A House Training Question

Hello!
I have read the wonderful article located in the FAQ about house training. But I just had a quick question because I am not sure if I am doing the appropriate thing. Ziggy has been doing fairly well so far for house training. He is crate trained in the evening while we sleep and for about a 4 hour period on monday and wednesdays when I have class. We keep his kennel in our bedroom which is carpeted and he has never made a mess in there. We keep him in the living room and kitchen areas when we are home, because they are hard floors, he will wait and only do business outside when he is confined to that area. We have the other two rooms in the home barricaded to keep him out, because, he will go in there and make business on the carpet. Only the rooms he is being blocked from though. For example the bedroom where he can go often is carpet and he doesn't do it there. So I guess my question is, would it be better to keep those areas off limits till he is trained better? Or just open those areas and monitor him more closely?

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Permalink Reply by Ginny and Diggory on August 24, 2009 at 2:55pm

I would keep them closed. Better to have no accidents in those rooms than to have him start making a habit of it. He probably won't be "fully reliable" until close to a year old, so maybe then you can start to open the doors and see what happens. Because if he is going in there, each time he goes, he leaves more of a smell, which will be more incentive to keep using those rooms for potty. Mine is very well-trained for potty, but I still close all the bedroom doors when I'm gone for the day, just to be safe...

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Permalink Reply by Kara and Ziggy on August 24, 2009 at 3:14pm

Thanks for the input! I will keep the gates up then, until he has a more control and a better understanding of house rules.

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Permalink Reply by Sam on August 24, 2009 at 5:33pm

I would keep them off limits for now and keep a close eye on him. Housebreaking sort of goes in stages. First they generally to stay clean in their crate. Night time usually comes second as they are not as active and dont drink as much. Small spaces and supervision are usually the next step. Keeping him on a regular routine helps tremendously. It would be a rare corgi that I would say is totally trustworthy before they are a year old.

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Permalink Reply by Linsey & Grissom on August 24, 2009 at 8:08pm

I would keep them closed until he is a little more set in his training. You want to set him up for success. Praising when he goes where he's supposed to is more effective than the punnishment when he doesn't. He'll get it eventually, patience is key.

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Permalink Reply by Beth on August 24, 2009 at 8:54pm

I would not give access to the full house until the dog is around a year old, give or take a couple months. If you want him to get used to those rooms, you might take him in, leashed, and play with him or feed him treats for a few minutes, no more.

Jack could not be trusted in the carpeted living room til he was about 6 or 7 months old. Even under the closest observation, he'd pee. There was something about the feel of the carpet under his feet that made him go. Maybe it reminded him of grass or something. I have no idea, really, but we kept him mostly in the kitchen, where he was good. As someone mentioned, set them up to succeed.

Sounds like you are doing great with Ziggy! :-)

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Permalink Reply by Kara and Ziggy on August 25, 2009 at 11:10am

Thanks so much everyone for your words of corgi wisdom! Ziggy has been doing really well, he sleeps through the entire night and hasn't had an accident in the house for several weeks! We're getting there practice makes perfect.