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Pupforum presents your training questions answered by professional dog trainers.
Simon has a Bachelor of Science in Zoology and Psychology and specialized in Canine Behaviour. He was recently the first New Zealander approved for membership to the IAABC, and he is also a member of APDT Australia. Simon founded Dog Guru in 2002. Dog Guru has helped hundreds of dogs and their owners with training and specialist problems, and is also a dog trainer for the ministry of Education. Simon lives in Auckland, New Zealand with his wife Michelle and two golden retrievers. Sherlock is often used as a demonstration dog in schools and retirement villages. He was also used as a demo dog in the Auckland pet expo in 2004. Training is always using positive reinforcement.
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[Edit]
10/3/2005
My boyfriend and I just got a baby Pitbull. Her name is Novia. We got her 2 weeks ago, when she was 6 weeks old. She is so cute and we love her to death but we are really confused and stressed now. We bought a crate for her, however for some reason she pees and poops in the crate now. I think it is because we both work during the day so we keep her in the crate during the day. We line it with Newspaper so she has no choice but to "go" in the crate during the day. It is a big crate that she will grow into but it does have an optional puppy panel. I think that Novia now thinks she has to "go" in the crate. It is very difficult for us because we feel like we need some direction.
How do we go about potty training our puppy when we both work full time. We really cannot take her outside yet because she does not have all her shots yet. I tried putting her in the bathroom with Newspaper and her crate...she lay down and slept on the newspaper and then peed in her crate. It's like she is doing it backwards. Meanwhile all the books I've read state that a puppy will not "go" where they sleep. This is not happening with Novia. We are just so confused. When we get home we clean her crate really well. We feed her, play with her and watch her closely. We put her on the newspaper every half hour for like 15 minutes and she won't do anything, the minute we let her play on the floor or put her in her crate she will pee. How can we correct this so that we can all be happy? (tracyrodriguez, New York)
What you are describing is very common and is one of those things about having a puppy and I know very well how it smells so we will tackle your common misconceptions about dogs.
- Despite what people may think if your dog wants to go to the toilet it will go wherever it can regardless of
whether it sleeps there or not. A puppy can only hold on for about an hour and even then you are lucky so if you leave it alone all day it will go to the toilet despite what you think.
- Crate training: one of those things that if done correctly are great but will not work otherwise. Think of yourself in a small room where you have been told to go. It may be a closet with a nice view. Despite the view if it is small you will not like it. You would rather be in the nice large living room. Your dog is feeling the same way. If you give the dog a choice of a crate or some paper to sleep on it will sleep on the paper despite what is in the crate that is nice and comfy. As it would like to have a nice sleep with no smell it goes to the toilet in the other place that is a little further, in this case a crate.
This is how you go about it then. What I would recommend here is to get rid of the crate and keep it for the night sleep only or when it needs a little relaxing when lots of people are in the house. During the day keep it in the room where it is and have paper on one side and a nice rug or something (not that nice just in case) for it to sleep on. All going well it will go on the paper. In terms of potty training ensure that you are rewarding the dog when it has gone to the toilet and as it is going say "good dog" or even "busy boy". I don't mind what you say as long as it is the same While it is going to the toilet. The treat comes as soon as it is finished.
The times the dog goes to the toilet are about 30 mins to an hour after dinner, lunch, breakfast etc. If the dog has originally slept on the newspaper there is no way it is going to pee on the paper when you are there. Take it outside to do its business when it is able which is not too far away.
Good luck.
Simon Goodall is now a member of IAABC (International Association of Animal Behaviour Consultants). This means the information you receive is the most up to date.
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