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toilet training puppy advice needed

14 replies

lillybloom · 04/08/2010 08:46

Hi everyone My gorgeous wee westie has lived with us for a week now and is 9 weeks old. She is doing really well with her toilet training so far but during the last few days she seems to have favoured a space in the kitchen for urinating. Is there anything we can do to prevent this? I am cleaning the area thoroughly and taking her outside as soon as she squats. Thanks in advance.

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silentcatastrophe · 04/08/2010 11:49

You need to clean the area with something like biological soap powder, Simple Solution, or something that breaks down the enzymes in wee. It is also important to clean any nearby walls/surfaces etc as any remnants of smell will remind the pup that it can wee in the area. We have a similar problem with our new dog. Our pup uses the same place at roughly the same time of day. We can close the area off and take him out, which should sort the problem. You can make the area unattractive by sprinkling ground pepper on it. Dogs do not like the feeling of pepper up their noses!

lillybloom · 04/08/2010 12:33

Thanks Silent will go try that now. Will let you know how it goes.

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newpup · 04/08/2010 12:50

Can definately recommend Simple Solution, fantastic stuff! Pets at Home sell it.

Ellielou02 · 04/08/2010 20:34

Newpup I was just away to write this exact post, but our westie is a dog and a week older at 10 weeks, I have just cleaned up poo in the hall (the only carpet we have downstairs ) I love him to bits and am trying really hard with the training but its getting me down now to be honest. I have news papaer by the back door and am taking him out when he starts sniffing and when he wakes up. I praise him when he goes on the paper and when he goes outside. I think I will go and buy some simple solution tomorrow as am using zoflora just now and am going through a whole kitchen roll in a day , I think he uses paper/garden about 50% of the time which is great but am I doing anything wrong.

newpup sorry if I have hijacked your thread.

Ellielou02 · 04/08/2010 20:35

Sorry I mean lillybloom

wildfig · 04/08/2010 21:16

House training is agony, but if you want to get it cracked asap, you just have to resign yourself to:

a. NEVER letting the puppy out of your sight, unless it's in a crate, for several weeks

b. taking it outside after meals, when it wakes up, after playtime, and then on the hour (prob half hour for smaller pups) so ideally it never gets a chance to wee/poo indoors. Sniffing is a good sign, but their bladders are tiny, and you don't always catch them in time, and then you're left carrying a weeing puppy across the floor to the garden like some kind of furry water pistol.

c. giving wild and enthusiastic praise when it does wee outdoors, so it gets a clear sign that it's the right place. Try to yell a trigger word while it's in action, so eventually you can take them out, mutter, 'wee, please' or similar, and know they'll perform promptly. I kept a treat jar outside, so I could reward on the spot - our dog's very food-orientated.

I was advised never to use paper indoors, because it just confuses the puppy. It sounds rather anal (hee), but I made a note for a few days of when my puppy needed to go outside, so I knew roughly how long I had between trips, then tried to anticipate so neither of us got caught out.

Obv this is all much easier said than done. I went through a whole gallon of Simple Solution and hundreds of kitchen rolls, and that was just from me weeping tears of despair as my carpet was soaked again. But my puppy was watertight by five months, and he's a notoriously slow-to-housebreak, happy-in-own-filth breed, so it won't take your Westie half as long if you're vigilant.

lillybloom · 04/08/2010 23:33

No problem Ellie
Thanks again everyone, I knew you would all have excellent advice. Tried washing the floor this morning with washing powder but we have had one mistake. I haven't used paper and just trying the crate method but now I'm wondering if she is getting too much attention all the time. Its not unusual for 5 or 6 kids to be in our house ranging from 4yr-9yr old. I think I'll discourage petting tommorrow and only pet after she goes.

will update tommorrow

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lillybloom · 04/08/2010 23:35

wildfig what kind of treats? I'm paranoid about giving her the wrong thing.

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wildfig · 05/08/2010 11:12

I gave him little bits of cheese, or kibble, or hotdog - something nice enough that he recognised that it was worth making the effort of doing it outside. After a couple of weeks, he would go to the door and paw it to be let out. Now if I'm not in the same room, he'll come and find me and do a 'door, please' look.

i spend too much time with my dog

I've seen some special dog-doorbells you can get from the US, with a little footpad for them to stand on to ring a bell be let in/out. I'd get one, only I think our dogs would use it in the manner of Edwardian lady of the house summoning the housemaid every time they fancied some attention.

minimu1 · 05/08/2010 17:46

Ok housetraining is dead easy honest! A bit time consuming for a while but very straightforward.

Do not use newspaper in the house
Crate your dog at night
Every hour take the puppy outside religiously and ask it to wee , give it a specific word when it does wee and praise like mad and give a treat a bit of cheese is great.

If pup does not wee take inside but take out again half an hour later.

If the dog has done a wee or poo inside it is generally the owners fault for not being vigilant (not being harsh here!)

Do not tell the dog off but clean up the mess and clean with either biololigical washing powder or specialist cleaner from a pet shop. This is vital as other cleaners actually make the wee smell stronger to the dog.

Do this for a few days and you will have a pretty much trained dog. However you can not let you guard down and must get into a routine of letting the dog out after meals, and several times during the day. You will be able to soon work out how often the dog needs to go but better to take out more often than not.

When they are really trained you can get them to bark to be let out or if you like press a bell but generally I tell my dogs when I want them to wee and not the other way around!

Good luck - it is boring at first but by being very vigilant it will be sorted very quickly

lillybloom · 06/08/2010 11:20

wow I got a few wee pees outside yesterday and this morning. we stopped all the neighbourhoods kids playing with her yesterday and that has really helped.DH thins the dog is being istracted from peeing when outside because of the kids.

Minimu thanks for the advice. I know you have to be quick with the puppy and I haven't always recognised the signs as she is my very first puppy but I feel we are getting there.

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minimu1 · 06/08/2010 12:01

Yay well done sounds like things are going well - it will soon be sorted

Ellielou02 · 06/08/2010 20:36

Lily well done :) we seem to be making some headway too. I have left one bit of newspaper at the back door (as the door mat is black and we wouldnt see any puddles). If I am busy with the DC i am putting him in his crate then taking him out straight after. The advice on here has been great, I have also been cleaninng up pee with soap powder too.

lillybloom · 07/08/2010 00:11

Excellent Ellie I can't believe how much pleasure the puppy gives just for toiletting in the right area. ( and when she looks at me with her head cocked to one side Smile

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