I just got a 1 1/2 yr old male min pin from an abusive home. I am having the biggest problem with this potty training. I have other dogs that I potty trained, but he is being difficult. I have him in a crate at night and when we are not home. He still urinates in it! Does anyone have any advice?
By Liz from St. Louis, MO
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My best advice to you is to be patient with him. My boy Chance (pictured) was also terribly abused (who could hit that pretty face?). It took me a good 6 months to fully potty train him as an adult, because even talking sternly to him scared him to death. It took a lot of positive reinforcement (treats, pats on the head, and his favorite- hugs) when he did go potty outside. He did finally get the hang of it though. Don't give up- your little guy just doesn't understand yet.
If a pup is raised in a sloppy manner and left in it's own poop and pee it will never learn to not poop and pee in its own immediate area, without lots of training, bless it's heart!
Please don't cater to any of his nervousness. Only pay attention to positive behavior. When it is time to go out then make it exciting, but not enough to scare him. Grab a handful of hot dog pieces the size of a green pea and head out the door with him saying "outside" and throw a piece out the door. If it won't come out of it's crate, use the hot dog to get it to come out of its crate. When you are taking him outside, go to the same place all the time, and then when he goes, after he is done completely with his business, throw a marker down, or a piece of hot dog. Don't feed him hotdog's any other time so they will stay special. Go to leerburg.com and put nervous dog or housetraining in the search bar. There are lots of free articles at this site and I trust it as far as good information on dogs.
Mainly relax and don't respond to anything in a negative way and take the food and water up at six oclock at night
so it will not have as much water in it's bladder overnight.
If you like, let me know how it is going!
Robyn
They do need lots of time and attention when it come to potty training. I suggest that if you can stay home during the day. I would do that. This will give you more time for bonding and so that your new dog won't feel left alone...yet again. It would be much easier for the potty training.
Good Luck to ya
All of the feedback was really good advice and should help you tremendously. I would only offer one other suggestion: make sure his crate isn't too big. Sometimes if the crate is too big, the dog will have enough space to potty on one end and then sleep or lay on the other end.
Last Friday I got a 2 yr old Cockapoo from the dog pound. He's beautiful and so friendly - but has similar signs of possible abuse. He also urinates when startled, messes in the house when we're out, and cries when he's alone. I bought a dog kennel tonight and I'm giving that a try for a few hours at a time.
My other problem; he doesn't bark. He can, but has only barked once in 5 days. How do I train him to tell me when he needs to go out if he doesn't bark? He'll go out when I ask - but he won't tell me.
Maybe you can try what works with my 3 dogs. I do everything as a routine, and each night at bedtime, I call their names in the same order and add "Let's go outside to the bathroom." It's such a habit with them now that I don't even get all 3 names out before they run out the doggy door. Last night when I made my 'bathroom' announcement, one dog was just coming in the doggy door, and he turned right around and went back out. It was quite funny to see. Dogs love a routine, just as children do. Meanwhile, you could also try taking him to the area of your yard where you want him to go after he eats. If you stay out there with him until he goes a few times, he will start going there by himself.
I also had that same problem with a min pin I had found. After a while he will stop going in his crate but it took a while for him to figure that out. Luckily, you have other dogs, this usually helps. I would be very upset when my dog pottied in the house and let him know that. I would always make sure to get very excited when taking him and my other dogs out to pee. I always sing lets go potty outside.
When He goes potty outside always say good potty. Lots of praise. Take him every couple of hours when you are home for at least 2-3 weeks. He will catch on soon. An adult dog is a little harder to housebreak, because they are so used to going at anytime anywhere and never been taught to hold it. They don't know that they can hold it. Just takes time!
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