Going nowhere with potty training

[liashellie]

We have a doxie-pit mix, Maci. She was born 12/29 so is almost 4 months old. Her previous owner didn't want to keep her, so I took her. She told me that Maci was housetrained, which was the main reason I convinced my husband to let us have her. She said that Maci would paw at her leg to go out.

I've had this pup for a week now, and I can assure you this is not the case. She pees and poops in the house every chance she gets. I follow her around every second so she has no place to hide, so she will just squat by my leg. No sniffing around, nothing. She apparently wants nothing to do with being outside, refuses to leave the concrete patio and runs back to the steps and stares at me. Yesterday and today seemed like they were going well, with me taking her outside 50 times, of course she went okay. But then today, she peed in the entry way as soon as we came in from going pee. 5 minutes later, she escaped the kitchen (she's barricaded into the kitchen to prevent accidents) and I ran after her immediately, but she has somehow managed to make a third puddle on the rug by then.

My husband's angry because he didn't want to have to clean up after a non-trained dog. I'm sort of angry for the same reason, and now that I'm reading doxies are terrible to train and some may never be fully trained at all...I'm having anxiety. I can't follow a dog around constantly for the next 15+ years.

Tips please??? My husband is staying home this summer while I work....I already know the poor dog is gonna be crated every time I'm gone.

 

[Nell]

The key to toilet training is all about patience and habit. Every time your pup messes inside is a big step backwards. Trust me this can be done in just a few days but you will need to dedicate that time 100% to your puppy.

Choose a time when you will be around all the time, for as long as it takes (give yourself a week but it probably wont take that long). No lie ins, you have to get up early and go to bed late for a few days.

Get rid of all wee and poo smells in the house, be really thorough as they can smell it even when you think its clean. Decide between you and your husband who is going to watch her in shifts. Make outside fun, take a ball or her favourite toy and play with her, eventually she will pee as exercise stimulates the bowels and bladder, make loads of fuss give her a couple of treats and take her back inside. Give her a cuddle and some one to one time then watch her like a hawk. In a couple of hours take her out again, maybe a walk on the lead this time, when she pees outside give loads of praise. She needs to go out every two hours to begin with to prevent accidents in doors. Over the next few days if she is progressing well you can slowly extend this time up to three hours.

Should an accident happen in doors let her know how displeased you are, don't hit her or shout, growl in a deep disapproving voice "baaaad girl!" remember its not about volume its about the tone of your voice. Clean the mess up straight away (thoroughly).

Consistency is the key here, the more she pees and poos outside the more it reinforces this is the place to go. Trust me I know this is going to be a pain for a few days but it is sooo worth it and you will reap the rewards for years to come.

 

[JPsMOM]

+1 on what Nell said! It works! I am going through the very same thing and it is indeed getting better. We also took the step of putting a set of bells hanging from an old leash by the door, and first trained him to "touch" the bell with his nose and a click and treat for it. Moved on to asking him to "touch" before we went outside. He now rings it automatically once we get the leash out. He hasnt rung the bell to let us know he has to go out yet, but that will come with time im sure.

Also, i would love to see a pic...i am curious to know what Pit/doxie looks like!

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[Penny]

I think that was misinformation regarding her being house trained. A dog may indeed be housetrained but once you uproot her from her family, her home, her routine, the new family has to expect to start from scratch, regardless of the age of the dog. They have to learn new rules with a new pack, and that can take time.

Nothing like putting her in a crate if she hasn't peed outside, wait fifteen minutes and bring outside again. When she does, give her some nice reward, a very tasty treat right on the spot, or throw a ball for her. When we got Engli, she was an adult and it was not going well. Her high value treat turned out to be ball time. We had a baby gate up, it came down and we played hide the ball. That got her peeing in record time, no fooling around. She learned how to get the baby gate down quickly.

Our best wishes, and do try to be patient. It will go better if you aren't fuming, which is hard I know. Looking forward to pics!!

 

[Hunter's Parade]

Take her outside after sleeping,after eating,after playing and somewhere in the middle if you think she could pee.When she does it praise her!If she does it inside clean it up and ignore or what Nell said.
The one thing that sometimes works if the dog is very stubborn and just keeps doing it inside,but you know that she knows it has to be done outside is putting her outside the room.No words,nothing,just put her away,doors shut and let her sit there for a while.They don't like to be outsiders and being ignored.This worked for my last puppy(still pup now 6 months).She peed in my bed,I grabbed her,putted her in corridor for 20 minutes and she spent a night on the floor.Somehow after this she doesn't pee in house at all,there was one accident,but that was just one in more than a month.But for this you have to be sure she knows why is she being punished like this.

 

[Hunter's Parade]

Adn what Penny says.Before almost 2 years I got 13months old female.She did it in bed,she did it when I was already opening doors to go out or leashing her.That was just awful time,but we did it.Praising when outside and ignoring or showing how mad you are when done inside.

 

[liashellie]

Maci seems to be doing better. I don't let two hours go by, we've figured out her favorite outdoor elimination spots, and she only gets treats when she goes. We're down to one accident a day.

I won't be comfortable until she can take charge of bathroom habits and let me know when she needs to go. Hopefully this won't take too long.

Anyway, here she is, half doxie, half pit!

 

[nerdrock]

Maci seems to be doing better. I don't let two hours go by, we've figured out her favorite outdoor elimination spots, and she only gets treats when she goes. We're down to one accident a day.

I won't be comfortable until she can take charge of bathroom habits and let me know when she needs to go. Hopefully this won't take too long.

Anyway, here she is, half doxie, half pit!

She's adorable!

Mine don't let me know when they need to go out (ages nearly 6 and nearly 8), we just let them out every 2-4 hours and they go. They are either crated or in an exercise pen when we aren't home.

Due to different living situations, Sadie is trained to go outside, on pee pads or in a litterbox. She hasn't had to use the litterbox for ~ 5 years now, but will still use the cats' boxes every once in awhile if she has to go and doesn't feel like or can't go outside.

 

[Lupita]

That's wonderful progress!

And don't give up...they can be so frustrating to housetrain but your patience will pay off.

My Lupi was almost 5 months before she "got it" and we had her since she was just 4 weeks old. Now she's 6.5 years and hasn't had an accident in over 4 years. We can take her anywhere or leave her for any length of time, and she will not go indoors.
Our puppy, Lacy, came to us at 11 weeks. We've been consistent with taking her out but she still had tons of "accidents", just like you described, until a week ago. Suddenly, at about 4 months, it just clicked. She started telling us when she needed to go outside and hasn't gone inside the house since.

Just keep at it, and give lots of praise when Maci goes to the bathroom outside. She will be just fine