How do I train my new puppy????

[Kim&Chris]

On 12/23, I agreed to adopt a 4 month old Shih-tzu from a woman that I work with. The dog had belonged to her daughter, who really couldn't spend enough time with her, so she gave her to her mom (my co-worker). My co-worker, stating that she is not a "dog person" offered the puppy to me (because I am a "dog person"). I'm generally a sucker, so I said yes.

We brought the puppy home on the 23rd and placed piddle pads on each floor of the house. We made sure they were easy for her to see, showed them to her, and made a huge fuss when she used them correctly. When she had an accident, we placed her right onto the piddle pad. She seemed to be learning the "rules".

Now comes the tricky part....last night, she had many accidents in the living room while staring right at us. Her piddle pad (clean) was just inches away from her, and my husband had let her out very frequently. This morning, I found an accident right on my bed.

What am I doing wrong?? I've had tons of dogs in my life, and none have been so difficult to train. The accidents on the rug are one thing....I can clean them up easily, but when she starts peeing on my bed, well that's another story.

I'm getting a little freaked out at the thought of her peeing on the bed, so I'm reaching out for advice. Any thoughts??? THANKS

 

[luvindisneyworld]

I dont think i would use the pads when you are at home i would just take her out very often.whan you are not home designate her to one room and the use the pads and put her in that one room of a night with the pad.we never ever used pads with our dogs but they just stay in of a night but when they come in for the night they do not get any more water till the next morning and it has been a very long time since there has been a accident.

 

[EsmeraldaX]

She is 4 months old. Cut her some slack.

I have an 8 month old Jack Russell. We use the puppy training pads with him and he's got two in two different rooms in the house. He hits it right 90% of the time. Most accidents he has are really accidents, where he just doesn't aim on the pad. For instance, he stands on the pad but piddles off of it.

The other day, he had to spend more time than average in his puppy crate because we we putting holiday things away and to keep him safe from wires etc, he had to be confined. Well he got mad and walked over his crate jumped on the bed and peed. He actually waited to pee until we were looking at him. That time he did it out of defiance and he was severly punished (yelled at loudly, had a can with a penny in it shaken at him, had all his toys taken away and was put back in his crate.) When we finally took him out he was the most well behaved perfect little gentleman you would not belive it was the same dog. He will probably have incidents like this again, and I have found that the BEST deterrent is yelling NO BAD DOG loudly while looking right at him.

At 4 months, your puppy is only starting to understand that she can control herself, and even that control isn't fully developed yet. And she may be confused/nervous that she is in a new place.
This poor 4 month old puppy has now , through the carelessness of her original owner had FOUR homes before the age of 5 months; the breeders; the original owners, the original owners mother and now you. If she came from a pet store, she might have actually had 5 homs in 4 months.

She is probably scared, unsure if this is even her permanent home and worried. Also, I presume her original owner didn't bother to teach her that peeing on a bed was wrong so she not only has to learn a new behavior, but she has to learn to break an old one.

What kinds of pads do you use? We use wee wee pads held down with pad holders, because Monty dog likes to steal the pads and run through the house with them. They are treated witha scent to attract him to go there.

Are the pads changed often? Too often , she might forget what they are for, not often enough, she might not want to use them because they are messy.

When she goes in the right place; definately give her lots of attention, and a small treat. When Monty goes on the pad, he actually runs to get me, leads me to the pad to "show me" and then darts straight into the kitchen where the treat jar is located. Sometimes he even "fakes" a pee, by making the stance and then runs to the treat jar (yet he expects me to belive that he is not smart enough to understand the word "down" when he is jumping at people. )

But when she has an accident, try yelling at her, confining her to her crate. If you don't have a crate, definately try to get one. For a small dog, a small crate is fine and a great way to give a time out when she is bad; as well as keep her safe while she is still too young to have the run of a house to herself. But if she seems to crave even negative attention (ie being yelled at) ignore her. Just clean the mess and ignore her completely for 10 minutes. They hate that.

When she has accidents, are they often near the pads? Monty's usually are and we really think he just "misses". If your puppy is going on the bed, she might just be testing the limits or trying to get attention. But at 4 months she also might just not know.

If the accidents continue, consider getting a professional trainer, but first, have her vet check her out. She should be about ready for her next series of puppy shots, so when you take her, ask the vet to make sure she doesn't have any sort of medical problem that makes it extra hard or impossible for her to control her bladder. But I think she's probably okay; just a scared baby in a new place.

Oh and one last thing - if you want to keep her off of the bed, or other places she shouldn't piddle, try getting some repellent spray from a pet supply store. Those usually work.

