training my bulldog

[rousseau661]

hey everyone, im new to the forum, i joined because of all the great information. i have a 14 week old english bulldog who is very intelligent. he is housetrained for the most part but he is a pup so he has seldom accidents, but for the most part he doesnt eliminate in the house, and can sleep through the night and hold it till moring so he has bladder control and has the concept of where to go to the bathroom. here is my question. i go to work and he stays in a game room that has access to the backyard, now if i take him outside say in the morning and walk with him over to the potty area, a maybe 15x35 foot patch of dirt/grass he leads me to it and does his business fine but when i go to work and come back home later he has eliminated in the game room and in random spots in the backyard, not sure how to fix this but what i have been doing is taking him over to his elimination that is in the game room, telling him no, one time and then picking it up and taking him and the elimination over to the spot where he should be going and putting him down in front of it, telling him goodboy and then thats it. not sure how else to go about it but any help is appreciated. thanks. here are some pics for enjoyment.

 

[Aussie Red]

Hello and welcome to Chaz. As for your pup have you thought about crate trainning him ? He is still a little young to be getting it 100%. I'm sure he will. I just love English Bullys by the way.

 

[corsomom]

I second the crate training, and I love your pup. What a cutie.

 

[rousseau661]

lol, thanks, no, not into the crate training, he has a big crate, my game room, lol, and he runs free in the backyard with my 2yr old blue nose pitbull, so crating him would be punishment at this point, i know he is young but i want to make sure he is on the right track and if there is something i can do to make it easier on him that would be great, if im doing the right thing just tell me but if not i was looking for alternatives or other suggestions to help us out, thanks in advance.

 

[Herschel]

It sounds to me like he isn't quite ready for the gameroom and a crate would be more appropriate during the times while you aren't at home. Either that or maybe you could section off the gameroom so he has less space. If he is eliminating in the gameroom that means that he has too much space.

If your dog is adequately utilizing his space then he won't eliminate there. Does your dog prefer to sleep/play in a specific area of the room? Then the rest of the room is just begging to be soiled.

So my recommendation: Less space, maybe section off the gameroom with gates/boxes/etc.

By the way, you shouldn't be telling your dog "no" after the fact. This doesn't teach him anything--he doesn't know that it is "wrong" to go to the bathroom. On the flip side of that, praising him after the fact doesn't do very much either. If you decide to use "no", then it should only be if you catch him in the act in the house. The praise that you give should also be during/after the act outside.

 

[rousseau661]

great thanks a bunch man, i did section off a portion of the gameroom and he still soils it, obviously because i am gone for to long of a period for him to hold it, so wether or not he is in a sectioned off portion, he is still going to soil it, thanks for the information. is there any way to let hime know that he should go outside to eliminate or does it just take time?? thanks again/.

 

[Herschel]

If the gameroom is already sectioned off, you should use the same technique and section it again. You already mentioned that he can control it overnight so it isn't necessarily a matter of your being too long taxing his bladder. I think it is more of a mental thing (i.e., he doesn't realize that going to the bathroom outside is good).

The best way to make him want to eliminate outside is to praise him like crazy when he goes. Do you associate a command with going to the bathroom? We use "go out".

Here is an example:

-You come home and see that Bully the bulldog hasn't soiled the gameroom. The first thing that you do is say, "Bully, do you have to GO OUT? Bully, do you want to GO OUT?" and run towards the door.

-Bully will probably eliminate as soon as he gets outside. While he's going say, "Good GO OUT, GO OUT, good boy, good GO OUT."

-When he is done, kneel next to him and say, "Good boy, Bully!!!!", rub his chest, and give him a treat. Associating this with a food reward a few times will make a tremendous difference.

 

[rousseau661]

herschel you are the man, thank you a whole lot, that sounds great. awesome, thanks.

 

[rousseau661]

how to sit and stay, and we are working hard on where to eliminate, should be in the bag within a week, the treats are a great insentive. thanks people.