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Help with potty training!!!!!!

Shay

Shay

Well-known member
I need help.....Lily has started back sliding with the progress we have made potty training. I am at my wits end. She goes fine when we take her out, but sometimes 15 mins. after she comes in she goes on my carpet. She gives us absolutely no warning. She is a little over 4 mos. now. She is sleeping through the night only if we put her in our bed. But the last 2 nights I put her up on the bed while I got ready and she has wet in the bed :*gh: :yuk: while she is waiting for me to come to bed. She has never done this after we go to bed, only while she is waiting for us. We had just taken her out right before we put her to bed. After we are in bed, she will last all night. If we put her in her crate for the night, she wakes up about 2:00 AM and starts whining. She has only had a couple of accidents in her crate. Both times when we had to go out. I am doing everything I know to do. We are praising her and rewarding with treats every time we take her out. My carpets are getting ruined. Short of leaving her in the crate most of the time, which I don't want to do, what am I doing wrong? She never #2's in the house which I would prefer, if she had an accident. I don't know if there is a correlation, but as most of you know, I suspect she has SM. Does anyone know if SM dogs are harder to train or have more accidents? Maybe she just can't control her bladder if she does have SM? Any help or suggestions, would be most appreciated. :? h*lp
 
I was just reading another post about marking and found some links for products to help eliminate the risk. I have no idea if a doggy pamper is a good idea in your situation, but they make those too. See below:

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=15227&inm=1&N=2001+113858+2035


Gosh I hope she doesn't have SM, when will you know?

When Tucker and I were resolving the issue as to where he would sleep at night, he deliberately wet his dog bed. I know it was deliberate because I got into bed, he stood by the side of my bed on his hind legs. I told him no, go to your own bed, which he did. He then began thrashing the blankets around in it, and 30 seconds later, he leaves his bed/crate and runs off down the hall. I get up, look at his bedding and it was soaked with urine! He slept in the living room that night on another dog bed he has in there. Once he wet my bed. I think it was because he wanted me to come to bed and I wasn't ready to. That night I put him out in the hall and shut my bedroom door, so he was forced to sleep on his bed in the living room again. He stopped that behavior almost as soon as he started. Now he sleeps with me!
 
Thanks Joanne.....I saw these at PetSmart when we were first buying stuff for Lily, my husband and I laughed. It doesn't seem so funny now. I may have to try this as my last resort. Has anyone used doggy diapers before, and if so, how does it affect the training process? As far as the SM Joanne, I'm waiting for my pet insurance to kick in on Dec. 13, and we'll take it from there.
 
Sorry for all of your frusteration Shay!! :( I know it sucks when you are trying so hard .. :(

Have you ever caught her in the act?? Maybe if you said AHH AHH when you seen her and you picked her up while she was weeing and ran her to the door to outside she would better understand the correlation? Kosmo pood 2 times in the house and both times i caught him spot on.. I ran him out the door while it was still coming ( :yikes ) and from that moment on he decided he'd rather poo in peace.

Maybe you can up the anty in training treats? Give her a piece of meat for going outside instead of just a "dog treat?"

Is she being supervised ALL the time? I know it's hard, but if you can keep your eyes on them whenever they are out of the crate, you're much more likely to catch any accidents that might happen. I've heard of people keeping their dogs on a leash in the house when they are small like that... It will keep her with you all the time therefore you can watch her all the time. In my experience with housetraining, I really think supervision is the key.

How often is she going? Are you going outside with her when she goes potty? I have always had kosmo on a leash to potty outside and he's also trained on "command." when I say "KOs, go potty" he will run out and go.. At around 4 months she's still quite young, but that's the time Kos started getting really good about going outside.

Have you gotten her checked to make sure she doesn't have a UTI or anything?

Other than that I don't know how to help you but I do hope you get everything figured out soon. I don't know anything about SM and potty training correlation but hopefully someone else can point you in the right direction there.

