Potty Training Woes...

[Sean5033]

Hello Forum!

I've been around long enough (off and on) to know that a lot of peolpe comes and complain about housebreaking puppies, I'm really sorry for starting another thread on it, but I'm really frustrated and just need some encouragement and space to rant a little. You guys are wonderful just for listening. :hail:

I've read almost everything there is to read about house training my pup. She's now a 9 month old Jack Russell, and still having "accidents" daily (I know it's partially, if not all my fault). I've realized a growing trend, Domino and I seemed to cross signals, and she believes that She'll get to go for a walk if she goes potty inside. I'll take her out to the potty zone, and get nothing out of her but the moment we come back inside, she's making puddles on the floor. If I catch her in the act, I'll startle her to stop and take her out, 4 out of 5 times get nothing.

We've had her on feeding schedules, She gets C/T's when she goes outside (I've done a bit of clicker training w/ her, she closes doors when it's bedtime. I'm proud of that one), I've tied her leash to my belt so she's not out of my sight. If she asks to go outside (sits by the door) and doesn't go after 5 minutes out there, she gets put in the crate for 20-30 minutes, then taken back out when time is up. Sometimes she won't even signal, she'll just walk and go.

Maybe it's that I haven't been consistent enough. I'm sure I'm sending the wrong message sometimes, and the right one other times. I knew housebreaking isn't always easy. After 5 months of it, I actually have a budget for carpet shampoo, and my steam cleaner is starting to get worn out. It's become another part of the daily routine to clean up spots. Do you guys have any kind words for someone who's really frustrated, almost to the point of giving up?

Thanks,
-Sean

 

[Herschel]

This post isn't meant to be harsh at all, so sorry if it comes off that way.

1) All of these accidents at 100% your fault.
2) You aren't necessarily being consistent.

Start over. By 9 months, she should easily be able to hold her bladder long enough to tell you that she has to go out.

Have you tried keeping a journal? We used one with Herschel and it helped get him completely house trained by 4 months. Write down every time she eats, goes #1, or goes #2.

Start a routine. When you wake up, take her out before you do anything else. As soon as she goes to the bathroom praise her like crazy and give her a high-value treat. I don't think this is a good area for clicker training. Just act as excited as you can, give treats, and pet her like she's the best dog in the world. (If people walk by and laugh at you, you're on the right track)

After you go back inside, feed her and play with her for a while. Then crate her until you're ready to take her for a walk again. Repeat the same as the earlier--as soon as she goes to the bathroom treat and praise like crazy.

If she is unsupervised, she should be in her crate (with stuffed animals, blanket, etc.) The crate isn't punishment--it's her safe spot where she can go to rest, play, or just hang out.

Make sure you clean all accidents with Nature's Miracle or other enzymatic cleaner.

You should try to develop a routine so she is going out at least every hour. She should easily be able to hold it longer than that but I think she's received some mix signals. Each time she has an accident it reinforces her desire to go to the bathroom in the house. As you noted--she's been conditioned to expect a walk immediately after an accident.

Sample schedule:

7:00 a.m: Breakfast (1/2 cup)
7:05 a.m.: #1 and #2
(Crated while you are getting ready)
8:00 a.m.: #1
(Crated until you are ready to leave)
8:30 a.m.: Walk, no elimination.
10:30 a.m.: Accident (#1), crated until lunch
11:00 a.m.: Lunch (1/2 cup)
11:05 a.m.: Walk, #1 and #2

Etc. Adapt it to fit your schedule but I hope you can see the general idea. You will quickly see that she has to go out at set intervals and that having a guide will help you prevent any accidents. We phased out the journal for Herschel around 4 months, but we babysat our friend's 8 week old puppy for one day/night and we used the journal and had no accidents.

 

[Sean5033]

When she does go outside I get excited like it's the first time she's ever done it. She gets lots of attention and we run back inside as quick as we can to play tug (her favorite game, She always lets go as quick as I say the word). The journaling is something we have not tried. I'll start keeping a pad of paper next to the door. Thanks for the tips.

 

[Maxy24]

Do you give her treats as praise, petting and getting excited is also necessary but treats are the most important in my mind. Can you bring her tug toy out with you so the game is more immediate? I agree that the schedule and writing everything down is important. make sure you feed the dog at the same time everyday, so she is more likely to go to the bathroom at the same time. can you tell when he is about to go in the house before he actually starts? if you see him sniffing around or pacing, take him out even if it was a false alarm, better to be safe then sorry, right.

