Help Potty Training a boxer puppy!!
shabosbaby
17 years ago
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spiritual_gardner
17 years agolast modified: 9 years agoshabosbaby
17 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRelated Discussions
Potty Training - help please!
Comments (23)Lots of good advice here. I remember my mom telling me that she got me potty trained by telling me that she would buy me pretty little lace panties if I would start using the toilet. She said I started using the toilet and she bought me the pretty panties. hee-hee! I have boys and they take a little longer than girls in general. We pushed our first one too soon and had to back off and let him do it at his own pace. Poor little guy would get constipated and we'd end up using "positories" as he called them to help him. He was about 4 before he was fully trained. Our second son started potty training himself wanting to do everything big brother was doing, then went backwards when son number three was born, but eventually got back on track. Third son copied older brothers but also enjoyed going pee outside in the backyard and once on the garage floor - 'cause it made a loud noise and was funny to him. I think the thing that got my boys to using the potty was watching one of those potty training videos. There was one where the song went, "Now I'm going to the potty, potty . . . Yes, I'm going to the potty, potty, etc." They enjoyed singing that song when they went to the potty and it was just one of those songs I couldn't get out of my head! A friend of mine started laughing at me a couple months ago when I was talking about this subject to someone and started singing that song. She said it was the same video she used for her daughter! Check your local library to see if they have any potty training videos available for check out. We checked this one out for two weeks with my second son since he enjoyed watching it so much!...See MorePotty Training - Crate vs. With Me
Comments (12)You don't need to be "louder and nastier", but you do need to be quicker and stricter. Keep a lease on the dog and keep the leash tied to you. That way she won't get a chance to go around the island *g*. If you see her START to squat, immediately give a sharp NO (doesn't have to be loud or mean, but it needs to convey that the behavior is inappropriate) and give her the bum's rush to the door. Once outside, give her the cue word and wait until she goes. I don't allow my dogs to roam all over the place looking for the perfect spot - go potty means go potty right now. When she goes, throw a little party. Having some accidents in the house is a good thing IF you catch her in the act. You get a chance to reinforce that in the house is not a good thing and she learns that much quicker. On the other hand, absolutely do not do anything if you don't catch her ( and nope, seeing her walk away is not catching her). Dogs just don't get it, no matter how many owners insist that "he knew he did wrong" Yeah, sure, they are going to look guilty and hang their heads if you discover them standing next to a mess. Because they are exceptionally good at reading you - they know you are annoyed, even before you open your mouth. They KNOW. And they are not pleased that YOU are not pleased. And don't "offer" to take her out. If you think she needs to go, take her out and give the cue. Don't move until she's produced a dribble or a splat and then throw a potty party again. The combination of crating, scheduled breaks and strict supervision really does produce amazing results...See Morepuppy/potty question
Comments (10)Is he crated?? In my experience this definately helps because dogs really hate to go where they sleep. It doesn't 'train' them to hold it longer, but they generall choose to hold it because they would really rather wait then wet the bed, until it comes down to it. We kept our beagle in our bedroom in a kennel at night, and we'd get up when she would whine, and put her out. But it didn't take her long. Her real turning point was when we took her and her crate to visit my sister. We all went out for the day, leaving her in the crate. We ended up being out MUCH MUCH longer than expected because we ran into some problems. We were so worried by the time we got in (abt 9 hours later!! I felt horrible) that she had probably messed herself a whole lot. But she hadn't not once, nothing. That was pretty much the end of her accidents in the house, too. She still had a few, but something clicked in her that day, I guess....See MorePuppy Potty Training Woes
Comments (13)Hello, I understand how frustrating it can be to potty train a new puppy. But remember that your little one is like a two-year old child. If they even know themselves that they need to go potty, they don't know it for long before they have to go ! Here are my words of advice, FWIW ... 1. Feed and walk the puppy on a schedule. Do not let the pup outside and just expect her to potty herself. Go out with her ON A LEASH, stand still, no playing or entertainment, until she pees/poops. Then throw a big party, lots of praise and treats. And THEN she can go play for a bit. This way you make sure that she empties herself before going back into the house. A baby her age will probably need to pee at least once every three hours, so I would set a timer for every two hours just to make sure. And always (just like potty training a child), take her out after waking up and after eating. 2. Clean up any accidents with an enzymatic cleaner like Nature's Miracle or Petastic. Urine smells are persistent, and signal the puppy to PEE HERE ! Enzymatic cleaners are specially formulated to break down the smelly components in urine. 3. Never, ever, ever, ever, EVER spank your puppy. (An aside - NEVER call your puppy over to you, then spank her. Excellent way to teach your puppy that "she calls me, then she spanks me". Trust me, you want your puppy to learn that coming when called only means terrific things. One day, you might just need that emergency recall !). That teaches her to be scared of you when there is pee/poop around. This very quickly teaches dogs that they should sneak away and pee/poop somewhere away from you. And yes, I know that they "look guilty" when you discover their accident. But dogs, even very young puppies, are amazingly good at reading our body language and facial expressions. Let me tell you a little story about this ... I raised my Lab from puppyhood, and have never spanked him, and very rarely even raised my voice at him. One day I came home to find that someone had parked their car across my driveway, and I couldn't get into my garage (I live in a big city where street parking is scarce). I was furious. When I got into my house, I couldn't figure out why my dog was slinking around, looking incredibly guilty and worried. I thought "why is he acting like that ? has he done something that he thinks is naughty ?". I checked the house, everything was in order, and then I started to laugh. He totally read my grumpiness at the parking situation, and was acting anxious and appeasing. That's what dogs do. No different when you get mad about pee/poop in the house. (To finish the story, I burst out laughing at myself when I realised why he was looking all "guilty", and he almost heaved a huge sigh of relief ! and bounced around giving me his typical Labby greeting :-)) 4. I would strongly recommend (if you haven't done this already) enrolling in a puppy kindergarten class. If nothing else, you get other new puppy owners to share your stories with and will commiserate with you, and hopefully an experienced trainer who can help you with potty training and other training questions. Good luck with your pup. I thought my Lab pup was quite quick to pick up on potty training, and I would say that he was 90% reliable by 4.5 months and 100% reliable by 6 months. Remember that you have a young critter that you hopefully will have for the next 15+ years ... try not to get angry with her, she is trying to learn your rules....See Morequirkyquercus
17 years agolast modified: 9 years agoshare_oh
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17 years agolast modified: 9 years agoquirkyquercus
17 years agolast modified: 9 years agospiritual_gardner
17 years agolast modified: 9 years agoGina_W
17 years agolast modified: 9 years agolablover4ever
17 years agolast modified: 9 years agomunkos
17 years agolast modified: 9 years agoGina_W
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