[glb123]

Hi all. I am new to this site as well as a new Basset mommy. I adopted a 3yr old boy is June from the shelter. I have to say I was hesitant at first, but my son (he’s 12) really wanted him. Well before long I saw past the drool and fell in love. He is my sweet Bubbie! My son jokes I love Bubbie more than him. I can’t imagine why anyone would ever give him up. However he is not fond of being left alone. At first I left him loose when we were gone but after coming home and he had jumped (even with those short legs!) on my kitchen table and broke a glass table in my bedroom trying to stand on it I began crating him when we are gone. Being the wonderful boy he is he adjusted fine. I felt guilty though. Everything I was reading said that most people have more than 1 Basset because they get lonely. So about 3 months ago we got Bella. She was 4 months old. She is my troublemaker! She likes to counter surf, bark and pee and poop anywhere but outside. She knows she isn’t supposed to because she will go hide and do it. Then she comes out, tail between her legs. I think to myself why are you doing it when you know you are going to be in trouble! She is still sleeping in the crate at night because of this but she even pees in her crate at night! The vet says she is healthy and her crate is the right size. I just don’t know what to do. Maybe she is stubborn and will just take longer. I guess Bubbie spoiled me! Any advice??
Also I can't figure out how to upload pics. I keep getting error messages to contact board admin

 

[Houndsong]

I'll let others address the behavioral issues.

As for the pictures, this seems to be a common problem; I had it too when I recently rejoined, as have other new members. To successful post pictures, I created an account at photobucket.com and uploaded my pictures there (all very simple). From that point, all I had to do is copy the IMG Code link (the bottom one below the photobucket photo) and paste it directly into my post here. No need to click on the Insert Image icon here. Looking forward to your pictures,

Art

 

[tstonich]

Hi, I just went through what you're going through. Here are some great free video tips on house training your new Basset pup.

Petvideo.com

Bear in mind your puppy has no idea where you want it to go to the bathroom, and clearly it knows its bad to go inside, which is why she is making sure no one is looking when it goes inside the house.

Watch the videos to learn what some great tips are in housetraining... this worked for me.

 

[murraysmom]

Welcome! It's great to see so many new members posting! :lol: !

 

[Yogi's Mom]

Welcome to the forum! Very nice pictures of your hounds. Both are very cute!
As far as the problems that you are having with Bella, I would like to recommend a very good training book for you to read by Brian Kilcommons called Great Dogs, Good Owners. This book addresses many behavior problems as well as common housebreaking problems. While I don't agree with everything in this book, there is so much stuff in there that is very helpful. Also, the chapters are all clearly marked so if you are having a specific problem you can start there. You can also use the search button and you will find many posts come up for housebreaking problems.
I wouldn't worry so much about Bella's size as long as the vet says she is healthy. I have seen many hounds that only weigh about 35 pounds all the way up to 75 pounds!

 

[rkw]

I had some trouble with grace, but i just kept taking her out (often) and every time she did , make a big deal about it , good girl ,yea,maybe a treat. In the last 2 weeks she has had 2 accidents. I think 1 was our fault for not letting her out soon enough.

 

[Beverly Anne]

Hello and welcome! Check out the FAQ section and read up on the Housebreaking thread. It's got some good asvice and great links. Good Luck!

 

[Aruuuu]

Just want to add my 2 cents regarding Brian's book -- he and his wife, Sarah Wilson, are very wise in the ways of dogs. Their common-sense approach is a good one and it works.

I've had a number of young bassets in the past five years, and housebreaking can be frustrating. I find that getting them out, initially every hour on the hour, then every two hours, then every three, and so on, worked. Edith Ann was a year old when I brought her home, Eloise was ten months. They had both lived in kennels where they were free to go in and out at will, so coming into a house was a new experience for them. I started from square one, as if they were 8-week-old puppies, and while it took awhile, eventually they got it. It's important that you go out with your girl, even if you have a yard you can let her run loose in, so that you can have a praise party when she goes outside. It will take time! You don't say where you got Bella?

 

[glb123]

Just want to add my 2 cents regarding Brian's book -- he and his wife, Sarah Wilson, are very wise in the ways of dogs. Their common-sense approach is a good one and it works.

I've had a number of young bassets in the past five years, and housebreaking can be frustrating. I find that getting them out, initially every hour on the hour, then every two hours, then every three, and so on, worked. Edith Ann was a year old when I brought her home, Eloise was ten months. They had both lived in kennels where they were free to go in and out at will, so coming into a house was a new experience for them. I started from square one, as if they were 8-week-old puppies, and while it took awhile, eventually they got it. It's important that you go out with your girl, even if you have a yard you can let her run loose in, so that you can have a praise party when she goes outside. It will take time! You don't say where you got Bella?[/b]

I got Bella from a young girl whose parents had gotten her as a gift. She thought Bella would be to "big" and was just looking for someone to take. The girl said her parents had gotten her from a farm. That's all I know. Shouldn't she at 7/8 months be able to hold it through the night. I woke up this a.m. and she had pooped and peed in her crate. She went to the vet Sat., no UTI's. I just don't understand. I feel sorry for her because it can't be fun to be in the crate like that. Then she has to take a bath too.

