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I just wanted to thank everybody for the encouragement and suggestions. Most of them were really helpful. Part of the problem was that I just had to figure out that he wanted privacy when he went. I've never had a dog that was afraid for me to see him go, including the two we rescued at the ages of 5 or 6. So, I misinterpreted the peeing and pooping in the house when I was gone as separation anxiety. Now I realize that he just wanted to make sure I wasn't going to suddenly re-appear and catch him in the act. Poor little thing!
When my husband took him out this morning for the first time, they were out for less than five minutes before he went. Yesterday, when we were still just using one corner of the yard (and before he started realizing that we actually wanted to see him pee), they came back in after 30 minutes with zero success.
I'm still not 100% sure I know why he was refusing to go in the area of the yard we'd blocked off, but will happily go if we give him the entire yard. I'm definitely not looking forward to all of the yellow spots on the lawn, since we do have a lovely yard and work hard to keep the lawn looking nice. Oh well... Better yellow spots all over the grass than yellow spots all over the living room carpet and big surprise poops on the floor of the recently remodeled basement TV room.
It's hard at this point, after such a drastic change in just one day, to keep telling myself that there are still going to be accidents and that the process is still far from being finished. We're just getting started, and in five more days, when he gets the Collar of Shame off, we'll be able to start using the doggy door. I'm looking forward to that. And his "rescuer" in California assured us that he'd be able to pick that up in no time at all, (not that she's the most reliable person I know). But he's a smart little one. He has actually rammed his cone against the doggy door a few times without even being shown how it works. He seems to realize that there's something on the other side of that translucent piece of plastic; he just can't get through it in his present condition.
It's all about patience and being consistent. I have fostered many dogs and none of them were potty trained except one. It's being consistent and sticking with it. I have had many mill dogs that would go anywhere and everywhere. It's not always easy but once they get it they are good
One of my recent fosters was a 1.5 yr old Yorkie left tied to a tree all day. Of course, he came into rescue wanting to mark everywhere and spent his first week or so in a belly band which he hated. One day, watching him struggle to get it off, I told him if he wanted it off he would have to stop trying to pee in my house. I removed it and kept an eye on him and sure enough, he was housetrained from that point on. Of course, this little pup was whip smart. My first foster dog with my current rescue group was a tossed aside backyard breeder dog who immediately tried to pee on my chair when he first came home. I gave him a quick, sharp verbal correction and three years later he has never done it again.
I very strongly believe a relationship and true communication with your dog can achieve almost anything.
These last two posts contain some very encouraging remarks. Thank you both!
Frederik is learning quickly. We are now taking him out first thing in the morning, after his morning meal, the middle of the afternoon, after his evening meal, and last thing at night. I say, "Come on, Frederik! Let's go potty." We go out into the backyard and I say, "Okay, go potty." He does so right away. I praise him as he is doing it ("Good potty, Frederik! Good boy!"), and reward him immediately thereafter. I wait a few more minutes in case he has to do a little more, but as soon as he decides he's done, he races towards the door to go inside and we call it quits until the next scheduled time. Of course, we're watching him like a hawk when he's indoors, and he's never headed to the door by himself (even though we've left it open so that he can head out on his own into the yard if he wants), so right now we don't know for sure whether we're just taking him out so frequently that he hasn't gotten to the point where he has to make the decision, "Oh boy! I've really got to go! Right now! Let's get outside, quick!" I suppose that time will come. I'm not the most patient person in the world by nature, so it's forcing me to improve that way, too.
Question: If I'm keeping a close eye on him (as in never letting him out of my sight for a split second) and he's never relieving himself in my presence, should I wait until I think he has a relatively full bladder before I take him outside? I'm thinking he might be more inclined to go when he is out there if he really needs to, rather than if he's almost forcing himself to go just because he thinks that's what is expected.
When he's not crated keep him on a leash tethered to you. Dog's don't want to go potty close to where they are sitting or laying down so when he gets restless and starts moving about take him out, even if it's every 15 minutes. If he doesn't give you any signs then take him out every 30-45 minutes. When he goes, praise him and bring him back in, I use the phrase "good quickies" while the dog is going and all my dogs have peed or pooed on demand when I say "quickies".
The key to this is never give him free run of the house, it's virtually impossible to get the odor of dog urine out of flooring so whenever he can get to one of those spots where he went before, he will think it's a toilet and use it again. Crate him whenever you can't keep him on a leash. It's an awful lot of work but given his age, he should be perfectly housebroken in a few weeks. I've done this with all of my dogs and have potty trained recalcitrant dogs of my friends with this method and it's never failed because you don't give the dog the option of making a mistake.
