Help... house training

[slakker]

Hi All, I'm sure this has been discussed ad nauseum, but having done a quick search I thought to solicit more advice.

My wife and I brought home our new female frenchie a couple of weeks ago. She was 17 weeks old at the time, which may be a bit old as some folks have told us... is this true? She's still so small and is so cute and mostly well behaved in the house training bit.

Here's our problem... my wife and I are both first time owners of a puppy (as an adult anyways) and have never had the full experience of house training. We've read all the books and about being on a set schdule to predict the elimination needs. Last week, our little Blezie was very well behaved, she was going outside and only had one pee accident indoors. Her schdule for poo was quite predictable.

Now she's going outside for pee, but is pooing inside and out on a very irregular schedule. Now it's before meal, after meal, etc.. We've had 2 accidents in doors so far... any suggestions?

Also my wife is home pretty much all day, the accidents are when she "turns her back" for a few minutes.

Thanks for any help...

[franp]

Hi and welcome.

Actually your dog is not old ; it is the proper age...Reputable breeders do not let dogs go before (the earliest) 12 weeks.. Ideally, 14 weeks.

Your dog is a BABY...And you must treat her as such...I bet you are not crating her ; right?Letting her have free run...

Well,IMO, crating is the BEST way to housebreak a dog..and there are numerous threads on here that discuss this very method..

Crating is NOT cruel..dogs are den animals.. and the crate is THIER place..

You need to get a crate that is large enough for your dog to stand up and turn around (or get a large crate that you can section off) One that will not allow her to get out of her mess..

Feed her walk her and let her do her business..play with her and then put her in her crate..No, don't put in a blanket..leave her for one hour llonger than she is old..(3 months=4 hours)..she will nap. When she comes out=go right outside . PRAISE her when she does what she is supposed to .. Then feed her play with her and repeat the cycle..

Do not feed her or give her water after 6 PM.. Her last walk should be about 9-10..

Good luck and good reading.

[miss heather]

my Stella was also 17 weeks when we brought her home.
I agree whole-heartedly with what Fran has said about crate training.

patience is key with these little buggers ;)

[slakker]

Well the good thing is that we are crating her... maybe we're doing it wrong.

What we've been doing is only crating her at night and she sleeps thru the night fine. I take her out before I head off to work and she does her business. After that, she has pretty much the run of the upstairs, with short periods on an "umbilical" with my wife.

She's having a bad day today. After pooping on my side of teh bedroom, my wife took her out and she pooped again. Then my wife penned her up in our Kitchen after a pee break, and she pee'd on the floor within 1 hour.

If crate is the way to go, we must be doing something wrong. Should we crate her everytime we leave her along vs. penning her up in the Kitchen with her bed?

Sorry to be SUCH a novice at this...

I'll try to figure out how to post a picture of her...

Thanks

[Bridget]

The only thing that worked for us is the bell method. There are postings on this board about it. We got our puppy at 14 weeks. Around 5 1/2 months we tried the bell and within two weeks he was completely house broken. He is now 8 months and hasn't had an accident.

[franp]

.
If crate is the way to go, we must be doing something wrong. Should we crate her everytime we leave her along vs. penning her up in the Kitchen with her bed?

Thanks

You need to feed her,play with her, walk her PRAISE HER and crate her..Then start the routine all over again..

By leaving her loose she has no reason to control her bladder or bowel..Crating teaches her muscle control(as you can tell by her doing it at night).Leaving her penned in the kitchen is teaching her to go to the bathroom in the kitchen...

So, take her out of the crate walk her PRAISE HER when she does her stuff, feed her and play with her for about an hour.. Walk her PRAISE HER. back in the crate..At this point about 3 -4hours at a time..

Got it???Good luck..No water or food after 6 Last walk at about 9-10.

[imogene]

Thanks all...

We'll give the advice given a try... another friend indicated she may be getting some seperation anxiety when we leave her alone in the kitchen and to slowly train her to be alone... ie; increase time alone then praise, but making sure she dowsn't howl, pee or poo before praising and letting out.

