Door too small for Jersey Giant?

[woody2k4]

Does anyone have any good suggestions?

 

My puppy is 6 months old and she still hasnt got the hang of it. She wont bark to tell us she needs to go outside and she will just do it in the kitchen?

 

If the door is open she will go in and out and do it. Now its winter with the dorr shut she just does her business in the kitchen

[The Dogmother]

If she still hasn't got the hang of it then you need to go back to basics; take her out on a lead after every meal, sleep, on the hour and every time in between Treat her and praise when she does perform, don't expect her to hurry or be impatient or she will pick it up. Also don't scold her for messing indoors and watch her closely for her signal that she needs to go; a dog won't always 'ask', sometimes it just becomes restless.

 

Lots of positive reinforcement will usually work.

 

The Perfect Puppy by Gwen Bailey is a good book.

[Cheeky Chooky]

With our 2, we took them out to the garden every 20 minutes/half an hour, used the phrase "Be quick!" and praised them like mad when they 'performed' We also didn't let them play in the garden at all for those first few months of toilet training, so it reinforced the fact that the garden was the only place they did their business

[Chucky Mama]

It might be that she is going to the door and you are just not seeing her. I found a cat type bell on the collar during toilet training. Our dog never barks to be let in or out and she would quietly go to the door unnoticed. The bell alerted us to her getting up and moving to the door.

[Lavenders_Blue]

I agree that she may ask, but you are not noticing, or that she simply doesn't ask. Tango doesn't usually ask to go in the garden. When she is absolutely desperate she comes and sits very politely in front of me, or sometimes whimpers. As she does this when she wants a lot of things (walk, food, game etc) then it's not always clear! If I think it might be a toilet need, then she gets shoved out just in case. Better safe than sorry.

 

CM's suggestion of a bell is a good idea. You can buy bells for dogs called Poochie Bells which you hang by the door but a cat bell is a lot cheaper!

[LolaLayla]

What breed is your puppy? Is she quick to pick up obedience commands? Why I am asking is that I have a poodle pup who is now 6 months old. She is very quiet and so I have trained her to touch a string of bells (poochie bells), as mentioned by L-B, which I have hung on the handle of the back door. I found it easy to train her to do this as she picks up things very quickly. If you get her to touch the bells by giving her a treat when she does this then take her outside hopefully she may work out that this is how she gets outside. Good luck

[Mercedes55]

Some breeds are slower to pick up the message with toilet training. We have a 7mth old shih tzu puppy and they say they are a hard breed to toilet train. One thing I did realise was that the more freedom you give them the more they seem to have accidents. As long as I confine Daisy to the living room, conservatory and kitchen she seems to be fine. The second I leave her in the dining room or TV room she pees on the carpet

[The Dogmother]

That's normal with younger puppies, they are best in somewhere that's wipe-clean.

[Mercedes55]

That's normal with younger puppies, they are best in somewhere that's wipe-clean.

 

The odd thing is we have carpet in the living room, same carpet runs right throughout the dining room, living room and TV room. I can leave Daisy in the living room for hours and she does nothing, open the door to the other rooms and she pees in there

[The Dogmother]

I wonder why that is; is Daisy piddling in the same place every time? The smell could be attracting her back.

[Mercedes55]

I wonder why that is; is Daisy piddling in the same place every time? The smell could be attracting her back.

 

I was thinking the same. I do make sure I soak it up with some kitchen towel and then spray some of that stuff from P@H on it. Today I was just thinking how well she was doing as it's been the best part of a week without her having an accident indoors. Then earlier tonight I was in the living room sorting out some Christmas presents and OH left the door open and she peed in the dining room

 

Maybe the spray I am buying isn't working or she's choosing to find a room where no one will see what she is doing

[Chucky Mama]

Be careful about which spray that you use. Some people inadvertently buy 'Puppy Training Spray' thinking that it will stop puppies peeing in a certain place whereas some are actually intended to encourage puppies to pee in the place that it is sprayed.

[bluekarin]

Today I was just thinking how well she was doing as it's been the best part of a week without her having an accident indoors. Then earlier tonight I was in the living room sorting out some Christmas presents and OH left the door open and she peed in the dining room

 

And that is what usually happens here. I think those fatal words, oh we haven't had an accident for a week now......

[Chucky Mama]

I think you need to go back a few steps and take her out, give the command, wait with her while she goes, praise her and bring her back in. I know it is dark and miserable out but sometimes you do have to go back a bit to reinforce things. I remember having to do it at around 6 months when we had a blip.

[Bramble]

Willow was 6 when I had her (retired racing greyhound), she had never lived anywhere but in kennels, so naturally wasn't housetrained. She picked it up very quickly - taking her outside regularly, before and after meals etc etc cracked it pretty quick. There were accidents, BUT I should say, that I had expected her to whine or bark etc when she needed to go out, but she doesn't - she simply gets very restless, she doesn't stand by the door or anything, she just won't settle and that's her "I need to go" signal - it was me that was slow to realise, not her that was slow in realising she needed to tell me - so maybe your pup is telling you she needs to go, just not in the way you expect her to tell you?

