[Yenafera]

I have rescued and fostered two dog families through our local organization, and my family and I decided to keep one of the puppies from the last family (see my previous posts). However, we keep the dogs outside in pens so we don't have to worry much about leash training and especially housebreaking. I know I'll probably be berated for their being outside, but we have a elderly cat that isn't used to dogs being around, so we had no other option. The only reason this pup is inside is because she's young enough for them to adjust to one another, and it's going well. But that's not the issue.

Zoe is a 3 month old Pit mix. Our family's last dog was adopted in 1992 and was put to sleep in 2005 due to extreme hip dysplasia. I am the primary caretaker because I'm out of college for the summer and my parents work. I'm trying my best, but I didn't have much of a hand in training our last dog because I was so young.

We've been crate training her and taking her out about every 4 hours, because I've heard that's how long they can hold their bladders at that age. However, when we put the leash on her to take her out (we don't have a fenced in yard), she refuses to move. I say "Zoe, come" several times, and pop the leash like Cesar says (not hard, but enough to get her attention). It doesn't work. I don't want to have to drag her, so I carry her outside. Sometimes with coaxing ("Potty-potty outside") she'll go, but sometimes all she wants to do is roll around in the grass, play with bugs and chew on her leash. For the leash, I just say "no" and take it out of her mouth, but it doesn't work for long. As for the just laying there, I don't know what to do. I can't exactly drag her upright and make her go. And she doesn't give any indication of when she HAS to go.

I wait about 20 minutes outside with her, she might mark (pee just a tiny bit) then she'll come inside and eventually use the bathroom on the carpet. I absorb all the pee, and spray it with Lysol and Febreeze but she keeps going back there. We've had her a few days and she's peed inside three times.

I don't want to be a bad mommy and I just feel like I'm not doing what I'm supposed to be doing for her. Please help me, and thank you for reading all of this.

 

[Rene]

I wait about 20 minutes outside with her, she might mark (pee just a tiny bit) then she'll come inside and eventually use the bathroom on the carpet. I absorb all the pee, and spray it with Lysol and Febreeze but she keeps going back there. We've had her a few days and she's peed inside three times.

I've got a new puppy too and I'm eager to read the responses to your leash questions, but I wanted to comment on the above quote. Lysol and Febreeze will not get rid of the urine odor completely. You need to get a spray that is specifically for pet odors or something like OdoBan. A vinegar and water solution (50/50) will also remove the odor.

 

[Yenafera]

I've got a new puppy too and I'm eager to read the responses to your leash questions, but I wanted to comment on the above quote. Lysol and Febreeze will not get rid of the urine odor completely. You need to get a spray that is specifically for pet odors or something like OdoBan. A vinegar and water solution (50/50) will also remove the odor.

That's FOUR times!

Good luck to you sweetie, hopefully we'll get some good answers. My post is a bit wordy but I had to do that to tell the whole story.

And thanks, we'll look for that. We're going to the store tonight.

 

[Yenafera]

And she just threw up...

 

[titiaamor]

Oh, goodness. I'm sorry she's sick.

So, just to be clear, you are keeping her in a pen sometimes and other time sin the huse in a crate?

I wouldn't pop the color/leash. It's not very effective and it puts you in a contentious relationship with your dog rather than s part of a team. You can work on teaching the command "come"! My dogs learned it really fast....I used their kibble and better treats saying 'Come' in a really excited voice. As soon as they got to me, I gave them kibble or a treat. bordermom gave me this advice "what I start people with is a good week of 'here' - here's some food. So 20-30 times a day, with each dog on it's own, say 'here' and feed. Here, food. Here, food. Go away a few feet and repeat, get further away each time. Don't do it when the dog is distracted or you know they're not going to respond. If you have both dogs, start with 'here' meaning each dog gets a treat, then when they're both responding well, make it whoever gets there first gets the treat and the other one gets a sniff of what they missed (make the treats high value, like meat or something 'real' - not dry cookies). "

Also, if you hurt your dog- pop the collar- she will not want to come to you, as it will be associated with a negative experience.

And she just threw up...

 

[doxiemommy]

I have rescued and fostered two dog families through our local organization, and my family and I decided to keep one of the puppies from the last family (see my previous posts). However, we keep the dogs outside in pens so we don't have to worry much about leash training and especially housebreaking. I know I'll probably be berated for their being outside, but we have a elderly cat that isn't used to dogs being around, so we had no other option. The only reason this pup is inside is because she's young enough for them to adjust to one another, and it's going well. But that's not the issue.

Zoe is a 3 month old Pit mix. Our family's last dog was adopted in 1992 and was put to sleep in 2005 due to extreme hip dysplasia. I am the primary caretaker because I'm out of college for the summer and my parents work. I'm trying my best, but I didn't have much of a hand in training our last dog because I was so young.

