I am currently caring for a puppy who has not had any training done with him since he was acquired at eight weeks of age. To put it lightly, they are completely novice dog owners with little clue just how much time, patience and effort and training a puppy will need to behave appropriately in the house.
I am trying to put this right. I have had him for nine days so far and have just under three weeks left before he goes back to his owners. I was hoping to have him at least fairly well toilet trained and be able to advise them on how to keep this up.
To give you a bit more background information, he has got into a six week habit of being able to toilet wherever takes his fancy, having the free run of their large bungalow and not being taken outside or to a toileting area anywhere near often enough.
When I collected him from his owners and brought him to my house, he was urinating AT LEAST every 15 minutes, wherever he happened to be standing at the time, he did not show any signs of needing to go. He was also defecating in the house very regularly. I was taking him outside every 10 minutes (for three days) and giving him huge amounts of praise each time he toileted in the garden. Each time he toileted in the house I picked him up immediately and placed him outside.
After much perseverance I have got the timing down to around every half hour. If I do not take him outside he will simply go with no warning, with no pattern on where he chooses to go although some of the time he will attempt to go on the newspaper near the door he is not very reliable with this.
What is currently challenging me is that overnight he goes in a crate and does not toilet at all, for eight hours or more, which means he doesn't have a problem with holding it. So why, when he is out of the crate does he need to go every half hour?
I feel that because of his poor start he literally considers anywhere other than his bed as a place to toilet.
What else can I do? I don't have the resources or space to build up his roaming space slowly. I don't mind taking him out every half hour or more if he is improving but I have seen no improvement for around six days and if I over-run by a few minutes he will go in the house. I have started to get a bit firmer with him, saying a stern "ah-ah" when I catch him doing it and I then place him in the appropriate toileting area which is the newspaper by the door and of course praise him if he goes there.
I don't know if his character can be contributing in any way, but he is an extremely strong willed puppy. I have worked with hundreds of puppies in my job and NEVER come across a puppy this persistent and stubborn in his general character.
Any advice greatly appreciated! I wondered about trying those puppy training sprays to attract him to the newspaper but don't have the money to waste if they don't work.
Claire
I am trying to put this right. I have had him for nine days so far and have just under three weeks left before he goes back to his owners. I was hoping to have him at least fairly well toilet trained and be able to advise them on how to keep this up.
To give you a bit more background information, he has got into a six week habit of being able to toilet wherever takes his fancy, having the free run of their large bungalow and not being taken outside or to a toileting area anywhere near often enough.
When I collected him from his owners and brought him to my house, he was urinating AT LEAST every 15 minutes, wherever he happened to be standing at the time, he did not show any signs of needing to go. He was also defecating in the house very regularly. I was taking him outside every 10 minutes (for three days) and giving him huge amounts of praise each time he toileted in the garden. Each time he toileted in the house I picked him up immediately and placed him outside.
After much perseverance I have got the timing down to around every half hour. If I do not take him outside he will simply go with no warning, with no pattern on where he chooses to go although some of the time he will attempt to go on the newspaper near the door he is not very reliable with this.
What is currently challenging me is that overnight he goes in a crate and does not toilet at all, for eight hours or more, which means he doesn't have a problem with holding it. So why, when he is out of the crate does he need to go every half hour?
I feel that because of his poor start he literally considers anywhere other than his bed as a place to toilet.
What else can I do? I don't have the resources or space to build up his roaming space slowly. I don't mind taking him out every half hour or more if he is improving but I have seen no improvement for around six days and if I over-run by a few minutes he will go in the house. I have started to get a bit firmer with him, saying a stern "ah-ah" when I catch him doing it and I then place him in the appropriate toileting area which is the newspaper by the door and of course praise him if he goes there.
I don't know if his character can be contributing in any way, but he is an extremely strong willed puppy. I have worked with hundreds of puppies in my job and NEVER come across a puppy this persistent and stubborn in his general character.
Any advice greatly appreciated! I wondered about trying those puppy training sprays to attract him to the newspaper but don't have the money to waste if they don't work.
Claire
