Dog Owner Chat v4

[taurus ;]

Any potty training tips? Aika is around 6 months now and seems to have one accident a day. She has gone a day without an accident two or three times though.

We did start her on potty pads because she couldn't go outside for two weeks due to her spay. So is this normal because of that? I'm thinking of getting a potty bell. She doesn't really give us any sign she needs to go.... or if she does I don't see it (my vision is really poor).

I currently:
- Crate her at bedtime
- Bring her out right away in the morning
- Feed/water her at specific times
- Keep her confined to the hallway when we aren't playing, cuddling, training, ect. (It's not super big, it's probably twice the size of a playpen)
- Crate her for 20 minutes after eating
- Take her out every two hours for 15 minutes+ (she usually goes right away but I walk her and let her explore a bit)
- Give her a much bigger reward/praise than I do for normal good behavior

When I was potty training Spade I took her out every 30mins-1hour. I didn't bother with specific feeding times since food and water was(and still is) available at all times, just the frequent outings. And ofc praise and a very high quality treat when she went outside and always scold when accident in the house. I didn't crate or confine either, potty trained in one week! That's just how I did it.
Remember to be patient, some breeds(or even just specific dogs) are harder to potty train and will take some time before they get the hang of it.

[Taiger Lilly]

@RWBY Rose
I mean, I don't think you're doing anything wrong. Are the floors she has accidents on hardwood or carpet? Are you using an enzymatic cleaner after each accident?
I would try to look for any sort of pattern? Do the accidents happen at certain times/places/around certain people?

For instance Olive pees when our roomates come out of their rooms/come home, even if they aren't paying attention to her. So we are working on desensitizing her to their presence, and also making sure to take her outside right away.

It could just be bladder weakness from being a puppy/recovering from KC/spay surgery. If it persists a vet might be able to help, or it could be something that goes away with time and paitence.

The generic advice would just be to increase the frequency of her potty breaks.

Although Olive pretty much potty trained herself (other than the roomate issue) so I didn't really have to put too much effort into it other than regular potty breaks and treats.

[Faybell]

Thank you guys! I'll try taking her out every hour instead of every two.

Hardwood and yeah it's in the same corner almost every time. We have an enzyme cleaner I scrub up her mess with. I mopped up the hallway today to scrub it extra good in case I missed a spot somewhere. She seems to go in the middle of the day and after 7:30 if she has an accident.

She's never had an accident in her crate so I don't think it's lack of control of her bladder? She's super super food motivated but doesn't have the best attention span, maybe it's that? I've been working on stay and leave it to maybe help with that. But who knows it might be? She's never had a poop accident only pee accidents.

[Boomer]

Oh boy, last night and today were eventful. My grandma was taking my dog outside last night and our neighbor's house was on fire. No animals were inside and the people living there weren't home.

Today was my first day for my vet assistant classes and I took Boomer over to the neighbors to ask them about the fire. I was petting him and his fur was sticky, which I didn't see at first. I bent down to smell him (also hoping he didn't roll in a dead animal) and he smelled like caramel... he must've knocked over my mom's coffee or something, I dunno. So I gave him a bath once we got back home. He smelled good, but his coat was gross. =c

[Imzadi83]

Any potty training tips? Aika is around 6 months now and seems to have one accident a day. She has gone a day without an accident two or three times though.

We did start her on potty pads because she couldn't go outside for two weeks due to her spay. So is this normal because of that? I'm thinking of getting a potty bell. She doesn't really give us any sign she needs to go.... or if she does I don't see it (my vision is really poor).

I currently:
- Crate her at bedtime
- Bring her out right away in the morning
- Feed/water her at specific times
- Keep her confined to the hallway when we aren't playing, cuddling, training, ect. (It's not super big, it's probably twice the size of a playpen)
- Crate her for 20 minutes after eating
- Take her out every two hours for 15 minutes+ (she usually goes right away but I walk her and let her explore a bit)
- Give her a much bigger reward/praise than I do for normal good behavior

When I was potty training Spade I took her out every 30mins-1hour. I didn't bother with specific feeding times since food and water was(and still is) available at all times, just the frequent outings. And ofc praise and a very high quality treat when she went outside and always scold when accident in the house. I didn't crate or confine either, potty trained in one week! That's just how I did it.
Remember to be patient, some breeds(or even just specific dogs) are harder to potty train and will take some time before they get the hang of it.

I highly recommend against scolding after an accident. The timing would have to be very precise for the dog to understand that the scolding is associated with pottying and even then the dog may only think she's being scolded for pottying in front of you, not for where she's pottying. Scolding can make it more difficult to potty train in the long run, upset your dog, and damage the bond between you.

Here's a video with a lot of helpful advice for house training. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvPiFcG7ROI

Here's a tutorial for teaching your dog to ring a bell to let you know when they need to go out...http://poochie-pets.net/training/

If you're going to confine her to a hallway could you leave a pad in there for her? That way at least if she has to go she'll have an place to do so. It will also give you more information, such as whether she just doesn't understand where she is supposed to go or just that she can't hold it as long as you think, etc.

Also how did you go from pad to outside? Sometimes moving the pad slowly towards the door before eliminating it entirely may help in her understanding. After you've cleaned up I'd also use the space where she went to put her bed, food/water, or do some training there. This can help her understand that that area is not for toileting.

[eleutheromania]

Got Loki the pet fusion dog bed and he loves it.

[.Middy.]

Aww Loki! He looks so happy and adorable.



Day 10! Theme: Apple

[cornspurrd.]

If you guys Haven't already, On a walk randomly fall to the ground.. See what your dog does! Zeus Kept walking, And Deacon Licked my face <3

[cornspurrd.]

Aww Loki! He looks so happy and adorable.



Day 10! Theme: Apple

Aweee, <3

[taurus ;]

@Imzadi

That's why I put 'That's just how I did it.' in my response. Scolding worked for me, it helped Spade undertand that she did something wrong,
and I only scolded right after she had went, not 5 minutes or later after.

And my dog was potty trained in a week so...
My bond with Spade is very strong and wasn't 'damaged' by this. Its a dog, not a child, scolding isn't going to 'hurt their feelings' or whatever.

I wouldn't bash people's training methods, if its humane and works for you and your dog, then ok,
no need to critize.