Maltese puppy potty problem

15 years ago

We have a 9 mo. old Maltese (had him for abt. a mo. now) who has started pooping on carpet, always looking very guilty afterwards. We know he knows it's wrong because he immediately runs up to us, puts his head down, and covers up with both paws. We take him out to try to show him he must poop outside but nothing. I think he thinks he's getting a treat by going out because all he wants to do is play. Help.

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Comments (3)

spiritual_gardner
15 years ago
Your dog has missed the "prime potty" training period of his life, which is about 3-4 months. If you are going to fix this, you need to do a few very important things.

Keep in mind, that your dog is not going to be considered house trained until he has no accidents (aside from medical issues) for 9 months. You essentially have a 9 month old dog, acting like a 4 month old dog, and that is the way you need to treat him.

*Crate the dog when you cannot supervise every second, with a leash. The leash will allow you to grab the dog and go out quickly when you need to. This needs to be done for at least 4-5 months, depending on how much progress dog makes, and how maturing goes. You must catch the dog in the act to correct the problem. Only a few seconds after the deed, dog will not retain why you are upset. When you do catch him, you must get his attention. Yell "NO", clap your hands, anything. Grab the leash, and out you go. When you let dog out of the crate, outside you go. Don't stop to put on shoes etc., dog needs to associate being let out of the crate with going out and doing his thing.

*Get him used to potty commands (take your pick), when he goes, give HUGE amounts of praise like he is the best dog in the world, then a treat. Treats should only be given when dog is doing something positive. He needs to associate treats with positive behavior.

*Take dog to the same place, always. You should start to see positive results very soon, and can gradually build on this until dog is able to be weaned from the crate with the goal of unsupervised freedom, in about 9 months.

*Get the dog on a schedule for walks (at least twice a day, same time, same place) and feeding (twice a day, 12 hours apart, unless vet says otherwise). If dog does not eat within a few minutes of you putting down the food, take it away and don't feed again until the next meal.

Good luck!

SG
Elly_NJ
15 years ago
He does not associate pooping with doing anything wrong. He is responding to your response to it.
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mazer415
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Sooooo, take your dog out for longer leash walks. Take his poop outside so he can sniff it outside and you need to apply a command to him to do his business outside.
1. Wake up
2. Get cup of coffeee
3. Put on coat and sweat pants and shoes
4. put collar on puppy
5. put leash on collar
6. Go to front door
7. Put dog in sit position
8. YOU go out door, followed by puppy
9. You show puppy the poop you placed outside away from the house in a good place, and let him sniff it, and while you are letting the puppy sniff it, you give your puppy a command IE: "outside", repeat the command while the puppy is sniffing poopie
1. walk puppy on leash down block or whatever you have.
2. Keep walking puppy
3. Continue walking puppy (you should be out there for a good 15-20 minutes)
4. Anytime your puppy sniffs someones business, give your puppy the command you have chosen
5. When your puppy poops, praise your puppy as if it just brought you a bag full of 100 dollar bills
6. repeat at least three timea a day.
  Your puppy will get it, it is just a matter of time. Please be patient, good luck

Maltese puppy potty problem

Comments (3)

spiritual_gardner

Elly_NJ

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