Imzadi83 wrote:halogen. wrote:RWBY Rose wrote: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.
I don't really scold Aika for pottying. If I catch her (which isn't often because she likes going in the one corner that's harder to see) I say eh eh or no and rush her outside. Ive watched videos but they were for starting potty training outside but we started with pads because of her spay... plus I'm not really sure how the person who gave her up was going about it so I was asking on the off chance someone knew something better to do in her case.
I've heard pads have a scent that makes them want to go like their pee does so I just stopped using them. Wouldn't that work against what I'm trying to do? I'll try keeping her next to me to supervise her closer but don't know if that will work out. She likes to be near me but she also likes to self play with her toys... she might get annoyed by being near me all day on a leash. I already spend so much time playing, training, and short walks throughout the day. :"D
Oh and she isn't confined to the hall btw, she has her own room. We use the hallway like a play pen. Plus we can see her better from the hallway...though she likes going in the one corner that's harder to see her in. I let her in her room for play and training sessions after pottying when she's least likely to have to go. We eventually want to give her free reign of the whole apartment, we're just introducing her to new rooms slowly.
But I finally got over my fears and tried it with each dog, all at separate times so that their decisions wouldn't be impacted.