I managed to get her picture in my Avatar... next, the galery.:lol:

Thanks

[imogene]

PS... Imogene and Slakker are the proud owners of the same dog... :)

[Martina]

You've gotten great advise already. I just want to re-iterate what Fran said: She's a baby (and a very cute one at that!). But the long and the short of it is that she's a baby. She has A LOT to learn. Not to mention that she's just been seperated from her dam and littermates and moved into a new home with strangers ;). I swear Lola was potty trained in days. Gigi in months and Tigger in many, many months :rolleyes:.

Patience. Patience, patience and, when you're completely frustrated and exhausted -- even more patience! :lol:

[imogene]

p.p.s slakker hacked into my account and is responsible for the last couple of messages.

In case every one in wondering I am the one responsible for the majority of Belzie's training - Last week she was soooooo good and now she has started acting like the stuborn cute little delvil we named her after. Luckily I am stuborn enough to train cats so I think I should be able to manage one little evilicon "bull frog"

Anyone know how to get our dog to come when we call her - right now our cats come when we call her - and Belzie usually runs the other way or sits pretty on her bed. None of the books I have read clearly explain how to teach a puppy her name - any sugestions?

[franp]

Thanks all...

We'll give the advice given a try... another friend indicated she may be getting some seperation anxiety when we leave her alone in the kitchen and to slowly train her to be alone... ie; increase time alone then praise, but making sure she dowsn't howl, pee or poo before praising and letting out.

I managed to get her picture in my Avatar... next, the galery.:lol:

Thanks

Sorry to disagree with your friend..A well bred dog does not "get" seperation anxiety...
Housebreaking is about learning muscle control and appropriate behavior..All you are doing by leaving her alone in the kitchen is teaching her it is OK to urinate and deficate in the kitchen...

By crating the dog; she is forced to "hold it" making her muscles stronger or she will lie in her mess..

When I discerned that Dari was "grown up" and left the crate door open the first time; she cried... She did not want to come out..Dogs love thier crates..Dogs with seperation anxiety are dogs (IMO)that have been either abused or badly bred..

[wendykei]

In case every one in wondering I am the one responsible for the majority of Belzie's training - Last week she was soooooo good and now she has started acting like the stuborn cute little delvil we named her after. Luckily I am stuborn enough to train cats so I think I should be able to manage one little evilicon "bull frog"

Anyone know how to get our dog to come when we call her - right now our cats come when we call her - and Belzie usually runs the other way or sits pretty on her bed. None of the books I have read clearly explain how to teach a puppy her name - any sugestions?

Sidney at first didn't seem to recognize his name either. It just took some time. Always, always, always, make using his name or calling him to you a positive thing. Lots of treats and praise whenever he comes to you. In puppy class, we learned that a great way to teach a dog the come command is to have one person hold the dog so he can't move. The other person will show the dog a treat and wave it in front of him while backing away about 10 feet. When the dog is good and excited about the treat, say "Come" and have the other person let him go. It's working pretty well with Sidney. (Now that he's got "Stay" pretty well nailed, I just put him in a Sit-Stay, back away, and then say, "OK (to release him from Stay), Come" and then give him a treat.

Regarding housebreaking... I'm still working with Sidney. He's 6 months and I still crate him whenever I'm not at home. But I make sure to let him out within 3-4 hours. I felt very guilty about leaving him in a crate initially, but he seriously does not mind his crate (unless he can hear me puttering around in another room). When I go to open the door, it can take him up to 5 minutes to decide to come out because he's usually sleeping peacefully. The eye opener for me is that when we're at home and I don't crate him (because I'm able to watch him like a hawk), he mostly sleeps anyway. :)

Regarding the bell--Sidney did not get the bell thing at all. We tried it for a month when he was about 3.5 months old. He only hit bell once in the whole time. He definitely did not associate it with going potty. I may try again now that he's a little older.

