House Training Help

[JennSLK]

Emma is a 13month old un spayed Beagle. I am sorry to say I purchased her from a pet store, although I love her to death.

Im kind embarased about this. She isnt fully housebroken yet. I know, it's my fault and I take total responsibility. She was my first dog, and I know I screwed somethings up.

She is not on a schedual of eating, because she whont eat. I am working on this though. She knows the crate command and has no problem at night. She suffered from SEVER speration anxiety. I will give you an example:

A few weeks ago I was at my parents place and was going out for a few hours to the movies. I put Emma in her crate in my old room and shut the door. Neither my parents or their place is strange to her and she is verry used to being there. Well I was gone for 4hrs and my dad said she screemed and howled the ENTIRE time I was gone.

When I leave for work I know she howles, as I can hear her all the way to my car. We live in a town house, so I cant crate her because I am afraid our neighbors will complain and get her kicked out.

I think she knows to go out, she will go to the door and stand there. But thats part of the problem. She just stands there, and whont say a word. It works OK if I am downstairs watching TV, but if I am upstairs I dont know she's standing there. She gives you about 2min and if you dont let her out, she goes in the house.

I have tried saying "go pee pee" the whole time she is going, and then give her a treat when she finishes, but so fr it hasnt worked (almost a month now). You can take her for a hr walk and she'll pee, but 5 min back and she poops in the house.

If we leave for even 30min she will go in the house, even though she was outside before we left.

I have tried crating her while Im in the room, but she hurt her self. we have a wire crate and she got her top muzzle stuck in between the bars and I had to bend them to get her out. I am getting her a solid plastic crate for shows and trials so she can have privacy, but she likes to see whats going on in the house.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Done flame me, I know I screwed up, so please, I dont need to hear it from you.

 

[RedyreRottweilers]

at 13 months old, and with ingrained bad habits, and coming from a PET STORE, you are up against a lot of negatives.

It can take MUCH longer to fix learned bad habits than it can to teach them from the beginning.

If she came from a pet store, I guarantee you she was crated. A lot. she may also have been raised on grating which can make it impossible to train some dogs to EVER be clean.

You should feed on a schedule, period. She will learn to eat when food appears IF you do. She may not eat for a few days. It won't kill her. Put food down, IN the crate, give her 10 minutes, and remove it.

Continue with your teaching her the verbal meaning of elimination by saying the name of the action while it's occurring. Continue to food reward each time she is done. You should be smiling and praising every time she goes just as you would if she had just learned a really cool obedience exercise.

I would get a good sky kennel or a wire crate with very small wire spacing for her. You can buy wire crates that have 1" square wire spacing and almost no dog can get their noses into those to injure themselves, even those that are really serious escape artists.

You might try a LARGE crate with her, just to see if that helps.

 

[Brattina88]

I think she knows to go out, she will go to the door and stand there. But thats part of the problem. She just stands there, and whont say a word. It works OK if I am downstairs watching TV, but if I am upstairs I dont know she's standing there. She gives you about 2min and if you dont let her out, she goes in the house.

It sounds like she is trying to tell you that she needs to go out, she may be unsure and a little frustrated herself. Some dogs might know they should go outside, but don't know to ask, or don't ask in a way humans understand. One solution is training the dog to ring a bell hung on the door.
On the handle of this door, tie a bell to a string, dropping it even with the height of the puppy's nose. When you bring the puppy to the door, lure the puppy to touch the bell with either it's nose or paw, (using a treat) causing the bell to ring.
After the puppy rings the bell, give it the treat, (use a SMALL piece of meat or dried liver) and say "OUTSIDE" in a happy tone of voice. Take the puppy outside on leash. You may have to do this several times before she catches on, and they usually catch on pretty quickly and are proud that this is a way to communicate with you that the need to go ouside.

 

[JennSLK]

Thanx.

Im working on the feeding schedual thing. Slowly but surely.

 

[RedyreRottweilers]

You can't work on it slowly.

Make up your mind, and do it.

Stop letting the dog control how and when you feed her.

 

[JennSLK]

Im not letting her control it Red.

Im doing what you said and have been for a week now. I give her 20min insted of 10. She eats enough to barely stay healthy, but she's running and playing so Im not worried.

I feed her 3/4cup at a time and she only eats part of it. Its not like I can stand over her like a human and tell her she cant leave the table untill its done

 

[RedyreRottweilers]

No.

You put the food down, leave the dog for 10 minutes, and then pick it back up.

She is absolutely controlling how you feed her, unless and until you make the food rules, and stick with them.

 

[JennSLK]

How is giving her 20min to eat in her crate her controlling it?

Not all dogs bolt down there food. i know alot that take thatlong to eat. They stay by ther dish untill it's done, but they take their time

 

[lapdog]

Here's what I would do:

First to get her to eat promptly, mix a little canned food with the kibble. It makes it tastier and they finish eating pronto.

Feed exactly on schedule. Take out exactly 30 minutes after a meal, drink, playtime or chewing on a bone..

When your in the house, keep the dog with you at all times on a leash. Yes, its VERY inconvenient, but its better to put up with that for a month than have an unhousetrained dog the rest of your life.

If you see her sniffing, circling, yell NO and take her outside for 10-15 minutes. If she does nothing, then go in and try again next time. Eventually she's going to go.

When you are not home, SHE MUST BE IN THE CRATE! No ifs, ands or buts. Find a crate that is safe and use it. Dont put any bedding in there at all.