 

[Sean5033]

Thanks Maxy!

I jump up and down and pet her when she goes. If I bring the tug toy out she's too distracted to go. Sometimes she'll go sit by the gate (We have the front hallway gated off so she doesn't sneak off to the door out of view), other times she'll just walk up and go. If anything, she's fairly consistent between that spot, the closet, and under the desk. I try to keep doors closed so she doesn't sneak off, but sometimes she'll find an open one.

I've gotten really motivated this week since I'm on spring break. I hate to say it, but Domino hasn't really gotten the attention she really needs since I went back to school. We spent a lot of the day outside loose leash training, and I cooked up some 1/4 inch chicken cubes (I've been using broken up jerky treats). She was really responsive to the chicken, so I think I'm going to keep those handy when it's potty time for some extra emphasis.

While I'm trying to get this taken care of, she also leaks a little when she's excited. Mostly when we're out on walks and someone comes up to pet her. I try to get her to calm down before I let people up close, but she's just a bundle of energy and it all comes out when she's excited like that.

I'll keep you all posted on my progress if you'd like.

Thanks!
-Sean

 

[Herschel]

Thanks Maxy!

I jump up and down and pet her when she goes. If I bring the tug toy out she's too distracted to go. Sometimes she'll go sit by the gate (We have the front hallway gated off so she doesn't sneak off to the door out of view), other times she'll just walk up and go. If anything, she's fairly consistent between that spot, the closet, and under the desk. I try to keep doors closed so she doesn't sneak off, but sometimes she'll find an open one.

I've gotten really motivated this week since I'm on spring break. I hate to say it, but Domino hasn't really gotten the attention she really needs since I went back to school. We spent a lot of the day outside loose leash training, and I cooked up some 1/4 inch chicken cubes (I've been using broken up jerky treats). She was really responsive to the chicken, so I think I'm going to keep those handy when it's potty time for some extra emphasis.

While I'm trying to get this taken care of, she also leaks a little when she's excited. Mostly when we're out on walks and someone comes up to pet her. I try to get her to calm down before I let people up close, but she's just a bundle of energy and it all comes out when she's excited like that.

I'll keep you all posted on my progress if you'd like.

Thanks!
-Sean

Small dogs sometimes leak. There isn't much you can do about it. Just clean it up with Nature's Miracle and keep being consistent with the potty training.

 

[Buddy'sParents]

Buddy, bless his heart, took a long time to housetrain. I shudder to think of it.

Okay, moving on though, we did the whole leash thing with him, take him out to a designated potty spot, no playing, no anything until he went (this is also when we taught him to go on command) and when he did go, oh boy, was it ever so fun. We were praise junkies with him, the neighbors probably thought (wait, probably still do) think that we are just plain nuts.

The clicker, I believe, has no place in housetraining, it is best used for training, but that is just my 0.02, as others seem to really like clicker training.

No unsupervised time, ever.. at all. If the pup is not with you at all times, the pup is in the crate.

Be consistent and do not let your guard down. If you take the pup out to pee and it doesn't, right back in the crate it goes until she does what you need her to do.

It's tough. We have our almost 4 month old puppy that we are housetraining right now, she has her good days and her bad days and her bad days are always human error.

 

[Sean5033]

Thanks Buddy's Parents!

In response to clicker training, she would get clicked at soon as she's done squatting. I'll stop with that since two out of three people seem it was worth mentioning that it doesn't have a place with house breaking.

I usually put Domino in her crate when we take her down and she doesn't go, and she seems to spend a lot of time in her crate, which I didn't have a problem with when she was younger, but she's now a full grown Jack Russell, and she's learning that she has the energy of a JRT. She's crated when I'm at school for 4-6 hours a day. I feel bad keeping her crated for any more than I have to. When we're in the living room, I always try to make sure she's in my sight. If she wanders towards the Kitchen or Office area, I get up to make sure she's occupying herself with something she's allowed to be doing.

Thanks for everyones words of encouragement and advice. It's helping my motivation a lot in regards to setting Domino up for success.

-Sean

 

[skyeboxer]

No advice that you haven't heard already but kind words, sure! You know that this will pass, don't you? It will.

