Brand new puppy

pupnooby

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#1
Hey everyone. Just stumbled upon this site and been reading for the past hour and so much great info! :) I have a question though I wasn't able to find an answer for. About 2 weeks ago my girlfriend and I picked up a (at the time) 4.5-5 week old Husky/German Sheppard X puppy. The owner said the mother was getting overly aggressive towards them and wanted to get rid of them before something happened. I know they shouldn't be removed before 8 weeks, but didn't sound like the owner had a choice, and it is the exact mix we were looking for.

So here is our situation, we live in a huge 3 bedroom apartment with lots of room. During the night we kennal her, and she whines when she needs to go out, we get up, let her out, and then she goes right back in and back to sleep. Which is awsome. We both work a 9-5 mon-fri job and we let her roam around the apartment (minus the bedrooms/bathroom). She has a few accidents since I can't come home until lunch time to let her out, but that is expected at her age (i think :) ) The big problem we are having is when we are home, she will go behind our backs (sometimes literally, like 5 feet away) and start pee'ing/pooping on the floor!!!

We take her out about every 1.5-2 hours at the latest, sometimes more.. give her lots of priase when she does her business outside, and nothing if she goes out and doesn't do anything (we watch her for about 5-10mins).. We are mainly wondering, is this normal for her to have these accidents? Happens about 4-5x a day, and even if we let her out, she will sometimes do nothing, come in and 3 mins later, pee on the floor!

When she does go in the house, we tell her sternly "NO!" and carry her outside immediately. This is getting very stressful for the both of us because it just seems like she isn't learning. Any help with what we can do? Have also tried puppy training pads on the floor in our kitchen, and the spray.. nothing :( HELP US PLEASE!!!
 
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#2
Congratulations on your new puppy! She is very young and it will be a long time before she is capable of holding her bladder for long periods of time. Your biggest problem right now is mixed messages. When you are gone, she pees or poops in the house sometimes. But when you are home she is not allowed to, in fact she scolded for doing so. Your baby has no way of knowing how that is different. It's in the house - nothing else matters. And once those smells are there, it will cause the situation to get worse.

In dog training it's important to be very consistent so your dog gets a clear message. What you have to do, is decide where she should go and then help her to be successful each time. If you need someone to come let her out when you are gone, you should try to find a neighbor or friend that can do that. You're right, it's too long for her to go all day at this age, and will be for a while. Make sure that everyone in your household knows the plan so that the pup is not confused and can learn the right way to do things.
 

Spiritus

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#3
So she's 6-7 weeks old now.... Your situation is a difficult one for house training, as kidsanddogs said, she doesn't understand the difference of when you are home and when you are not.

Because you both work, house training her will be more difficult, and will likely take longer than if someone was home. What I would recommend is that you buy an xpen. Put it up in the kitchen (or dining room, livingroom, where ever). That is where she will go when you go to work. Her crate can be in the xpen with the door off. Put paper down on one end of the xpen, her crate in another area, her water in another. Don't leave food down. When you come home for lunch, pick up any soiled papers and put down fresh, take her outside, spend some time with her, take her outside again, and put her back in her xpen when you leave. If she is eating three times a day, feed her when you are home, then pick up her food when you leave.

When you are home in the evening, keep a leash on her so that you can see her at all times - you will know where she is this way. Watch her closely for signs that she has to pee/poo. Signs can be walking quickly, sniffing the floor, walking stiff-legged, etc. Sometimes, if she is playing, she will just squat a pee - it's not because she is being bad, it's because she has to pee NOW. DO NOT CORRECT her for pottying in the house. If you catch her in the act, quietly pick her up and take her outside. Praise her if/when she finishes. NEVER correct her for puddles you find here and there. She doesn't remember doing it, corrections are useless and will only worry her. Correcting her when you catch her doing it will only help her learn how to hide it from you better....

At her age, she can only hold her bodily functions for 1-2 hours during the day. Longer at night when she's sleeping. Crating her at her age, for the time frame you are gone is not an option. It will only teach her to potty in her sleeping area, so don't do this when you are work. Night time is fine, as you are there to wake up and take her out when she needs to go.

Patience, time, repetition, and consistancy are key to successfully house training your baby.
 

pupnooby

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#4
Wow, thanx a ton both of you for your quick replies. We have a few ideas of what we are going to try (probably the xpen idea), and the leash. How long do you guys think this will take to improve/for her to learn? Once and a while is ok, but 3/5x she goes to the bathroom is in the apartment :(

30mins ago my gf was laying down in the living room on the floor reading the paper, she Mia (the pup), walked right up and pee'd on the paper, right infront of her.. didn't go over so well, but we will keep trying. Any other advice or tips you could give us would be great.. One thing my gf is really wondering is how long this takes to get a puppy trained to at least go 9/10x outside? I know it's a tough question to answer, but I am assuming with experience you guys could ball park it :) Thank you again for the awsome help.
 

Spiritus

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#5
Poor Mia has no idea that she can't go in the house. You have taught her that she can, by leaving her free access when you are at work.

Your hearts are in the right place, and raising a puppy at this stage is not that different from taking care of an infant. It will take Mia as long as it takes her - every dog is different, but by four months of age, she should be pretty reliable, as long as she's not overly excited and distracted by something else, AND as long as you're consistant and fair with her. But still, even at four months, she could have accidents. Heck, even at five or six she could still have them.

The older she gets, the more control she will have, and the more she will recognize what it feels like to have to pee/poo.
 

pupnooby

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#6
Sorry, but I am kind of missing something. How does leaving her free access to 50% of the house give her the feeling that it is allowed to do her business, compared to giving her 20% of the house (if we fensed her into a room). That will just teach her it is fine to pee/poop in that room/area we pen her in.. won't it?

Also, why the "you're hearts are in the right place" comment? The next line to that saying is "but your brain isn't" so what have we done that isn't logical as per out situation and experience? We are trying to learn and doing the best we can, which is something a lot of animal owners can't say.. so I really don't appreciate that comment.
 

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