Puppy training

[Si 330]

We have a Labradoodle puppy it's a little boy 16 weeks old.
The little sod is not getting to grips with doing his No 1 and 2's out side. Typical example fed him last night then around 15mins later took him for a 20 min walk during the walk he did stuff all good praise him give a little treat. As soon as we get back in the house pee's on the kitchen floor. Getting frustrated as there is little, no progress from when we got him at 12 weeks old.

[GeraldSmith]

There is no real substitute to taking them outside a lot and staying out until they do it, praise them, then repeat a couple of hours later. When they are small they have small bladders and do need to go quite often

We have a policy of only getting a new puppy in the summer, it's so much easier!

[Puggit]

Been there, done that - the dog was very close to going back.

Persevere, and as above take them out lots. Try to use specific and different words to the ones you use for general praise to encourage toilet behaviour. We used 'go wee-wee' and 'go poo-poo' as the dog relieved itself. He's 7 months old now and we don't need to use them any more. He'll ask to go out now (by batting the cat flap).

[madbadger]

How do you know it is not a Poobrador?

There is a whole forum for this sort of thing by the way. http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/forum.asp?h=0&a...

[madbadger]

madbadger said:

How do you know it is not a Poobrador?

There is a whole forum for this sort of thing by the way. http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/forum.asp?h=0&a...

That was a quick move Mods!

[D188ERS]

as above, unfortunately for you (and your floorcoverings), you can only persevere.

i think our lab took until about 20wks.

you're doing all the acknowledged things - walking (not too much at young age) and praising when toilet activities have been done.

good luck - it will be worth it.

[M3RMS]

Hi

We have a 10 week old black Labrador, who's now been with us 3 weeks.

Fortunately for us, he's never done a no.2 inside (and I do mean never), although he does ocassionaly do a small wee inside. I think we're quite lucky to be honest. When we got home for the first time we took him straight in the garden so he knew where it was and then let him have a good sniff around for as long as he needed. Then straight from the off whenever he needs a dump he sits next to the back door/s and whines - we let him out, he does his business and then comes straight back in. Amazing! What's even more amazing is that we took him round to my folks for Christmas day we let him know where the garden was and he was exactly the same, just sits next to the door and whines when he needs to go.

He's not quite as well behaved when it comes to having a wee and will occasionally do one in the hall. The missus bought some stuff to remove the odour immediately and apparenlty this helps stop them keep going in the same place, so this might be worth a try if you aren't already doing it?

Also, the breeder we bought from said they will do absolutley anything before they go in or around their own bed - so having discipline around where this is can be helpful. We keep him in a big cage at night and he will ALWAYS let us know when he needs a wee when he's in that. Bit fking painful as it can mean getting up 2 or 3 times a night to let him out quickly but it's working really well and no accidents in the bed so far. Also, the cage is in the kitchen and he will just never wee in the kitchen at all now, just ocassionaly at the far end of the hall (opposite end of the house, furthest point from the bed).

He seems to start sniffing the floor a lot before he needs a wee, so if we see him doing that (and especially when he's got his tail up), then he's straight in the garden and usually he does eventually go.

From what I can gather he'll need the loo roughly 2 hours after eating or drinking, although he will wee almost immediately after eating if he hasn't had one just before.

I am NOT a dog expert though, so don't take any of this as actual advice - I've never had a dog before!!

Good luck!!

Cheers
RS

[RB Will]

Slightly off topic but what do we mean when we say toilet trained? I got a pup earlier this year. Had her at 6 weeks and for first couple of months could not leave her for more than a 2-3 hours without needing to let her out. She very quickly caught on where to go though as she always goes in the kitchen by the back door if she has to but if she has been left too long she will pee rather than hold on forever.

So when we say toilet trained do we mean they know they are supposed to go outside or that they never go in the house.

Now 8 months old she is generally fine unless I have a lie in.

[GeraldSmith]

You say 'go for a 20 minute walk', if you can just go outside without going for a walk. Into the garden if you have one. A walk can be exciting for a dog, lots of exciting smells to distract them.

[Si 330]

He goes in to the garden regularly as well as his walks.

[Jasandjules]

I take it he gets taken into the garden after he's eaten? And every 2 hours during the day? And if you see him sniffing around? And is he issued with a command when he goes toilet? (we use "be clean" - dogs can go toilet upon command). Is he crated at night?

[Distant]

Try crate training, he won't go to the toilet in his crate unless he can absolutely help it as dogs won't soil the nest. Put him in his crate overnight and take him straight outside to the toilet in the morning. If you can't constantly watch him, or when you go out during the day, pop him in the crate but let him out every couple of hours and go straight outside. When he's doing his ones or twos say "go to the toilet" or whatever phrase you like, after a while he'll associate you saying this with doing toilet and he'll be able to go on command. You can use a different phrase for wees and poohs if you like, it doesn't matter.

People always say that they give their dog lots of praise when he does good, but it's not always the case. Every time he goes to the loo outside you should react like he's just won you the lottery and he's the best dog you have ever laid eyes on! You can't really go over the top with the praise, you should be practically jumping for joy when he's done well! He'll soon pick it up!

Whilst he's still learning and making mistakes in the house, don't acknowledge it, just clean them up and carry on. The spray you can get that removes the odour is a good idea, that way he won't smell toilet and decide that's where he should go next time.

It's important that he really feels the crate is his own safe place, encourage him in with food just inside the door, then a little further in, until he's happy to go in and out no problem. Leave the crate door open whilst he's in there the first few times, and reward him lots if he goes in there by himself. We use "go in your bed" as the command for our dog, and she'll happily trot off from wherever she is in the house straight into her crate.

As he gets better at figuring out what to do when he needs the toilet he'll start to go to the back door by himself. If you can teach him to bark on command then you can get him to bark before you open the door, and eventually he'll be asking you to let him out with a bark.

I hope some of that is useful, I was originally just going to say "Get a crate"!