Need some help with housebreaking
Ok, here's the background: brought our puppy home 4 weeks ago (11 weeks then, 15 weeks now) with coccidia from the breeder and the terrible habit of eating her feces. We've been treating her for the coccidia and trying pills called "Nasty Habit" for the poop eating. We've finally stabilized her belly, hardly any more diarreah, but this puppy is just not getting the housebreaking concept. When we go outside, she understands that's a good place to relieve herself. But at night, she continues to poop in her crate. She can't last the whole night, so we get up to take her out. But sometimes she goes and then we've got poop crate to clean up at 4 a.m. (like we did this morning, again). And during the day, she can't stay in a crate only, because she's completely soiled when we get home. So she gets a larger, penned in area with a training pad, which she uses, but we'd much rather work on keeping her in a crate and having her start to build that training.
So, with all this said, who has some good ideas? Some friends have said to feed her in her crate, that that should stop the pooping in the crate, other friends suggested giving her a treat when she goes outside and stricter discipline when she goes inside....HELP!!! Our other corgi was a dream at housebreaking and this is been a pretty tough adjustment period.
So, with all this said, who has some good ideas? Some friends have said to feed her in her crate, that that should stop the pooping in the crate, other friends suggested giving her a treat when she goes outside and stricter discipline when she goes inside....HELP!!! Our other corgi was a dream at housebreaking and this is been a pretty tough adjustment period.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Sam Tsang on
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Hi Rand, here's a good article for you :) at 15 weeks, your pup physically cannot hold for that long. It'll take 9 months -1 year for her to be completely housebroken. If I was in your situation, I would set a good schedule for food, water and potty time, be consistent and she will get it in no time. Personally i think puppy pads are not that great, they are convenient but it really doesn't help speed up the learning process, cause ultimately you still want her to go outside right? As far as a larger pen goes, it will only encourage her to poop further away from where she sleeps, it is better to "divide" that area and gradually increase the size later. Hope this helps, let us know if you have further questions :)
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Permalink Reply by Kelly on
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My best advice is to take her outside more often than you think you need to and to give her lots of yummy treats & praise when she goes outside. If you see her starting to go inside grab her quick and run to take her out and finish. Also, make sure her crate is not too big and that there is no soft bedding in it until she learns to hold it. Soft bedding usually seems like something they'd like to pee on since it is absorbant.
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Permalink Reply by mosesbotbol on
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I am no expert at all and have never owned a puppy, but when we got our dog made sure to take out several times a day. She had accidents for first 3 days and since then, not one accident. I still let her out often when I am home and keep, but make sure to let her out on routine times too.
I expect soon, she give you "signs" she has to go outside. Good luck
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Permalink Reply by Denise Hawkins on
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We bought the boys a bigger crate, and we went from no mess overnight, to huge piles of poop overnight. We had bought lovely soft bedding for it, and 3 days running I had to wash that and scrub the crate every single morning. I did some research and found that in actual fact their crate was too big, it should allow them to go in, turn round and lie down, nothing more, or they can soil at one end and sleep at the other.
Our boys ALWAYS get a treat when they go outside, and they now go out and come and sit at hubbys feet, and wait for the treat. Now they have the hang (99.5%) of the time as Reggie is only 14 weeks old, we will begin to work on them holding it until we take them out for walks, we will do this by giving them a normal treat when they go in the garden, and some ham when they go outside on a walk.
My advice would be to praise her (almost throw her a party) when she does go outside like you want her to, unless you catch her in the act, dont tell her off for going indoors. Try bringing her evening meal forward a little, maybe her little tummy has not processed her dinner by the time you want to crate her overnight. A puppy trainer told me a puppy can hold themselves for one hour for every month of their life. I would say persevere, and be consistent, treat her when she does the right thing.
Good luck
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Permalink Reply by Susan Stanton on
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The comment about the size of the crate is exactly what worked for me and my first puppy. His crate was too big, so I put a divider in it, cutting it in about half -- he had room to stand and turn and lie down, and that's it. They typically will not poop and snooze in the same place. I also had a very set routine and found he had to poop a lot more than any of the puppy books noted! Maybe it was his food or whatever -- but he needed to go out about 10-20 minutes after eating, then again about 2 or 3 hours later. So once I got a handle on the timing, we stuck to a clear schedule. And we had massive parties outside when he pooped/pee'd. Also make sure you've completely cleared the coccidia -- any parasites/worms will interfere with your pup's ability to hold it. If she is is 100% healthy, then the 1 hr/month of life is a good rule of thumb. Oh those first few weeks are tough. I don't know where you live, but last year, I got my second puppy on Feb 2 -- and the following few weeks were full of sleet, snow, hail, high winds and subzero temperatures, and we were outside every few hours. But I've already forgotten our misery, because she's such a total delight!
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Permalink Reply by Rand on
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thanks for all the comments and suggestions. Even in her small crate, she'll still poop. I wonder what kind of "dirty' situation she had at the breeder that she doesn't understand how nasty poop really is. Yes, we do the happy dance when she goes outside, started giving her treats also when she goes outside. We take her out pretty regularly and after all the ususal times (after naps, after meals, 2 hours after a meal, etc). But like Susan said, the parasites wrecked havoc with her system and she's still adjusting.
We'll try the pineapple and be even more diligent with walking and praise for outside success!