You have had good advice and you and Domino will get there in the end. Just remember that every time she makes the mistake, she's reinforcing it in her mind. Make sure you get rid of the smell - any trace - long after you can't smell it and don't take your eyes off her for a second. Don't give her the opportunity to think about peeing in the house. Scoot her little bum out the door BEFORE she thinks about it.

We're rooting for you. Looking forward to your happy dance post when you've gone a week with no household leakage.

 

[Sean5033]

Looking forward to your happy dance post when you've gone a week with no household leakage.

Thanks! I look forward to a three day happy dance.

-Sean

 

[Saje]

I'll be the oddball out and say that clicker training definitely has a place in housetraining but only if your dog is conditioned to know what it means. Otherwise you're just making noises when she does go. This is a very helpful article http://www.clickertraining.com/housetraining

It sounds like you are doing a lot of things right and people have already given you some good pointers. Housetraining is tricky business! The only other thing I'd like to add is that it might help to save her favourite treats for when she goes outside and only when she goes outside. Also, if she doesn't go right away and you know she has to go (or think she does... after meals/play time...) try taking her out and giving her a chance to go. If she doesn't bring her in and then turn around and take her right back out. Sometimes it helps trick them into remembering they have to go lol. Seriously it helps. Some people say it's the warm air to cold air.

 

[Sean5033]

Saje,

Domino knows what the clicker is. I've taught her how to go to her room, close doors, and a lot of the basics using the clicker. (She loves 101 things to do with a box). When we're on walks and she's in the right spot, I'll click, and she knows to look for my hand to get a kibble bit or two. I think she's pretty well conditioned to know it means she's doing something good. (or at least she knows she's getting a piece of Kibble or special treat after the click)


As I was reading your post, we had our first accident of the day. I saw her standing by the gate in the hall, but we'd just been out 10-15 minutes earlier, and she did go potty then. I called her bluff and it turned out she was still loaded. I think I was able to figure it out in my first post, and Herschel commented on it as well. She's got me trained to take her outside when she goes potty inside. She'll sit by the gate, I'll take her out. She may or may not go outside (gets treats, praise and excitement when she does), then I'll bring her in, and 2-3 minutes later, she's sitting right by the gate again. If she doesn't go, a lot of the time she'll get crated, and the cycle starts over in 20-30 minutes when I let her out. I take her right outside when she gets out. It's this cycle that's frustrating me so much. She gets out a lot, but I can't take her out every time she wants to go out, which would be all day if she had her choice.

I'll try taking her in and right back out trick. At least I won't have time to get settled into something else that way.

Thanks!
-S

 

[Buddy'sParents]

Sneaky little puppy she is... keep your wits about you! Stay strong. And post pictures.

 

[Sean5033]

Hey Guys! I installed Vista on my laptop, and long story short, I havn't been able to post in a while to update on Domino's progress. But I've stayed strong and kept a log of Domino's potty habits. I write down the Time, #1, #2, Food or Water, and what she was doing right before (Most of the time she is Signaling by sitting at the gate! Yay!). I've noticed that she almost never goes #1 and #2 on the same trip outside (only once in 5 days). She has to go #1 about every 45-1:15, and she signals to go out about 15-21 times per day. (I think that's high for a 9mo old JRT, and that's been frustrating me). There have not been and accident free days yet. There are a few times that she just doesn't signal. I automatically take her out after waking up, after she's been in the crate, and 10-15 minutes after eating.

She has no problem holding it while she's in her crate. It seems to me she just likes to go outside a lot. Either that, or she's got a small bladder, but I was hoping that by 9 months, she'd be able to hold it a little longer. She hasn't been signaling to go #2, and she went 5 times yesterday (We fed her twice, once at 10:30am and at 7:15 after dinner). I can only think that we need to stick to a schedule better than we have been.

I have seen a lot of improvement since we've started logging things. There aren't as many false signals as I remember before. Maybe it's been that way all along, it's just now we can see it on paper instead of just remembering the frustration. We're going to keep logging the progress and hopefully we'll continue to see encouraging results.

Thanks!
-Sean

 

[Buddy'sParents]

Sounds like you've been working really hard. Good for you, the results will pay off in the end!

