tippey thinks the crate is the potty area.

Please don't "spank" or yell. This dog has no idea what humans want her to do so she needs help. You can help her by taking her out a lot like Jewliee said and when she does go outside, praise her like she just won the lottery. Maybe even give her a treat. The more she understands that going outside is GOOD, the less chance of her going inside. And if she does go inside, don't make a big fuss, just clean it up and move on.

You may want to consider ditching the crate since it has become a bathroom. Crate training is great when it works, but when it goes wrong it can be a huge problem to fix.

Good luck!

hi all,

thank you so much for your advices. I dont think the previous owner potty trained her with crate at all. She says Tippey likes to go bathroom on carpet! I had so much success with my previous dogs I thought she'll catch the crate training by no time. It seems Tippey will be my challenge.

Also, I know this isn't relavant, but my older dog (Mickey) is adapting new bad habit since I brought him Tippey. He starts to pop in the house before I take him out for walk. And sometimes he doesn't poo when I walk him, or just poo little and then does the rest when I take him inside the house. I thought he might be upset and jeolous? How can I stop him from doing this?

Thanks again.

PS. tkb1127 , my Tippey looks EXACTLY like Sophia!! I swear!

Goodness now I am embarrassed that I forgot to ask-has Tippey been to the vet to make sure she does not have a medical problem such as a urinary tract infection? This could be the reason and it may have nothing to do with training.

But with Mickey it might. Now that the carpet ahs been declared the potty area (it smells like one) it might become fair game. I don't think MIckey is upset or jealous I think he has just decided thar if it smells like a potty area, it must be one.

Hello

I understand the problem with a untrained dog that does not know where to go potty. This will probably take you a little longer now that your puppy is a older puppy. The good news is you have a poodle it may be a toy poodle but the toy are very smart and quick leaners. Play a potty game Do Not Yell Spank or use any Negative reinformant training this will only take longer and will cause opsticals. Starting every morning make a game and use something like "lets go poodle potty" say it in a manner to make the little feller think he, she is going to have fun playing if you catch your dog in the act in the house take him out side immediately using the potty prase. Reward you dog every time he does it right. Use a crate when you are not at home make the puppy feal at home in the crate don't make the crate feel like a prison or punisment. Teaching your dog to stay in the crate making a game  and rewarding the dog help alot. Give the dog toys and something to lay on also trying to a dog that can run in the house freely soon. I put a potty door in for my dogs and they have a fenced in back yard I realize some people do not have this luxery of having a fenced in back yard but hope you do. Good luck in your Potty training if you have any questions contact me.

The Poodle Daddy

Dogs make the best Children. 

all:

I want to share some good news. Tippey has been good for the last 2 days. She didn't pee in her crate anymore!!! And when I walk her she does her thing. Although she does have accidents at times, but they're getting fewer and she does go to the door when she wants to go out. I'm impressed by how smart she is, giving that she's almost a year old!

I'm enjoying her so much I always look forward to come home to her. LOL. I never had small dog before and I'm loving it!!