Potty Training

Discussion in 'Labrador Puppies' started by MichellePV, Sep 6, 2018.

  1. MichellePV

    MichellePV Registered Users

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    Hello!! We adopted a rescue Black Lab puppy. We love him so much, but have no experience with Labs. We adopted him at 10 weeks and Patton is now three-months-old. He was badly abused in a crate prior to us adopting him, so crate training is out. We take him out every hour, but he still comes in and poops on the training pad. He is on a schedule for feeding, but his pooping habits are hard to gauge. Is this normal?? Any advice for our boy would be appreciated.
     
  2. tom@labforumHQ

    tom@labforumHQ Administrator Staff Member

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    Hi Michelle, welcome to the forum! Hope you find the answers you need :)
     
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  3. Browneyedhandsomebuddy

    Browneyedhandsomebuddy Registered Users

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    Awww what a shame your boy was abused, but nice to hear he is in the best place now. Real shame about the crate as this made training buddy very easy, but I guess that is out, unless someone on here thinks it’s worth trying to make a crate a really positive place.

    Anyway, I’m new to all this myself so don’t have much advice to give, other than that you have come to the right place. I guess if you have time, sit outside with him as much as you can, and praise any pee or poop when he does. Morning is good for thi (if he’s anything like buddy) as he does both pretty much as soon as he wakes, so that one opportunity for lots of praise, and another might be a night time pee if you lift him for one then? Again a quick sure fire opportunity for lots of praise, and he’ll soon get the hang of it, good luck!
     
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  4. MichellePV

    MichellePV Registered Users

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    Thank you!!
     
  5. Aisling Labs

    Aisling Labs Registered Users

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    Thank you for rescuing. We did that for a decade and when they come to you with abuse and neglect issues, the road can be a rough one for awhile.

    One of our rescues had also been crate abused and never socialized; it took us nearly a year to work him to the place where he was anywhere near the personality of a normal Lab but he got there. He was three when he came to us so we had three years to undo - while never quite "normal", he became a highly functioning member of our pack.

    We put away the crate for several months and worked on other issues (like riding in our truck, going to the beach and to friends houses, climbing up and down staircases, not carrying a ball in his mouth constantly only putting it down to eat or drink and so on). We re-introduced the crate with frozen Kongs and doggie ice cream and other high value treats. We put a bed in front of the crate, gradually moving it into the crate. We felt it was important that he learn that the crate was a positive place in the event that he ever needed surgery and confined recovery.

    As for the house training of your new puppy, he has been trained to poo on a pad. He will have to be trained NOT to poo on a pad and to do this outside. There may be a better way to do this, but here's what I would suggest.

    Get rid of the potty pad.

    Most dogs go poo within an hour or so after their meal; most dogs also give a sign that they are about to poo - it could be nose to the floor/ground as they rapidly move to the spot they will go; it could be turning around a few times (our Cain does that) or it could be a noticeable puckering of the anus.

    Watch and anticipate and then get him outside to a designated poo spot. If he goes inside, pick up the poo and carry it to the designated poo spot and place it there. You will need to teach him a new and appropriate spot to do his business.

    It should happen quickly if you keep on it consistently....the first step is figuring out his poo schedule and whether or not he is one who gives a subtle signal.
     
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  6. MichellePV

    MichellePV Registered Users

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    Thank you, I will try what you have suggested! Just got done cleaning up Poopalooza in the dining room!
     
  7. MichellePV

    MichellePV Registered Users

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    Thank you...it's been hard. He's not regulated yet, for want of a better word. Sometimes he goes immediately after breakfast; other times it's a couple of hours. He's trying so hard!!
     
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  8. Jo Laurens

    Jo Laurens Registered Users

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    I wouldn't conclude this, Michelle. You'd be surprised just what it's possible to achieve with good training. And frankly there simply is no way to deal with toilet training problems other than confinement. Because, even if you are superwoman, you just can't watch a puppy 24/7 - it's impossible. And then they will just do pees and poops when you're not looking - UNLESS they are confined at those times in a crate, which makes them not want to toilet there due to also being their bed.

