Does Anyone Have A Fool-proof Way To Pottytrain An Adult Dog?
November 2, 2009 by admin
Filed under Care & Training Q&As
I am a single mom of a 13 year old son; we have a 2 year old female greyhound, Daphne. On our way home one night we found an un-neutered, non-chipped, no collar, small brown Chihuahua terrier mix running in the street, we tried for a couple months to find his owner with no luck so we decided to keep him, we had him neutered, shots, full vet care, the vet said he was about 2 years old by the look of his teeth.
We wanted to eventually get another greyhound and not a little mutt dog; but he, Buster [what we named him] and Daphne have so much fun playing so I gave into the idea that he would be our 2nd dog.
It has been 6 months now and I am still unable to potty train him. We live in a townhome without a yard, and when we got Daphne I had a doggie door put in that goes from the kitchen to the garage so that is where I have trained her to go.
Buster will go out the doggie door to go potty but he also pees on my dining room table legs and poops next to the dining room table, he also poops at the top of the stairs and pees near there on the door frame. I am at my wits end. I have tried everything, keeping him tethered to me constantly and crating him when I can’t. I take him running on the bike for a mile in the morning and a mile in the evening and take him out to go potty every hour and praise him after he goes. I want to train him to mainly go out the doggy door to go so I started taking him on the leash into the garage so he would know that is where I wanted him to go but he would never go in front of me so I would block the doggy door and leave him out there for about a half and hour and he would go, so I would take the block off the doggie door and I would praise him and let him back in. After a couple weeks of this then I would start to trust him and then he would go right back to peeing and pooping in the dining room and at the top of the stairs so I would go back to the tethering and in the garage for a half an hour and praise routine for another week to 2 weeks and same thing back to pooping and peeing. I have been doing this for 6 months now and am growing resentful towards this dog and really do not know what to do.
I have spent hundreds on enzyme cleaners to remove the smell I have turned my table upside down and wiped the table legs off with bleach, I have steamed cleaned my carpet over and over and over and I am so frustrated I don’t know what to do. This dog is ruining my life we want to succeed in ending this behavior in Buster but starting to feel there is no answer.
Please help.
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Well it sounds like you have tried all that is possible. This breed is the hardest to potty train. If he urinates on table legs, and also near the door frame, that is marking. Neutering him at age 2, did not prevent all that bad behavior, he was already an adult when you got him so he already has a routine of habits he is comfortable with, so of course it take a lot more work to rectify that. The BM’s especially at the stairs is also marking, under the table can be included since the scent of people’s shoes are there also when they sit. So from your dog’s perspective you clean it and he needs to mark it again because the odor is fading.
Sorry about your troubles, but there are 4 more things to add to your training program.
1.No Free Lunch = gain your leadership, this dog thinks he is in charge. If he wants to eat, go out for a walk or be pet, he has to sit first, these are earned priveleges, if he doesnt sit, he doesnt go, but you must be clear on what sit means so that he understands what you want.
Then hold him in your arms, right arm, head lock on head – gently of course and left fore arm around his rear, ending with hand under his chest and fingers holding his front legs so that he cannot paw your right arm from your grip. He should be against your chest and dont let him near your face or you are not holding him correctly. pet head should be on your right bicep and body to the right of the center of your chest.
Now keep a loose grip and praise voice as he calmy lays there, then when he attempts to move,you give a verbal correction – deep voice! mean it like he is running in the street, at the same time you apply a push and release on his body like his mother would do with her teeth – bite, release as a warning.
I hope this makes sense but once he stops fighting you over less than 3 minutes and calms down, you praise him then release him – he submitted to you is the whole point.
2. He is not responsible enough to be off leash – ever, that is an earned privelege, if you have him on leash when he even walks near those areas he has marked you correct him for even looking at it, with a deep! verbal correction and pull and release of the leash (bite release like mom-warning) Now he knows what it means cuz you did the restraint hold and he submitted.
3. Timed feedings – put food down only in the morning – your dog is an adult and can handle that. pick up the food after 15minutes, you are the leader, you have to control the food. Yes even if he is a fincky eater and doesnt eat it right away, confine him to the food in his crate so he cant find something else to do. After 3-5 days he will eat well and you can time his BM’s.
4. Try no free choice water inside unless with meals. If your gone and he normaly has water at that time, then give him a couple ice cubes and not water in the bowl. leave the water outside, so if he wants a drink, then each time you take him out he can drink right before you walk him to the grass, its ok to give treats for going potty.
The doggy door is not the best plan right now, he is not ready for it, he still needs a lot of conditioning first.
He should have no opportunity ever to go to his potty spots in house unless he is on a leash and you can correct him for thinking about making a mistake.
I promise you this will work, but it will be a lot more work, but it sounds like your ready for anything.
If he is really hyper active and he misses a walk, then put some Rescue Remedy in his water to help him relax, he may have some anxiety along with the dominace that is not helping you.
If you ever travel or leave town, his routine will be disrupted and you will have to start it all over again, so plan on it, because they always regress when the leader leaves
good luck
http://www.midwesthomes4pets.com/Informa… Here are some tips for crate training, good luck.
The most important thing is to get the dog neutered so he no longer feels the need to mark everything in his territory.
The next most important thing is to put him on a rigidly regular schedule – meals at the same time every day, exercise at the same time, naps at the same time, going to bed at the same time. Take him out right after he wakes up from sleep, about 15 minutes after he eats, and about every 30 minutes for each month of his lifeuntil he’s 8 months old. After that, he should be able to hold his urine for four hours easily. Of course, I’ve never trained a tiny dog, so it may be less time for him – his bladder is a lot smaller than a golden retriever’s, a boxer’s, a German shepherd’s, or even a cocker spaniel’s.
It will be harder since you can’t stay with him until he goes. The praise after the act is just as important as the schedule, but you have to see him do it in order for the praise to have any effect.
Also, you need to train him to a command, such as “go potty” or “hurry up” or “get busy.” The way to do this is to wait until he squats to defecate and then give the command. After he’s done, praise him effusively with the term “good [command phrase].”
The reason this isn’t fool proof is because you aren’t willing to stay out there with him until he goes, no matter how long it takes. This can be a terrible inconvenience, for sure! But the rigid schedule, taking him out, making sure he performs, and praising him are the only things that can “guarantee” that a healthy dog will get toilet trained.
Good luck!
Apacapacas
I have to assume Buster belonged to a home previously, since a chihuahua wouldn’t be able to survive two years on his own. His previous owner probably wasn’t a stickler for potty training, so you have at least a year and a half of bad behavior to undo.
Have you tried wee wee pads for him? I know your ultimate goal is to have him go outside, but in the interim, having him go on the pads would be better than on the floor and carpet.
Good luck. I know it can be frustrating. You’re doing all the right things.
just like you there might be certain times such as waking up when you or your dog have to use the restroom but there is a whole day ahead of you with unexpected potty visits. one thing i have done with my dogs is hang a jingle bell from a string to your door knob. every time you take your dog out you put their nose to it and let them hear the jingle. they associate that with going outside and doing their business. it takes a little while but once they have it down it works well. sometimes my dog does ring it just to go outside for what ever reason, but its a small price to pay for not having to clean up pet stains all the time. good luck
I wonder if maybe it is something medical? It seems that you have tried in good faith to potty train this pup. Try asking your vet about the possibility of a bladder infection, or maybe even something psychological. As silly as it sounds, there are some meds on the market for potty problems with deep rooted psychological issues. Good luck!!