 

[murraysmom]

OK, this is what I did with Murray to prevent night time accidents:

I put his small crate with a big comfy blanket right next to the bed on my side. When he had to do his business during the night, he would fuss a little because he didn't want to soil his bedding. I'm a light sleeper- when I heard him moving around, I would get up, put his leash on, take him outside to his potty place, praise him, then take him back up to bed.When he was a baby, I would get up a couple of times each night, as he got older, once was enough. Once he could hold it through the night, he started sleeping downstairs-


This helped him to understand that if he signalled me, I would take him out to potty. This was a huge help in housebreaking him.

I've had dogs all my life, and this method has always worked for me.

 

[Mikey T]

. So about 3 months ago we got Bella. She was 4 months old. She is my troublemaker! She likes to counter surf, bark and pee and poop anywhere but outside. She knows she isn’t supposed to because she will go hide and do it. Then she comes out, tail between her legs. I think to myself why are you doing it when you know you are going to be in trouble! She is still sleeping in the crate at night because of this but she even pees in her crate at night! The vet says she is healthy and her crate is the right size. I just don’t know what to do. Maybe she is stubborn and will just take longer. I guess Bubbie spoiled me! Any advice??[/b]

First often you are mistaken if you beleive she know defecating in the house is wrong. Her behavior that you term as "quilt" is a reaction to reading your body language afterwards see the following links for a clearer explaination

Punishment or Negative Reinforcement - Draw your own conclusions, Pardner.

Why Can't a Dog Be More Like a Dog?


Keep in mind while the adage the at dog won't soil its den are general true there are many dog this is simply not true for. A crate then is simply an ineffective tool for potty training. Potty training was done for centuries with out one so it is not required you just need to come up with other method to prevent accidents. I have often set the alarm for the middle of the night to take a dog out until I was confident they could go all night.

the following is one of the best articles on housetraining on the web
Housetraining Your Puppy

 

[biscuit]

I'm currently completing the process of housebreaking a little houndie - not a basset, but a little redbone coonhound mix.

And this is what I've learned (some of which I remembered from housebreaking Yogi):

First, it does no good to penalize them for accidents while you're not home or while you're otherwise unavailable. Instead, clean it up as quickly and thoroughly as possible.

Second, let them out as often as they want to go. Even though my houndie is ten (going on eleven) months old, it's more often than you might think and sometimes means two outside trips a night.

Third, make going out to potty fun. Reward them for it, which in this household means carrots. Gad, I'm sick of the carrot mania around here, but whatever works, I suppose!

And fourth, a restatement of the second: clean it up clean it up clean it up! I've been using Nature's Miracle. I've been getting it by the gallon (eeeyup) from drugstore.com for $18, so I can use plenty of it when the need be. And it actually works.

Following this procedure has meant a full four days now with no accidents. Yea! But you have to be vigilant.

Good luck!

 

[biscuit]

Oh, and I buy it from drugstore.com because they offer free shipping once you've purchased $50 worth of stuff. So I get two gallons of it, then stock up on toothbrushes and whatever.

I just Froogled Nature's Miracle, and the lowest price I found was $14.99 - with 13.99 shipping. !.

 

[Aruuuu]

Nature's Miracle is great stuff and worth the price!

How big is Bella's crate? If it's big enough for her to soil and get away from the pee/poop, it's too big.

Also, I found that if Eloise has a blankie she can fluff, she'll also pee in it. So now, I give her a piece of foam (an egg crate mattress pad cut to size) which I've covered with a plastic vinyl table cloth and a sheet, both of which are duct taped in place. She doesn't pee on this. But she's never pooped in her crate, so I'm probably dealing with different issues!

Is there a chance that the 'farm' Bella originally came from was in fact a puppy mill? If so, she may have learned at a very early age that soiling a crate is the only way to relieve oneself.

There's some really good advice here:

Advice on Crate Soiling

 

[glb123]

Nature's Miracle is great stuff and worth the price!

How big is Bella's crate? If it's big enough for her to soil and get away from the pee/poop, it's too big.

Also, I found that if Eloise has a blankie she can fluff, she'll also pee in it. So now, I give her a piece of foam (an egg crate mattress pad cut to size) which I've covered with a plastic vinyl table cloth and a sheet, both of which are duct taped in place. She doesn't pee on this. But she's never pooped in her crate, so I'm probably dealing with different issues!

