Potty Training

[shihtzulvr]

Hi! My dog is one year old. She poops in the house. She will poop behind chairs mostly. We have no clue what to do. We have tried having a regular schedule for her to eat and go outside. We take her outside about an hour after she eats, and we wait for like, fifteen minutes. We bring her inside, thinking she doesn't need to poop, and she will poop immediately inside! Please help. My dad might get rid of her if we don't potty train her.

[Love Bird B]

I would try training the little bugger on newspaper and put it wherever in the house she's gone to the bathroom.

Please let me know what she does. What's her name?

[shihtzulvr]

Her name is Tiki. I don't think my dad would like that. He hates poop in the house! He really wants her to just go outside. My dad is so funny.

[Love Bird B]

At least poop would be easier to clean up on paper though. Maybe you could even train Tiki to go in a liter box so it won't be so obvious. Does she like going outside otherwise?

[shihtzulvr]

she likes to go outside, its just i dont know its so wierd. my dad just hates the way it smells, and e says he doesnt like our house to be a poop house. please help.

[Love Bird B]

Well, it sounds like she will poop as soon as she comes back into the house which gives you the opportunity to have newspaper or something for her to go in where you could get rid of it right away.

[shihtzulvr]

But do you know how to make her have a signal when she needs to poop? Such as barking at the door or something?

[Love Bird B]

I think getting Tiki trained to go in a spot you want her to would be the first step. Maybe it's too cold for her to go outside right now. I know I wouldn't want to either, LOL.

[shihtzulvr]

okay! like, a really small spot?

[Love Bird B]

I'd try the newspaper and throw it away before your dad could see or smell it, :)

[blenheimbeau]

If Tiki poops the really soon after being brought back in the house, it should be quite easy to catch her in the act! Then yell NO, pick her up and take her right back outside. Say something like "hurry up" or "do your job" or whatever, but keep saying it until she goes. Then make a bit deal over her being the greatest thing! You need to say the same thing over and over until she poops, every day. Pretty soon she'll know what it is you want her to do when you say that.

And, maybe she shouldn't have the run of the house until she (or you) get a handle on this. I don't blame your dad at all.

Treats are always appreciated by the little furry things too!

[Love Bird B]

Well, I'm glad someone else answered your questions because I know I'm not the norm when it comes to pets. In this case, I'd like a small dog that would either go in the back yard but would mostly be trained to go on paper and/or in a liter box.

[Squawksx3]

B you're so funny!... you did a great job for not being normal LOL. I'm also having a heck of a time potty training my foster pup... Im thinking maybe a patootie plug might do the trick :p.

[excellrott]

A puppy should not be left alone to poop in the house. If you don't have a crate to put the pup in, then you should attach a leash to the dog and keep it with you or put in a small enclosure when not with you. They don't know the difference between going outside or inside as their mom let them do it anywhere. :) and she cleaned up behind them.
Remember to praise the pup when he does it outside, a lot!!!

[Mandy]

At one year old, you are probably not going to have an easy time doing this. First of all, if you dont already have one, buy a doggy crate. It should be big enough for her to turn around in easily, and have plenty of room for her to lay down. You need to keep her on a regular feeding schedule, and figure out about how long after she eats is it when she will need to go to the bathroom. Only let her drink when she eats, don't give her as much water as she can drink because then she will need to pee all the time. She needs to be kept in the crate AT ALL TIMES when you are not watching her, but should not be kept in the crate for more than 4 hours at a time. A dog's natural instinct is not to go to the bathroom where they sleep, so she will not potty in her crate unless she absolutely HAS to go. It's OK to put a pad or blanket on the bottom of the crate, but know that she may potty on it.

So here is what you do. After she eats, wait until you know she needs to go, and then take her out to go potty. If she doesn't go, you need to put her back in her crate. Ten minutes or so later, take her out again to go potty. If she goes potty, PRAISE HER!!! If she goes potty inside, you need to punish her. For some dogs, 'no' isnt enough, but dont go so far as hitting her. If she doesnt go potty, you need to keep repeating this process until she does go. Remember always to PRAISE her when she potties outside!!! Most dogs respond best to positive reinforcement. After she does go outside, then you can have her out in the house for awhile as a reward or as exercise or whatever, but she needs to go back in the crate before she will need to potty again. When my dog was a puppy, he would be in the cage for about 2 hours, then taken out to go potty, and if he went we would keep him out for 15 minutes or so and then put him back in for two hours, take him out to potty, out 15 mins and so on. Since your dog is almost grown, she should be able to stay in the crate longer and stay out in the house longer. You should keep doing this for a couple months. Even if it seems like she's potty trained after a couple weeks, you need to keep doing it to make absolutely sure she knows that she's supposed to potty outside. If she goes potty inside, you need to thoroughly clean the area where she went. Rinsing and washing a little with soap is not going to do it; ANY remaining scent will be like a poo-magnet for her and she will come back to those places to go, so you need to completely deodorize the area where she went. And that's all there is to it.

I know this seems like a pain in the rear, and it will be for awhile, but it is MUCH better than constantly cleaning up doggy poo!!! The hardest part about this for me was having to keep my puppy in the cage for hours at a time. I felt horrible about it, but you gotta do what you gotta do. Just remind yourself that it's for her own good, and you both will be much happier when it's all done!

[FrankieSmama]

I agree! I think it is harder to train a one year old dog. Did u just get ur dog? Because they learn when their really young...not successfully! I agree with everybody else! It's better if you put newspaper where ur dog likes to poo...and throw it away before ur dad comes home and spray some lysol!! hehehe....And When ur dog establish pooping on the newspaper than try to move it around....and eventually outside.....And it might help if you give ur dog a treat if it did its business on the newspaper/outside. And pet 'em and say good dog! something like that!

Belle