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Chit Chat

Potty Training New Dog

We adopted a one year old lab mix who was previously a stray, about a month ago. We have had our other dog for 3 years, and he is 100% potty trained, but we had no problems training him. He was dropped off at the shelter, so I'm going to assume his prior owners must have trained him, because we didn't have to do any work, luckily.

I feel like we're at a standstill with potty training our new dog, Ripley. She sleeps in a crate at night, and is in the crate when we are out of the house, and she won't go in the crate. When we let her out, we go straight outside, give the 'tee tee' command, and she goes. I go out with both dogs about every hour or so when we're home, and she goes most of the time when I give the command (I suspect she's also taking after the older dog, which is great). And of course after either one of them goes outside I make a big 'to do' about it, sometimes with treats. If the weather is nice and we leave the back door open, she will always walk outside to use the bathroom. However, it's like she hasn't learned a cue to give us when she NEEDS to go outside if the door is shut. And because we are going in and out so often, she hasn't had a chance to see the older dog's cues (little whines by the door). 

We have gone 2 weeks without an accident, but that's also with me diligently going out with them every hour. So it's like she knows the outside is for potty, but still has no problem going inside if the door is shut.

I feel like we have made progress since she's been home, but not sure what the next step is?

Oh also - we bought a bell to put by the door, and I ring it every time before we go outside but I don't know that it's doing anything.

Any advice would be helpful! Thanks!

Re: Potty Training New Dog

  • Can you work on teaching her to ring the bell before you go outside? If she's the one doing the action when you take her out, perhaps she'll learn if she wants out she should ring it also?

    Also, what are you doing when she pees inside? Does she realize she's done something naughty/bad when she pees in the house? If she doesn't know it's a problem, she wont work to avoid it.
  • runpipparunrunpipparun member
    Eighth Anniversary 500 Comments 25 Love Its Name Dropper
    edited June 2013
    Scolding them if they go inside won't help.

    Keep taking her outside and make sure she doesn't have accidents inside. My stray, PIPPA, was the kind who never asked to go out. She would just disappear if you failed to take her out. I learned to take her out constantly until she decided it was preferable to go outside rather than inside. She is bomb-proof now. She whines, scratches, wakes us up, now, if she wants to go out.

    Our rescue shih-tzu mix is less bomb-proof, but only if we don't make sure he's gone number 2 that day, and we don't take him out on time when he starts wandering the house (that's his cue to go out). Small breeds are though to house train completely.

    But with a lab... you should be golden. Keep taking her out, ALWAYS reward her with treats, give her time. She'll learn.

    (Fiance is a vet.)

    ETA: The reason scolding doesn't work is that you have about a 3 second window to correct a dog after "poor" behavior, or they will not know what they're being corrected for. If you find spots and piles late, and you drag their nose through urine or feces like a total ***, they still don't know what they've done wrong. It's a waste of time, and it's cruel.)
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  • I catch her about 50% of the time, and I say 'NO NO NO' and pull her toward the back door. I thought that's what you're supposed to do? If I don't catch her, I really don't do anything, just put her outside and clean it up.
     Like I said, it doesn't happen often, only because we are going out so much. I don't mind it right now, but I can't be going outside every hour the rest of my life. 
    I'm really not that frustrated (yet), I just don't really know if continuing to do this will TEACH her what she needs to know.

  • ETA: The reason scolding doesn't work is that you have about a 3 second window to correct a dog after "poor" behavior, or they will not know what they're being corrected for. If you find spots and piles late, and you drag their nose through urine or feces like a total ***, they still don't know what they've done wrong. It's a waste of time, and it's cruel.)
    I hope you didn't think I was suggesting any of this. OP's comment about "no" and taking the dog outside is what I was talking about. 
  • It is fine to correct her if you catch her in the act.

    I actually wouldn't worry about her not having a cue for needing to go out. So long as you let the dogs out several times a day, which you are doing, they should be able to hold it until the next trip out. I'd just keep reinforcing going outside and discouraging going inside until the new pup gets the hang of it. Our big dog never tells us if he needs to go, he just holds it until we let him out.

