Puppy potty training advice, please!

[LK03]

That lil' bugger in my signature is 5.5 months old. He's a lhasa apso which I've read are hard to potty train. He is also neutured (if that makes a difference). We live in an apartment where we have a private entrance on the first floor and walk up a flight of stairs to the apartment. If he has to go he will sit by the stairs and look at us, and the stairs. Simple enough. He does that we take him out! If he hasn't done that in an hour or two, we take him out anyways. This morning him and our female cat were chasing each other back and forth and then she jumped on the kitchen table chair and he just squatted! Out of nowhere he peed a little. I cleaned it up, sprayed the enzyme spray like I would do and continued on. He also has a diaper that was recommended by our puppy class trainer. She said once he pees in that he won't ever do it again, and that should really speed up the process. However, I don't think it has. I'd say he finds a way to pee in the house maybe once a day or every two days. I don't like this AT all and it's never in the same spot because the enzyme spray really works. I will be watching him and then when I see him make that squatting position I yell and clap no, but he just goes and alas it didn't seem to work. Is there something I'm doing wrong here? If he is squatting and starts peeing what am I to do? Just let it go, yell or something I'm missing? Please any advice would help. I'd really like to get him more potty trained so I could trust him in the kitchen in a gated area for 2 hours for example without him peeing/pooping in the area.

 

[kayeandjim00]

I myself am not a fan of puppy pads or diapers but if your trainer suggests them I'd try it. However it seems like you aren't having success with it so I'd go back to not using them. We have a beagle/basset mix and we are in the midst of training right now. Here are the tips we've gotten from our vet and dog trainer and so far it's been working! We have gone from a couple of accidents a day to about 1 a week.
1. Take the dog to the same spot every hour - (except at night of course) it's exhausting I know but shouldn't take long for him to get it.

2. If you take him out and he doesn't pee - umbilical cord him - that is tie the leash to you so that he can't get out of your sight and go potty.

3. If he does pee when you take him out give him freedom - soon he will see that going potty outside = being able to play freely.

4. Crate him at night.

5. If you see him go potty don't say - no or bad just startle him and immediately take him out even if you know he won't go.

6. Praise like crazy when they go potty outside and even give a treat everytime for awhile.

Good Luck!

 

[sheilarose2]

When ever I started with my pup I also took her out almost every hour. I also used the same word "You need to go outside?" or "outside" everytime. She knows what it means now. She will go to the door and scratch on it and whine if I haven't asked her in a while. I try to use the front door most of the time as well. Puppy pads did not work at all. Took me about a month to train her and she is a toy rat terrier so she has a small bladder. I also gave her a treat when she went. You might even try more then once an hour-I know that will get tiresome but might be worth it to try because if he does not go the first time you take him out then he possibly could go within 20 minutes. You just need to be consistant with him. Choose a word that you can use each time that he can recognize with potty outside.
Good luck and hope this helps.
Sheila

 

[SueM in MN]

There is a person named Katie K9 on the radio in Minneapolis on Saturday mornings. She gives advice pretty much like this website.

 

[Aimeedyan]

To save your carpets, try the umbillical method. My Shih Tzu (similar to Lhasa) took 1.5 years to train. Another dog finally trained him (a puppy - way smarter than our Shih Tzu).

When we moved into this house, I wanted to keep our carpets nice so I tied him to me at all times. He never had the chance to go find a nice place to potty because it was a 4 ft leash. He didn't have much space to work with =) I tied it around my beltloop.

Try that and see if things improve - he seems to know what he's supposed to do, he's just not consistent...

 

[JerseyJanice]

Wish I could help, but I have a big dog who was fairly easy to train. (Took all of 10 days to housebreak my dog. A big dog equals a big bladder and bowels.)

One thing, though, I do believe is this--don't allow an untrained dog to have run of your house. If your dog is peeing and pooping all around your place, block him/her into a small area. When you see him looking to do something, run him outside ASAP, and then praise the heck out of him for doing it there instead of somewhere indoors. Small cheese cubes make for an excellent reward!

Good luck to you!

 

[BlindTyldak]

Are you using a crate? I would really recommend it for nights and when you are out of the house, in combination with the umbilical method; as soon as you let him out of the crate, RIGHT OUTSIDE. And don't hesitate to get a crate just big enough for him to lie down in and turn around in, he'll actually really like the den feeling and he won't soil a small crate where he would lie in it. Talk to your trainer, they could advise an appropriate sized crate for him and talk to you about any concerns you might have.

Right now it sounds like he knows nothing is going to happen when you clap at him, so the constant leash should be a HUGE help . . . knocking him off ballance once or twice so that he sprays himself instead of the carpet is a big deterrent.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Your puppy has too much freedom. No freedom till he is potty trained, sorry. There is no other way.

You have to "umbilicial" him to you with a leash.

When he squats you tell him no and bring him outside to finish his business. Be firm and consistent.

The key here is to catch him in the act so you can train him.