[cbells]

Hi everyone,

Some might remember my recent first-ever thread asking whether I made a mistake in adopting a dog. After a week or two of considering giving him to another loving family, I've decided to keep him! Yay! It has been great-- thanks for all your advice.

So now that he's here to stay, I am going to have to deal with a couple of doggie issues (small ones in comparison to most dogs, I'd say!)

Leo is 10 months, a rescue from a shelter. The shelter doesn't know his past. Right away, Leo seemed to be house trained-- he knew that he should pee/poop outside and avoid going in the house.

However, when he was super clingy the first 48 hours I had him, he peed on the floor the first time I left him for 20 seconds when I went to the bathroom.

Since then, he will randomly go inside, though it is pretty clear he knows he should be going outside to do his thing. I noticed he is more likely to do it when I leave him at home alone (he has some separation anxiety but it's not extreme anymore-- he doesn't rip up anything or get into trash cans, etc. that he would be able to if he really wanted to). Also, I almost always leave a door open for him so he can get outside, and he is never home alone for more than a couple of hours at a time.

When he does go inside, he'll do it in a faraway or random room he doesn't typically go into (I know this is common). For instance, after having him for about a week I walked into my garage to find he had decided it was his new bathroom many times over (ick), now I make sure that door is closed.

One major issue is that I bring him to work, and apparently yesterday he pooped in the conference room (an often unoccupied, dark corner type of room). I take him out for a little walk about every 2.5 hours while I'm at work. He also had pooped/peed a couple of times earlier on a long walk we took in the morning.

A couple of more instances I want to mention: After having him for a week, my roommates and I were eating dinner one night outside and he was sitting with us. Our patio eating area loops around to the grass, so he could've walked over there to go whenever he wanted to. I saw him walk away suspiciously, so I followed him into my bedroom, where he was peeing right next to a separate door that goes straight out to the grassy yard (the door was closed). I know that he knows the backyard loops around and that he could've just walked right over to the grass. He also just got right to peeing without even seeming to care the door was closed, like it was the same thing!

The other instance, I took him into the bathroom with me at work. I sat down and started peeing, and he just decided to go as well! Right there inside of the bathroom!

Anyways, I feel like I can't potty train him more than he is right now-- can I? He seems to get that he should go outside, but when it comes to him having to go, he doesn't seem to care about trying to hold it , instead he thinks it's just as okay to go in some corner somewhere as it is to wait for a walk or just find an open door (they are not hard to see in my house) and go outside.

I usually praise him for going outside. Do I need to give him treats?

What do I do? He gets a lot of exercise, stimulation, etc.

Also, he can hold it throughout the night.

Any advice or past experiences is MUCH appreciated! I don't want him to get banned from the office or my roommates to start getting annoyed of the mess.

Thank you!!

 

[Catdancer]

If he is still peeing inside then he is not potty trained. I have a 7 month old pup who is still not potty trained as he just LOVESS to run down to the basement and poop in front of the extra fridge and chest freezer. ugh...This only happens if *I* or my hubs give him the chance, meaning, if I know it's time for him to poop and we go out, he pees, plays ball, but doesnt poop, I get tired, we go inside and he will run straight in the door and downstairs to poop. If I stay outside, put the balls and toys up and tell him to "go poop" and I stay with him, he will go and poop outside.

I have a papillon. I have heard alot of people say that they are hard to potty train, and I have to agree. I read all of the stickies posted here about potty training and once we started following the advice given, Dexter started doing great.

My advice is this...first crate train him and do not leave him out when you leave your house. Dex used to hate his crate so now whenever I get out the hotdogs, he runs happily into his crate, tail wagging and waiting for his treat. lol So, crate him when you are gone.

Next, when you take him out to potty, take a scrumptuous snack. Not dog treats. Something over the top yummy that he cant resist and that he doesnt get all the time. For Dex, it's cheese and hotdogs. As he is peeing, say "go peepee" over and over so that will associate the action with the words and give him lots of the yummy treat and praise immediately. Dont wait to treat and praise. You want him to know that when he pees and poops outside, he gets the best treat EVER!!! Then let him calm down, and repeat with "go poop". then treat very heavily. With Dex, when he sees the cheese come out of the fridge, he will go straight outside and pee. lol To him cheese = pee outside.

Next, when he is in your home, do not let him out of your sight. If you give him the chance to potty in the house he will. And it's your fault, not his. When you shower, or do things that will limit you watching him, put him in his crate. this is what we do with Dex and he is pretty much potty trained, with the occasional accident. lol

 

[Catdancer]

I also meant to add that you will need to do the "go peepee" and "go poopoo" and treat and praise heavily EVERY SINGLE TIME you take him out and he goes. Dont treat or praise if he doesnt go. If he doesnt go, take him inside and put him in his crate. Wait 20 minutes and try again with cheese, etc and the words.

It took Dex about a week to really get the routine down and after 2 weeks he is a champ. But again, WE have to be vigilant, because if we give him the opportunity he will poop inside.

 

[doxiemommy]

It sounds like he is getting the idea that pottying outside is good, but not the part about pottying inside being icky. And, that means that he isn't potty trained yet.

How long have you had him now? At 10 months, he's still a toddler, kind of, and then, on top of that, he's new-ish to your home. Even though he's not a brand new baby, I believe you need to restrict his freedom until he is potty trained.

But restricting his freedom, you are basically just managing his environment. You are watching him so closely that you never even give him the CHANCE to have accidents. So, the idea of peeing/pooping inside actually kind of stops occuring to him, since he gets praise/treats for outside, and you prevent all accidents.

So, if you are home with him, keep him in your sight, and actually keep your eyes on him. Yes, it's boring sometimes, but imagine it's like a parent with a toddler learning to walk/crawl. The parent follows the toddler around to make sure everything is ok. Do the same with your dog.
If he's laying down playing, fine, he's ok, but, when he gets up and starts moving, follow him, and take him outside.

Close doors so he is never really able to sneak away and do his business.

You can also use a leash to keep him tethered to you, so you keep him near you, and can see what he's up to.

It seems very time consuming, and boring to watch him constantly, but it doesn't last forever. It's just until he's potty trained. And, really, think of potty training as PREVENTING accidents. You can prevent them if you don't know they're happening.

 

[NicoleIsStoked]

first of all, good news. he doesnt have separation anxiety. he may not like to be left alone, and may even get into a little trouble when he is, but that is most likely related to boredom. when puppies are bored they become destructive. separation anxiety happens to be one of the most loosely thrown around terms in the dog training world. in actuality it is a severe behavioural disorder in which a dog's anxiety level peeks so high when he is left alone that he will do absolutely anything to escape that situation. using his face to break the door off a crate. clawing through a wooden door. digging up the floor. he will do anything, regardless of whether or not he is injuring himself, to remove himself from the situation.

next, as everyone else has mentioned, crate train him. crate training will teach him boundaries and how to respect your territory. anytime you are not supervising him (if you leave the room to pee, if you're sleeping, if you're out) he should be crated.

everyone has given you some good advice in this thread. the only thing i can honestly say i disagree with is to repeatedly say "go peepee". you only want to say it once per. if you say it over and over again while he's doing it then he wont understand that he's already doing what you've asked. think of it as your boss standing over you while you do a report saying "doooo it. doooo it. dooo it."
Overall getting him into some general obedience classes could only help as well. it will teach you to communicate better with him. good luck.