[bardvos]

Good morning all,

In November last year we got a 5 week old puppy. (we live in Malaga in Spain and the owner had a litter of 6, and herself heavily pregnant, hence the reason why she wanted to give away so quickly)

We (family of 4, me, my wife and 2 daughters of 12 and 9) went straight to the vets, and started the vaccination program. At the end of January we could take her out for the first time when she had had all the necessary vaccinations. Until then we had tried to train her inside to go potty in specific places (with varying levels of success and failure )

Since the end of Jan we take her out first thing in the morning, mid morning, afternoon and evening, but she is still doing most of her "business" in the house. To the point that we go out, she will keep it all in and then when we get inside again, it comes out. Or when she realises we are going out, then she pees first, still in the house and then outside nothing.

How can we change this behaviour? Any tips, tricks are gratefully received.

Our puppy is now 17 weeks old, a cross between a Belgian Shepherd (father) and a short haired collie (mother)

Regards

Bard

 

[Lillith]

Well, it sounds like you did a good job of training her to go inside. Lol. Unfortunately, you may have confused her a bit. Sorry.

Time to start from the beginning again. First, make sure you are supervising 100% of the time, and when you can't she should be crated so she can't go potty while you're not looking. The more she does it inside, the harder it's going to be to break the habit.

You should be taking her outside ever 15-30 minutes when she is up and active (you can increase the amount of time between potty breaks when she's starting to get that potty happens outside). Try bringing a potty pad outside with you and put it in the spot you want her to potty. This might encourage her to go. Make sure she is on a leash, in a boring place. Be boring. No talking to her. Wait for her to potty. When she does, have a party! Praise her and give her yummy rewards! She's the best dog in the world! Only then do fun things happen like going for a bit of a jaunt and perhaps some play.

If you're having trouble with her going potty right before you go outside, that means you should decrease the amount of time between potty breaks. Or, you can scoop her up and carry her outside. I mean, I hope she doesn't pee in your arms, haha.

If she's going potty right after you come inside, try immediately crating her. Wait 5-10 minutes. Take her back outside. If she goes, it's a party and then she gets rewarded with some freedom. If she still refuses, it's back in the crate and repeat until she goes potty.

Also, make sure you have cleaned the accidents with an enzymatic cleaner or something that destroys the smell of dog urine and poop. If you do catch her in the act of an accident, make sure not to yell. Try a cheerful "Oops" as an interrupter and whisk outside to finish. Clean up the accident after.

 

[LeoRose]

You need to take her out way more often. The general rule for house training is take them out as soon as they wake up, as soon as they finish eating, after they've had a long slurp of water, after they've been playing for a while, any time they look like they are thinking about pottying (sniffing, circling, etc.), and every 20 to 30 minutes just because.