Posted on 10/24/2010 2:12:46 AM PDT by sushiman
Our 8 week old male Boston arrived from Gunma , Japan ( I'm in Kumamoto ) last Sunday . We bought a Puppy Potty tray and have been dilligently training him . # 2 is no problem , and he'll usually do # 1 is one carries him to the potty , otherwise he'll pee on the living room carpet or near it ( we have him confined to two rooms at the moment ) or in his bed other times . I realize it takes time , but thought I'd ask for advice . Until now he has been free in the rooms to which he is confined . We have purchased a " circle " ( rectangular wood/metal pen ) to put him in when nobody is home , which is rare . Anyway , any help would be appreciated .
Pardon brevity ...but my wife is out and the dog is free so have to keep my eyes on him ! : )
What is a Puppy Potty tray?
Even if you’re training for an ‘in door’ pottier...still need to crate train.
http://www.drilldog.com/drilldog-articles/crate-training-your-dog.htm
The best way to train a dog to go outside is this: take them out every hour on the hour for the first week or so until they get it, and they will never go in the house....I have had many dogs over many years, and this works.....it’s a bit hard at night but it’s a worthy investment that will pay great dividends
And remember to praise them when they go out side. If they have an accident, put they’re nose in it, (or close enough for them to understand what and why....they are only puppy’s after all) and tell them bad....don’t hurt them just teach them....
Keep a puppy confined to an area small enough that he considers it his bed. They like their beds to be clean, although when desperate, they will use a corner (which means you weren’t fast enough, after he awoke, ate or played). Hence, using a crate that’s roomy enough, or in your case, the pen with his bedding in it could work, gives the puppy incentive to not soil his small space. Assign a short phrase to use whenever you want to ask him if he needs to go out (this is more for later, right now just get him to his facilities as soon as you are able leading him there). Do not leave the facilities until he does something and then praise him for doing it in the right place. Yes, you could be there for awhile, but if their plumbing is small and they’ll get something done eventually. It’s a bit easier when you’re outside, especially when the puppy wants to go back inside and can’t until it does something.
As he gets better at telling you about what he needs, allow him more freedom, one room at a time, with his bed present and shown to him. If he picks an area off-limits, place his bed there for a few hours or a day, until he realizes that the whole place is supposed to be his clean area. Of course, never yell or punish a puppy for an indiscretion. I would simply put my dog with her bed close to the wrong place and she had to watch while I cleaned up. It seemed to work for her, anyway. She wasn’t upset or scared but she got the drift anyway. We’d stay in the area for awhile with me petting her or reading while it sunk in, and she figured out that the seldom used rooms in the house still counted as her bed. After a drink of water, you might need to gauge about 10 to 15 minutes for a trip to his bathroom.
Remember, as tempting as it is to see the cute puppy explore a home, it’s even better when they know what they’re supposed to do and where and how to get from each room to their bathroom. That’s why crate training seems to be the most successful method; it’s the smallest area to start from. Also, one room at a time doesn’t overwhelm the lesson.
I do pretty much what the Wizard says. Except I don’t take them out every hour. But that would work really well. I just take them out consistently all day long (after meals) and do not let the dog in other rooms in the house. I keep the dog next to me where I can see him/her at all times. If they go smelling around, I jump up and take them outside. lots of praise and applause, treats.
Mine have all been trained within a few days.
Don’t forget, as with any other training, consistency and patience is key. Everyone in the household should use the same phrase and actions when a mistake is made. Also, when coming home, some dogs, particularly submissive ones, might have an accident while greeting you or a visitor at the door. It’s better to just let them out and calmly wait for them to do something before indulging in a happy hello. Let them bounce around but don’t pet them until they’ve taken care of business. It’s hard to do when they’re so ecstatic to see you, but it’s worth it.
The sniffing around and an outing or two during the night are excellent points, the latter only needed for a short time. I’d forgo the nose-rubbing bit though. It never worked for the dog my mom trained (that’s what she was taught long ago), and the dog will only understand that you are mad about what he did and not necessarily where he did it. That’s my experience anyway.
exercise, play, feed, drink, then into crate to sleep/rest. after a while he'll awaken and want to go. when he leaves the crate, that's when you train he where he needs to go. He will want to go. He will want to please you. He will do it where he gets verbal, treat awards.
If you don't train him, he will just drift around like a liberal dog and make messes everywhere, and like a lefty, not understand what the problem is.
Friends don't let friends raise lefty dogs.
We housebroke our pug by crate training him, and by putting him in a pen until he was old enough to get the run of the house.
I have a small animal pen with 8 wire sections that hook together that all hook into a vinyl liner pan with velcro. We made sure Gus got lots of opportunities to go outside, but he slept in his crate in the pen until he was several months old. He cried the first night we made him sleep alone, but he got used to it quickly and we had very few accidents.
Dogs figure things out pretty quickly, and the most important thing you can do for them is be consistent. Your dog will do whatever it takes to please you, and housebreaking is a great opportunity to praise him and tell him “HEEZAGUDBOI!”...
I use “puppy pads” for my chihuahua. He has never had a mistake in 8 years.
At 6 pounds, it’s an easy solution. But you may what to try it.
I was a invited guest of a cousin who claimed her 4 mini poodles were house trained, yet they pissed and crapped on her living room carpet almost daily even though they went outside and back in several times a day, tracking dirt and mud back onto her precious carpet. Yet if I wore sandals that I had hand washed or sent thru the washer, I was ‘ruining her carpet’.
Actually I could tell you many a in-kind stories about her. Can you say ‘bonkers’? It was probably a real good thing I got out of there when I did because her husband was away a lot. I always felt a lot better when he was around.
Crate train is the method we used for our BT. Just be consistent in all aspects of training.
As a Boston Terrier owner (or at times we call her a Boston Terror), I can say that you have chosen one of the most wonderful, sweet, fun loving breed of dog there is! Enjoy your puppy.
Woof
Give it a treat when it goes outside and scold it when it goes inside.
Crate training. It’s the only way.
Terriers need activity. Walk as often as possible and enjoy the walks.
I have often found that house-training and house-breaking a dog takes the training of both partners. You and the dog.
Example: I have a good friend that constantly told me his dog would pee in the house etc. One evening as we sat testing out a new board game. His dog walked over to him at the table and then back to the door several times. I told him his dog needed to go out. He dismissed my suggestion and his dogs action. About 15 minutes later do I need to tell you what happened?
For puppies there are certain cues they will give you and you as the owner need to be aware of those cues. Some have already been suggested.
1. If your are playing with the puppy in the house, immediately after play take them outside. It will take 15-20 minutes, but they will piddle outside. If you are playing inside and the puppy starts to sniff about...time to go out(quick)!
2. Puppy just finished eating? Again take them outside. They will likely want to play a bit and then ...piddle/#2.
3. Just woke up...outside.
4. You can also try using potty bells on the door handle. Every time you take the puppy out to potty, touch his nose to the bells. He will learn to ring them to go out.
Crating him and confining him when you are not home is a great training aid as well. As stated earlier, they will try to not soil their sleeping areas. The drawback is they are still a puppy and there is no way they can “hold it” for 6-8 hours. Owners who don’t keep this consideration in mind often find crate training messy, distasteful, and unsuccessful. No one going to be home to help the puppy for a long period of time? Hire someone to come in and help out the puppy. My pet sitting business offers puppy-time packages. We visit twice between 10am and 3pm for puppies up to 6 months old or until they are housebroken.
Puppy insists on using a certain corner...all the time? Put the puppy pads there for a week. Then every few days move the pads closer to the out door until they are in front of the door.
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