STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

clothes_horse wrote:

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help! our puppy is now 8 months old, and still not house trained!

let me give you the low down:

she is a mix breed, half bichon frise, half maltipoo (maltese/toy poodle). i have been crate training her since december, letting her out every hour to go potty. she sleeps in her crate at night. i wish i could let her sleep with my daughters, she loves it in thier bed, but i fear that she'd pee all over the house in the morning. she barks when she's in her crate and has to go out. i put her outside on her leash or in the garage if it's raining. she usually goes. she sits and barks/scratches at the door. i let her in. she eats, drinks, runs around. less than 15 minutes later, she pees/poops on the floor. as soon as i see her peeing/pooping, i say 'no' and quickly put her back outside, telling her, 'go potty'.
i've tried putting her straight back into her crate after she eats. i've tried feeding her in her crate. is she destined to be an outdoor dog?

here's the thing: she went one week with no accidents once. a whole week! recently when we were at my sisters house, she went 4 days with only one accident.

i've also trained her to pee on command when i tell her 'go potty'. usually then she'll go.

what am i doing wrong? is there something else i should be doing? this is getting rather old, and i'm tired of steam cleaning the carpets every other week.
help me!!

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aw, she looks so sweet

When i have potty trained in the past, I calmly pick up the dog, lower their face to the poop or pee so they can smell it, sternly say "NO", then I take them outside.  When  she does go outside praise her, pet her, and give her lots of love and say "good girl." She will strive for that reward and will learn she can get it by going to the bathroom outside. 

I also get "in tune" with the dog so if I see some odd aimless walking in a small area that usually means they need to go, so if you see that, pick her up and take her outside (yes, there will be false alarms, but there will be times you picked up on it correctly too.) Eventually, they will pick up on having to go outside.

I wanted to find a Dog Whisperer episode that covers it, but I dont have time to sift through them all -- here's the link http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/videos/feeds/cv-seo/Dog-Whisperer/Full-Episodes/

 

I wouldn't just tie her up outside and expect she'll go - bring treats outside with you and stand there with her until she goes.  When she starts to go, then you can say 'Go potty!' (or whatever phrase you want to use) and then act very excited and give her some treats.  The point is to create an association with the phrase and the act, and to make that act something she wants to repeat (you very excited, and treats!).  Over time, going potty outside becomes a habit, and eventually she'll learn that the only place you potty is outside.

You can manipulate a pup's digestive system in your favor as well.  Each time a meal goes in, it triggers the poop reflex.  If you're feeding twice a day, feed her breakfast and then go outside with her and wait until she poops (same excited and treats deal).  If she refuses to poop, bring her back in but taker her back out every 15 minutes until you get a poop.  Same thing in the evening - feed dinner and then go outside, multiple times if necessary.  Over time she'll get used to the routine and her body will get used to eating ---> pooping and she'll do it much quicker.

If you have trouble keeping track of her while you're taking her in and out trying to get a poop or pee, you could try tethering her to you with a soft rope or cord or her leash if you have a 6 ft one.  We did this for awhile when it seemed like every time we turned around she was peeing, and it really helped having her literally attached to my hip!

I know how completely frustrating it is, I'm sorry .  Just make peeing/pooping outside awesome for her and the cumulative effects of those good experiences will tip the balance in your favor.  Try to hit it hardcore for awhile to get her momentum going, and then once you've made some progress I think you'll both feel better about things!

I think the major issue is that you aren't taking her back out after she eats. That's a number one must-do for training a puppy.

And I agree with everybody about the treats, when you take her out, don't come back inside until she either pees/poops and then treat her and use your "excited voice" to really praise her.