Housetraining 101 - Please Read this Thread in its Entirety

[Nileska]

No problem Deb,allways happy to have your input and perspective.

R

[JesseGirl]

I really appreciate the tip about little doggies not knowing how to get outside - that's one of those things you'd never realize could happen.

I've attached a link to a pic of our "playpen." I like this playpen because it folds up into a small carry-bag and it has a vinyl floor so if there are accidents, the clean up will be easy. Plus it's light so we can carry it around the house depending on where we are (it will be great for when I'm exercising or doing dinner) and we can bring it with us if we spend the day at someone else's house and they won't have to worry about puppy piddle on their floors.

Additionally, we do actually have a 4-walled "ex-pen" that a friend gave me that we figured we'd use mostly outside (since there's no floor). What a good idea to set it up right by the door so they can hang out there and then get out to potty.

We have a crate as well. I guess we are all set. Now all we need is the puppy.

Pic of playpen: http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/5 ... AA300_.jpg

[Nileska]

That playpen will probably be ok with your Havanese puppy....My Husky puppies could destroy it in about 30 seconds...

Richard

[JesseGirl]

That's true!

[kian]

I've tried to respond to this 3 times, this time I'm just going to say that is a great pen! Easy to clean and take with you anywhere.

[stacy3787]

Hi ive just joined and since this is my first puppy i ihad no clue of the BEST way to housetrain (toilet wise) a pup. I have another dog who is 6 years old now and i rehomed him from a rescue at 11months-not quite housetrained but it took YEARS!!!!.....i now realise it was MY FAULT. Ive made a concious effort to keep watching my pup and every time he ''wanders aimlessley'' or starts to wimper etc...i place him in the garden, use my reinforcement word (wee wees) and really praise when he goes!

Thanks so much for the tips its a great help to a first time puppy owner!! xxx

[kian]

Glad we could help Stacy.

[JesseGirl]

I've tried to respond to this 3 times

Hi Kian,

I've had the same problem once or twice . . . weird.

[Nileska]

Dont y'all feel like the "Lone Ranger",I usually give up after the third try

....In the words of a self made millionaire I once worked for, "some days you cant make a nickel", (sounds better with the yiddish accent)

....R

[JesseGirl]

Everything is going pretty well. Rollie has been home for 24 hours (well, almost). But the big problem is that we cannot not for the life of us predict when this little guy is going to pee and he does not seem to naturally take to peeing outside. We've caught him getting ready to poo and he's done that outside, but he's peeing inside even after 15 - 20 minutes of hanging out outside. One problem is that he's wandering around all over the place enjoying the new smells and tastes. He is VERY distracted by the leash and bites at it and completely loses focus on anything else but that so I don't think we can use the leash as a tether for potty time until we've trained him with it. So now I have the ex-pen set up outside. I'm hoping its the best of both worlds - no leash, but no wandering pups. I have my chair and my sweat shirt and my audiobook on my iPod and I'll sit out there all night until he pees if I have to . . . (will likely need a flashlight too!)

Do you think this could work? Any other suggestions?

[Oliver & Henry's Mum]

Jesse, go back to the beginning of this thread and read the basic pointers for housetraining a very young pup.

You need to take Rollie out every 15 to 20 minutes, if that what it takes, until both you and he recognize the signs. Every pup, especially one so young, will not even have a hint of a warning that they have to go and will just suddenly start going. They must go out immediately upon waking, and I mean immediately, as well as immediately after eating or drinking, play, or even just rest.

Use a common word and praise, praise, praise the successes. All of this is covered on the first two pages of this thread.

Expect things to be this way for about 4 weeks, because that is about the time that YOU will recognize the minute cues. Remember that your puppy has absolutely no control so each mistake is yours, not the pups, and no fuss should be made about the clean up.

I won't go on because as I said, it is all spelled out at the beginning of this thread. If you still have questions after reviewing the thread and implementing some changes, by all means, ask away!

Good luck. We've all been there. Remember, the time you put in now, which will seem daunting while living it, will be so worth it as you will have a reliably, well trained companion for a lifetime!

[JesseGirl]

Hi All,

Oliver&Henry'sMum - thanks for the encouragement! And I think we have success! And it wasn't the ex-pen. He's really starting to a desire to go in certain places that he chose himself. And now we can see that he went. The thing was that even when we brought him out right after eating, sleeping, etc., we just couldn't tell when and if he was going; he's so fluffy and low to the ground. And you're so right - it's IMMEDIATELY! That water goes RIGHT through him. But we've picked up on some cues just in the last couple hours - he starts sniffing toward the periphery of the room. AND, by getting down really low we can now see that he's going. He's gone 4 times now and my husband just made a world-champ-cue-reading-victory by catching a surprise cue. Now he's napping (Rollie, that is - not my hubby). We'll have one more play time, two more potties, and then we'll see if he'll sleep through the night without a peep again (I couldn't believe it, he didn't peep all night!).

Wow - first full day.

[Swissy]

Hi all,
Our new Greater Swiss Mountain Puppy is really strong willed, and like any other puppy she jumps up, nips, wants to play rough. She was born on Feb 21, making her just over 9 weeks.
I know at this point we can't expect too much, her brain isn't quite developed, and she's just plain old "puppy". I will add though, we got her just after 7 1/2 weeks (yes, a little early I know), and by 8 weeks she would sit for us on command when not too distracted, she also will play some basic fetch, knows (and often ignores) "come", etc...
Our BIGGEST problem is her play aggression....not true aggression but wanting to rough-house, jump up, play growling etc. when she is hyper. She is little right now, and aside from having really sharp puppy teeth this would not be a big deal, she will end up being somewhere over 80lbs. That kind of play is not acceptable to us in a dog that size! We also may have a separation anxiety problem (but I'll be putting up a different post about that).
Should we be correcting her constantly right now? for everything? I know it isn't likely to "stick" but if we don't are we training her that this stuff is ok? How does one correct/discipline a puppy? redirection is only working so much, walking away when she gets too rough doesn't work so well because she'll bite onto pants and not let go (continuing to walk makes it a game) should we stand and let her bite? If we try to stick her in her "puppy safe room" with her crate she's probably already forgotten why she is there by the time we get her in and starts howling because she is alone (has great stamina for that too!) completely distracted now about what caused her isolation.
Suggestions? Help? Thoughts?

[Oliver & Henry's Mum]

As I already posted in your Intro thread, may I suggest that you start with the "Housetraining 101" thread.

I am going to merge this thread with that one so you can continue from there.

[Swissy]

Yeah, I've read the whole thread, we're still working on that, but she goes outside about 90% of the time when we are home (the other 10% we haven't moved fast enough). I'm working half days at the moment, so I'm out of the house for about 5 hours a day (6 if I have physio). Those days we leave her in her play room (with a radio, chew toys, crate etc.), there is no one available to come in, we live far outside of town, its not an option....she uses paper maybe once a day when we aren't home (misses occasionally by an inch or so). We don't discipline her when she goes inside, might clap or say her name if we catch her in the act to distract her, then take her out....working as well as one can expect.

There isn't alot in the thread about discipline/play aggression though. Growling doesn't work....she just barks and thinks we're playing. We made a puppy-safe room into her playpen (with her kennel), tried a baby-gate but she can already get over it so we have to close the door. Working on the crate-training at the moment, but she isn't doing well with the confinement in either the crate or the room (same problem someone else here had)....that's going to take time.

Even with crate training I'm getting the sense we need to find a way to control her during her little outbursts, and whether minimally controlling will seem like condoning the behavior. We are reluctant to put her in the crate at the moment every time she acts up because from what I understand it isn't supposed to be a punishment area.