Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
My Pit Bull is 4 years old and is sometimes still going pee and poop in the house. If I don't lock her in the bedroom at night she goes potty in the living room. If we're out of the house for more than 10 hours she goes. I have an older Rot/Lab who can hold his bladder for 24 hrs if needed so I know she could hold it if she really needs to. We've tried three cages, but none of them have held up to her strength. She eventually finds a way to destroy them. Also she would immediately pee as soon as we took her out of it while still in the house.
Also she has behavioral problems around other people and dogs and whenever I think she's getting better she goes back to her old ways. Last night she broke out of our room and pulled our crock pot off the counter and shattered it. My boyfriend then locked her back in the room and she peed right there. She's never peed in our bedroom before. Half the time it feels like revenge, but I don't know. Please help with no accusatory comments. I'm trying to learn to be a better fur mom, but I'm having financial trouble this year so training would be very hard to afford.
Your dog needs better training. Petsmart and similar pet stores offer training classes at reasonable prices.
I adopted a 4 yr old Chihuahua. He was never house broken. I take him outside a lot and we will walk. He just seems to sniff and mark here and there. Then when we are home he will poop and pee in the house. It's like he refuses to go outside.
If we don't walk he just stands there. I am not sure what to do anymore. Plus I live in Wisconsin so winter will be here and I'm worried he really won't go outside. Please help.Could you train him to use a wee wee pad in the house. A lot of dogs seem to adjust well to it.
Get him used to a clicker and treat immediately after he has performed. Then assign the spot near your home that you want to be used in the winter and take him there. Use the clicker until he catches on this is where he is expected to do his business.
Many pet stores have training classes and can give good advice. I think it's harder to train an adult dog, but not impossible. Someone has to be home to enforce the new schedule.
We adopted my three year old Lab over a year and a half ago. She has always peed in the house. We gave it time, took her to the vet to make sure that there isn't something medically wrong with her, and even tried calm me down meds. It isn't when we leave for work or anything, it's any time we pet her or touch her and it's through out our entire house. I really don't want to take her back to the shelter, but that's what it is coming to if I can't figure out what to do to make her stop.
Even if we just let her outside and watch her go to the bathroom then pet her when she comes inside she still pees. We just put all new flooring throughout our house and my husband and I are both simply fed up. Can anyone help us?I'm afraid you may have to try using pee-pee bands or diapers. I believe your dog may have been abused. She is "submissive peeing." It isn't really a behavior problem so much as an instinct.
You need to get to the point where you can touch her and it's going to be hard if you know she's going to soil the floor every time.
Good luck.
There might be a dog training person or facility in your area who may be able to offer help. You can discuss your problem and what you want to achieve. The dog trainer may be able to help with behavior modification training or may be able to suggest an alternative solution.
I hope that my questions can be answered. Recently I moved into a new place and my 2 dogs have been acting up when it comes to potty training. My Yorkie (3 years old) has recently started to wee against my couches, something he has never done, and my Toy Pom (1.5 years) leaves me a surprise every morning with out a doubt.
Someone told me they eat too late, so I started taking their food away at about 17:30 and water also, then first thing in the morning, at about 06:00 I give them a bowl full again. But still I get the surprises in the morning. Today I have started walking with them when I came home, as someone told me this would help, but I am not too sure.
Can someone please give some advise, I don't want to lose them and also don't want to let them stay outside, but my new place is going to turn into a smelly one.
Please advise.
Thank you in advance.
By Carli B from South Africa
This is a new and confusing place for them. You will have to house train them all over again! Confine them to one area and take them out often. When they stop "messing" in their area, give them a little more freedom. Be patient. Very cute dogs!
Repeat all the house training - one main meal a day - feed around 4.00 in the afternoon as they often poop after there main meal - don't let them nibble all day - the more food the more poo!
Take outside often - sleep them in a pen in the garage with newspaper on the floor. If they wee or poop over night then this is easy to clean up. Use a mixture of white vinegar, baking soda & water to clean up .
Their messes as disenfectant etc leaves an odour that may tempt the dogs to go back to that area. Be consistant & don't punish them with hitting - be patient - by the looks of it these dogs are well loved & beautiful & well worth your effort. Good luck.
Hi there! When animals are put into a new situation and place they have to mark their territories and establish boundaries. That is why they are going all over the place most likely. I have an 8 month old puppy who loved to go in the house. I had to crate train her.
At night and when we are not home she goes in her crate. We hated the idea at first, but it has seriously been the best decision we ever had. We tell her "Chewi, bedtime" and she runs into her crate and plops down.
The first thing we do in the morning is take her for a walk around the block and every time we get home we do the same. It is like a treat for her because she loves going on walks so much and it shows her she did a good job. She hated it for the first week but now we catch her sleeping in it even when we are home and she doesn't have to be in it. I know how much it sucks to have to clean up surprises in the morning and how smelly it can be. It's just an option but crate training worked really well for us! Hope it helps!! Good luck!
