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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think I’ve fonally lost the plot re puppy toilet training

30 replies

MyKingdomForACaramel · 18/03/2018 21:10

Was tempted to name change but will brace it.
My little pup is completely refusing to go to the loo outside. I go out every hour with him, I’ve tried a pee post etc. He’s got to the point where he will lie down at the door threshold and not go out.

Anyway - my aibu is not regarding how to toilet train a puppy - it’s regarding the crazy lengths I have gone to...

So yesterday after yet another failed attempt I was sitting on the loo and had a “brainwave”. I grabbed a bottle and collected my “sample” if you will - decanted into an empty spray can and sprayed on the Pee post... Aibu to think that I’ve lost the plot!

(Ps it didn’t work)

OP posts:
Glumglowworm · 18/03/2018 21:32

If it makes you feel better, Courteny Cox once told the world on the Ellen show that to get her dog to pee on some artificial grass thing at her new apartment, she went and peed on it (it worked). Ellen’s response was to suggest what you did actually.

QualityDogWrangler2 · 18/03/2018 21:33

Give up, buy puppy pads, and a holder form pet planet, the cheapest place I found, and lots of the cleaning/urine hiding/ disinfectant spray they sell, and trainnon those. Invest in those white small bin bags, and life is much easier, until puppy agrees, when he’s a bit bigger. Really..
( put clean puppy pad over the holder, when small, as it’s easy to clean, as well as one inside) the holder is so the pup won’t drag them all around the kitchen or whatever room you are training in..

thinkingofsomething · 18/03/2018 21:34

Not sure if it helps - occasionally when its cold, my dogs refuse to go outside...

So I carry them to the furtherest point of the yard, rub their back/Tummy a little bit and usually in the troop back to the house they do their business

Good luck! Toilet training anything is the worst

Original poster
MyKingdomForACaramel · 18/03/2018 21:41

@glum - excellent I’m now feeling a bit rock chick rather than demented dog owner Smile

OP posts:
picklemepopcorn · 18/03/2018 22:05

It's very cold and miserable out there! My puppy training low was when I stood out in the rain by a suitable looking spot and held the brolly over the dog. He wouldn't go because of the rain, so...

Bubblysqueak · 18/03/2018 22:09

Could be worse. She. Toilet training the dc my ddog saw how much praise etc they were getting so decided he would use the loo too. But unfortunately he wasn't quite tall enough to get it all I the toilet and lots ended up in a puddle. We Now have to keep all doors firmly shut to stop him getting in the bathroom.

Original poster
MyKingdomForACaramel · 18/03/2018 22:17

@bubbly - that’s hilarious! At one point ddog followed my husband into the loo - the minute he saw my husband go - he squatted down and started too - it did make me chuckle (though am not laughing so much now!)

OP posts:
deste · 18/03/2018 23:06

Do you take him on walks or can you go with another dog walker because if one dog goes the other dog usually insists on going in the same place,

SomewhereInbetween1 · 19/03/2018 12:13

Every hour isn't frequently enough. Every half an hour is better and you need to hang around outside until they go to the toilet. Puppy pads aren't generally recommended as they teach the dog that since the pads are inside, anywhere inside is fine. Best thing to do, and I know it's horrid in this weather, is to head outside, wait until the magic happens and then reward. Never in my life did I ever think I'd get so excited to see my dog shit than I did when she was training haha Grin

LakieLady · 19/03/2018 12:33

How old is he? I see no point in trying to housetrain seriously much earlier than 12 weeks. They just don't seem to get it. It's also a chore at this time of year, when it's cold and horrid. I've never had a winter puppy, and never will, for this very reason.

Have you learned to spot the signs that he needs to pee (sniffing, circling etc) and do you take him out as soon as he wakes, straight after eating, after drinking etc? I used to scoop my boy up and get him outside before he was properly awake (and got peed on a couple of times for my trouble).

Before he's much older, he will be pissing up everything in sight. That's when you can really start doing the praise/reward thing. My boy started lifting his leg at about 16 weeks (small breed though) and after that, he could barely go 10 yards without a pee.

Keilninnock · 19/03/2018 13:25

Training pads are effective but it's hard to get them out of it. The only way that has ever worked for us, after several hundred fosters, is to have a chair and a book in The garden and a pocket full of cheese. Ignore. Wait. And wait...Then cheese. After a few times it does start to get in. My husband once spent 4 hours waiting. 😀

Keilninnock · 19/03/2018 13:26

I agree about maturity. It's pointless when they are too young.

LakieLady · 19/03/2018 13:30

Ignore. Wait. And wait...Then cheese.

A caution re cheese: I once absent mindedly gave Old Dog and puppy a tiny bit of cheese each when making a sandwich.

Very soon afterwards, puppy had the most godawful explosive diarrhoea. I couldn't believe how much shit such a small creature could contain. He must have been entirely made of poo!

Keilninnock · 19/03/2018 13:40

Ouch! Yes I think it needs to be more a treat that the pup Really, really desires.

On a serious note, I lost a dog who stole a small amount of curry, half a dish. The onions gave him liver failure l. So the above is much more sensible. Smelly treats would be better.