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Permalink Reply by Lou Ann Lemaster on
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I imagine the parasite problem your dog had is still wrecking havoc on your dog's system. That could be a lot of your problem . You may also have to change the time she gets her last meal, making it a little earlier in the evening. Because of my work schedule, my dogs get feed at 6 AM and 6 PM (and believe me, Duncan lets me know about 15 minutes before it's feeding time, too!..LOL) He gets maybe two dog biscuits before bedtime which is usually between 9-11 PM.
I know Sam doesn't approve of training pads, but it is apparent, that your puppy is real familiar with them and uses them. That is what the breeder possibily used to potty train him. Duncan is house trained, lets us know when he has to go out, but I still have pads down for "just in cases." Like we are gone longer than I thought we would be, or he has an upset tummy and we don't hear him or it comes so quick he doesn't have time to get our attention. He runs to his pad, knowing that he won't get in trouble for making a mess in the house (not that he ever has....I've been SO blessed!) Having the pads has saved me a large mess a couple of times. So, I would use the pads to my advantage until your dog's system is completely cured of the parasite problem. If it were me, I would rather cleanup dirty pads, than be cleaning out a crate everyday.
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Permalink Reply by Jessica on
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I agree with you about the pads. My boyfriend and I both work full time and we don't keep Ein in the crate anymore. He rarely uses it. He usually waits for one of us to come home. A couple weeks ago, Ein missed the pad and when my boyfriend went to get some paper towels to pick it up, he noticed that Ein moved the poo onto the pad himself!
Also, eating poo might be a sign of protein deficiency. Check the label on the dog food that you are feeding him. The first 4 ingredients of the food is usually what the majority of the food is made out of.
Another possible cause of the poo eating is that she is trying to "cover up" her accidents. But usually, dogs simply just enjoy eating poo.
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Permalink Reply by Sam on
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Sounds to me as if your poor pup while ill just had to go when she did and is used to being soiled. One also has to wonder the environment she was kept in prior to coming to you. When a dog truly has had a medical problem I think it a tad unfair to put them in a very small crate. Depending on how much time she is crated you may consider an x-pen. I have used them here with pretty good success. I too dont much care for potty pads. If your dog will use them and you realize that housebreaking to pads and housebreaking to going outside are two entirely different things to your pup.
Definitely feed your pup in the crate. One wants to make the crate a good place. Always.
Has your pup been declared clear of coccidia? Is it possible that she has any other parasites? Perhaps the food you are feeding is to rich? Hopefully she has a clean bill of health at this time. If her stools are still soft you need to investigate.
If she is crated all day and all night I suspect this is really a bit much. How much outside exercise does she get? Do you walk her at least twice a day? Does she have play time outside? Do you have a regular toileting routine? Many things to consider.
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her last stool sample was clear, but the vet talked about the lifecycle of coccidia and it still might come up in future tests. we are treating her and compliment with fortiflora to stabilize her belly. We don't crate her all day, as that's just too long for her. She get's a baby-gated off area with her crate to sleep, a small play area, and a padded area (what we have instead of an x-pen area). And we're very diligent about outside and play time, as both of our dogs really love their walks in morning and night (even in the snow and ice we've had most of the winter!). Our male was like clockwork when he was a pup: 15 minutes after eating, then outside. We're still learning how our little girl operates :)
Taking all of your advice and pulling out the info to use and help.
Thanks again.
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Every dog is different, and maybe she just needs more time. Certainly sounds like you're doing everything right to help her on her way! My Bertie, for instance, was 99% trained, but anytime we played vigorously in my apartment, he would pee on his dog bed. He was paper trained (so good in an apartment) and had actually made it clear to me that he preferred to go outside, not on the pads -- and yet he persisted in peeing on his bed when playing. Eventually, he grew out of it, as he got better at control (I think he just got excited and couldn't hold it or let me know quickly enough!), if I remember, by 6 or 7 months we got past that little quirk, but not before I'd washed his bed about 10,000 times. I'm sure your girlie will get there too. P.S. Your fluffie is adorable!
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Permalink Reply by Amanda on
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I would suggest you put her on a food/water schedule if you haven't already. I feed Dax (always have, since he was a puppy, I've just adjusted the amounts) twice a day. Once in the morning when I get up around 6:30 and my boyfriend feeds him at 5:00pm. He gets water whenever he wants now, except when he goes into his crate for the night, but when he was a puppy I picked his water up about an hour before we went to bed. This will help you a GREAT deal. I was like you. Dax came to me with coccidia, which didn't show symptoms until about a week after he came to us. The first few nights he went straight through, no accidents. I thought "these people are crazy, my puppy can sleep through the night with no accidents!" Well, I was wrong of course. I now attribute it to the fact that when he first came to me he was nervous and wasn't really eating/drinking hardly anything. Well, then I woke up to him and his coccidia one morning (at 4am, no less) and took him to the vet, blah blah blah. After that, it would be poop and pee (in the crate and all over him) clean up every morning and every afternoon. I started getting up at 3am and taking him out and he would poop -- then I would wake up and he had pooped again in his crate (and stepped in it, of course)! That puppy got so many baths it was unreal. When I was home I would take him out every 30 minutes, whether he really needed it or not, just to drive the concept into his head, and then I came home one day...no pee or poop! There were a few accidents after that but he pretty much got the idea. Now every now and then he'll have accidents, if there are a lot of people here, or if there are other dogs here, but I believe he's just marking, and he NEVER pees or poops in his crate. Just give the poor thing some time, especially with her being sick it's going to be near impossible to even begin housetraining at this point because she can't hold it anyway, much less with her stomach all messed up. Sorry for the long post, hope it helps!
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