Is there a chance that the 'farm' Bella originally came from was in fact a puppy mill? If so, she may have learned at a very early age that soiling a crate is the only way to relieve oneself.

There's some really good advice here:

Advice on Crate Soiling[/b]

It is possilbe that it was a puppy mill. I don't really know. I think I am confused on the issue of crate size. The one she is in know is large enough for her to completely stretch out. She doen't do that though. She curls up at one end or another and sleeps. So I guess this is leaving a preetty large area open for her to go.

 

[Aruuuu]

Yep, it might be. You can make the crate smaller in a variety of ways. My wire crate has an insert I can put anywhere inside the crate to make it as big or small as needed. I think people have used cardboard boxes to take up the extra space (good as long as your dog doesn't demolish the box ) . Maybe you could try this?

 

[beatwig]

Hi all. I am new to this site as well as a new Basset mommy. I adopted a 3yr old boy is June from the shelter. I have to say I was hesitant at first, but my son (he’s 12) really wanted him. Well before long I saw past the drool and fell in love. He is my sweet Bubbie! My son jokes I love Bubbie more than him. I can’t imagine why anyone would ever give him up. However he is not fond of being left alone. At first I left him loose when we were gone but after coming home and he had jumped (even with those short legs!) on my kitchen table and broke a glass table in my bedroom trying to stand on it I began crating him when we are gone. Being the wonderful boy he is he adjusted fine. I felt guilty though. Everything I was reading said that most people have more than 1 Basset because they get lonely. So about 3 months ago we got Bella. She was 4 months old. She is my troublemaker! She likes to counter surf, bark and pee and poop anywhere but outside. She knows she isn’t supposed to because she will go hide and do it. Then she comes out, tail between her legs. I think to myself why are you doing it when you know you are going to be in trouble! She is still sleeping in the crate at night because of this but she even pees in her crate at night! The vet says she is healthy and her crate is the right size. I just don’t know what to do. Maybe she is stubborn and will just take longer. I guess Bubbie spoiled me! Any advice??
Also I can't figure out how to upload pics. I keep getting error messages to contact board admin[/b]

You could try to hanging a bell on the doorknob. It helps them focus on the purpose rather than being naughty... I worked great for me. You have him move the bell with his nose. Say wee, wee.. You take him to his site and reward. My Wiggie is 3 1/2 and no longer needs the bell.

mary frances

 

[Rubydoo]

We used to have to take Ruby out a whole bunch of times in the middle of the night along with when we took her out during the day.

We got her to pick up her bear (we call all of her toys "bears"), and bring it to us when she had to do #2.

You have to give your bassets the times you want them to go potty. For example, we were always very consistant with the potty schedule and to this day, Ruby is still on course (we got her at 11 weeks of age and now she's 9 years old). Yes it means a lot of going outside and if you live where it snows or weather is awful, then you'll have to gear up (boots, coat, hat gloves), etc. and plan for it. It used to take me longer to gear up than it did for Ruby to have her feet hit the snow on the deck and pee. tee hee That was when she was very young tho and in Massachusetts, (which I call Bassetchusetts, because that's where Ruby was born and where we got her).

Dog training sometimes helps too. We took Ruby to puppy kindergarten and we didn't think she learned anything as she was doing the stubborn-mule-basset act all the time. Then out of the blue when I told her to sit, she actually did! When I told her to stay, well, that word didn't work, but "hold still" did.

You also have to learn to read the signs about them having to go potty...I can look at Ruby and I think I know what she's thinking. I swear she and I are on the same wave length too. For example, every morning since she was a wee puppy, we'd take her out. She'd do her business. Then we'd ask, "do you want to eat?". In she'd run and she'd get her breakfast. Afterwards, we'd go back outside for another potty session. And so on. I was home with her all day long and chose the times she'd go out......now that she's older, she doesn't go out as often but there's still certain times of the day that she'll stop what's she's doing and want to go potty. One of them is 3:30 p.m. and it seems as tho I can set the clock to it.

The funny thing is that the other day I was sick and in bed with sinus woes. Ruby was in the bedroom stretched out on her bed snoring away. In my half sleep, half awake mode, I was thinking that I hope Ruby does NOT wake up now and have to go potty because I felt so bad and didn't want to get out of bed. Lo and behold, she woke up, went over to my side of the bed and sat there and whined! I swear she read my mind!!

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Janice and my smart little Ruby

 

[Yogi's Mom]

I was just wondering how things are going with the housebreaking? Have you made progress with Bella?

 

[glb123]

I was just wondering how things are going with the housebreaking? Have you made progress with Bella?[/b]

Things are better. I bought a smaller crate and she won't poop in that one. She will still howver on occasion pee in it. I tried to let her sleep in the bed the other night and she went on the floor again. I feel bad putting her in the crate when Bubbie gets to sleep in the bed. But what can I do???