puppy housetraining stress !

[Potstubsdustbins]

Nice one 2Sheds she's come on leaps and bounds with your hard work. Looks like it is not as bad as we feared.

Colin

[Two_Sheds]

Another update: I think she's got it, by Jove


What (finally) worked:

- I put her in our bed to sleep. She still needed a middle-of-the-night poo, so if she's in my bed she wakes me up when she gets fidgety and I can let her out. When she was in her crate, I wasn't alerted to her needing to go (until the smell wafted up)

- I got her a much smaller crate to sleep in during the day (she sleeps 16-18 hrs a day). It's like a Japanese pod hotel, she can turn around but can't stand up to get into the classic crouch position
- she happily sleeps in it, it has her snuggly blankie & toy duck
- after a month of that with no mess, I put her into her proper bigger crate so she has room to move & turn around.


- she's now had a week in it with no mess, and she's waking up at a sensible hour (7am instead of 3am or 5am)


... and we haven't had a poo in the house for a fortnight

[VirginVegGrower]

And she can do back flips?! I am well impressed

[veggiechicken]

And she can do back flips?! I am well impressed

Back flips in a catsuit

[VirginVegGrower]

Back flips in a catsuit

Yes and that's even more intelligent! Disguise yourself as one of them. Seriously though TS, it sounds like you've cracked the puppy thing. I used a crate second time around. With puppy one (now nine) it was the bin liners and newspaper moved closer to the door trick. Both worked, but crate method was quicker. Also gave puppy two (now five) some sanctuary from the youngest child, who liked to smother.

[Potstubsdustbins]

Well done you, now its enjoyment time.

Colin

[Two_Sheds]

and ... it's back to square one.

Having to start housetraining from scratch though, because dog has started pooing in the house again. She knows she's done bad, and the back door is always open, so WTF? Today, she poo'd in the garden, and got a "well done, good girl" as usual. I fed her, made my breakfast, then went into front room and found a fresh cr@p on the carpet. Two, in half an hour. How is that even physically possible?

She's poo'd in the house nearly every day for over a week now: despite all our best efforts. I don't want advice this time, I'm just making a diary note, if you like, so I can look back sometime in the future and think "oh, was it really that bad? I don't remember" !

[mothhawk]

I admire your patience, TS, I'd have taken her to the local dog's home by now, or found her a home on a farm where she had to live outside with the collies!

[Glutton4...]

Don't let her have the run of the house unsupervised. Simple. Remember, I'm going through this with our Cat. Unfortunately, even the protein neutraliser stuff you can buy doesn't completely rid the area of the smell (certainly not on carpet, anyway) I am now on my third different kind, and, fingers crossed, think I've removed the smell. The carpet will take a week to dry, but hey-ho...

It's not the Dog's fault, MH. The idiot breeder (who, I still think needs a slap) was too lazy or ignorant to train the puppies when she had them. Unfortunately, she is going to take a while, as it has become a habit, and she really doesn't understand that you don't want her to do it. Like I said before, put her den crate into a bigger pen/sectioned off corner of the kitchen/wherever. Make sure the pen has a wipe clean floor (bung down a bit of Lino and make the pen on that), and leave her in it. It's much kinder to you both.

[areia]

i sympaise puppy training takes monthhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhs pending on some breeds breeders even as in how they dont train,

i house trained neighbours dog in two months with the newspaper trick still get a few accidents but shes doing much better, I put it down to the fact the owner got her at 3 weeks old, so not even had time to learn from mum

though they say staffs are pretty easy to train, must admit out of all dogs i have trained staffs have been the easiest, for me that is, never trained a bulldog though so good luck in whatever works for you, been lots of advise that i would of suggested already, took 18 months for a freind to train his springer spainel lol so you could be in for a it of a haul, just goes to show everyone is differant expect the unexpected in everything, this goes for kids animals plants the lot lol

[Two_Sheds]

The idiot breeder (who, I still think needs a slap) was too lazy or ignorant to train the puppies

Yep, you're right

put her den crate into a bigger pen/sectioned off corner of the kitchen/wherever.

Yes, I did that and it worked, but she's now outgrown the small den/crate. She's now in her adult pen/crate and she's not messing in it. Result ! However, I can't keep her in the crate all day and all night. She needs to learn to be clean in the house: imo, letting her mess in her crate simply teaches her that she can mess indoors. (I say that with the greatest respect G4, as I know you're experienced & knowledgable)

She had stopped messing in the house, so she was allowed a freer rein (not totally free, she was always in sight, kept in the same room as us). We had a good few weeks with no mess.


Then: I went away for 3 days. This is when it started up again. She may well have been anxious, had separation anxiety, but I would've expected that to be resolved now that I've been home for over a week, but it hasn't. She's simply gone back to square one.

She's not incontinent (she can hold it all night and for 5 hrs during the day).

She just doesn't differentiate between outdoors & indoors (or does she? she cowers when she's done it and hides, even before I've found out what she did)

[mothhawk]

No doubt someone else will shoot me down in flames, which I don't mind at all, but it seems to me you have a very intelligent dog that has learned how to keep your attention focused on her all the time.

You went away for three days - she didn't like that - so she's using her own method of keeping you by her side. Evidently she can be clean when she chooses to be, so she is deliberately choosing not to be.

Either that, or you have the thickest dog in the world!

[Glutton4...]

No doubt someone else will shoot me down in flames, which I don't mind at all, but it seems to me you have a very intelligent dog that has learned how to keep your attention focused on her all the time.

You went away for three days - she didn't like that - so she's using her own method of keeping you by her side. Evidently she can be clean when she chooses to be, so she is deliberately choosing not to be...

Mothhawk - I think you've hit the nail on the head! Good luck TS. No more days away for you, unless you take her with you!

[Two_Sheds]

Well, I had to come back and let you know: it's back on track.

I found out the problem ~ it wasn't the dog playing up or being a diva, it was lack of adult supervision

(when OH is meant to be "watching" her, he's not. I spied on them, lol. He's on his iPhone or glued to the tellybox. She's often not even in the same room as him, even though he swore to me he'd kept her next to him at all times when I was away).

So ...

I fed her, as per usual, twice or three times a day, normal times. Then set the kitchen timer for 30 mins, and put her outside. She wasn't to come indoors until she'd done her business. No talk, no fuss, no eye contact.

The first day, she was outside for a L-O-N-G time !

After that, we were back in the room, and for 4 days now she's been pooping on command, every time, in the right place (outside) every day. No messes whatsoever. This is even better than she was before, when her poops could be any time of the day, with no pattern or rhythm. Now, she goes within 30 mins of eating, or she doesn't come inside the house. She goes !

So what I need to know now, is how to get the OH to follow "the rules" ?

[Jeanied]

Good luck with that TS - I am sure the harder one to train is the OH...

Can you make him clean up if it happens on his watch?