House Training?

Marlie

Hi,

I am curently trying to house train my dog, Marlie (she is 6 months old). We recently adopted her from a shelter so that is why she is not house trained yet. I know how to house train a dog...but the guidlines are not working for my dog. I heard that they are supposed to need to go to the bathroom about 30 minutes after they eat or drink. Marlie takes 2-3 hours to go to the bathroom after eating. When we take her outside to potty...she often refuses to go...and holds it in as long as possible. Especialy when it is cold out and the grass might be a little wet...she will not go potty. We are trying to crate train her to help with potty training, but we don't want to rush her into sleeping in her crate all night...so we are taking it slow. She sleeps in the kitchen at night so she does not go potty on the carpet and I sleep in the kitchen with her. My mom and I are both exausted and frusterated...we feel like she will never get it. Does anyone have any advise?

Thank you!

jesirose

Sleeping in the crate at night shouldn't be that hard if you put the crate in the bedroom with you. I think getting her used to sleeping in the kitchen then moving her would be harder on her than just starting in the crate in the bedroom.

When she doesn't go outside, what do you do? Put her in the crate or what?

briteday

Put the dog in the crate at night and get some sleep!

Your dog doesn't need to potty right after a meal because her bladder is bigger than a 2 month old pup's.

Shelter dogs often have quirks with house training. It may have been one of the reasons she ended up at a shelter. And if she was in the shelter for more than a week she may think it's ok to potty where she eats and sleeps as she may have not had a choice in a kennel at the shelter.

First I would put the dog on a schedule of 2x/day feeding, don't leave food out all day. And offer plenty of water with meals but just enough in between meals.

Then I would start out by taking her out every two hours during the day and write down what times she actually does anything. After a few days of writing down your observations you should see a pattern developing and use that to know when to take her out.

And remember, always take her out as soon as you wake in the morning and just before bed at night.

At night I would put her in the crate, some like it next to the human's bed and others do better in another room. You can also trying putting a light blanket over the crate to make it more den-like. I would start by setting an alarm for every 4 hours, which means you only have to get up once during the night. If she is dry at 4 hours, try 5 hours, then 6, etc. until she is staying dry through the whole night.

Most dogs cry in the crate for the first few weeks. But you are only dragging things out by not using the crate for the whole night right off. She'll get over it in a week or two. But NEVER let the dog out of the crate because it is crying. Only let her out shen she is quiet. Otherwise your dog will think that if she cries long enough she gets to come out of the crate, increasing her whining endurance.

Good luck!

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