Good luck!
Sheri

 

[DocRafiki]

Yeah, the pads aren't really recommended if you can avoid them. You'll just have to re-train the dog to go outside after training it to use the pads.

If it's gotten worse recently and the accidents are really frequent, you might have the vet check her for an infection.

Otherwise, I would buy a book on potty training. I would recommend crate training, but of course that won't do anything for the accidents that happen right in front of you.

 

[wdwnutze]

We have our 6mo old puppy gated in the kitchen. We opted to crate train her and not use pads or newspaper on the floor. When we 1st got her we took her out about every 45 min. It was a lot of work but easier than cleaning the floor all day. At night or when we go out, we leave her in the crate. She had a couple of accidents in there at 1st but nothing now. By keeping her gated in the kitchen, if she has an accident, we can clean it a lot easier than cleaning a carpet, sofa or bed. We do bring her in the tv room with us but only if she is being watched by someone(she still puts everythng in her mouth). I know it is a matter of preference, but it seems that with the pads, you are teaching her to go in the house. I would give crate training some thought. Good luck with the training!

 

[MinnieMe2]

Have you had her checked for a UTI? I would, just to make sure. I would also use a crate for her, at least until you get the situation under control a bit. Remember, small dog = small bladder. She will need to go out frequently. It also sounds to me like no one has paid any attention to her until now, poor thing. She probably has no idea what's expected of her, she's been uprooted a couple of times in her very short life -- a lot's going on here.

Kudos to you for taking this little one home. I hope it all works out eventually......

 

[Toby'sFriend]

I crate trained my last puppy and it worked great. Until he was under control - he was either in the crate or with me. I never left him alone.

Alot of the time I would put him on a leash and hook the other end to my belt. Any sign at all of a need and we were right outside under his tree. I also took him outside every time he ate or drank.

 

[DMickey28]

I have grown up with dogs and finally am getting my first own puppy (since being an adult!!) in 11 days. I have been reading and researching like crazy the best, most efffective way to train a dog.

One thing that I have learned is that the type of breed is very important to help determine the proper type of training. Temperment etc....

Also, something that has been consitant with all my reading is NOT to use the crate as punishment. The crate should be used a den for the puppy to sleep in. If you can't keep your eye on her totally, then she should be in a confined area such as mudroom, kitched or bathroom. Something that messes are easy to clean up. Crates are wonderful tools to help housetrain a dog, by teaching them bladder control because as den animals they don't want to mess in their personal area.

Are you planning on her using the puppy pads in the house her whole life? If not then I would research the best way to get her house trained, because even if she learns to go on the pad, you will have a whole other training process to house train completely. Crates are the most widely approved method for housetraining.... a puppy should never be left unsupervised with run of the house.

Like I said I have been reading like crazy about this because I am determined to have a very well behaved, fun and trained dog. This website I found to be helpful as well as a book about the breed specifically.

I am getting a Corgi, which are very sensitive dogs. Usually a loud no and stern look is best, but some other breeds are very stubborn. You need to learn what works best for her. Also make her comfretable and secure that this house is also not a temp. house..... she needs an area of her own to feel comfretable.....

We had a dog that used the downstairs bathroom as her own room. She would take naps in there and sleep in there. You couldn't let her out of the house because she was hound and would find a way to get out the door with even the smallest crack. As soon as you told her to go to her room, she would walk to the bathroom and lay down!!!!

http://www.perfectpaws.com/

 

[Dax]

I am also going to agree with the crate training. I am going through a rough time with 5 little 7 week old pugs in my house. 3 of them will be going to forever homes soon, but this last week or 2 is rough. They basically "go" right after eating. Of course they also try and go on the newspaper. Since they were 3 weeks old, they have been going on newspaper, so they understand going on that is ok. Hopefully we will be beginning crate training and "going" outside shortly. All of the pups are confined to the kitchen to aleaviate my stress of cleaning up poo and pee..

Crate training is the best route though. My pugs did have accidents on occasion, but as they learned, they stopped. My male is a year old now and he sleeps with us in bed, and has not had any accidents. It will happen. She is a baby. Give her time and love, and I promise you will not be sorry

 

[Christine]

Probably your biggest problem is that the dog has had so many homes so far in it's young life. You can bet that if a child had so many homes, they would be having a "bedwetting" problem.

I know that when I adopted a dog from the shelter, it was 6 months old and had been through 3 homes. When we got her she was doing a lot of that submissive urinating. I thought "oh my gosh, how will I deal with this." But I found that time, care, and love made the dog much more confident and the submissiving peeing stopped.