This doesn't say anything that others haven't said - just thought I'd back 'em up though!!!!

[Mercedes55]

Be careful about which spray that you use. Some people inadvertently buy 'Puppy Training Spray' thinking that it will stop puppies peeing in a certain place whereas some are actually intended to encourage puppies to pee in the place that it is sprayed.

 

I was so sure I had bought the right spray but I just checked and although it is an odour remover it's more of a general air one and not a surface one. In fact it says NOT to spray directly onto fabric and there I am liberally spraying it all over the carpets everytime Daisy pees on them

 

Need to go to P@H tonight and get a proper spray that will neutralise any odours on the carpet. Have to say, for a shih tzu she is quite good and like the OP Daisy doesn't bark to go out, unlike our labrador who always gives a loud woof that you can hear all over the house. Daisy just sits by the french doors and whimpers, but she doesn't just do that to go out and pee, she also does that to go out and dig up the garden

[LolaLayla]

Daisy doesn't just do that to go out and pee, she also does that to go out and dig up the garden

When Lara rings the bell it can be for digging too

[Mercedes55]

Daisy doesn't just do that to go out and pee, she also does that to go out and dig up the garden

When Lara rings the bell it can be for digging too

 

We've now fenced off the lawn so that Daisy can only go on the patio to do her business. Fortunately as she is still young she has adapted quickly. We have a gate onto the lawn so that our labrador can still go on the grass as she is old now and we don't want to unsettle her routine. Also she is one of those dogs that just goes out to do what she needs to do and comes straight back in, unlike Daisy who would spend all day out there given the chance

[The Dogmother]

Mercedes55, try the 'simple' sprays, otherwise, wash the area with biological laundry liquid. The smell of ammonia in their wee is very hard to get rid of and they will re-wee over that original scent if you don't get it up.

[Mercedes55]

Mercedes55, try the 'simple' sprays, otherwise, wash the area with biological laundry liquid. The smell of ammonia in their wee is very hard to get rid of and they will re-wee over that original scent if you don't get it up.

 

Thanks for that tip, when you say 'simple' sprays what exactly are they? She just did it again, this time in the TV room and once again when OH had popped home from work. Weird to say the least

[The Dogmother]

Simple is the brand They also do a 'pee post' which is quite good to encourage them to focus their ablutions on one point.

[Mercedes55]

Simple is the brand They also do a 'pee post' which is quite good to encourage them to focus their ablutions on one point.

 

There was me thinking 'Simple' as in Simple soap

 

I will get some tonight

[LolaLayla]

Mercedes - How are things going? We seem to have had a bit of a blip here. Lara (nearly 8 months) was really good at ringing the bell to go out to wee (and dig). Although still doing that, over the holidays when we have been using other rooms she has had more accidents than in the whole of her life Twice she decided to pop behind the sofa and poo on the rug under the piano, while we were in the same room watching TV. We did give her the benefit of the doubt as she did not have access to the bell but before she had stood at the door to get out Then on another occasion she followed me into a room and weed on the sheepskin rug (she had been in the room before and always liked to quickly lie down on it). However last night she followed OH through the house and when he went into another room weed on the carpet. We did not let her into the hall or any of these areas until about 2 months ago. She will sometimes do 'excited' dribbles when visitors arrive but that is another thing totally.

I am not sure if she is just getting a bit lazy or if she has a UTI. When she does a wee she usually is a bit 'John Wayne' for a second when she has finished, but I have noticed that this seems to last a bit longer now She is dry in her crate at night and is in no rush to go out in the morning. I have washed the rug and used a 'repel' spray on the carpet. Has anyone any experience of this or of how UTI's affect dogs?

[Lavenders_Blue]

My parents' elderly terrier had a UTI last year and it's very much like when we get one - when you gotta go, you gotta go! He was a very clean dog all his life, but when he got the UTI there were quite a few accidents in the house. He did also drink a lot more water, so might be worth keeping an eye on how much water Lara is drinking as an indicator. It probably wouldn't hurt to get a wee sample (pop a shallow tray under her when she goes for a wee) and drop it into the vet's just to be on the safe side.

[LolaLayla]

Thanks for the advice. She is not drinking any more water that usual and we have had no more accidents. Poor Lara is now going through a doggy boot camp. The lead is back on when she goes into the garden and the clicker and treats are out for 'going' in the garden or on walks. She must have broken the record for the fastest wee today. Usually she wanders about for a while even after being in the crate overnight but after a quick shake of the treat bag and a view of the clicker she knew she was onto a good thing if she did what was expected. Thank goodness she is food orientated!

I really think she just needed a reminder as to what was expected.