LakieLady · 19/03/2018 13:48

Omg, we often give Lola Loudmouth leftover curry! Never half a dish though, there's never that much left over. Really sorry to hear what happened to yours, Keil.

I got a lecture from the vet about garlic, when I mentioned that she* adores pasta carbonara. Again, not loads, more a garnish of pasta and sauce with her normal dinner.

*dog, not vet

MyKingdomForBrie · 19/03/2018 13:50

My SIL pee’d in a new garden to get her ddog to use it, it absolutely worked! I think you just have to keep trying and stay consistent and go nuts on the praise when it happens.

Cath2907 · 19/03/2018 14:14

Am still working my way through the housetraining thing myself. I found a visit to the garden every 20 minutes with me standing there and waiting (if he trots up and stands by the back door I just carry him back to the far end of the garden, rinse and repeat). After 10 mins we go back in and then in 20 mins we do it all over again. I keep greasy chicken bits in a little bag in my pocket (plain roasted thigh meat chopped small and bag replaced midday with fresh from fridge to avoid food poisoning). If he goes outside lots of praise and a bit of chicken. I watched him like a hawk inside if he sniffed and circled off we went outside immediately. I sometimes caught him mid-go and immediately carried him out. I spent 3 weeks sat in the conservatory with him watching him or out in the garden watching him. Once he'd got a good few outside wees praised and rewarded he seemed to at least vaguely get the idea but I found the moment I let him into more of the house my control slipped and there were pee puddles again. It was an intense and horrid and very very cold 3 weeks. He has now been here 6 weeks and has the run of downstairs but is generally kept in whatever room I am in. I take him out every 1 - 2 hours and he goes outside ok. If I leave him with hubby hubby is lazy about it and won't stand in the garden long enough or often enough so dog shits in a corner.

I once picked him up mid shit and ran for the garden with my hand under his arse - arrived with a relieved dog and a hand covered in squished shit!!

Soubriquet · 19/03/2018 14:43

Do you take your puppy out every time it wakes up, straight after it's eaten, before it plays and after it plays?

WiddlinDiddling · 19/03/2018 14:58

I feel your pain..

Despite spending my professional life advising against it I have two puppies (outing probably, hi folks!)..

One, the younger one, is quite good at trundling outside, dropping his drawers and doing teh biz.

The older one however is not - oh no, she would rather widdle on the dog beds or anything (even a scrap of paper) she finds on the floors than go outside.

Even though I know exactly why shes doing this and how to stop it - does not make actually stopping it any easier.

Hours of trouping in and out of the house asking for wee-wees, no wee-wees, coming in BLINKING and she's pissing on the floor....

Some dogs are just bloody hard to housetrain!

Carouselfish · 19/03/2018 15:07

Every dog I've ever had we did this:
Take out first thing in morning, after eating or drinking and last thing at night.
Cover entire floor of kitchen in newspaper. When they wee on one clear it up but leave a small bit on the paper nearest the back door.
Gradually over weeks reduce the amount of newspaper until it's just a couple of pieces by the back door.
Move the pieces of newspaper outside for a few days.
No more paper required.

Carouselfish · 19/03/2018 15:07

Every dog I've ever had we did this:
Take out first thing in morning, after eating or drinking and last thing at night.
Cover entire floor of kitchen in newspaper. When they wee on one clear it up but leave a small bit on the paper nearest the back door.
Gradually over weeks reduce the amount of newspaper until it's just a couple of pieces by the back door.
Move the pieces of newspaper outside for a few days.
No more paper required.

Nikephorus · 19/03/2018 16:16

Hours of trouping in and out of the house asking for wee-wees, no wee-wees, coming in BLINKING and she's pissing on the floor....
Try coming in and then turning round and going straight back out again!

Soubriquet · 19/03/2018 16:34

Some dogs are just bloody hard to housetrain

My old rescue dog was impossible to train. Ended up giving up in the end and laying Lino everywhere and cleaning up afterwards. He just never clicked. He was pts in 2013 and I still miss my little man. He was a pain in the arse and pissed everywhere but he was still special.

Defintely not my training as my current dog is fully trained.

Original poster
MyKingdomForACaramel · 19/03/2018 22:26

He does go first thing in the morning when I take him out (and god the song and dance I make when he does!) he’s not that young (18 weeks) but is a small breed that is notoriously hard to potty train - hence my ridiculously extreme measures!

OP posts:
Soubriquet · 20/03/2018 06:39

What breed?

I've got a chihuahua and she's incredibly clever if a little stubborn. She took a couple of months to train as where I thought I had cleaned the accidents, I forgot about the backing and she kept going back there. Replaced the rugs now and she's completely dry.

Take your dog out every half an hour. If you suspect they need the toilet and they won't go, walk back to the house and then turn around and go straight back outside.

Every half an hour until they learn that toileting in the house has no benefit. After eating, after waking, before playing, after playing.

Make sure you clean the accidents with proper stuff that gets rid of the urine. Not bleach. It makes it worse

Go right back to basics.

Good luck.

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