Need Advice on Potty Training 2 Year Old Pekingese

[robbyx]

Hello everyone. I hope that some of you might be able to help me with a little (well, not so little really!) problem I'm having with our Pekingese. Back in May, my partner and I moved from a major city to a small mountain town. He has a 2 year old Pekingese that I suspected from day one wasn't very well potty trained.

After living with his dog - and her repeated "accidents" - for several months now, I realize that we need some help with potty training. I'm not sure what sort of training she received as a puppy, but since we moved in together she has pooped and peed at least five different times in the house.

We have a deck and yard and she has access to both throughout the day via a doggy door. I work at home for now, so I'm around pretty much all of the time. Last night she sneaked upstairs and pooped in our guest room/storage room. This is the second time she's used that room as her toilet. When she goes in the house, she tends to seek out areas that are the farthest from our most-used living spaces.

This evening, however, took the cake. I was making the bed and she walked into the bedroom and peed right next to the bed. Last night when I got into bed, I felt a little wetness on the floor and suspected that she might have peed there. Tonight's behaviour makes me almost certain that she did.

I'm not entirely sure how to interpret her action tonight. She didn't show any distress, didn't attempt to alert us at all to the fact that she needed to go out, nor did she seem hesitant. She simply walked into the room, squated next to me, and peed. One thing to note (perhaps important?) is that several months ago she pooped in my home office. It was very late at night and I was working (computer programmer) and quite zoned out. I turned around to get a drink and found a pile of poop behind my chair. I never even heard her come into the room. And now tonight she pees right next to me. Is she jealous? Angry? I think this could be an issue, but it doesn't change the fact that, jealous or not, she's also not housebroken.

My partner is definitely a spoiler and my guess is, he spoiled her a lot as a puppy and made more excuses than he should have for "accidents." FYI, he got her a year+ before I met him. My experience with dogs is completely different. I grew up with dogs on a farm, but they always lived outdoors and did their business outside. My only experience with an indoor dog is with a Shiba Inu and she only had one accident in the house. The more I read up on Shibas, however, the more I learned that they are very good about not going in the house.

Wow...it's late and I'm being rather long-winded. I'll try to wrap this up. My partner likes to let her roam freely in the house. After a few "accidents", I insisted that we confine her to the laundry room. He got a gate for the door and put her bed and toys in there. She never had an accident in that room. In general she is a very quiet dog. However, there were several mornings where she woke us up with her barking because she needed to go - but only when she was confined in the laundry room. That's the thing: confined to the laundry room, she holds it and barks; allowed to roam free, she just goes to the bathroom in the house. I keep insisting that we put her in the laundry room every night, but my partner hasn't always stuck to the program...and that's when the accidents happen.

Sheesh...I feel like he and I are parents struggling with different parenting strategies! :)

So...what should we do? How do we handle this? Do we start over with potty training? She isn't crate trained and my experience with my Shiba taught me the benefit of crate training. Should we crate train her? Can one crate train a two year old? What about the doggy door? Good or bad idea? Should she be able to roam around the house during the day (while I'm at home working) with unobstructed access to the outside? Or is that part of the problem? Should she be on more of a "schedule"? I know the drill when it comes to potty training a puppy, but how does one handle an older dog? I don't want to do the WRONG thing, but something clearly needs to be done. My partner (finally!) agrees that we have a problem and we'd both very much appreciate any suggestions or advice.

Thank you in advance!

-Rob

[Squawksx3]

Hello Rob and welcome :)

Sounds like you got a dilemma on your hands!. I foster dogs for a rescue and usually take in the older large breeds. Yes, you can crate train an older dog, I've done it many times. I currently have a 7 yr old female Border Collie that has always been an outside dog on a horse ranch. She was not potty trained or crate trained at all. Because of a severe injury she already had when she was surrendered to the rescue, she's not ready for adoption yet and I have lots of time to work with her while she is healing. She hated the crate in the beginning and we had to physically put her in it... but once she's in it, she was rewarded with treats and goodies. I also feed her in the crate to separate her from my three to prevent food aggression. After a few weeks now, she happily goes right in her crate when I open the door and say "kennel". It only took a few accidents before she learned she needed to potty outside. The important thing is to constantly take them outside whether they have to go or not. When they do their deed... praise and reward them like theres no tomorrow. Dogs live to please us. I have a doggie door for my guys, but the Border Collie will not use it for some reason... so we physically open the door to let her out.
Its possible that your Pekingese may be jealous or upset... you and your partner need to stick to a schedule.. and your right.. they can be just like raising children and push to see how far they can get. I think I would start with the crate training first... taking her outside several times a day.. then back in the crate she goes. Dont forget to make a big hooopla when she potty's outside. Best of luck to you... I hope others here can give you more idea's and suggestions that will help :)

[DachshundDuo]

I have two miniature dachshunds and one mixed breed dog. It was so easy to train the mixed breed... it only took one accident that was followed up by punishment to get her house trained. The dachshunds, well, they were a totally different story. My male is three and the female is two. Niether one of them is completey reliale when it comes to peeing or pooping in the house. They always ask to go out when my husband and I are home, but if left alone for any length of time, there will be poop and pee strung from one end of the house to the other. The remedy? We put them in crates anytime that they are not being supervised. They are allowed to sleep with us because they always wake me if they need to go outside, and they will hold it until I get up to let them out. But if left alone in the house for more than an hour, then I expect to find a present. When I am home, I let them out every two or three hours. Before I go to bed, they go outside two times in an hour to be sure that they have finished their business. IF they have an accident in the house, they DO get punished. I am not aggressive towards them (come on, they're my babies! :p ) but I do make it quite clear to them that I am not pleased. Then they go outside as reinforcement that they are to potty outside, not in the house. Do you punish the little dog when she messes in the house? If you don't, then you need to. You don't need to hurt her or hit her, just make it clear to her that you are very displeased with her behavior. My husband says that I should rub their noses in the poop, but I think that it is sufficient to just show them the mess and yell at them about it. They always look positively contrite. Hope this helped!

