I need puppy training help! Please!

[marriedanaviator]

Last Sunday we adopted an 8 week old puppy. She is a Blue Heeler/Border Collie mix and she's so cute and so sweet! We have turned our laundry room into a "kennel" and have put down the doggy potty training pads so that she can go if she needs to. Her blanket (what she sleeps on) and her food are in there also, along with some of her toys. It was going great at first. She would whine to let me know that she needed to go outside, so I rarely had to change the pads because she wasn't wetting them. But, yesterday and today she has been using them every time and not letting me know when she needs to go outside at all. I don't know what made the change in her, but it's frustrating. I've read that dogs won't pee/poop where they sleep and she was going along with that, but not anymore! It's frustrating and I don't know what to do. I've read a little bit about crate training and I think that's what we're going to have to start doing. Has anyone done crate training? If not, how did you potty train your puppy? Also, I have a 3 year old and a 16 month old and any advice on kids and puppies would be great! THANKS!!

[Kristie]

yup, you need to crate train... my bet is that the space you've given puppy is too much space and therefore, she won't pee in her bed but has plenty of room around the puppy pad area to pee and she thinks that that's the place where she's supposed to go potty.

if you get her in a crate (about the size of her bed alone), she'll understand that she needs to let you know when she has to go potty because her bed area will be too small to potty in.

the puppy pads are used to let puppy know where it's OK to go potty and that's why shes doing that.. i betcha she thinks that's her litter box!

the other thing you could do is making the laundry area smaller.. just a small area where she'd sleep - that way, when she has to go, she uses it like crate training and has to let you know so she doesn't wet her bed!

oh yeah.. one more thing you should do depends on whether you have a doggie door for her to use or not. every hour to 2 hrs, teach her to go from her bed to the doggie door and outside the doggie door.. tell her to "go potty" or start using "potty" commands - everytime she goes outside, she'll hear that command and she'll associate that to *outside = potty*...she'll learn them eventually.

[Chi829]

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[jamauk]

We have a 13 week old lab puppy right now. I reccommend the book "Puppies for Dummys" Its a great and informative book. She recommends "wearing the dog" or tying the leash around your waist. I do that often and I can see when our puppy needs to go out. He's getting really good at asking now.

At the age you're at, you probably still need to take the puppy out at regular intervals to make the connection for her. We use potty commands as well. It takes about a month or so, but every time you take her outside, use a command while she is IN THE ACT. We use "get busy"...eventually, you will be able to use the command to get her to potty on command. Like when we drive to the beach this summer, we'll be able to pull up to a rest stop and say "C'mon Curry, get busy" and he'll pee! How cool?

Its true that most puppies won't potty where they sleep, but at 8 weeks your puppy really doesn't have much bladder control. When you take puppy out and she does go in the right spot....praise her profusely. She'll want to keep doing that over and over again because she loves praise!

As far as puppy's and kids, we have a 22 month old DS. We don't let them alone together because puppy can knock him over and steals his snacks. But we do supervised play several times a day.

We use a crate in our room at night and have another one in the family room for "timeouts" during the day. When puppy gets too rambunctious with our 22 year old, we put him in the crate until he settles down. It has been a life saver!

If you would like to talk more about our puppy woe's feel free to email me! jessicamauk@earthlink.net

Or, just post anymore questions here and I'll be sure to relay our experiences! Good Luck!

[Iain]

You guys are along the right lines - with puppies the main thing you have to do is create a routine. Every 45 minutes, to hour you need to take your dog to the back door, make them sit and then go out to perform. By making them sit before being let out, they will soon learn to sit at the door if they need to go out. As some one else mentioned, make sure you get your dog to do it on command, and on the leash - those 2 are very important things!

The attitude to making an area small so they will not pee is not a good idea - teamwork guys!!! Crate training is useful when you are out, or at night, but routine is the way!! I would not suggest putting their crate in your bedroom, dogs need a place of their own where they can go - your bedroom is your place for that, not theirs.

