Potty training troubles

Sixguns · 02-12-2013, 09:19 AM

Our girl is 4 months old now and we have had her for 2 of those four. She started off pretty good but now she just doesnt seem to care about going outside. The praise and treat are just not enough to get her to go where she should. I am very good about getting her out often, after play, after a nap, and after she eats/drinks. It seems like she just does not want to use the bathroom outside and is okay with getting us upset and what not. She will even take us to the scene of the crime to tell on herself! We have done everything that you can do but nothing helps. Im almost to the point to keeping her in her room all the time and only take her out to take her outside but I feel like that would be mean. I am just so tired of cleaning up what seems like 10-15 times a day.

Mikey T · 02-12-2013, 10:14 AM

Quote:

It seems like she just does not want to use the bathroom outside

if she keeps having accidents in the house she is or has developed a substrate preference for inside the house. You must not let her back in when you take her out until she goes.

Potty training tip

Quote:

Ok, here's a great little trick I picked up while fostering an 8 week old greyhound puppy last summer. Get an x-pen, also called a puppy pen or an exercise pen. They're small pens made of heavy metal wire fencing. They give the pup an area not too much bigger than a large crate, and they sit right on the ground. Set up the x-pen in a grassy area with nothing else on the ground inside it, use a few tent stakes to stake it to the ground so it can't be knocked over if the pup jumps up against it, and put her inside. She doesn't come out to sniff, or play or go inside, until she goes potty. As soon as she goes potty, out she comes with much rejoicing, apply treats to puppy liberally, and then it's play/explore time, or whatever else she wants to do. Her reward for pottying is to get out of "potty prison". It worked pretty well for the little boy I fostered last summer--he had nothing in the pen to distract him from business at hand, and he *really* wanted out so he learned to get to work in a hurry.

Soundtrack · 02-12-2013, 11:44 AM

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She will even take us to the scene of the crime

This suggests that she was unsupervised. The number one requirement for successful housebreaking is prevention. You MUST be watching her at all times when she is loose so as to stop her before she makes a mess and redirect her outside. If you can't be watching her (and I mean watching HER, not having her around while you're doing other things), then she needs to be crated or at least tied to you. Every time she practices peeing inside it makes the habit more ingrained.

Vectisvagrant · 02-12-2013, 12:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sixguns

Our girl is 4 months old now and we have had her for 2 of those four. She started off pretty good but now she just doesnt seem to care about going outside.

Sorry that you feel that you're not getting anywhere but I'm sure you will, remember spending months living on my knees. You must go with her (what ever the weather or time of day) on lead, don't let her play around & paise her when shes goes. When you see her about to start try using the same phrase 'Be busy' or something similar, I'm not a fan of 'Good girl' as you're sure to use it in general praise. Don't get angry, to be honest it's not her fault but yours & remember she is a babe with a small bladder. I'm constantly amazed at owners expecting so much from one 8 weeks from leaving mother & siblings, are we so harsh & expectant of our toddlers? Some people seems to think that by 5/6 months a pup should be fully house trained, & they're setting themself & their dog up for a fall, a year yes but not a pup that young.

Wworm · 02-12-2013, 02:23 PM

Another potty training question

Hi Sixguns, we recently had a thread on this topic, and I posted our experience with Worm, in case you're interested. it's a good thread, with many people posting ideas there for housetraining. Sorry you have to clean up pee so many times a day, that must be really frustrating!

4 months is still really young to be housetrained. Worm was housetrained by 6 months which was still really young for a basset. but one difference is I got him at 4 months so he was already able to hold his bladder (a lot better than at 2 months), so we didn't have 2 months worth of accidents in the house when we got him. i think our situation was easier. so all that to say that it will probably take longer to housetrain your pup, since there are a lot of potty smells.

starting now, it is important to follow your basset around everywhere and most importantly, to interrupt your pup as it's having an accident. at 4 months, i would pick Worm up while he was having an accident and take him outside to his potty spot, where he would finish peeing. that seemed to provide the best training of all of what to do/what not to do.