I rescued a Maltese mix, he is about 5 yrs old. We live in a house with a fenced backyard. We have other dogs, big dogs and small dogs. I am home all day and leave the door to the backyard open, unless it is very hot out or freezing out.
All the other dogs go in and out when ever they need and so does he. But I still can't stop him from going to the bathroom in the house, he has even gone pee on my sister's bed. I don't know what to do. Please help.He may need to build confidence. Give him time. Meanwhile, crate train him so that he can begin to properly 'go to the bathroom', and eventually be trained. Eventually the other dogs will provide a good example for him, but he needs to stop fearing them first.
My daughter has a 9 year old Shih Tzu. He pees in the house often. She has tried everything. Now they have a baby in the crawling stage and the ammonia in the pee is worrisome.
I have a 2 year old Pomapoo dog. For a few months he does really good, and does not potty in the house at all. Then he starts acting up and potties. We have a doggy door in our home, and he is fixed. We rarely catch him peeing in the house, but we know it's him. He shrivels down whenever we walk by where he had pottied before we even know he had went.
Obviously he knows it's wrong. Once we find where he went, and get him in trouble he tries to be sneaky and hide where he pees and starts going somewhere else. He even pees on our bed! Why is he doing this? And what can we do to help him stop doing it?We recently adopted a 10 year old Yorkie that may have been abused or neglected. We have no idea how long he was a stray. We are crate training him and let him outside a lot and also take him for walks. The problem is that even when we take him for a walk and he poops and pees he will pee when he comes back in the house within 5 minutes so it's not a bathroom problem.
Is he trying to mark his territory? He's only been here less than 2 weeks. What can we do to stop him? We already love him and he is so sweet.How Do you train a 2yr old Japanese Chin to pee and poop outside? He is my neighbor's dog.
By rb from RI
My 2 yr old male Pug pees in the house. He does not have certain spots, he just does it anywhere. He has not been neutered. We have a doggy door so he has access to the outside and he goes out a lot and pees outside, but he still does it inside. I love him and don't want to get rid of him, but I cannot keep letting him pee everywhere.
By Sherry B. from Ninety Six, SC
My 7 year old Doxie has used puppy pads since a pup, but will not use them in our new home.
By Kathy H
Hi, I am having the same issue and would love to find out if you ever found a solution. I have a 4 yr old shihtzu. We lived in New Jersey since we had her. She grew up using the pee pads majority of the time since she was home a lot while we worked it was out. Though, she also knew how to potty outside whenever we get a chance to let them out.
Recently, I moved with her to California. Since we moved here, she would not potty inside on the pads anymore. To be fair, the first 2 weeks while I waited for my apartment to be set up, we stayed with family and space was tight. Do I took her out to the yard or for a walk to potty.
The first day in out new place, she went twice on the pad, then not anymore. It's been storming out, and still she doesn't go on the pad. We just have to wait until storm isn't as heavy of rain and then I take her out. She does her business instantly and we go back in before the winds takes her away. Since this is only an apt., I don't have the luxury of letting her into a yard either.
She is currently staring at me while standing on the pad. Not u set standing me that she has to potty on it. What do I do?
Hi, I am having the same issue and would love to find out if you ever found a solution. I have a 4 yr old shihtzu. We lived in New Jersey since we had her. She grew up using the pee pads majority of the time since she was home a lot while we worked it was out. Though, she also knew how to potty outside whenever we get a chance to let them out.
Recently, I moved with her to California. Since we moved here, she would not potty inside on the pads anymore. To be fair, the first 2 wks while I waited for my apartment to be set up, we stayed with family and space was tight. Do I took her out to the yard or for a walk to potty.
The first day in out new place, she went twice on the pad, then not anymore. It's been storming out, and still she doesn't go on the pad. We just have to wait until storm isn't as heavy of rain and then I take her out. She does her business instantly and we go back in before the winds takes her away. Since this is only an apt., I don't have the luxury of letting her into a yard either.
She is currently staring at me while standing on the pad. Not u set standing me that she has to potty on it. What do I do??!
I have a 4 year old Pit Bull/Mastiff mix who wakes me up at least 4 to 5 times a night. He is a big dog and I let him out regularly throughout the day. So why so much at night? Help! I need sleep. Am I over feeding and over watering him?
By Amber
Can I train my 3 year old dog without a clicker?
By Aichan from Caloocan, Phillipines
My 7 year old poodle & chihuahua was 4 years old when she was house trained. We never use a clicker to train our dogs. We made sure that if she went potty in the house we let her know what she did wrong BUT you shouldn't punish your dog if they did it 30 mins ago. They live in the moment so you should only do it when it just happens, if it looks fresh, let him or her know. Also, you have to keep him or her on a strict schedule. If it means letting them out every hour, so be it. Eventually they will learn! Hope this helps.