As far as kids and dogs - you should be spending 30-40 minutes per evening with your dog teaching them commands - sit, down, stay, heel, etc. I would suggest using this time to teach your children how to interact with the puppy. Also when the dog is in their crate, or in 'their area' your kids cannot touch them, approach them, or play with their toys. This way when a dog has had enough they can go and rest.

The final things are lots of praise, lots of love, and lots of time.

[ILoveMyPilot]

That's a great idea! I will try it with my poodle. She seems more like a "puddle" these days.
She is so ignorant when it comes to potty training. Nothing is working. I put her outside and she comes inside and does the nasty/dirty deeds. I even set the timer and thought they may help to be on a 30-45 minute schedule. (that's what a pet trainer told us to do)
She just about got on my last nerve last night when she went poo poo under the coffee table (on the oak coffee table bottom) YUCK!
(our 2 year old went nuts..... he was saying "poo poo in the potty. Disgusting!!!!Puppy went potty in the livingroom on the table. Icky icky icky")
She is now 8 months old. And I have never had a dog so hard to potty train.
I know... to much info. (sorry)

[Iain]

WOW - 8 months is very old!!! I would take it up a level if my dog was that old - put your dog out every 45 minutes, if she does not perform she goes in the crate, 20 minutes there, go out and try again - and keep put her back in there until she performs - when she does lots of love, and some playing. I would also feed her earlier, and take her food and water away at night if need be. I would also try and keep on tiled services - she is either in the kitchen or laundry room - or lying down in the room you are in.

[jamauk]

[ QUOTE ]
Iain said:

I would not suggest putting their crate in your bedroom, dogs need a place of their own where they can go - your bedroom is your place for that, not theirs.

As far as kids and dogs - you should be spending 30-40 minutes per evening with your dog teaching them commands - sit, down, stay, heel, etc. I would suggest using this time to teach your children how to interact with the puppy. Also when the dog is in their crate, or in 'their area' your kids cannot touch them, approach them, or play with their toys. This way when a dog has had enough they can go and rest.



[/ QUOTE ]

We have read approx. 10 dog training books and talked to 3 trainers (including our vet who trains dogs for the disabled) and all of them recommend keeping puppies in your room at night. For a number of reasons. First, a puppy at 8 weeks probably isn't sleeping through the night yet, so you need to be able to hear her when she whines..so you can get up and take her out. Secondly, dogs are pack animals by nature and they sleep better (and longer [img]images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]) when they are arond their "pack". It is not natural for dogs to sleep in isolation. (have you ever noticed when your dog is asleep at your feet while you're watching TV...if you get up to get a glass of water, he follows you to the kitchen and lays down...then when you go back to the couch, he follows you back there and goes back to sleep? [img]images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img])

Also, at 8 weeks, the puppy's mind is not developed enough to grasp commands and other training excersises. In our research, we have discoverd that if you wait until 12 weeks, you will be much more succesful. Our puppy is now 15 weeks old and he already knows "sit" "come" "fetch" "get busy" and "crate".

Just my two cents....

[Kristie]

[ QUOTE ]
have you ever noticed when your dog is asleep at your feet while you're watching TV...if you get up to get a glass of water, he follows you to the kitchen and lays down...then when you go back to the couch, he follows you back there and goes back to sleep? [img]images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img])

[/ QUOTE ]hehe my cat does that! [img]images/graemlins/arms.gif[/img]

[ILoveMyPilot]

Hi!
The crate is not a good choice for her either. She will potty in her own crate or bed.

The vet said nothing is wrong with her. She just needs training but we are at the end of our rope. It all started with one afternoon I was having an argument with my DH and she laid on his chest and actually peed on him. SShe was about 3-4 months then and was doing really good with the potty training out side.
Then I went on my trip to Hawaii with my sister and the In-Laws watched her at our home. My kids said they yelled at her a lot and if she went on the floor my husbands dad would grab her and toss her outside.
When i can back she was like a whipped pup. Her actions were not the same. She would even pee on herself if she thought she was in trouble.

Can this be reversed?

Abby is such a big chicken I wonder if we got her another poodle or maltese to be with she would not be so scared to go outside. And could possibly learn from the other dog???