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Aaagh, toilet training my pug!

15 replies

kitsmummy · 24/02/2011 14:01

My little gorgeous pug x french bulldog (Betty) is now 4.5 months old and I'm really struggling with toilet training her. She's crate trained and is totally dry in her crate overnight, so I know she can do it if she wants to.

She's pretty good at not pooing inside. She'll sniff around by the door and I'll put her out and she'll poo outside...no accidents in the house for weeks now. But with weeing, she's so hit and miss. She'll happily wee outside, but just as happily wee inside too, with no whining at the door, or any warning.

She's restricted to the kitchen until she's toilet trained, but it could be that I've put her outside and she's done a wee, then we'll come back inside and I'll leave her in the kitchen for 20 mins whilst I'm doing something else, and she'll probably have wee'd in that time.

Now, it doesn't help that I work 3 days a week and in those 3 days she's at my mum's house, haring around and having a ball with my parent's big lurcher. Her toilet training at my mum's house is much much worse than it is at mine, which I can understand with the constant excitement that my mum's house holds for her.

I really don't know how to address this, or is it just simply too early to expect her to be house trained? We're putting her outside very often (at least every hour, often every half hour). We're not using those training pad things, or paper, just simply putting her outside alot. Do I need to go really hardcore on the crate training - eg putting her in the crate every time we're not in the room with her, or is there a better way of doing this? Or is this perfectly normal for a pug and it will just get better in time?

OP posts:
midori1999 · 24/02/2011 14:23

Supervisiona nd aiming to never, ever have an accident inside is the key. So, watch her like a hawk at all times, any moment you can't watch her, then pop her in the crate and take her out when you get back. However, obviously you can't leave her confined to the crate too foten, so it will be helpful to keep her with you around the house sometimes too. You also run the risk that if she's never been on carpets, that when you let her in the rest of the hosue she thinks that as the carpet is soft like grass, she can wee on it.

Also, make sure you go outside with her when she toilets so you can praise her enthusiastically and maybe reward with a treat when she does go.

You need to take her out at least every hour, after eveery meal, every play time and every sleep and then watch her for signs she needs the toilet in between.

It would be helpful if you could get your Mum to do the same too.

kitsmummy · 24/02/2011 14:31

Thanks Midori, we did start off having her in the rest of the house occasionally, but I got sick of cleaning up the wee from the carpets - it was almost like she had a compulsion to go on the carpets, so now she's restricted to the kitchen, but I do bring her into the front room in the evening and she lies in her bed, on the sofa with us (and she does seem to have gotten over the carpet compulsion somewhat, I can now trust her with a little bit of running around on them without immediately weeing).

Looks like I'll have to be more consistent with putting her in the crate if we leave the room. I'll try to get my mum to do the same, but she is much worse at my mum's house like I said. She'll just wee on the floor if we're in the room with her and even if she's been outside to wee not long before that.
thanks for the advice!

OP posts:
CalamityKate · 24/02/2011 14:46

Yep. What Midori said - TAKE her out, don't PUT her out.

Then you can put a word to it, and before long she'll be weeing on command. It's enormously helpful to be able to say "wee wees" (or whatever) and they'll squeeze out the teaspoonful that they might ordinarily have held in until later when your back's turned....

midori1999 · 24/02/2011 14:52

She might never ask to go out. Not all dogs do. One of mine just hangs around looking hopeful if she needs to go, but I doubt anyone else would realise what she wanted. On the whole they just wait until we let them out, they very, very rarely bark to go out to toilet and they don't 'do' whining. Grin

If she's going to toilet on the floor with you in the room, then you do need ot watch her more closely. Pooing is much easier as they poo less often. Puppies always astound me with the frequency with which they can wee!

Oh, also, forgot to say, when you go outside with her to toilet, dont' always bring her immediately back in, otherwise some dogs hang on so they can stay out for longer.

JaxTellersOldLady · 24/02/2011 14:52

A week or so of intensive wee watch should work. TAKE her out, give a command when she goes and praise and treat, EVERY time. So long as there is no medical reason (urinary infection) it should start getting better.

Patience and consistency will reap rewards. Wink

CalamityKate · 24/02/2011 15:02
CalamityKate · 24/02/2011 15:08

... and mine hangs around looking hopeful too, like Midori's dog. She just stands and stares at my back (if I'm on the PC) and from time to time does a sort of impatient tapdance with her front feet.

Although on the very rare occasions she needs a wee at night, she barks. Totally different from her "There's a cat/rat/burglar out there!!" barking, it's a single, higher-pitched wuff, followed by a pause while she listens for me getting out of bed, followed by another single wuff etc Grin

Her "I need you to get up and let me out of my room because I need to see where that miniscule spider which just walked across the kitchen went" wuff is the same, but thankfully that hasn't happened for ages.

kitsmummy · 24/02/2011 15:30

Ok, "Intensive Wee Watch" it is then! I should clarify that when I said I put her out, I do actually go out with her too. And I always say "Go Toilet", which I think she does recognise, so she's pretty good at weeing on command. It really is just inside the house that we struggle with, but the consensus seems to be to watch her like a hawk and to put her in the crate more than I have been doing.

Also, does anyone have any personal experience of pugs and how long they take to train? I know they're supposed to be very stubborn, so I do wonder if it's possible to have them trained by this age, or whether this is a naturally slow process for them?

OP posts:
DaffadownDilly · 24/02/2011 15:56

I need photos to properly think about your situation.

I can't really add to any of the advice already given, our dog (shih-tzu) scratches at the door or if upstairs will kind of dance around for you to let her out.

We did have to constantly watch her before she started to ask, we would put her out after a meal or otherwise every half an hour or so and she did get the message.

kitsmummy · 24/02/2011 16:07

Grin, I will try to get some pics up on my profile soon

OP posts:
JaxTellersOldLady · 24/02/2011 18:14

When I used to take one of my dogs training years ago there were 2 pugs in the class and to be honest, they didnt do a thing for their owner. Stubborn is definitely a word to describe a pug. Grin

priyag · 24/02/2011 23:08

Pugs can be very difficult to house train. Do you keep a strict feeding schedule, and remove food and water after a certain time at night ?

It is important to train your pug to pee on command.
Watch her like a hawk, and take her out every 30 mins, plus after sleeping,playing and feeding. Make a big fuss when she does a pee outside and ALWAYS offer a treat. Ideally cheese or a tiny bit of chicken, dog treats can sometimes taste too much like dried dog food, that the incentive is not the same.

When you do have her in the sitting room with you keep her on a long lead, and the minute she starts sniffing around, take her straight out.

kitsmummy · 25/02/2011 12:57

thanks Priyag and thanks Jax, that sounds about right Grin

OP posts:
midori1999 · 25/02/2011 14:08

Please don't ever, ever, ever take your dog's water up or restrict fluid intake. Plus, it's not really toilet training, is it?

CalamityKate · 26/02/2011 10:03

What Midori said again!

Making sure a dog hasn't got any wee to come out is NOT teaching them where to wee! Plus it's unkind.

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