I have a schedule written down of when I'm going to take Frederik out. Otherwise, I'd lose track of when the last time was. Well, as it turned out, I forgot to check the schedule and the time I was supposed to take him out slipped by. We've been watching him pretty closely, but neither of us saw him walk of of the room and I suddenly realized he wasn't there. I rushed through the house looking for him, scared of finding a big glob of poop downstairs or a big puddle of pee on the living room carpet. After I'd checked all of the rooms and hadn't seen either him or any evidence that he'd pulled a fast one on me, I went back into the kitchen and happened to glance out the dining room door just in time to see him coming in from the backyard. Yippee! I think he actually went out on his own!
I have a schedule written down of when I'm going to take Frederik out. Otherwise, I'd lose track of when the last time was. Well, as it turned out, I forgot to check the schedule and the time I was supposed to take him out slipped by. We've been watching him pretty closely, but neither of us saw him walk of of the room and I suddenly realized he wasn't there. I rushed through the house looking for him, scared of finding a big glob of poop downstairs or a big puddle of pee on the living room carpet. After I'd checked all of the rooms and hadn't seen either him or any evidence that he'd pulled a fast one on me, I went back into the kitchen and happened to glance out the dining room door just in time to see him coming in from the backyard. Yippee! I think he actually went out on his own!
Yay! It's like a switch that just turns on one day. My puppy was so funny. She stared with a squeak. It meant I am going. Inside, outside, up to you. Hurry if you want it to be outside. The next change was dramatic. Got her leash to tell me, I need to go potty! We do that outside, with me on this!
We had to crate him for a couple of hours this evening while we were away. When we got home, I let him out of his crate and went into the backyard. "Okay," I said, "Let's go potty!" Within under five minutes, he had peed and pooped with me watching! Boy, did we ever celebrate!
Well, haleluja! I noticed your thread a day or two back, but you had some good responses, and I didn't have time to read the whole thing.
Now I have this to add: it sounds to me like you and your hubby are doing an AMAZINGLY good job of working with this dog. In every post, what you describe has been you "listening" to what the dog is trying to tell you. Obviously, initially you and the dog weren't talking the same language!
But I've got to say - "go potty"? Hey, NO PROBLEM! I tell MY dogs "Go Pee" - and they figured it out. A lot depends on the dog for when they figure out what you mean. With my current dogs, they kinda had to figure it out - it wasn't associated with a specific action within seconds - but rather a situation. Namely I let them out into our backyard (fenced) at certain times.
I also have to take issue with the idea that you need to create the action, and THEN put a name to it. Sometimes you catch a dog doing an action, and you can put a name to it. You keep repeating that name when you see the action - and you can get an association.
Like, every time a dog barks - you say "speak"! Depending on the dog - they can get the association. For my current two - I used "lap" when the male jumps on me. And then I used "no lap" to indicate jumping on me was not a good idea. It works. Would not work with all dogs - so one has to listen to each dog to see what does, and what does not, work for that dog.
Sounds to me like y'all are doing a great job!
Oh, yeah - two other thots. Don't sweat the "corner of the yard" concept. Worry about just peeing first. If you really want to train to a corner of the yard, maybe you can do that later. But it sounds very stressful to me. However, if that is what you want - the corral idea - putting up fencing for the corner - sounds like a good idea that might work to train the dog for "that corner".
Well, haleluja! I noticed your thread a day or two back, but you had some good responses, and I didn't have time to read the whole thing.
Now I have this to add: it sounds to me like you and your hubby are doing an AMAZINGLY good job of working with this dog. In every post, what you describe has been you "listening" to what the dog is trying to tell you. Obviously, initially you and the dog weren't talking the same language!
But I've got to say - "go potty"? Hey, NO PROBLEM! I tell MY dogs "Go Pee" - and they figured it out. A lot depends on the dog for when they figure out what you mean. With my current dogs, they kinda had to figure it out - it wasn't associated with a specific action within seconds - but rather a situation. Namely I let them out into our backyard (fenced) at certain times.
I also have to take issue with the idea that you need to create the action, and THEN put a name to it. Sometimes you catch a dog doing an action, and you can put a name to it. You keep repeating that name when you see the action - and you can get an association.
Like, every time a dog barks - you say "speak"! Depending on the dog - they can get the association. For my current two - I used "lap" when the male jumps on me. And then I used "no lap" to indicate jumping on me was not a good idea. It works. Would not work with all dogs - so one has to listen to each dog to see what does, and what does not, work for that dog.
Sounds to me like y'all are doing a great job!
Oh, yeah - two other thots. Don't sweat the "corner of the yard" concept. Worry about just peeing first. If you really want to train to a corner of the yard, maybe you can do that later. But it sounds very stressful to me. However, if that is what you want - the corral idea - putting up fencing for the corner - sounds like a good idea that might work to train the dog for "that corner".
Thank you! I really appreciate hearing some positive comments about how we're doing.
You can take the easy way out and get him a dog door so he can go out when he needs to. Otherwise, it just takes patience.
Without a dog door my dog goes in the house. So, she really isn't housebroken.
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I suppose that time will come. I'm not the most patient person in the world by nature, so it's forcing me to improve that way, too.