We've been crate training her and taking her out about every 4 hours, because I've heard that's how long they can hold their bladders at that age. However, when we put the leash on her to take her out (we don't have a fenced in yard), she refuses to move. I say "Zoe, come" several times, and pop the leash like Cesar says (not hard, but enough to get her attention). It doesn't work. I don't want to have to drag her, so I carry her outside. Sometimes with coaxing ("Potty-potty outside") she'll go, but sometimes all she wants to do is roll around in the grass, play with bugs and chew on her leash. For the leash, I just say "no" and take it out of her mouth, but it doesn't work for long. As for the just laying there, I don't know what to do. I can't exactly drag her upright and make her go. And she doesn't give any indication of when she HAS to go.

I wait about 20 minutes outside with her, she might mark (pee just a tiny bit) then she'll come inside and eventually use the bathroom on the carpet. I absorb all the pee, and spray it with Lysol and Febreeze but she keeps going back there. We've had her a few days and she's peed inside three times.

I don't want to be a bad mommy and I just feel like I'm not doing what I'm supposed to be doing for her. Please help me, and thank you for reading all of this.

I am not a big fan of using the crate to potty train. You can potty train just as well by keeping your eyes on a puppy so that you prevent accidents inside. But, it requires time and attention.

Also, the rule about how long puppies can hold it is just a general rule, it doesn't hold true for every puppy. For your age pup, I would take her out every 1-2 hours, until you start having some success.

Young puppies don't even get signals from their bodies that they need to be, it seems to happen from out of nowhere. As they age, they get the signals, but not every time, and sometimes they're not really sure how long they can hold it. In fact, puppies don't have complete physical control of their bladders til about 6 months of age, give or take.

In general, puppies need to potty after waking up (even from naps), after eating, drinking, playing, exercising, and about every 2-3 hours besides that. HOWEVER, because they don't have complete control yet, you still have to watch them so you can prevent them from having accidents at other times.

When you DO take her out to pee, don't wait for 20 minutes. Young puppies like yours get very easily distracted by all the cool sights, sounds, smells, etc. outside. So, after about 5 minutes, she's forgotten all about the fact that she's supposed to potty.
Keep her out 5 minutes, if she doesn't go, bring her back in, but keep your eyes on her, watch her super closely, don't let her out of your sight, that way, you can see if she starts to squat, or sniff, and you can rush her back out. After waiting 5 minutes inside, go back out. Basically, go out for 5 minutes, if nothing, go in for 5 minutes, then back out, alternating. You are waiting her out, that's all.

If you stay out for too long, she will get distracted.

As for the leash, try letting her wear it around the house, to get used to it. Puppies aren't born knowing how to behave on a leash, so sometimes they are frightened. But, no pops, she's just a baby, and the pops won't help her to like or even tolerate her leash.

Good luck!

 

[Yenafera]

I think it's just nerves, plus she may have gotten to some grass. She's inside full time now, because her daddy out in the pen gets a bit rough with her. Her mother and father are out in a pen outside. Her brothers just got adopted out this weekend, and he's used to playing with them.

All great advice, thank you so much!!! I will take some time with her tomorrow for this.

 

[Yenafera]

I am not a big fan of using the crate to potty train. You can potty train just as well by keeping your eyes on a puppy so that you prevent accidents inside. But, it requires time and attention.

Also, the rule about how long puppies can hold it is just a general rule, it doesn't hold true for every puppy. For your age pup, I would take her out every 1-2 hours, until you start having some success.

Young puppies don't even get signals from their bodies that they need to be, it seems to happen from out of nowhere. As they age, they get the signals, but not every time, and sometimes they're not really sure how long they can hold it. In fact, puppies don't have complete physical control of their bladders til about 6 months of age, give or take.

In general, puppies need to potty after waking up (even from naps), after eating, drinking, playing, exercising, and about every 2-3 hours besides that. HOWEVER, because they don't have complete control yet, you still have to watch them so you can prevent them from having accidents at other times.

When you DO take her out to pee, don't wait for 20 minutes. Young puppies like yours get very easily distracted by all the cool sights, sounds, smells, etc. outside. So, after about 5 minutes, she's forgotten all about the fact that she's supposed to potty.
Keep her out 5 minutes, if she doesn't go, bring her back in, but keep your eyes on her, watch her super closely, don't let her out of your sight, that way, you can see if she starts to squat, or sniff, and you can rush her back out. After waiting 5 minutes inside, go back out. Basically, go out for 5 minutes, if nothing, go in for 5 minutes, then back out, alternating. You are waiting her out, that's all.

If you stay out for too long, she will get distracted.