Your second problem is temperament of the breed. I think smaller dogs are harder to housetrain, or at least some of the smaller breeds are. I have had 3 various breeds prior to the two I have now. They were all housetrained within 2-3 weeks. The two I have now have had "emotional" problems. One was a shelter dog (above) and the other is a Jack Russell I got from a pet store that was going out of business. She was 4 months old when I got here. No lie, it took me about 18 months to get that dog housetrained. Come to find out, Jack Russells are notoriously bad at getting house trained and it is not unusual for them to take 2 YEARS!!!

Now, for the pads. This is really quite confusing to a dog. Pain as it is, you really should be taking the dog outside every 30 minutes and standing. The dog needs to get the idea that the house is not for urinating. If the weather is bad or you work, you need to find a dedicated area for pad training. Having them placed all over the house just gives them the idea that they can pee all over the house. It will take some time before they associate the pad with urination.

This is a very frustrating part of dog ownership and I think you've just got a tough case right now. Just give the dog lots of love and secure feelings and things should work out.

 

[EsmeraldaX]

Originally posted by DMickey28

Also, something that has been consitant with all my reading is NOT to use the crate as punishment. The crate should be used a den for the puppy to sleep in. If you can't keep your eye on her totally, then she should be in a confined area such as mudroom, kitched or bathroom. Something that messes are easy to clean up. Crates are wonderful tools to help housetrain a dog, by teaching them bladder control because as den animals they don't want to mess in their personal area.

a puppy should never be left unsupervised with run of the house.

I am getting a Corgi, which are very sensitive dogs. Usually a loud no and stern look is best, but some other breeds are very stubborn. You need to learn what works best for her. Also make her comfretable and secure that this house is also not a temp. house..... she needs an area of her own to feel comfretable.....

I should point out that my dog is a Jack Russell Terrier which is amongst the most stubborn breeds of dogs there is. I'm a bit confused by your post, because we researched Corgis extensively as well and were told by many breeders, at least 2 vets and saw on several websites, that they are extremely stubborn as well. (We like stubborn dogs...what can I say?)

And I agree 100% a puppy should never be allowed run of the house when no one is there to supervise it. The puppy should either have a puppy proof room or a crate. Never underestimate their ability to hurt themselves.

A crate can be used as a time out space if all toys are removed and blankets are removed. My dog reacts ver differently to the crate when all of the comforts of home are removed from it and he knows it is not "fun time" or "sleep time".

Another thing too...never yell at the dog using her name. For instance, if my dog pees on the bed, I don't shout BAD MONTY , I shout BAD DOG. You don't want her name associated with being yelled at.

I use pads because until we move in about a year or so, we are in a large apartment, but one that is on the third floor and when Monty has to go, he needs to be able to get to a pad quickly. To get outside he'd have to manuever down three flights of stairs to get to the yard. When we move, we'll likely re-train him to use the backyard as his bathroom. I really don't mind them at all, as I have a pretty high tolerance for stinky puppy things As long as he goes on the pads, I can deal with it.

 

[EsmeraldaX]

Originally posted by Dax
and he sleeps with us in bed, and has not had any accidents.

Monty dog sleeps in bed with us and he actually curls up between us, turns on his side, puts his head on the pillow and one paw on the outside of the blanket. I swear he acts like a little person!

 

[JerseyJanice]

I’m no expert on puppy training (by a long shot), but I can proudly say I got my lab mix puppy housebroken in a total of 10 days. He was 7 weeks old when we got him. (Such a great dog!)

Anyway, I learned after 2 days that the worst thing to do was allow him free run of the house. He would hide on me to do his business somewhere in the house.

So I gated him in the kitchen where I am most of the time anyway. I left newspaper down in one spot, and everytime I saw him go near it, I scooped him and ran him into the backyard. When he did what he supposed to outside, I give him a nice treat, and in 8 days, that was it. It’s one year later and no accidents since.

So my suggestion--confine him somewhere in the house where you can keep an eye on him.

 

[susie2]

hi, i hope you dont mind me asking another question, but you all seem to know lots about your dogs, we have a twelve month old cocker spaniel she is wonderful in everyway except when we go out, she then barks and howls the whole time we are out, as you can understand the neighbours do not like this and are getting rather impatient with us, we have bought her different things toys, treats ext to try and occupy her when we are out but this hasnt helped, any advice would be greatly excepted!! we are willing to try any advice thanks susie

 

[Lezah]

We crate trained our Black Lab when we first got him cause it was recommended by the breeder. I haven't ever done that with a dog before. It worked quite well. One of my friends suggested hanging a bell on the patio door (where we let Bear out of) and ringing it each time we let him out to go to the bathroom. He eventually learned to ring the bell if he wanted out and now does it whenever he needs to use the bathroom. It has worked very well. I was extremely skeptical at first, but it worked. The crate has worked really well too. He is crated during the day when we're at work (except when my folks let him outside to play of course various times throughout the day), and is crated at bedtime. We tried letting him stay in our room with us at night, but he won't sleep unless he's in his crate now. I felt bad because he's crated all day, but it is now his home and he feels the most comfortable in it. It is massive and takes up half a wall in my living room and he sprawls out in it quite comfortably. Hope everyone's suggestions help and have fun with the new puppy.