[imogene]

Hi everyone,

Everyday seems to be a new adventure with Belzie around. The housetraining is not going all that well. She just wont poop outside. It is very discouraging. I am trying to be patient. . . but it is very difficult to spend so much time waiting and watching. Atleast she doesn't seem to need to go out at night. She is okay to leave in her crate all night with no accedents, which proves that she has control over her bodily functions.

Today I had to go downstairs into my office for a few minutes. I brought her with me and tethered her to my waist so she couldn't get into any trouble. She pooped on the floor when I was looking away. I don't know what I am doing wrong - -she just won't poop outside. She tries so hard to pee for us- even trying when she doesn't have to go more than a few drops - but it's like she has to christen every room or somthing. I just don't get it. - - but I am starting to feel very inept and discouraged.

I have been trying to follow the housetraining method from the Dog Whisper. I am taking her out after every nap, meal and play session. . . sometimes she pees a bit, some times she has no interest, but it is very hard to get her to poop. I taking her out for 10 minutes to try if she doesn't go I either crate her or tether her for 15 or 20 minutes to try again.

We live on a bus route and today when I took her for a walk she got so scared when the bus came by that she peed herself. We have been walking her on a simmilar route on a Daily basis, but today she wouldn't go very far, and flinched everytime a big truck or van came by. After the second bus she wouldn't even walk anymore. A week ago she was fearless - did we wreck her somehow? Do we keep walking her along the same route or stop? Will she get used to the traffic. I have tried having her sit on the sidewalk and petting her and reasuring her with treats and calming words today, but it didn't seem to work.
Thanks much for any advice you can offer I really appriciate it.

[franp]

When your dog gets scared ie of a noise or a truck, and you pet or reasure her; you are telling her that she should be afraid..

If a truck comes by; ignore it.. If there is a loud noise ,ignore it..

There are a number of threads on here about how to encourage her to walk; please read them..

You mentioned that Belzie is urinating a few drops often; she might have a bladder infection.. take her to the dr...

Housebreaking a dog is NOT like litter training a cat.. Cats natural inclination is to use litter.Dogs have NO idea as to what you want them to do...And it will take TIME....You must be patient...How long have you had her? Two weeks???My dog was not housebroken until she was 7 months..

Patience, consistency and routine..She will figure it out..Please read the threads on the site about housebreaking..Just about every member has had this issue..

Keep walking her ..Let her get used to the noise and surroundings..Let her learn that there is a world outside.Otherwise you will have a scared dog who will not enjoy life...

[FrankEinstein]

What worked for our Sugar, who has not had an accident in almost 2 months (and she's only 7 months!), were rewards for going outside. She first had difficulty understanding where to go and where not to go. We were consistent in rewarding her with a treat every time she pooped and peed (significantly, not just a few drops) outside. We ignored her when she did her business inside, which fortunately was usually in her confined area. Because she's so food-oriented, she now licks her chops in anticipation as she's doing her thing. It's worked like a charm, but, yes, it did take time and patience. She eventually got it. Set a consistent pattern and stick to it, no matter how frustrated you get.

[imogene]

Hey Everyone,

Thanks for all your wonderful advice. I have started putting our little devil in her crate, when she isn't eating or having active play or training with us. It seems to be working well. She wont do her business in her crate, is acutally napping when she should be and she hasn't had an accident in the house for the last 3 days. She is now pooping in the general area of her spot within 15 minutes of peeing (which she does by request).

Walking is going better. I we have discovered that she is not afraid of all traffic, only traffic that is with-in sight of home. So today I tricked her by walking up the gas-line right of way close to our home and then back via the street. Once she couldn't see home she was fine, and walked well on a loose leash. She does sit-stay very well, we just have to work on teaching her a realese word.

Thank you all so much for your help. I was feeling very inept, and Slakker's attidude has not very supportive or reasuring. We are both new to training a dog and there is so much that the books just don't include - so any advice, experience or even comiseration would be appriciated.