Tips on house/toilet training our 4 month old pup....

[BallyGoBackwards]

Our little Maltese/Jack Russell cross is almost 4 months old. We have him 2 months now. He just doesnt seem to be getting the idea of not peeing and pooing in the home.

We have a very large kitchen which is tiled and he stays/lives here, so cleaning up is an easy enough job but God it is getting tiring at this stage. He isnt allowed into other parts of the house (yet). My DH works from home, as do I, so he is never left alone for long durations. He gets lots of walks etc.

For example the back door (to the garden) was open yesterday and today and he chose to pee indoors rather than going out. Last night I stayed in the garden with him for 20 mins, but he waited till he came in to go!! I have been following the advice of rewarding the good and ignoring any "accidents" but again my patience is wearing thin.

I have tried using bio soap to eliminate any previous odours but he seems to love going behind the sofa and doing what he has to do.

I have read all the "I toilet trained my pup in 3 days" wonder stories but please someone tell me it will just click with him one day. I am starting to doubt this.

I have heard that JRTs are particularly hard to house train. 4 months is still early days though, I'm sure he'll get there soon.

Do you usually have the door open so he can come and go? I've heard that this can hinder house training as it blurs the line between toilet and 'bed' -the home.

How often do you take him outside? If he is taking a while to go outside you could try bringing him back in but carry him so he doesn't have the oppurtunity to go indoors. Do you use a cue word so you can mark the specific action?

I too think having the door open won't be helping. You need to be taking him out every 20 minutes or so, noticing and praising when he goes where he is supposed to. As pp says if he doesn't go outside carry him round for five minutes before taking him out again. It is really time consuming initially but for us Eric was house trained in just over a week and we have had no accidents since.

Thanks. I'll try having the door closed and see how that goes.

I've also read that JRTs are hard to housetrain (sometimes). I have a staffy JRT cross who is 7 months now and she has been the harded dog to housetrain I have ever had. My last staffy came to me pretty well 98% housetrained at 8 weeks.... every other dog I have ever had has been housetrained by 3 months or so. She is only just turning the corner now, at 7 months! We did everything textbook - attaching a word to the action; praising and giving a treat within 3 seconds of any toileting outside; ignoring it but cleaning up quickly with bio washing powder if summat happened inside.... etc etc. No joy whatsoever. Then this past week (whisper it quietly or I'll jinx it) suddenly instead of 5 -7 indoor wees a day, we have had just 1 most days and 2 days now with no accidents... It's like something just clicked with her and before, she wasn't even connecting the 'need a wee' feeling with squatting and puddling where she was...

The trainer at puppy class when she was about 4 months said don't panic as some pups simply don't have bowel/bladder control physically til 6 months or older.

I have seen people say online that JRTs can be hard to housetrain. I wish she'd taken after the staffy side not the JRT side!

All you can do is persist. I now have a wrecked carpet but still daren't replace it til we have had a month or two of not peeing like a fountain.

I'm fully expecting her to regress at some point, as well. Just be patient and stick with it.

Our's was so bad she refused to wee or poo on walks, even - was a rescue and we got her at 9 weeks so maybe something happened to her, even as a tiny puppy (she always seemed scared to go to the toilet in front of us, from day 1 so I felt some idiot had shouted at her for peeing in the house, so she was a stealth pee-er when we got her). Today she did her first ever poo on a walk! Joy!

Doh! Forgot to give my tip I was so busy with my sob-story!

Best tip I can give you (from the lofty heights of someone whose puppy nearly twice your's age who has only had 2 indoor-pee free days....) is: whatever the treat is, switch it to something even more high value.

She finally clicked when we were treating her with bacon and chicken - I was using cheese or dog treats before. Could be a coincidence. But it seems she will do anything for a bit of chicken!

With my chihuahua cross Jrt I would put him out and tell him to peepee and repeat it till he did then praise with a peice of chicken as that's his favourite and he only got it when training. I ignored the accidents inside and when I saw him circling around about to go toilet I would quickly take him out and say peepee and then treat when he did it was time consuming but he was housetrained tottally in two weeks.

I've got a nearly 6 month springer and we struggled with house training. In the end I put bells on ribbons on every outside door. Every time we let her out we would ring the bell. In theory she should ring the bell herself (not happening) when she needs to go. That coupled with a kitchen timer seems to have done the trick. Like someone said up thread it was almost like something just clicked.

Years ago with my parent's GSD the vet said the kitchen was too big and to shut her in a smaller room. They won't toilet where they live and the kitchen meant she could lie down at the opposite end from her self designated toilet. Worked very quickly as they shut her in the utility then took her out frequently and did the praise thing.

Thanks all. Things seem alittle better since I posted. Id say my neighbours think I have lost the plot as they can hear "Business" being said in a shrill voice every time pup goes loo!!!

I am really keeping on top of it, now I just have to train DH and DC's to carry on with being vigilant when Im not around!!!!

Joffrey my sitting room has carpet and Pup isnt allowed in there. The kids reckon the pup thinks its Narnia behind the door as he looks at it with amazement!!

Bally, it's the same here. I am also really vigilant but finding the minute I need a break and disappear for a bit, I come back to a puddle because no matter how often I tell them, kids and worser half, simply don't pick up on her body language fast enough. We're getting one pee in the house a day (til a couple of weeks ago, it was about 6 or 7!) Yesterday, not a single pee. Also pooing outside, more.

Seems like we are in the same boat joffrey.....I am going away for the weekend next week (with my friends) and can only imagine that it will be three steps back with all things doggie!!

Do you usually do the cleaning up? Perhaps when they have to clear up they might pay a bit more attention!

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