 

[OutlineACDs]

If she asks to go out and she does not go, when you bring her back inside she goes immediately into her crate, no exceptions. Give her another opportunity to go outside in 15-30 mins. Continue until she potties outside.

This will keep her from asking to go out until she potties and cuts down on accidents.

 

[Herschel]

Hey Guys! I installed Vista on my laptop, and long story short, I havn't been able to post in a while to update on Domino's progress. But I've stayed strong and kept a log of Domino's potty habits. I write down the Time, #1, #2, Food or Water, and what she was doing right before (Most of the time she is Signaling by sitting at the gate! Yay!). I've noticed that she almost never goes #1 and #2 on the same trip outside (only once in 5 days). She has to go #1 about every 45-1:15, and she signals to go out about 15-21 times per day. (I think that's high for a 9mo old JRT, and that's been frustrating me). There have not been and accident free days yet. There are a few times that she just doesn't signal. I automatically take her out after waking up, after she's been in the crate, and 10-15 minutes after eating.

She has no problem holding it while she's in her crate. It seems to me she just likes to go outside a lot. Either that, or she's got a small bladder, but I was hoping that by 9 months, she'd be able to hold it a little longer. She hasn't been signaling to go #2, and she went 5 times yesterday (We fed her twice, once at 10:30am and at 7:15 after dinner). I can only think that we need to stick to a schedule better than we have been.

I have seen a lot of improvement since we've started logging things. There aren't as many false signals as I remember before. Maybe it's been that way all along, it's just now we can see it on paper instead of just remembering the frustration. We're going to keep logging the progress and hopefully we'll continue to see encouraging results.

Thanks!
-Sean

Congratulations! I'm glad to hear that you are making progress. Keeping a notebook log of potty behavior is the most underrated technique! I wish more people would use it.

As you noted, you need to start sticking to a more strict schedule. I know it seems like she is going out a lot (and she is), but you need to make up for each accident that she's had before. She will learn--PRT/JRTs are smart dogs (but with small bladders).

Instead of making the interval 45-1:15 in between #1, why not make it only 45 minutes in between? And immediately after any sort of playtime.

 

[Sean5033]

She will learn--PRT/JRTs are smart dogs (but with small bladders).

She is SUPER smart, but she has her own agenda for things. I think she has us trained better than we do her. I was able to teach her to stand up and give a high five last night in about 30 minutes using the clicker. It's a little rough, but the behavior is there. I was hoping it'd take longer, I was bored, and she had the energy of a Terrier last night.

Instead of making the interval 45-1:15 in between #1, why not make it only 45 minutes in between? And immediately after any sort of playtime.

She's actually been really good about signaling, and when she sits by the gate, she goes outside. That's usually every 45-1:15. I'll try to make it 45 minutes, but sometimes I get into what I'm doing, and that might be too frequent of an interruption for me. Our other JRT is a lot older and adopted a few times over, she came to us house trained. She only needs to go out total 4 or 5 times a day, and stays uncrated when we're not home.

 

[PomPooLuver]

puppy troubles

ok soo here's the deal :
My almost 3 month old pup ,Buddy, is having trouble with a few things. #1 he's CONSTANTLY biting toes.. now i know, i know, it's a teething thing , but is there ANYTHING we can do to help him to NOT bite our toes and hands? We've tried giving him frozen rope bones, other toys to keep him pre occupied but he always goes back to them. Any suggestions?
#2 . In order to keep him from peeing on the carpets at night ( btw where puppy pad training him cause we're planning on moving to an apartment and hes a small breed ) we've put him in our large bathroom - with the door open and just a baby gate covering the opening, so he has full view of us and the bedroom- where he has his food, bed, toys and pee pad so if he does have to go he'll go on the mat . Problem is he falls asleep at around 11 pm and then wakes up at 5 - 530am crying to go out, so we let him out and he ALWAYS has to poop and goes to do it on the carpet, yet during the day he usually goes right to his mat.. i dont get it? So then we let him roam around until we wake up, usually he'll do another pee on the carpet.. and again..during the day, he's pritty consistant with the mat. I kno that we cant watch him day and night, could it be because its dark? we're so lost on how to fix these things..
suggestions? anyone ?

 

[Mayasmydobe]

Pompooluver - i dont mean to sound mean, but why not make your own thread? You might be surprised and get more in depth advice that way