Toilet training - what the f**k am i doing wrong

[notmybag]

We have a 15 week cocker spaniel puppy and he is just not getting toilet training AT ALL. We take him outside all the time and use a key word and praise. He will then come back in and 2 minute later do another massive wee. Same with a poo outside is followed by poo inside. The only time I can seem to not have accidents is if he is literally crated or outside for the toilet.

What are we doing wrong?

He can poo almost 8-10 times a day. Solid. Could his food be causing the problems?

I am about to rehome myself and leave puppy with DH!

What food is he on? That is excessive pooping! What times are you feeding him?? Is he clean overnight?

There is wonderful group on Facebook call Dog training advice and support that might be able to help as well?

Way to much poo!! What are you feeding, when and how much?

My friends puppy was doing this and her food ratio was far far to high.

Also when was pup wormed?

I have small dogs but as a general rule they would and will poop once per feed and maybe once more but that's it. So even on three feeds four poops maximum.

Far too much poo. Even has a young puppy ours went 3-4 times a day and that was it. Now he's fed twice a day and goes twice a day!

What are you feeding him? Any food with grains and additives will make him go more. And when was he last wormed?

As for toilet training - what are you using to clear up the mess inside, and how do you react when he goes inside?

He's on Burns puppy food. Using the amounts per weight on the bag. It is a small amount split over 3 meals

He is totally clueless that he shouldn't wee in the house too!

Could you give us his weight and the amount he is getting OP? Sometimes the charts can be vague and way out.

I got some meat for a treat for mine. I was reading the side and it said six punches a day OMG. If I fed mine that they would explode.

Pouches not punches

You need to be closer to the back door! In order to get the ratio of peeing outside to inside to improve you have to basically sit in the same room as the back door and take puppy outside every 20 minutes for at least 5 minutes. Praise any outside toileting. When inside watch puppy like a HAWK. Head down and and sniffing - quickly take puppy outside, just eaten dinner - take outside, just woken up - take outside, looking shifty - take outside. wait 5 minutes. If puppy pees or poops inside you should be close enough (if you are all sitting in the room with the back door in it and you are watching him like a hawk!) to pick puppy up and shove straight out the backdoor. If the last bit of wee dribbles out or a tiny poop then praise praise praise. At 15 weeks he should start to get the hang very quickly once most of toiletting is happening in the outside world!

I think I lived in the garden for a few weeks when we first got our pup and despite all this he still had a few accidents. You need clean those up well and deodorise. Long after pup didn't routinely toilet indoors he could still have an "accident" on the indoor back doormat. I think we just never got the puppy piss smell out. Threw out mat and voila - no more puddles!

We didn't use a command word or a clicker but we did have treats and I got used to praising like a nutter.

How often are you taking him out? It literally needs to be every 20 minutes, after meals, after drinks, before, during and after play, as soon as he wakes up from naps and whenever he shows signs of needing to go.

They can't hold their bladders long so as soon as he shows any sign of needing to go you need to scoop him up and take him outside. If he's going inside, if possible you need to pick him up mid-wee and carry him out.

Tons of praise and a command word when he goes where he should, ignore any accidents and clean using a special pet enzyme cleaner. Just normal household cleaning spray isn't enough.

Does sound like a lot of poops! Don't forget to also reward them if they move towards the door to "tell" you they want to go out and toilet.

You're probably doing all this already, but in case these tips help too:
www.dogstrustdogschool.org.uk/training/i-want-to-train-my-dog/house-training/

When my rescue was pooing this much it was due to severe allergies. Have you spoken to the vet?

Are you following all the advice re special cleaning products, taking puppy out constantly, lots of praise?

FWIW my dog always poos twice each 'go' so I had to learn he needed to stay outside until he'd been again.

My dog when he was really little always pooped and wee’d twice so we would stay out after the first one and wait it out for a couple of minutes then after the second pee or poop back in inside. This seemed to work. Ours is and has always been a pooper between 7 and 10 poops a day until about 5 months now between 4&6.

I haven't spoken to vet yet as the poo seems fine - no evidence of worms, firm.

I clean the floor by steaming it. Is this ok?

Ideally you need an enzyme cleaner.

I clean the floor by steaming it. Is this ok?

No, you need a special enzyme cleaner - you'll be able to get it from Pets at Home, or even big supermarkets. Remember dogs have really strong senses of smell and can smell things we can't.