Potty Training! (clean, poop, breeder, housebreak)

[Katie1]

Well I had Lady-Bug since June 6th! As of today shes Still Not Potty Trained GRRRRR This pups been Afraid of Every thing!! People Paper Carpet Cement Grass As I get her over 1 thing 2 others popup!!

I really back to the same thing Over & Over again it seems! I can Not for the life of me figure out WHY she Loves to Play/Sleep in her PEE!!! When she Poos she walks away doesnt look back! When she pees she lays right down in it! Does Not Roll in it ... just curls up & sleeps in it or chews her chewy!!!

I Am At My Wits IN!!! HELP!!!!

[Dogmama50]

Posted from another post. Mod can we please get a potty training sticky.

Here's is the "bible" from an old-time poster here, ViralMD.

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.

[Katie1]

She gets TREATS! Boiled Chicken Livers/Steak/Cheese/etc Everytime she potties where I want her to! Most time she wont eat them! I also use Verble Praise!

I understand her Accidents....Just Not WHY she plays in it!!! Why pee not poo? Thos picking up a wet or poopy puppy not my idea of fun LOL

[subject2change]

This is how a dog acts when it's been kept in a small cage all the time where it had no option but to lie in its own pee and poop. It loses its instinct not to soil itself. I remember you saying you're using pee pads. I know you're disabled, does she come when called? Maybe you could call her to the pad after eating, or waking from a nap or first thing in the morning when she'll probably need to go. Anytime she does happen to go on the pad, give her a really excellent treat and a lot of over-the-top praise. Maybe you could put several pads together to make a larger area she'd be more likely to go on, either on purpose or by accident. With time she'll get that good things happen when she goes on the pad. I have a rescue dog who'd been chained in a yard for a long time so she had to lie in pee and poop too. At the shelter she was known for pooping in her kennel and stepping in it, and she was very urine stained. It took 2 months to housebreak her when I got her home, but she's very good now. I do think she knew about housebreaking once earlier in her life, and that helped, but I'm sure your dog will learn too. It's just going to take longer for her. Good luck to you. Hang in there.

I was typing when dogmama's post and yours went up. All I can say is keep up with the treats and give it time.

[Katie1]

I had tons of dogs in my life Both dogs I have bred & rescues! And until now None have done what this puppy has done! At 12 weeks they Never pottied in their crates! & If they had accident Never layed or played in their mess! Sad part is I really think she going to make a great Service Dog!! She fetches Everything in site! She copies Katie when Katie take Off a shoe/sock she grabs the other .... Good thing I have 2 feet She goes outside on a 21 ft flex leash & now that she got over her fear of grass she RUNS full speed back & forth in wide loop around me! & Knows how far she can go without hitting the end!! She Doesnt understand to Walk with me on leash! Thinks when I stand she to be carried Most time I trip over her. So I havent tried her with the scooter yet! Afraid I will run over her! So she Not Dumb! She willing to learn anything but Potty training

[Katie1]

Questions I asked the Breeder!! Her Answers:

1 where did mom give birth?.....In my bedroom in a 4ft x 4ft pen that I built.
2 what did the pups & mom lay on?....Very soft baby blankets
3 when weaned what did they sleep on after?.....When they wanted to sleep they got back in the pen and slept on the soft baby blankets.
4 were they ever outside?... Not much at all because the other bigger dogs were out there.
5 grass/cement or dirt?... All if they were out.
6 what kind of floors were they allowed on inside?....They were allowed on all of my floors which are hard wood and linoleum.
7 what did mom potty on?...Disgusting but on the floor simply because I could not house train because of the bigger dogs outside. Tried paper training but it was hit and miss with that.

#2 & #3...explains to me Why she Pees & Poos on Her BED & Carpets UGH
#7 tells me the rest!!

Poor Pups had No Freedom & No Mom to teach them GOOD habits!

[LuvABull.Denver]

I was thinking puppy mill until your last post...but that explains it. She sounds like a byb. Instead of backyard it's bathroom...um, yuck...poor dog and puppies.

I agree with Dogmama50, just be patient and keep working with her. It may take some time but then one day it will start happening.

Best wishes for you and Lady bug!

~Lov-A-Bull.Denver

P.S. If the big dogs are in the yard, where did the dogs um, you know...mate? Please say it was his place...(j/k) t.m.i.

[Katie1]

She owns both parents! Problem is Not the crate size! Problem is she allowing them to be use to being on blankets & Potting where ever they want to. I Did find this:



Clean up your dog
Don’t be surprised if your dog has an accident and then lies down in his own mess, especially if you keep him in a crate. Although it may seem repulsive to you, he was forced to do that at the puppy mill, so it seems completely normal to him. As soon as possible after the accident, thoroughly clean him up. Former puppy mill dogs need to get used to the feeling of being clean. They’ll eventually learn to like it! If a full-on bath is too traumatizing at first, use a mild puppy shampoo to spot-clean, or try using a dry shampoo or wipes sold at pet stores.

Looks like I NEED to give her a Bath Everytime I find her in her pee! UGH I hate that as Too Much Bathing tends to dry their skin!! So far she been bathed 1x every 2 weeks!

Heres the whole article:

ASPCA - Virtual Pet Behaviorist - House Training Your Puppy Mill Dog