By the way, welcome to petlovers! :)

[tongkusi]

I wonder what breed pekingese is? Is it a kind of chinese dog,which we chinese call "jingba" a kind of small dog.

['too crazy]

I got a 3 year old dog that was not totally trained. I took her outside every 1/2 hr. and would tell her to go potty. She knew what that meant and would go outside but by taking her out often, eventually she learned she had to do it outside. With work and perseverence, you will finally get her trained. Oh and by the way, welcome to the board! ;)

[robbyx]

Just a quick post to thank everyone who has responded so far. I very much appreciate your taking the time to offer advice and suggestions. More than anything else, I've come to realize that our Pekingese needs more structure and routine in her life. I think a lot of that was lost in our move and adjustment to life in the mountains. We're definitely going to work on crate training and establish a potty routine for her ASAP.

Thanks again...and keep the advice coming! :)

-Rob

P.S. Tongkusi: yes, the Pekingese is a Chinese dog. They are quite small with long hair, a flat nose, and big round eyes.

[Wolat]

i suggest u treat ur little dog , as far as potty training, like a puppy who doesn't know how to hold it. unless supervised, they are to be restricted to the crate or a small room. I myself have a chihuahua who is both litter box trained and house broken. during the summer he refuses to use the litterbox. We''ls ee how that goes this winter sincei have a big dog to let out now.
but for young or old, the trick to potty training, is perseverance, consistency (from both parents) and patience.


good luck =)
little dogs are such little napoleons! lol
-Jossie

[Tyler's Mom]

Well, I figure I'll throw my two cents in.

One thing I would like to know about your situation is if she has a problem with dominance? Does she ever go to the bathroom on your bed or on one of your shoes? Will she walk all over your body if you are laying on the floor? Will she bark and 'demand' treats when you have some in your hand? If there is a dominance problem with her (which is very common with toy breeds), then if will require a bit more work than if it is just strictly a potty training issue.
Since she is pottying very close to you, it is either a dominance issue, or she simply doesnt understand that pottying in the house is bad. If it IS just a potty training problem, and because of her age, in my opinion, you are going to have to watch her 24/7. And I mean that literally.
Since she will hold it if she is confined, you can basically rule out any medical problem, which is good. You also have another leg up on the situation because you wont necessarily need to 'crate' her. The laundry room is already doing the job. What you have to do it find out what is going to scare the daylights out of her. Some people use a squirt gun with water, or a jar of pennies that you can shake, or some rolled up newspaper that you can whap beside her head. Anything that is going to freak her out. Then, 'crate' her in the laundry room until you can watch her every second she is out. When you let her out of the laundry room, take her out and say a word to her the whole time she is out there (such as 'go potty', or whatever). When she does that, praise the dickens out of her. Then bring her in and let her play or do whatever she wants to do, but dont let her out of your sight! The trick is to go a few weeks where she hasn't had any accidents in the house. You want her to forget that she goes potty in the house, and reprogram her brain to know that she DOES go potty outside. (also, do not play with her in the yard - that is strickly a potty going zone now - for the next few months anyways). After you have gone through a few weeks of that, where she is getting used to going outside and not inside - you want to sabotage her. When you let her out of the laundry room, only ask at the door if she needs to go potty - and open the door for her to go out. If she doesnt, dont make her. The next step is to catch her going potty in the house, and to catch her IN THE ACT. It is best if she doesnt know you are watching either. If she goes around the corner, just peak your head to see what she is doing, but give her the space. When she goes, use the squirt gun or whatever your choice is WHILE she is going, and scream NOOOO! THen when you have startled her, pick her up and take her immediately outside and tell her to 'go potty'. She probably wont finish going by that point, which is okay - she will have learned what she needed to. If you can sucessfully 'catch' her a few times without missing out, followed by knowing that going outside if good, you will have the problem licked.
I know this sounds like a lot of work, and it is. But with a dog over a year old that has been thinking it is fine to go to the bathroom indoors, you have to reprogram her way of thinking. Once it is over, its finished FOREVER and you can leave her anywhere in the house without having to come back to a mess.
I hope this and the other posts have helped, and good luck!

[opokki]

There is absolutely no point in punishing a dog after the fact. You must catch them in the act for the punishment to be effective or they just don't won't understand. Dogs may appear to "act guilty" upon having an accident in the house but this is most likely to do to the owners body language and/or voice. The dog is aware that the owner is unhappy but in reality has no clue why.
Here is a good site on house breaking an older dog:
http://www.cuhumane.org/topics/hseold.html