I need puppy training help! Please!

[Iain]

Jamauk - do as you feel appropiate. To us our puppies have their area which is theirs. I also would not suggest going paying attention to your puppy if they cry at night. These things change as your puppy grows up and does not have accidents at night. I always leave my door open, and my dog generally comes in when my parents go off to bed, and stays for a hour or 2.

At 8 weeks your training really is not sit stay - but walking on a leash, being groomed and more playing, bonding, and spending time together. I am not sure when we bought commands into it, as it was quite a while ago when I was still in school, so it was more my mother and father with our dog.

About your poodle - she probably peed on your husband as she was nervous about all the shouting that is going on. When you went to Hawaii, this broke her routine, then being shouted at, thrown outside, etc is not the loving praise that a dog needs. And now she does not know any better.

I would first start off, by not allowing anyone else in the family to disicpline her. Then I would work rebuild her trust and confidence - go on walks everyday, make them fun, lots of priase when she goes to the bathroom on them (but don't be too loud), work on other commands when she grasps them lots of love/treats, etc. Then back to the 45 minute routine.D oes she happily pee in her crate, or is it a last resort? I think all dogs if they have to will, but will generally try and hold it. At the very least it is easier to clean up in there, and saves your carpet/floor.

Just from someone who grew up raising charity dogs 6/8 pass rate - and I can assure you we have seen a lot. The last one to fail became out pet (The GR).

[Kristie]

is the crate too big? if she has enough room to move around easily, it's probably too big for her!

so she pee'd on DH huh? she was mad at him!! dog's don't like raised voices.

I think it can be reversed.. she just needs lots of attention and good praise. Tone of voice can make all the difference in the world and even when she's bad, she probably gets really scared that she'll be "punished" like that again. Dog's, IMO, are pretty sensitive creatures, all they want to do is please their masters. they need a lot of patience and too many "bad dog" remarks can make her really scared!

try being really attentive to her.. take her outside like every 45 minutes so far and give her a ton of praise - even for just sitting outside and then give her even more praise if she goes outside! get that tail a'waggin and she'll do what she knows is right!

[ILoveMyPilot]

We try to be as kind as possible over the potty training subject. I even started to spell it but she now knows what it means. lol! My dog can spell! lol!
Ok, seriously, she has no care in the world if she goes 1 & 2 in her crate. I do have 2 sizes 1 small and 1 Med. She is only a 3 pound dog so she is not that big.
The Vet said she has no medical problems to make her do this and it is behavioral. The lady we bought her from never let her go outside alone and she had several other dogs and puppies. I wonder if she is just freaked out being alone. She does get out side at least 20-45 times a day I often let her out in the middle of the night too or if I am up late.

I have heard others say Poodles are the worst breed to potty train. I have not had this problem before in the past with other pets. This will be my 5th poodle since a child and they have always been family and I have never had one like this little girl. I love her so much and hope I can conquer the potty ordeal.

[Iain]

Do you go out with her, or just open the door?

[ILoveMyPilot]

we do both. I want to teach her that someone is not always coming out with her. So then she piddles on the door mat.
Ignorant dog! (but loved)

[marriedanaviator]

Wow! I haven't been able to check on this thread in a few days and there's a lot of information! Thanks!! I went out and bought a crate for Katie last week and it was going well, but then all of a sudden she's been peeing on our tile in the kitchen (that's where we keep her crate). I never let her run around the house because that's just asking for a mess. I have a 6' leash hooked on one of our cabinet doors and she can go wherever that 6' feet of leash will let her(...and it's all tile so I'm not so paranoid!). Unfortunately, I've been keeping her outside...A LOT! She's just so unpredictable all of a sudden and I have to watch her every move so it's just easier to keep her outside. I can see by all of the previous posts that that isn't going to get me anywhere on training her though. So, I'll try taking her out every 45 minutes and see if that solves the problem. I found a book on line the other day called "How to housetrain your puppy in 7 days". I've been reading the reviews on it and it sounds like a great book. From what I can tell it gives you a daily schedule on food, water, potty times, etc. I think I'll give it a try also. I don't ever come down on her hard because she's only almost 10 weeks old and still little. But I don't want to miss the opportunity to train her the right way and all of a sudden she's set in her ways and very hard to train. You know what I mean? She's been barking a lot when she is inside too. It's like she all of a sudden found her voice and is using it. I don't know how to get her to stop doing that either. I must say, puppy training is much more difficult than I thought it would be!

Karla

[Kristie]

Just like having a child! it's all in the training!

what you can do about her barking is teach her a command word like "quiet" in a particular tone of voice that she'll understand.. and when she gets it, give her treats so that she remembers the command.

[Iain]

Karla -

It seems to me you need to give you dog more attention, but I think you realise this. We have never had a dog with a barking problem - they have never had a reason too. Put the time in now, it will be easier in the long run!!

[Chi829]

Karla-
I was sooo lucky with my cocker, I kid you not he was house trained in two weeks after I brought him home. I had him on a VERY strict schedule and it all comes down to consistency. I would take him out 5-10 minutes after he ate, immediately after waking up in the morning and immediately after play time. Then every 45-60 minutes in between. Dogs get used to schedules, and that's what did it for my cocker Case. He was a conch to house train, it just takes a lot of work,,,,, good luck! [img]images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[ILoveMyPilot]

Hi everyone! We have tried something different this week. I have not used the kennel at all unless we leave the house. At night I put her in bed with our 13 year old daughter and first thing in the morning out side at 5am.

She has had ONLY one pee pee on the floor. She also seems more laid back and friendly.
It may be possible our dog was acting out because she hated her kennel.

I know there will be times she has to use it but I am going to try to avoid it as much as possible for now.

thanks for all your advice! I'll let you know if she continues to do this well [img]images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]