House breaking issues! Need HELP ASAP!!!
I know this has been answered and posted hundreds of times but i have tried EVERYTHING when it comes to house breaking my baby diva and NOTHING is working! I am so frustrated because she is 4 months old and she is still peeing and pooping in the house at least 7-10 times a day more pee then poo. I have tried shadowing her, I have tried a schedule,I have kept her in eyes sight every minute and when i couldn't she was caged and she still messed in the house after she was left out side to potty . I will take her out and two minutes after she comes in she will pee while im standing right in front of her. I could have her outside for an hour and she will come in and mess. Is it shes getting to much water when fed? Is that something i should watch? if so how much is recommended? I know its nothing health wise because she was just at the vet. Im not sure if its because the person i purchased her from NEVER tried to house break her as a puppy. I bought her at 11 weeks and it hasnt gotten any better. I dont know what to do! Any and all help is appreciated!
IG SN: ashleykne2
Comments
First, what are the consequences of pooing/peeing in the house? She needs to get a whack on her butt, have her nose rubbed in the mess and placed outside on the grass. Apparently she doesn't yet understand that it displeases you. She needs to be put on the grass first thing in the morning and shortly after she eats, and praised highly if she goes outside. She needs to be taken out regularly to pee, and praised when she goes.
The second question is whether you have any materials indoors where odor can remain...?? If she smells excrement on carpet or bedding, she will believe that's the place to go. You may even need to go as far as throwing old fabrics away, if they can't be 110% cleaned. Even at her age she should only poop twice a day and pee perhaps 5 or 6 times... If she is going more frequently than that then she needs a vet visit. She has obviously developed a bad habit and now it's going to be harder to correct it. But if you go back to basics it must work. But remember it's timing, routine, routine, timing, routine..... she must be taken like clockwork, clockwork to get her system inline. No changes on the weekends.
In terms of punishing “doing businesses in the house” I would be very careful. A very unpleasant consequence could be that the dog will start to seek hidden spots and only do it when you are not looking, because it becomes scared of the consequences.
If the dog NEEDS to go, punishment will not change that - only the behavior.
So you are probably better off with a dog NOT being afraid of doing it even right in front of you and instead I would take a deeper look into the causes of the matter.
You said your dog is four months old. That’s a) not an unlikely age for still peeing her pants considering your dog is still a puppy. And b) it tells me that your dog has probably not been in the household for a very long time already.
You also say she does NOT soil her crate and nothing is physically wrong with her.
Well, that’s great news already!
It could mean that she has probably already accepted the crate as her HOME, while kitchen and the rest of the house may still feel foreign or “outside her home” to her.
She needs to learn what her territory is. Once this feeling includes your entire home, provided she is physically ok, she will start to avoid soiling her home (= your home).
My advice is to give her some more time and keep handling it like you already do.
You can try to use potty pads, but do not rely too much on them. For some owners the pheromones on them work, for others they don’t.
Every time you go outside with her, don’t accept her NOT going. Stay outside with her - as long as it takes - until she has done her business.
The really enthusiastically praise and/or reward her with a treat. Make going outside a happy experience for her.
Also you can introduce a keyword, such as “potty” or so. Just say it every time you go outside with her. Sooner or later she will connect the dots and now that “potty” means to go outside.
Placing pee and poop of hers outside to mark a “potty” spot is worth a try.
Also if you catch her in the act, just grab her an carry her outside, even if she has juuust finished. Say you keyword and stay outside with her for a moment - she will probably NOT do any more business then obviously, but it gives her a chance to connect being outside to peeing and no.2’s.
When Djamila was young going outside felt like a million times each day.
Stay strong, keep cleaning the messes really good like you already do and allow her more time to adjust.
Make her go after every play time, nap, eating, drinking. Have her on a fixed feeding schedule (leave the water accessible all day, that’s probably not your core problem here, if you ask me).
If possible try to limit her access to other rooms to limit damages and just hang on. The one day when she get’s it - it will come!
Every dog has its own learning speed with things.
Potty training is challenging to many owners. I think it took us almost ten weeks or even longer with Djamila. Once the coin has dropped, you will have a hard time to remember how you even did it. I became an expert with good odor killing natural cleaners and I can't even remember how many times I've carried dripping Djamila outside, messing the floor all the way to the yard to show her where she is supposed to go. But the day came.
Actually going outside every ten minutes, in case that is meant literally, could be even too much and confusing. Because when she is outside that often without doing any business, she may not get the point. I remember trying to count how often Djamila really peed and pooped a day - inside and outside all together - and tried to go outside with her that often, trying to stick to the key times - after naps, eating etc. - PLUS the times I carried her outside dripping.
I also was one of the owners who was successful with potty pads, well kind of - she used them for potty but also loved to shred them.
They're cute as a button, but also a pain in the neck when young ... The reward for your patience in the form of a devoted family member comes with delay.