Housetraining 101 - Please Read this Thread in its Entirety

[nuggetsmom]

Thank you for your reply. He's a great little puppy. I'm a sucker for hard-luck cases. Our other dog is blind, and we adopted him (Charlie) when he was 10 months old. He's been the best dog. And I'm sure Nugget will follow in those footsteps. I will do what it takes to get a good sample. He urinates quite frequently, so I'll have ample opportunity. Thanks again. I'll let you know how it goes.

[nuggetsmom]

I wanted to give an update on Nugget. I just received a call from the vet. The blood tests that they did yesterday show something is possibly wrong with his kidneys. They're going to make an appointment for us at the university in Pullman, WA. The vet school there can do an ultrasound to see what's going on. It may be as simple as a benign cyst or tumor. But please keep him in your prayers. He's such a little sweetie, and we're already attached to him.

Thanks. Robin

[Oliver & Henry's Mum]

Robin, I know only too well how worrisome it can be to think that one of our dogs is ill. Perhaps, once properly diagnosed, Nugget will make a full recovery with proper medication.

Do let us know, perhaps in the Health Section, about Nugget's appointments and outcomes. I'll be keeping you in my prayers, but I am confident that everything will be just fine.

[sarahrizzi]

I didn't see anything about this earlier in the thread, but I didn't want to start a whole new one.

Amelia is 7 months old now, and is just about 100% housebroken...in our house. As soon as we take her to someone else's house, it's like she just forgets. Even at my parents house, where she's been many, many times, she still has 3-4 accidents a day, and we take her outside much more frequently there because of this. I understand that she's probably very excited and overstimulated, but is this normal for such a long time? I was thinking it could be something so simple as she doesn't know how to "ask" to go out in an unfamiliar place, so we're sure to go crazy with praise when she goes outside and give her treats, but it doesn't seem to be doing a whole lot.

Another thought I had was that she could be marking her territory, as she's never been to another house where a dog didn't live. If this is the case, is there a way to teach her not to do it?

I'm just kind of unsure about what else we can be doing to help her since we're doing the exact same things we did to potty train her in our house.

Sorry if this is a dumb question, it just kind of puzzles me.

[Oliver & Henry's Mum]

First of all, that is not a dumb question!

I think you actually hit the nail on the head. Keep in mind that puppies are NOT 100% house trained until a year of age. Being only 7 months old, and in a relatively new (or different) environment is enough to upset the applecart.

She doesn't know where or how to ask to go out in those surroundings. She knows how to do it at home, but not on the road. That is normal. You need to literally double the number of times you would normally take her out, and stick to the basics of always using the same door, etc.

When you go there, are you the only one responsible for her requests or do others help out? Even if your other family members attempt to help, they don't know her signals, and she is still a puppy for all intents and purposes. Unlike a male dog, she is far less likely to be "marking", and far more likely to simply be overwhelmed and confused.

We went through the same thing with Oliver at the Lakehouse, even if we were the only ones there. Once he passed the age of 1, he knew enough to go to the door that he wanted to exit, as opposed to the already perfectly constructed dog run located off of the garage. As soon as he would go to the door, we would rush him to the dog run.

7 months is still very young, and new environments are challenging. As I said, double the number of times you would normally put her out, and always use the same door! It really helps if other family members notice her even looking at the door and at the very least call for you to take her out. If you are on your own in that regard, it's easy to be distracted and not notice her cues.

The only dumb questions are the ones not asked, or the ones that are asked and answered over and over. This is the first time this particular question has arisen and it's a good one, especially for those who wish to travel with their dogs.

That's my experience and I hope it helps. I'm sure others will also have great tips to offer. Don't worry...you are still doing everything right!

[sarahrizzi]

Thank you! I was thinking it was probably something like that. I was starting to get worried though that this was going to be some lifelong problem and we wouldn't be able to take her to visit other people's homes. At my parents house, we mainly take her out unless they're watching her for us. My boyfriend's sister and brother-in-law have also "puppy-sat" a few times and had the same result. The last time we visited my parents, she did do much better until we left her with my brother, so it would definitely make sense that other people just don't know her signs well enough. I think she also gets distracted since she's not used to having another dog friend to play with so she tries to make the most of it while she's there.

[Oliver & Henry's Mum]

Sarah - love the new avatar! I think your initial suspicions were right, and now that you've had time to reflect, and remember that she is only 7 months old, it all makes sense.

Puppies are like children, and when they are in a new environment that they enjoy, they don't want to miss anything. Often that doesn't leave them enough time to recognize when they need to "go".

I promise you that by one year of age, things will start to change.

[kian]

Robin I am just catching up and I am so sorry to hear about Nugget. I certainly hope they can correct whatever medical issue is causing this. I am not surprised that the person you got Nugget from was feeding Condensed Milk and Karo, I have met many uneducated people sadly.

Sarah since Deb answered you perfectly, I will just add that I travel a lot with my dogs and have stayed with them at unfamiliar homes. The first thing I always do is show the door to the outside and go outside with the dog I am travelling with. I do that a lot to make sure there are no accidents. Love the new profile pic!

[sarahrizzi]

Thanks to both of you! I think sometimes I forget how young she is because of how big she's gotten.

My boyfriend took this picture a couple weeks ago...she has this silly habit of going into the kitchen (ALONE) and sitting at the table, which is so funny because she usually doesn't do it while we're eating. She's so crazy and we love her for it.

[kian]

She is sitting at the table, that makes it even more cute! I love her expression.

[sarahrizzi]

There was one where he stuck a spoon in her bowl, but her face was definitely the best in this one.

[Oliver & Henry's Mum]

The expression on her face is priceless!

[me123]

We travel a lot and Caru uses a bell to let us know she wants to go out. We've had good luck carrying the bell with us and making a point of letting her see and touch the bell at the new door. It does take a little work no matter where we go though before she "gets" it.

[sarahrizzi]

We did teach Amelia to use the bell on the door to go out and it worked great, but then she started pulling it off the door and playing with it all the time until one day she finally broke it. That may be something we need to try again though in other people's houses. Thanks for the suggestion!

[SumosMum]

Hi everyone!

I so hope I can ask my question here and I am sorry if I should have asked into another thread. I switched Sumo's dog food the day we got him, the breeder was feeding him Royal Canin and I switched to Orijen. His poops are normal but he eats a bit less than he used to with Orijen, I called the Vet and told me it was normal since Orijen is a really good quality therefore doesn't need to eat as much since he gets full faster.

I guess I just want to get your opinions on this and hope I didn't make a mistake by switching to quickly, I just want my puppy to have great kibble food and I loved that it was grain free.

For those who didn't read my intro, Sumo is a purebred Chow Chow, he is 8 weeks old today and I got him since October 26th when he was 7 weeks old. Like I stated he acts totally normal and he is very very playful! I just to make sure I didn't do anything wrong.