I think it will get better, but give the pup the next 2-6 months to become fully housetrained. some bassets take longer than that. if you do what is in the thread above, i believe things will start to improve immediately and just get better from there.

Sixguns · 02-12-2013, 04:46 PM

And what makes it even more fustrating is I know that she know "outside" means potty time. Last week she started acting like she needed to go so on when the slippers and jacket and asked her if she needed to go outside. She ran to the door and when I got there to open the door up, she ran back to my office to pee on the floor! I know the cold weather isnt helping us out at all either.

Soundtrack · 02-12-2013, 04:50 PM

She knows "outside" means going outside. Doesn't necessarily mean she knows she's supposed to pee there, much less that she's NOT supposed to pee inside. In fact, it sounds like she thinks she IS supposed to pee inside.

Sixguns · 02-12-2013, 05:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Soundtrack

She knows "outside" means going outside. Doesn't necessarily mean she knows she's supposed to pee there, much less that she's NOT supposed to pee inside. In fact, it sounds like she thinks she IS supposed to pee inside.

I hope she thinks that atleast. This one time when I opened the door and the cold hit her, it was only 5ish outside, that is when she turned and ran. She knows that the door leads to her her potty area because she will run to the door and wait for us. With it getting bad over the last two weeks its mostly with her pee. We have had snow on the ground and with as small as she is, I dont think squating in the cold snow is all that nice.

Vectisvagrant · 02-12-2013, 05:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sixguns

I hope she thinks that atleast. This one time when I opened the door and the cold hit her, it was only 5ish outside, that is when she turned and ran. She knows that the door leads to her her potty area because she will run to the door and wait for us. With it getting bad over the last two weeks its mostly with her pee. We have had snow on the ground and with as small as she is, I dont think squating in the cold snow is all that nice.

Can you not attempt to keep & small area clear of snow ( I know of owners that use a pen outside for house training), & take her on lead to the same spot every time. Hard winter weather is not easy but someone still has to accompany her! Would you shut a toddler in a bathroom & expect them to use the toilet.

Wworm · 02-12-2013, 05:24 PM

if you're picking up pee 10-15 times/day, i would keep her on a leash at all times if i were you. and in a crate when you don't want her tethered to you.

if so, it would have prevented the problem you just described. ie. as you take on your slippers, she would not be able to run back to the office to pee.

she's peeing a lot indoors, so i think you've got to take more extreme measures with her if you want to get on top of this one.

it is hard with the snow. when you take her outside, take her to the places she's gone before and always, always a treat. and tell her what a good dog she is. the better the treat, the better (chicken, steak, beef, etc.)

when you are watching her indoors, and following her around or she is following you around (you should be attached by a leash), you need to be at her level. any time she stops you need to check underneath and see if she stopped to pee. that's the only way to do it, and preferable to finding a puddle she already made. it is tiring and physically exhausting, but if you get the hang of it, she will get the hang of it, probably quickly too.

at 4 months, Worm was small and low to the ground. it was very hard to catch him peeing, as sometimes it's small amounts, but it wasn't impossible if I was very vigilant.

and take a look at the other thread. and start training her with a bell (that's described in the other thread too). start now, and she'll maybe get the hang of it in a month's time. those would be my suggestions.

02-12-2013, 09:19 AM	#1 (permalink)
Sixguns Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: New Mexico Posts: 110	Potty training troubles Our girl is 4 months old now and we have had her for 2 of those four. She started off pretty good but now she just doesnt seem to care about going outside. The praise and treat are just not enough to get her to go where she should. I am very good about getting her out often, after play, after a nap, and after she eats/drinks. It seems like she just does not want to use the bathroom outside and is okay with getting us upset and what not. She will even take us to the scene of the crime to tell on herself! We have done everything that you can do but nothing helps. Im almost to the point to keeping her in her room all the time and only take her out to take her outside but I feel like that would be mean. I am just so tired of cleaning up what seems like 10-15 times a day.