If you can get someone to carry on the same routine when you're not home, then they can, but don't trust them if they can't put 100% into it. Every accident in the house delays your success.

Good luck.

 

[rocco&quiras mama]

i feel sorry for your dog...

i wish you all the luck in the world with her
and as far on my feelings on crating.. all i´ll say is that there is a reason why alot of countries have laws agaist it, + she prob got enough of that in the pet store.

just wanna add that i dont judge you.. i know i made some big mistakes with my first dog... again good luck

 

[RedyreRottweilers]

What is up with this?

There is NOTHING wrong with crates and crate training.

ANY training tool can be misused.

My dogs love their crates, they travel in the vehicle in their crates, and they stay in crates when we go to dog shows.

They don't live in crates, and my puppies when they are learning do not spend more than 4 hours at a time in a crate EVER.

Snide remarks concerning a valuable tool for teaching puppies how to be housetrained and keeping them safe during the process is very counterproductive.

You may choose not to use crates, but many others do quite safely and with happily adjusted dogs.

I'm interested in what countries crating a dog is outlawed.

 

[RedyreRottweilers]

Here's what I would do:

First to get her to eat promptly, mix a little canned food with the kibble. It makes it tastier and they finish eating pronto.

Feed exactly on schedule. Take out exactly 30 minutes after a meal, drink, playtime or chewing on a bone..

When your in the house, keep the dog with you at all times on a leash. Yes, its VERY inconvenient, but its better to put up with that for a month than have an unhousetrained dog the rest of your life.

If you see her sniffing, circling, yell NO and take her outside for 10-15 minutes. If she does nothing, then go in and try again next time. Eventually she's going to go.

When you are not home, SHE MUST BE IN THE CRATE! No ifs, ands or buts. Find a crate that is safe and use it. Dont put any bedding in there at all.

If you can get someone to carry on the same routine when you're not home, then they can, but don't trust them if they can't put 100% into it. Every accident in the house delays your success.

Good luck.

Much of what you wrote in this post is dead on, but please don't advise people to "yell no" at their puppies.

It would be much better all the way around to say "Let's go outside!!" in a happy tone of voice.

 

[rocco&quiras mama]

well in sweden ( where i live ) it is agaist the law.. and i´m pretty sure we arnt alone.
i have no problem with having dogs crated whilst in a car.. in fact i belive thats the safest place for them in a car.. neither do i have a problem with crating if it´s for a shorter periode of time.

i do have a problem with ppl leaving them in crates all day while they are at work.it really disturbed me that the dog was left in her crate for 4 hours "crying" even though there where ppl home.

i also belive i made it clear that these where my feelings on the matter and that i dont judge her.

 

[Saje]

I don't think you should be bribing your dog to eat with canned dog food when there are already food issues. Red's method of a tight schedule should work well if you follow it.

 

[mjpeter]

Our puppy was trained with a crate and now uses it for naps when the door is left open. He also "stashes" all of his goodies in there. He loves it...it's his own little den. Housetraining was a breeze with it. I wouldn't have it any other way, and it's not cruel.

 

[rocco&quiras mama]

defensive much ???

keeping an animal in a cage all day long is cruel no matter how you look at it..

a dog should be allowed to move around ..and not only on walks.

i still dont have a problem with an hour or so but all day long, every day, is just plain wrong.

dont have anything more to say about this.

 

[JennSLK]

keeping an animal in a cage all day long is cruel no matter how you look at it..

a dog should be allowed to move around ..and not only on walks.

i still dont have a problem with an hour or so but all day long, every day, is just plain wrong.

dont have anything more to say about this.

I agree in a way. There is nothing wrong with having a dog in a crate if you are traveling or for a hr or two. If you are gone 8hrs why cant you have a puppy proof room and keep them in there when you are gone.

 

[mjpeter]

I don't think anyone was talking about keeping a dog "in a cage all day long." I think most people would feel that isn't a good situation. I was referring to the humanity, rather than the lack there of, of crate training.

 

[sparks19]

defensive much ???

keeping an animal in a cage all day long is cruel no matter how you look at it..

a dog should be allowed to move around ..and not only on walks.

i still dont have a problem with an hour or so but all day long, every day, is just plain wrong.

dont have anything more to say about this.

I have to keep Teddy crated while I am at work. You may say it is cruel but it is the safest place for him. I don't have a puppy safe room at the moment. As I have to live in an apartment for the time being and my dad rents the second bedroom from me. My personal bathroom doesn't have a door (lol I know it sounds ghetto but its too small to have a door. infact it is almost smaller than TEddy's crate lol) I tried to leave Teddy to roam in my bedroom while I was at work but he start to eat anything and everything. My bedding, my stuffed animals, cassette tapes, he even pulled the cable out of the wall. I can't totally "puppy proof" that room. I came home one day and he had broken a glass dish that I thought was out of his reach. luckily he wasn't cut but he could have been badly injured, not to mention he could have choked when he was chewing up my bedding had he got some of the fabric caught in his throat. You cannot tell me THIS is a better solution than for him to sleep during the day in his crate unharmed and SAFE.

 

[RedyreRottweilers]

Thanks to Sweden we also have no docking spreading world wide.

Crating is not cruel.

NO ONE will tell ME I cannot crate my dogs for a reasonable period for their own safety and the security of my belongings.