housebreaking my dog help plz (lab, bulldog, clean, poop)

[duke2011]

i have a male lab and bulldog mix. he spends the day inside and outside uses the bathroom outside and then comes inside and uses it again right after going outside and its always in the same spot

[DawnMTL]

You mean he's doing his business inside also?

Spray that area with Nature's Miracle.

Then, follow these instructions:
Below is my housetraining post. IT WORKS. But you must follow it TO THE LETTER, as must EVERYONE in the house. It's good for puppies AND grown dogs. And realize that some dogs NEVER learn to signal. Neither of my dogs does.

Housetraining your dog (puppy or adult!)

The first thing you need to do is to remember that you’re trying to reinforce a new behavior. That means that the rewards for this behavior must be WONDERFUL. NOT crap from the store. Wonderful treats are poached chicken breast/turkey breast, cheese and steak. And you don’t have to use big pieces. Tiny pieces (about 3mm cubes) are just fine! I poach a whole turkey breast every few weeks, cut it into hunks when it’s cool enough to handle, wrap them well and store them in the freezer. When I need some, I’ll thaw a hunk overnight and cut off pieces and dice finely, storing them in a plastic bag in the fridge. One hunk will last about five days. Cheese is also popular, so variety is fine.

I carry these plastic bags in my jacket pockets in the winter and in a fanny pack in warmer weather. You HAVE to have these with you, or this method won’t work, because you need to reward as soon as the dog finishes pooping or peeing. It’s not going to work if the rewards are in the house.

Remember that you’re trying to change a very ingrained behavior. Some dogs like to feel certain things under their feet when they eliminate, like fabric, or newspaper. This is called a ‘substrate preference.’ What you’re trying to do is change this substrate preference, and to do that you have to make the treats SO wonderful that the dog will change this very well-entrenched behavior. Thus the chicken, cheese, steak.

I love clicker training, but this can be done without clickers. You just need a way to ‘mark’ the behavior you want to reinforce. Use the word ‘YESSSSS!!!!’ very enthusiastically – that works for some.

You’re going to need to GO OUTSIDE WITH your dog and the dog needs to be on a leash. Yes, even in winter. If you don’t reward IMMEDIATELY after the event (when dog immediately finishes pooping or peeing) and wait inside, the dog is going to be reinforced for coming inside, not for doing its business. So, leash up your dog. STAND IN ONE PLACE. Be boring. Bring a book or magazine for yourself.

Eventually, the dog will do what you’re waiting for. The NANOSECOND that the dog is finished, HAVE A PARTY – lots of loud, high-pitched praise, treats and running around. You want to make this memorable for your dog! You’ll find that once the first event is achieved, the others will come more quickly. Keep on treating (you don’t have to throw a party except for milestones – a milestone = if he only pooped outside but now peed, too, or something equivalent to that) until he’s good and used to peeing/pooping outside. Before you know it, you have a trained dog.

Regarding accidents in the house: NO SCOLDING. Just clean them up. If you scold you’ll get the dog to think it’s bad to pee or poop and he’ll do it in places you won’t see. Until you step in it. Invest in a big bottle of Nature’s Miracle or Simple Solution and use it liberally on accidents.

To quote Patricia McConnell, author of “The Other End of the Leash” and co-author of “Way to Go” (a booklet on housetraining), “Once you face the fact that you just have take your dog out every time you turn around, give them the treat immeditely after they potty, and prevent accidents in the house… well, it usually goes so smoothly.”

With young puppies, remember they have little control of the muscle that holds the bladder closed. This is something they grow into. Just as it’s not expected that a human baby is toilet trained at six months, don’t expect much from a puppy. Patience, patience, patience!!!! The nervous system in a puppy has to mature, and it won’t have much control over the sphincter (closing muscle) at the neck of the bladder until six or seven months. The same goes for the anal sphincter. Until control is achieved, both of these muscles operate on reflex: there are stretch receptors in the bladder wall. When the bladder is full, it sends impulses to the spinal cord and these, in turn, send signals to the sphincter to open and the dog pees.

In the stomach wall, there are also stretch receptors. So when the dog eats and the stomach is stretched, the impulses again go to the spinal cord, but this time the reflex, outgoing, nerve signals are sent to the anal sphincter, so the dog defecates. This operates in people, too – which is why some people rush to the ‘reading room’ after a meal – especially breakfast.

[NJDevil]

We've had our dog for 3 months now, she's 1 yr old. She basically stopped peeing/pooping inside the house. We were away last week and the two dogs spent a few nights at my parents house, they kept them in the kitchen, where there is no rug, and she didn't soil at all. Since we've brought her back, she poops on the rug every morning before we get up. What is she trying to tell us?

[Katie1]

Get your butt out of bed I Need to Go Potty!

[NJDevil]

It's more than that. She's shown us she can hold it.

[zxas6699]

Then that would be a little confused, to show she can do as she likes?

[NJDevil]

OMG never mind I'll google it for REAL help. Even the things I've already thought of are better than what you people are posting.

[DawnMTL]

Originally Posted by NJDevil

OMG never mind I'll google it for REAL help. Even the things I've already thought of are better than what you people are posting.

The original post was about initial housebreaking. I think you should start a new thread with your specific question. You'll get more responses that way.

[skelaki]

IF your dog does her business outside and then comes inside and does it again it could mean she did not finish outside but got distracted, If that's the case, taking a short play break and then returning to business helps.

If she's going in the same area each time it probably means she's smelling the odor (even if you've cleaned and you can't smell anything) and and this is telling her that this area is a place to relieve herself. if this is the case, you need to thoroughly clean the area with an enzyme cleaner or possibly have it professionally cleaned telling the Pros that animal urine is involved. But, if the urine has penetrated into the subflooring, you'd need to pull up any flooring or carpet and replace it.

There is also a slight possibility of a UTI or kidney infection (sometimes there are no symptoms). Only your vet could tell you for sure.

Whatever the reason, once you eliminate any possible medical problem, you need to correct the dog each time you catch her doing her business in the wrong place. And, sometimes you need to go back and review training as if an adult dog was a puppy.

Edited to Add: I just noticed your post about pooping on the rug each morning: The enzyme cleaner still goes. But, since pooping timing has to do with when the food is digested, try adjusting your feeding time a bit later so that digestion is completed later and thus the need to poop is later. Or, if you can't, then try getting up earlier and taking her out to do her business. Also, keep a diary for a few weeks on feeding times, what's fed (include treats), when she does her business, what she does, time, etc. This will let you know about when she'll need to do her business and help you adjust her schedule so it's more in line with yours. It will also help if there should be any medical conditions contributing.