02-12-2013, 02:23 PM	#5 (permalink)
Wworm Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Left Coast Posts: 2,516	Another potty training question Hi Sixguns, we recently had a thread on this topic, and I posted our experience with Worm, in case you're interested. it's a good thread, with many people posting ideas there for housetraining. Sorry you have to clean up pee so many times a day, that must be really frustrating! 4 months is still really young to be housetrained. Worm was housetrained by 6 months which was still really young for a basset. but one difference is I got him at 4 months so he was already able to hold his bladder (a lot better than at 2 months), so we didn't have 2 months worth of accidents in the house when we got him. i think our situation was easier. so all that to say that it will probably take longer to housetrain your pup, since there are a lot of potty smells. starting now, it is important to follow your basset around everywhere and most importantly, to interrupt your pup as it's having an accident. at 4 months, i would pick Worm up while he was having an accident and take him outside to his potty spot, where he would finish peeing. that seemed to provide the best training of all of what to do/what not to do. I think it will get better, but give the pup the next 2-6 months to become fully housetrained. some bassets take longer than that. if you do what is in the thread above, i believe things will start to improve immediately and just get better from there. __________________ see what the Worm is up to: http://bassetworm.blogspot.com/

02-12-2013, 04:50 PM	#7 (permalink)
Soundtrack Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Posts: 3,343	She knows "outside" means going outside. Doesn't necessarily mean she knows she's supposed to pee there, much less that she's NOT supposed to pee inside. In fact, it sounds like she thinks she IS supposed to pee inside. __________________ Rosie-Ch Soundtrack Cracklin' Rose CGN AGN RA Am RN TT Melody-Ch Soundtrack Unchained Melody TT Sailor-Ch Soundtrack Expedition Sailor RN TT Chili-Ch Soundtrack Spice Up Your Life Curry-Ch Soundtrack Canadian Brass Pepper-Ch Pennieslogon Living La Vida Loca CGN Vina-Ch Soundtrack Grand Illusion Leila-Ch Soundtrack Almost Paradise Deela-Ch Soundtrack Wink Of An Eye Hermione - Soundtrack Spellbound Eowyn - Soundtrack Rain Dance

02-12-2013, 05:24 PM	#10 (permalink)
Wworm Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Left Coast Posts: 2,516	if you're picking up pee 10-15 times/day, i would keep her on a leash at all times if i were you. and in a crate when you don't want her tethered to you. if so, it would have prevented the problem you just described. ie. as you take on your slippers, she would not be able to run back to the office to pee. she's peeing a lot indoors, so i think you've got to take more extreme measures with her if you want to get on top of this one. it is hard with the snow. when you take her outside, take her to the places she's gone before and always, always a treat. and tell her what a good dog she is. the better the treat, the better (chicken, steak, beef, etc.) when you are watching her indoors, and following her around or she is following you around (you should be attached by a leash), you need to be at her level. any time she stops you need to check underneath and see if she stopped to pee. that's the only way to do it, and preferable to finding a puddle she already made. it is tiring and physically exhausting, but if you get the hang of it, she will get the hang of it, probably quickly too. at 4 months, Worm was small and low to the ground. it was very hard to catch him peeing, as sometimes it's small amounts, but it wasn't impossible if I was very vigilant. and take a look at the other thread. and start training her with a bell (that's described in the other thread too). start now, and she'll maybe get the hang of it in a month's time. those would be my suggestions. __________________ see what the Worm is up to: http://bassetworm.blogspot.com/ Last edited by Wworm; 02-12-2013 at 05:27 PM.

02-12-2013, 04:46 PM	#6 (permalink)
Sixguns Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: New Mexico Posts: 110	And what makes it even more fustrating is I know that she know "outside" means potty time. Last week she started acting like she needed to go so on when the slippers and jacket and asked her if she needed to go outside. She ran to the door and when I got there to open the door up, she ran back to my office to pee on the floor! I know the cold weather isnt helping us out at all either.

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