HI, I foster adult dogs so I get to house train a few of them. All I do is in the first few days they come, I take them outside say every hour. If they have a drink I wait 20 mins and go outside. If they eat, wait half hour and go outside. When they do pee or poop outside I make a HUGE fuss of them. I tell them they are awesome, I might even give them a small treat (right at the second they are finishing that pee) if they have been a bit harder to train. I never reprimand them inside unless I actually catch them doing it. Then all they need is a "Noooooo" in a low voice. The longest it has taken is three days.
A few tips, use "Urineoff" or similar to get rid of any pee pheremones inside as some will want to use that spot once its marked. Also, get a vet check and ensure there is nothing wrong with the bladder. In older dogs, spondylosis (mild arthritis) in the spine which is completely normal, can affect the muscles around the pelvic area, so even though they dont want to pee inside, they cant help it. Good luck!
Let me preface this by saying that I absolutely adore my two dogs. Hendrix (who this post is about) is my little soulmate. We are really close, I give him lots of attention and love, but I don't spoil him. I ignore him when he's being naughty and he responds well. He's gotten a lot better over the past year, but Ive reached a wall in house-training him. I hope you guys can help!
Here's the story:
I've had my miniature Dachshund Hendrix since he was around 6 months old. He's now 3 years old.
When we first got him he was really nervous, and would run in insane circles (sometimes while peeing if we weren't home) all the time. We lived in a house with a garden when we got him, and he was outside with our other dog (fully house trained) when we were at work. Eventually we got a doggie door so they could go in and out. He got used to it and didn't really have accidents inside, although he was a pretty bad submissive pee-er for quite a while.
We moved to an apartment with a small garden, and started to walk them to go pee and poop as often as possible, but he refused for the better part of a year. It was hugely frustrating because we'd spend ages outside, then he'd go as soon as we got inside (in the garden). Once our other dog escaped from the garden (we got her back right away though thankfully!) and we decided to keep them inside when we weren't home. He started doing his business on the rug/floor - never waiting for us to get home even though we'd let him out in the morning and as soon as we got home and again in the evening.
Eventually he started peeing and pooping on walks, which was great, but he still did it at home when we weren't there, and sometimes if we didn't let him out fast enough.
We just moved again - this time to an apartment without a garden. Our schedule has changed so we leave around 7:15am and get back home around 3:30 or 4pm most days. We feed and walk the dogs in the morning, then go for walks as soon as we get home. We feed them their second meal in the evening and go for one or two more walks before bed.
Evey day when we get home in the afternoon he has peed a bunch of times (sometimes up to 6-8 times - I count the puddles) and pooped at least once or twice, but quite a lot each time. We leave wee pads and he does his business there (although of course he moves the pads around and it's still a bit of a mess), but he sometimes poops once there then again in the hall. He doesn't pee anywhere else though, which is good.
I know he's made a lot of progress, but it's driving me nuts because we have to clean pee and poop every single day. It's the same thing if we go out for an hour or two. If no one is home, he just has to pee and poop. I know for a fact that he can hold it because when I'm at home all day he can hold it from morning til afternoon - even later than the time we usually take him (sometimes he holds it from around 8am til 6 or 7pm). He also lets me know when he has to go out. The only issue is him doing it inside when we're not home. He and my other dog have a limited space, not the whole house, they have a Kong each, chews, their beds, and toys - and each other - so I don't know if he's just bored or has separation anxiety, but I really need to sort this problem out.
We have people house/dog sit for us when we go on vacation. The same couple has done it now twice - they love the dogs and the dogs love them, but the accidents drive everyone a bit nuts. We're traveling again in December so I'd love to have him properly house-trained by then if possible so we don't wear out our lovely friends. It's hard to find people who get on with the dogs so well and that we can trust when we're out of town!
Any help/advice would be great.
Additional info:
I haven't crate trained him. I know everyone says it's the best thing to do, but I don't think it'll work on him. If there aren't any pads put out for him he pees in his bed. I'm not completely against the idea, but probably as a last resort. I know he will bark all day, and crates are pretty hard to find for a decent price where I live :/
We've tried restricting their space, or giving them extra space - it doesn't make a difference.
When he poops/pees at home he does a lot more than when we walk him. He'll poop in the morning then twice when we're not home and again in the evening a bit. When we are home all day he only poops twice a day, maybe 3 times, but all in all the quantity is less. I don't get it. He also seems to pee wayyy more when we're not home compared to when we are home all day and take him out.
By ZS
I have almost the exact issues with my dog and if you've had any progress - please share it with me!! I'm at a loss..
My dog lived in a kennel for two years with no housetraining and can easily run in circles in her own deposits every day. She seems to be fine relieving herself outside on our walks when we're together but when I leave her alone in the home, 100% of the time, she will soil her area. I'm not seeing any progress at 3 months...