Hi all, Anyone have any tips for this? We’ve had Stanley for 10 days now, we didn’t put down training mats when he first came, we were outside a fair bit with him and by and large he seemed to prefer doing his business outside anyway. Each time he did we gave him lots of praise (though not treats specifically) and all seemed to be going well with the odd accident. If we caught him in the act we would scoop him up and take him outside without berating him (not that he continued it out there but that seemed to be the advice) and if we found a puddle we’d clean it up and spray specific pet spray. All of a sudden over the last couple of days he seems to think it’s OK to pee in the house! You can go outside with him for 20 minutes and he’ll just come in and pee on the floor! It must have been about 10 times yesterday! What are we doing wrong and where do we go from here? Tips greatly appreciated!!! Thanks, Mango
Could there have been any issue when he has wee'd outside that has put him off (a loud noise or something?) - I think they can have boughts of regression cant they - with Murphy he can have 3 nights clean then a night when he wee's and poos - no logic to it really - just keep on being consistent, no fuss when he goes inside, LOADS of trips outside and reward with something really nice to encourage him - always out after eating, drinking, chewing, playing or waking and make sure what you clean up with has no ammonia in it - I made my own mix of biological washing powder to clean up as this kills the smell. Good luck and keep going - oh and if you cant be there to supervise, crate!
Hey Mango and welcome to you and Stanley. That's a great name for a puppy I would be trying treats when he goes outside. Really, really, good treats. JulieT will tell you, you need four of them. When he goes outside, give him all four, one at a time rather than all together. Continue to ignore any mess that's made inside, just make sure you clean it up really well with your enzyme cleaner. There are trigger times when he is more likely to need to go. These are when he wakes up, when he's eaten or had a drink and after playing. Each time one of these happens, go outside with him and wait for him to go. Additionally, he will have a very small bladder at this age anyway and so needs taking outside very regularly. I wonder, do you leave the door open for him to come and go between inside and outside? If so, it's not ideal, because he'll get used to the fact that he doesn't have to ask to go out and, when that doorway is blocked, he'll just go anyway. Another thing is, at this age, it's best for him not to have run of the whole house. Puppies have an instinct to not toilet in their "den", but at first, that den is just their sleeping area. Anywhere beyond that is fair game. So, you restrict the pup to that area plus a little bit. Over time, you can extend the area they are allowed in, bit by bit, and at each increment, they will start to understand that their den is extending, until they see your whole house as their den, so not to be used as a toilet area. You really can't expect him to be toilet trained by ten weeks; it takes a lot longer than that for most pups, and takes a lot of watching for those signs that he needs to go. Especially watch for him sniffing or walking in circles - both good signs that the squat is about to happen. Good luck and keep us updated
Stanley is still very young. If you have only had him 10 days he probably hasn't sussed out where to do things yet. Make sure you clean up any accidents with a proper enzyme cleaner. This 'neutralises' the smell, an ordinary cleaner can leave the smell behind that tells your pup. "This is THE PLACE to pee".
This is very true. Count them out to him (so he knows he gets 4) one-two-three-four. It works like a charm.
Thanks everyone. Really interesting and helpful advice. My wife and I are new to all this, so everything is very alien to us and the learning curve is steep. Praise be for the internet and particularly this forum! Right not he's sleeping at my feet as I'm working from home cause of the tube strike. Lovely! : )