Good Luck ! :flwr:
 
Potty training can be a knightmare, I know :?
You feel like it's a battle your never going to win sometimes, but it will all click in the end. My boy was doing number 2's in the house nearly every night after taking him out. It's now only an occasional thing, sometimes when he's been playing and forgets to ask :|
But at 4 months I think it's really important you don't let har out your sight, I know it's not easy but I definatly found this helps. :D
Poor Murphy still comes to the bathroom with me(it was either that or I had to shut him in his den when I went) :roll:
It's difficult to break the habbit once they start thinking going inside is ok, so the constant supervising makes it easier. We also give him a treat once he's went outside so he associates it withsomething good :lol:
 
Yep....I catch her in the act and take her out. I say no Lily, and out we go. She is never out of my sight, but she will just look at me and squat. No warning. With #2 she starts sniffing and then I know. She has even gone to the door for #2. She does go on command (wee) when I take her out. She always goes outside when I take her, she just goes inside too :oops: She comes in and waits for her treat, and is so proud of herself. She just doesn't get that the treat is only for going outside to wee. We have even trained her to sit, and speak for her treat. Now, if she can do this surely she can let me know she has to wee. I am bringing her for her shots tomorrow, so I will mention the UTI. I thought she might have had one a few weeks back, but she isn't licking herself like she was. Thanks for the suggestions.
 
She comes in and waits for her treat, and is so proud of herself. She just doesn't get that the treat is only for going outside to wee. We have even trained her to sit, and speak for her treat.
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Can you go outside with her when she goes pee? So that the SECOND that she starts squatting you say GOOD GIRL GOOD PEE PEE! and do a sing and dance? When she gets done going you should absolutely immediately give her a treat, don't wait until she gets back inside. The problem with puppies is that they have a relatively (ok almost NO) attention span and they forget things very very quickly..

Just a suggestion.
 
Oh, I do go out with her, every time. I don't have a fenced in yard, so she has to go on her leash with one of us. We do praise her as soon as she goes. I can start bringing the treats with me to give her outside. I'll try anything at this point. :thnku:
 
I agree with Sara. She needs to get the praise / treat as she's going or immediately afterwards. If she gets it when she comes to the door she will relate the treat to coming inside, not going to the toilet

The other important thing is to get a good enzymatic cleaner for your carpet. You can get them in the pet store. Even normal cleaners don't completely break down the enzymes in the carpet which means it smells like the toilet for your dog! They like to mark the same spot again and again.

Good luck!!
 
Not until Poppy was about five or six months did we get her to stop peeing inside completely - she knew she wasn't meant to do it, but it generally was our fault cause we didn't get her out quick enough.

I started just bringing her out when I thought that maybe she needed to pee and gave her the command (which in our silly way turned out to be 'go to the toilet' .. I'm sure we gave the neighbours a laugh!) and quite soon she caught on

We didn't give her her treat until she was inside (the outside thing sounds like a good idea mind you).. but she would always run to the cupboard where the treats were and do a twirl, it was adorable!
 
That's what Lily does. She runs in and sits down and waits for her treat. She now will bark and growl when I say speak. Hubby just took her out and brought the treat outside with him, then when she came in she sat down by the counter and wanted her treat. He said, "what do I do now"? LOL. So now she is getting one outside and one when she comes in. Guess it can't hurt. I know 4 months is young to be completely trained. I was just frustrated because it seems that she is going backward. We had made some progress, and it seems she is back sliding. I started wondering that if she does have SM, maybe she couldn't control her bladder. Don't know if she has it, or if there is any merit to this theory. Just was wonderig.
 
Last week I was having problems with Amber soiling her crate, and I couldn't work out why. Her house training otherwise was ok (she's four and half months) - and I was soaking her bedding in Simple Solution and washing it; and giving the crate a quick wipe with SS too.

Finally I had enough and scoured the crate really thoroughly with SS; washed the bedding again. Since then she's been dry in the crate, and we've only had one accident in the house in the past lot of days- and I've a feeling that that was Holly, who is a bit of a princess about going out when it's miserable. Amber doesn't seem so bothered; she'll go to the door and wait to be let out if it's not open and trot off and do her stuff. Problem solved- I hope!

