I got my doxie when she was 12 weeks old and she is now 4 months. She and her litter were kept outside but I keep her inside now. The problem - She is so hard headed! I have tried everything to potty train her and nothing has worked. She also pees in her kennel when I leave. I don't know what to do! Please help!
Troubled Doxie
- Thread starter doxie_owner
- Start date
Obviously the breeder did no potty training . She may have had no socialization either. Start from scratch with an area of half bedding , half newspapers. Very slowly eliminate the newspapers. Take the pup out after awakening , after feeding and otherwise every 2 to 3 hours. Praise like mad when she squats or poops.... I always said " go squat " to my pups so it's odd when they are adults ..but they understand. Go pot, works at any age. Females are harder to train than males. I know of a female doxie who never went other than on paper . If you get her to the paper point, take some outside with some of her pee on it. Good luck !!!!
at the risk of being redundant, here is my personal method. using it i have trained two puppies to be almost 100% reliable within only about 10 days, and everyone who received these instructions from me and has stuck to them has had great success within only one to two weeks.
it's all about supervision, a strict routine, consistency and lots of praise.
you get yourself a crate, a piece of paper and a pen.
anytime anything goes into your dog (food, water, treats) you note down the time, and anytime something "comes out" (regardless if t is an accident or in a "proper" place), you write down the time too.
when you bring your pup home, make it a point to take it outside every hour on the hour, and additionally each time after (a) a meal, (b) a play session and (c) a nap. each time on the way out, you give the same cue: "do you have to go outside?" or "need to go potty?" etc.
you make sure to keep the same routine every single day, from waking up in the morning, to each meal, nap times and potty breaks. the more disciplined you can be with this, the faster you will be successful. don't let up and don't skip a potty trip, even if it might be without results. do not play during potty trips, but remind the pup what the task at hand is - "get busy" or "go pee/poop" are good cues for example. bring along a very high-value treat, but keep it out of sight until the pup has finished. praise enthusiastically after the "business" is finished, and give a treat. don't do this while the pup is still peeing or pooping, or you might distract it.
after keeping notes for a few days, you will clearly see your puppy's schedule and slowly be able to eliminate some of the "extra" potty trips at times where you see they are unsuccessful.
while inside, always supervise your puppy. if you must, put a leash on and tie it to your belt loop of your pants. make it a rule that indoors your puppy is either under close supervision, or in its crate. no exceptions, ever - until you know your pup is reliably doing business outside. even if you have to go to the bathroom and don't take the pup with you, pop it in the crate for the 5 minutes you can't supervise. get a phone call that you know will take your attention away from the pup for a while - "hi, can you hold on for a sec?" and in the crate it goes.
the less accidents you let happen (yup, it's all on your head, little puppies don't do wrong, they just don't know better!), the faster your dog will be reliable indoors.
i highly recommend to crate train, even if you plan on letting the dog sleep on your bed (or some other designated spot) later on. being familiar with spending time in a crate and behaving properly is one of the best things you can teach a dog, especially if you plan on taking him/her lots of places, get involved in dog sports and so on.
it's all about supervision, a strict routine, consistency and lots of praise.
you get yourself a crate, a piece of paper and a pen.
anytime anything goes into your dog (food, water, treats) you note down the time, and anytime something "comes out" (regardless if t is an accident or in a "proper" place), you write down the time too.
when you bring your pup home, make it a point to take it outside every hour on the hour, and additionally each time after (a) a meal, (b) a play session and (c) a nap. each time on the way out, you give the same cue: "do you have to go outside?" or "need to go potty?" etc.
you make sure to keep the same routine every single day, from waking up in the morning, to each meal, nap times and potty breaks. the more disciplined you can be with this, the faster you will be successful. don't let up and don't skip a potty trip, even if it might be without results. do not play during potty trips, but remind the pup what the task at hand is - "get busy" or "go pee/poop" are good cues for example. bring along a very high-value treat, but keep it out of sight until the pup has finished. praise enthusiastically after the "business" is finished, and give a treat. don't do this while the pup is still peeing or pooping, or you might distract it.
after keeping notes for a few days, you will clearly see your puppy's schedule and slowly be able to eliminate some of the "extra" potty trips at times where you see they are unsuccessful.
while inside, always supervise your puppy. if you must, put a leash on and tie it to your belt loop of your pants. make it a rule that indoors your puppy is either under close supervision, or in its crate. no exceptions, ever - until you know your pup is reliably doing business outside. even if you have to go to the bathroom and don't take the pup with you, pop it in the crate for the 5 minutes you can't supervise. get a phone call that you know will take your attention away from the pup for a while - "hi, can you hold on for a sec?" and in the crate it goes.
the less accidents you let happen (yup, it's all on your head, little puppies don't do wrong, they just don't know better!
), the faster your dog will be reliable indoors.i highly recommend to crate train, even if you plan on letting the dog sleep on your bed (or some other designated spot) later on. being familiar with spending time in a crate and behaving properly is one of the best things you can teach a dog, especially if you plan on taking him/her lots of places, get involved in dog sports and so on.
I agree with Mordy. Start from scratch and teach the pup to go outside. I personally don't like the idea of newspapers, because it keeps that thought in their heads longer that it's ok to go inside. And she's already get a little bit of a late start as it is. The sooner she gets the idea to go outside always, the better. But ya gotta prevent accidents from happening. Mordy's plan is really a good one I think.