    So: To help him feel better about a crate, I would suggest:

    • Get a different type of crate to what he had before. If he had a regular wire cage crate (which is probable, if you don't know and have to guess), then get him a solid-sided air-line crate. This will look different, be made of different material (plastic rather than metal) and give you hopefully something more of a fresh start to crate training with fewer negative associations.
    • Then, get the fantastic crate training DVD by Susan Garrett, called 'Crate Games' - you can get this from Amazon. Here, she shows how to use the crate for multiple training exercises and games - almost as a piece of training equipment. Both your mind and your puppy's minds are then not obsessing over being shut in the crate/using the crate as usual, and associations with it are really positive from the start.
    • Then you can move onto a more usual crate training regime, such as Pippa reminded me I wrote an article covering(!:( https://thehappypuppysite.com/crate-training-a-puppy/

    I really wouldn't just assume that you can't use a crate, or you are going to find yourself getting very frustrated. And there are other things crates will helps with, like preventing your house from getting destroyed when you are out by Mr Cheweroony.

    And lastly, do throw out those pee pads - using newspaper or pee pads is confusing to the dog, because you are giving them mixed messages about where they should go. Instead, be crystal clear: Inside is never the place to go, outside is always the place to go. (If you don't want him to toilet on the pee pads, why are they even down??)....
     
  9. JuliePenguin

    JuliePenguin Registered Users

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    We are collecting our beautiful black labbie girl in THREE WEEKS TODAY!! Sooo excited, can't wait to bring her home!! Has been amazing reading posts over the last few months on this site, feel like a sponge gleaning info from here and talking to experienced dog owning friends and relatives, we soo want to get thing right for our wee girl from the very beginning. I found this post particularly fab, thanks @Jo Laurens for your amazing replies in posts and your article about crate training regime in this post...just book marked that one in my "all things lab" tab! :):)
     
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  10. Jo Laurens

    Jo Laurens Registered Users

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    Good :) Glad you found it helpful!

    And good luck with the puppy pick up!
     
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  11. LJL

    LJL Registered Users

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    You can toilet train without a crate. I always have. The key is vigilance. You will have to watch him like a hawk. Whenever he looks even remotely like he needs to pee/poo or you feel the timing of meals means he should need to go out then out he must go and he always gets a reward when mission is accomplished. ( I find food works best with Labs, they are frighteningly easy to bribe this way and to a Lab it seems praise is one thing but food puts it into another league altogether.) I would also use the word poo ( or whatever you choose, the word itself doesn't matter ) whenever you want him to go. My puppy will now more or less poo to order because he knows it means a biscuit.
    I would lose the training pads. In my view all they do is confuse the issue.
     
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  12. MichellePV

    MichellePV Registered Users

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    Thank you, everyone!! We took away the pads as suggested and got a wire crate. It's been ruff, to say the least!! He won't go into his crate willingly after months of trying to acclimate him to it, but he's trying his best as are we!!
     
  13. Michael A Brooks

    Michael A Brooks Registered Users

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    If you have been trying for months, then the training techniques you are using are not the right ones or not being implemented properly.

    In any case, has the defecating inside resolved itself?
     
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  14. Jo Laurens

    Jo Laurens Registered Users

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    @MichellePV you can do a lot to change his associations with the crate. I would suggest starting by getting hold of Susan Garrett's excellent DVD 'Crate Games' and following the steps outlined there: https://www.amazon.com/Susan-Garret...F8&qid=1548935303&sr=8-1&keywords=crate+games

    Don't focus on getting him to 'stay' in the crate during your training sessions - instead it's all about training 'going in' on cue... and 'coming out' on cue - and then another rep of going in - and so it all becomes a training game, and the crate takes on the positive associations of that as a result.
     
  15. MichellePV

    MichellePV Registered Users

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  16. MichellePV

    MichellePV Registered Users

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    Yes, the defecating has stopped for the most part. He might have an accident every once in a great while, but he's only 8 months old. Regarding the crate...he was diagnosed with separation anxiety and given medication for when we go out. I've been working with him non-stop. Progress is being made.
     
  17. Michael A Brooks

    Michael A Brooks Registered Users

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