I'd do as Cecily suggests and make sure you absolutely *slather* everywhere she's been peeing. Can you restrict her to a room without carpet? That might also help, even if it means you need to spend more time in the kitchen. I know it's easy to say to keep the pup with you at all times, but when you have a bouncy livewire of a thing, it doesn't necessarily *want* to be tied to you all the time :D
 
Shay said:
Yep....I catch her in the act and take her out. I say no Lily, and out we go. She is never out of my sight, but she will just look at me and squat. No warning. With #2 she starts sniffing and then I know. She has even gone to the door for #2. She does go on command (wee) when I take her out. She always goes outside when I take her, she just goes inside too :oops: She comes in and waits for her treat, and is so proud of herself. She just doesn't get that the treat is only for going outside to wee. We have even trained her to sit, and speak for her treat. Now, if she can do this surely she can let me know she has to wee. I am bringing her for her shots tomorrow, so I will mention the UTI. I thought she might have had one a few weeks back, but she isn't licking herself like she was. Thanks for the suggestions.
Click to expand...

It may be a good idea to take a urine sample with you to the vet tomorrow. What I do is place a pie tin under them when they wee. You have to be quick! and be right behind her so you catch it. :yikes Can you visualize yourself in that position?!?! icon_whistling

Pour it into a clean bottle and refrigerate it until your appointment time. I think I might even have them check for the infection before you allow them to vaccinate her. If she does have a UTI then you may want to postpone the vac until she is better.
 
cecily said:
I agree with Sara. She needs to get the praise / treat as she's going or immediately afterwards. If she gets it when she comes to the door she will relate the treat to coming inside, not going to the toilet


Another good trick is to use a clicker outside. As soon as she goes and looks at you for her treat click, praise and give her the treat. The noise helps mark the behavior you're trying to promote.
Click to expand...
 
Katydid is going to be 6 months this week and we are still dealing with weekly and sometimes 2x a week accidents.....
She NEVER soils her crate but wees or poops in the house when I have not been keeping my eye on her.
She also seems to not pee pee all the way outside because, for example, I had her out at 6:30 tonite to pee then 1/2 an hour later she tinkled on the carpet :sl*p: !
We think she doesn't wee all the way because she is just thinking of the cookie awaiting her inside.
UGH!

Nancy
Teddy and sweet, little Katydid
 
Lily does that too. She will wee just a little and want to run back inside. I have to make her go again. I know she never goes all the way the first squat, cause sometime, she'll wee a couple more times.

We just went outside to get a urine sample. She squatted and I put the dish under her and she freaked. I got just a few drops, and mostly on my hand. Tried 2 more times and she would quit the second I put the dish under her. How much do they need? I don't think I got enough. She is not going to cooperate for me to get anymore I'm afraid. BTW my husband could not believe I was doing this. :lol:
 
arasara said:
from that moment on he decided he'd rather poo in peace.
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I couldn't help laughing when I re-read this line. A whole new twist to Shania Twain? ;)

I hope the advice helps with Lily.
 
Shay said:
Lily does that too. She will wee just a little and want to run back inside. I have to make her go again. I know she never goes all the way the first squat, cause sometime, she'll wee a couple more times.

We just went outside to get a urine sample. She squatted and I put the dish under her and she freaked. I got just a few drops, and mostly on my hand. Tried 2 more times and she would quit the second I put the dish under her. How much do they need? I don't think I got enough. She is not going to cooperate for me to get anymore I'm afraid. BTW my husband could not believe I was doing this. :lol:
Click to expand...

Try having your husband go out with Lily and you. If you think she suspects you may be slipping the plate under her, have your husband be sneaky and do it while you're telling her to wee. Or, if you have a small dish that is more shallow than a pie tin try that.
 
Hey Barb....That's what we did. He had her on the leash, and I sneaked up behind her. As soon as she felt the dish, she quit weeing, and started bucking like a little bronco. Do you know how much urine they need to test?
 
Shay said:
Hey Barb....That's what we did. He had her on the leash, and I sneaked up behind her. As soon as she felt the dish, she quit weeing, and started bucking like a little bronco. Do you know how much urine they need to test?
Click to expand...

LOL I'm visualizing Lily bucking like a bronco! :lol:

Sorry, I don't know how much they need! I would take whatever you could get and hope for the best! Keep trying, too! Isn't it funny how a little pup can stump two adult humans?!? icon_whistling
 
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