As for the leash, try letting her wear it around the house, to get used to it. Puppies aren't born knowing how to behave on a leash, so sometimes they are frightened. But, no pops, she's just a baby, and the pops won't help her to like or even tolerate her leash.

Good luck!

We're using the crate for when we're not able to watch her (asleep, at work). We take her out after every nap, and otherwise it's every 3 hours. And I did not know that about their bladder control, thank you.

The reason I sit out there so long is because I don't want to take her in too early and then she pees inside, because I don't know what to do when she does. What do you do when she pees inside?

She wears the leash most of the time because of my cat. Zoe has a tendency to rush the cat thinking, "OOH! A playmate" and Belle generally responds to that excitedness with hissing and fear. If Zoe is sleepy, they kiss and sniff and all is good. Also, the leash keeps her around me so I can see that she's not chewing or going to the bathroom. We don't have puppy gates. The leash extends through my entire living room, which is Zoe's "area".

And no more pops. I don't know how this dude got so far by teaching it though...

 

[Hambonez]

At four-and-a-half months, my pup can't hold it for 4 hours when we're home and he's out of his pen. (He can hold it 9 hrs overnight, and in 4 hr blocks penned while we work) At three months we had gotten him down to once an hour. Prior than that, it was once every 20-30 minutes to avoid accidents.

I don't see why it's a problem that she won't walk on a leash at this point. You can just carry her out to where you want her to go, and put her down there. If she won't go, then come back in for 10-15 minutes and either keep her on leash next to you or put her back in her crate, then go out again. When she does go - BIG PARTY!! Treats! Happy voice! Pets! Play time! To get her used to the leash you can leave it on her in the house to drag about when you're watching her. If you're in the house with her, she should always be within grabbing distance so you can run her out really fast if she starts to pee. It was a tedious two months of doing nothing but staring at my puppy when he was out of his pen, but he rarely had accidents. He's finally now telling us when he needs to go out by going to the door, but if he hasn't "told" us in a while, we still take him out just in case.

 

[titiaamor]

And no more pops. I don't know how this dude got so far by teaching it though...

I don't either. It makes me really sad to see what he does to dogs. But I also learned that what makes good reality TV doesn't make good reality.

 

[doxiemommy]

We're using the crate for when we're not able to watch her (asleep, at work). We take her out after every nap, and otherwise it's every 3 hours. And I did not know that about their bladder control, thank you.

The reason I sit out there so long is because I don't want to take her in too early and then she pees inside, because I don't know what to do when she does. What do you do when she pees inside?


If you stay out for 20 minutes, she will just get distracted, and forget that she is supposed to be pottying. That is normal. So, if you only give her a 5 minute chance to go, she's more focused during that 5 minutes. After that 5 minutes, she's distracted, and the chances of her actually going decrease.
Give her 5 minutes. If she doesn't go, bring her in, BUT, only for a 5 minute wait before you go back out to try again. During that 5 minute wait, you should keep your eyes on her directly, so if she starts to sniff around or even squat, you pick her up and rush her out.

So, the point of alternating 5 minutes out and 5 minutes in, is to wait her out, she shouldn't really have the chance to pee when you bring her in to wait, because you are keeping your eyes directly on her, to prevent her from going. Does that make sense? She shouldn't have the chance to pee inside.

She wears the leash most of the time because of my cat. Zoe has a tendency to rush the cat thinking, "OOH! A playmate" and Belle generally responds to that excitedness with hissing and fear. If Zoe is sleepy, they kiss and sniff and all is good. Also, the leash keeps her around me so I can see that she's not chewing or going to the bathroom. We don't have puppy gates. The leash extends through my entire living room, which is Zoe's "area".

And no more pops. I don't know how this dude got so far by teaching it though...

My response is in bold.

 

[Yenafera]

Thanks Doxie's Mom, I've been doing my best but even if I take her out enough and makes sure she goes, she still does pee inside. Today it was twice, once when she was disturbed from a nap by the phone and another when she got kicked out of my parent's bedroom, where the cat sleeps. My main problem is getting her to focus and "come"... still is too distracted to listen to "come". All she does is sniff and try to eat weeds and chase bugs. Without treats, I don't know how to take that attention back to me. I'm having to pick her up or else drag her.

 

[doxiemommy]

Just a couple more things: it's very common for puppies to do a "double pee", because they don't have complete control yet, they don't always know how to empty their bladders all the way. You can stay outside with her for a few extra minutes, even after she's peed once, to see if she'll go again. Or, if you do take her in, make sure you realize that she may not be completely empty. As she develops, this will get better.

Also, lots of puppies have to pee right after they wake up, even from naps, so if you are aware, sometimes you can prevent this by rushing them out when they wake up.