It seems like our puppy is going backwards. She is 11 weeks old. She has always had accidents in the house, but she use to go outside, go potty right away and then come running back. Now she messes around smells things and doesn't ever go. So we take her back inside and then she'll either have an accident by the door or she'll whimper at the door. This can happen multiple times. Its hard to take her out more often if shes not going. We also always catch her mid act and try to show her to go outside, but hasn't been helping. She never has accidents in her kennel. She also use to come running right back. Now she only comes back when she wants to. Any ideas?
The best thing I had for my puppy was a simple pen in the garden. When we went out, I popped her in this until she weed and/or pooed and then she got to play in the garden afterwards. It focussed her mind on the job in hand, rather than smelling the flowers. It was a cheap and cheerful gerbil/rabbit enclosure, made of pretty flimsy wire, but she never worked out she could push it over if she wanted As for coming back, get Total Recall and work through that. Recall is such an important behaviour, and can be a matter of life and death, so following a prove programme is really valuable.
Another option (that we did) is to have your puppy on leash until she pees. We also started a cue word and over time she was able to pee on command which is very useful before car rides, bed time etc. If she would not pee, we would go back inside, crate for 15 mins, then back outside, continuing until she peed. Every single time she peed, we would say our cue ("do your business") and a treat (kibble).
Maybe she is just going through a short phase of resistance? Spencer would have accidents a few times in the house even after we had been outside playing for a long time. He finally stopped. As far as the recall falling apart, yes the Total Recall book is fantastic. The key is to also make yourself the most appealing thing around to your dog. They need to learn that coming to you means more fun than anything in the environment!! Lots of delicious treats, game playing or anything special as a reward so they never know what to expect! There will be times when it doesn't work but more times when it will.
I always take pups out on a lead for toileting. As they grow they become more interested, and distracted, by anything in the garden. They then forget what they were meant to do, are taken indoors and then have an accident on the floor. The lead helps to maintain a focus and prevents them running off to play - you can even practice your loose lead walking while waiting for your pup to pee. There are some very easy recall games you can play to get your pup running to you when you call necause you are bith fun and give fantastic rewards. Good games are yoyo recall, magnetic recall and food circuits. The more people you have playing yoyo recall the more fun your puppy has and will love running to his family when they call.
Yes Red is always on lead for toileting. Started off this way as she tried to jump on our older dog when she was little so I put her lead on. She quickly learnt that lead=business and not play in the garden. Now as soon as she has finished I drop her lead and she follows me back in.
My pup is 11 weeks old also. We don't have accidents in the house- we consistently use a potty cue outside. This last week he has gotten ornery when outside grabbing rocks and plants so we have started putting him on the leash to go out. It has made it much easier because I follow him and let him sniff a bit but give the potty cue and he will go once he realizes he can't just do what he wants.
@Jojo83 it would be really helpful if you could share your info/advice with our forum members, I am sure we would all appreciate your insight as a trainer
I agree 100% on the leash and crating after if the pup chooses to not potty outside. My half lab had/still has the smallest bladder ever and would need to potty every 2 hours AND after any sort of play. He was constantly outside. Also, until my pups were 5ish months old, they were crated when I was too busy to keep BOTH eyes on them. As for the recall, I really enjoy hopping/jogging in a direction and encouraging the puppy to come with me. Once they make it to my legs, they get a treat!