 

[DMickey28]

I should point out that my dog is a Jack Russell Terrier which is amongst the most stubborn breeds of dogs there is. I'm a bit confused by your post, because we researched Corgis extensively as well and were told by many breeders, at least 2 vets and saw on several websites, that they are extremely stubborn as well. (We like stubborn dogs...what can I say?)

I think a stubborn dog is relative... I think that dogs of any breed can vary drastically. During my research I have found that the Pembroke Corgi is more stubborn than the Cardigan however, neither is very stubborn. However one corgi can be and the other can be very passive and eager to learn. As a whole, I found the breed (in research) to be much more positive in being easy to train because they are eager to please. Corgi's want to be part of the family and invovled in all you do. Essentially, from what I found a Corgi sounds like a German Shepard in a Daschaund's body (spelling???) Of course my little furbaby could be a handful but we shall see.... he was defiently the "pick of the litter"

 

[EsmeraldaX]

Originally posted by susie2
hi, i hope you dont mind me asking another question, but you all seem to know lots about your dogs, we have a twelve month old cocker spaniel she is wonderful in everyway except when we go out, she then barks and howls the whole time we are out, as you can understand the neighbours do not like this and are getting rather impatient with us, we have bought her different things toys, treats ext to try and occupy her when we are out but this hasnt helped, any advice would be greatly excepted!! we are willing to try any advice thanks susie

Well, some dogs (and breeds) bark more than others. Monty doesn't really bark at all (we're lucky) but one thing we used to do when we first wanted to get him used to being in his crate and left alone, was we'd leave the room for a while, then come back and give him a treat if he stayed quiet. Then we'd leave the house for a longer time, come back, and then a littlelonger...

That way he learned we were always coming back and there was no need to have a barking bit or feel stressed that we were leaving him.

Another possibility is one of those electronic collars (some emit a light shock at a bark; others emit an annoying noise), but I'd try everything else first.

 

[EsmeraldaX]

Originally posted by DMickey28
I think a stubborn dog is relative... I think that dogs of any breed can vary drastically. During my research I have found that the Pembroke Corgi is more stubborn than the Cardigan however, neither is very stubborn. However one corgi can be and the other can be very passive and eager to learn. As a whole, I found the breed (in research) to be much more positive in being easy to train because they are eager to please. Corgi's want to be part of the family and invovled in all you do. Essentially, from what I found a Corgi sounds like a German Shepard in a Daschaund's body (spelling???) Of course my little furbaby could be a handful but we shall see.... he was defiently the "pick of the litter"

I think corgi's are adorable. It really came down to a corgi or a jack for us. But when we saw Monty, he won us over. Now we're pretty much hooked on jacks. Post a picture of your new puppy when you get him/her!

 

[Kim&Chris]

Hi everyone & thanks for all the advice. I went to PetSmart.com and bought one of those soft-sided crates, and read all the info I could find on Google about crate training. It seems like the best way to go.

Yes, little Belle has had way too many homes for a baby. Between my husband and I, we are doing everything we can to make her feel like part of our little family (O'Hana!!).

We're going to try putting her in her crate, next to our bed, at night. Hopefully this will work because she'll be near us, will be able to see & hear us, and conversely we'll be able to hear her. My husband lets her out around 4 am every night, so she should be fine in that respect.

I'm also going to follow the advice of many of the posters and increase her "outside time". Once every hour or so should be OK.

Once again, thanks for all the advice!!

 

[phamton]

My corgis were the easiest dogs to train. They were so eager to please and so smart. My corgis (pembroke) had a large working/herding dog personality (most like a collie). They never acted like small dogs--never yappy, snappy, or nervous and could rough house with the kids. House breaking was a breeze. My corgis would "pee" on command. When I took them outside and they were taking too long to do their business. I would say "Go to the bathroom" and they'd squat right there and go. They hated to be scolded. The only stubborn/independent dog I have had was my dalmatian. He was not easy to housebreak and never cared whether he pleased us or not.

Right now I have a black lab/mix. He was easy to train also and lives for praise.