    I think the bell idea is terrible. You know who jumps to when bells are rung? Household servants. You are not your dog's servant, he shouldn't be summoning you to do stuff for him. What happens when they ring the bell everytime they want to go outside, just for fun? My dog would ring that bell all. day. long. Nope. People train their dogs, not the other way around.
    This. If we had a bell, Pippa figure out that ringing it was how she gets outside and she would ring it incessantly. There's deer outside. And squirrels. And birds. And sticks. She already barks a good portion of the time.

    I still <3 her.
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  • It is fine to correct her if you catch her in the act.

    I actually wouldn't worry about her not having a cue for needing to go out. So long as you let the dogs out several times a day, which you are doing, they should be able to hold it until the next trip out. I'd just keep reinforcing going outside and discouraging going inside until the new pup gets the hang of it. Our big dog never tells us if he needs to go, he just holds it until we let him out.

    I think the bell idea is terrible. You know who jumps to when bells are rung? Household servants. You are not your dog's servant, he shouldn't be summoning you to do stuff for him. What happens when they ring the bell everytime they want to go outside, just for fun? My dog would ring that bell all. day. long. Nope. People train their dogs, not the other way around.
    The couple of times I have caught her, it's like WTF, we went out NOT that long ago. And she goes pretty much right in front of me, since I close all the doors in the living area and angle myself so I can see the whole room. I truly think she doesn't realize that it's bad, maybe because I've only caught her doing it 3-ish times when I can scold her.
  • She is spayed, right?
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  • For now, she shouldn't have access to anywhere in the house that you aren't. That may mean investing in some baby gates to keep her access limited. Once she realizes she can't get out of your eye sight to go in another room and pee or poop, she will start looking at you.

    We have four dogs.  The puppies are just now really getting the potty training trick completely.  But, they only have access to the living rooms.  If we walk away to another room, we either put them in their crate, or they go with us.  If we go to the bedroom, they go.  If we go to the kitchen, they go.  Until they can be completely trusted, they don't get any freedom in the house at all.

    Now, when we are sitting in the living room watching tv, they will go stand by the kitchen door and either bark, or just stare at us. 

    I will say also, if you have a fenced yard, and can figure out a way to put a doggie door in, it can make potty training a lot easier.  Although, it will sometimes make the owners lazy and the dog never quite figures out the "hold it" thing, because they always have access to the yard.  It will help prevent accidents though.

  • KDM323KDM323 member
    Knottie Warrior 500 Love Its 500 Comments Name Dropper
    As PP said...do not trust her at ALL in the house.  If she's not with you, then she needs to go in her crate.


    Every time she eats, take her outside.
    Every time she drinks, take her outside.
    Every time she gets out of her crate, take her immediately outside.

    Rinse and repeat over and over again. 

    It doesn't sound as though she was every properly housetrained or she wouldn't be going in the house.  And if she is older than puppy age...it is going to be hard to break her of the habit.  Make sure to thoroughly clean the areas where she HAS gone in the house.  You need to remove the scent.
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  • We use the bell with no problems.  I think it's really depends on the dog.   Chef doesn't use it unless he really has to go out.  Most of the time just going to the door works. I work from home and can't be watching his every move so the bell helps me.  Especially if I'm distracted because of work.  We also live in an apartment.  Going out requires walking down a long hallway, going down 3 fights of stairs and him on a leash.   Not as much fun as if we could just let him out in a fenced in yard.

    Anyway, are you giving her treats when she goes outside?  That helped us.  I also agree that you have to keep her with you at all times.  Block off certain rooms, crate her, whatever you need so she can't sneak off.

    Also remember some dogs taken longer to "get it" than others.  Chef was 14 months old when all the sudden it completely clicked. Not that he had accidents all the time, but it seemed like a f1-2 times a week.  Then it just stopped.   We have had other dogs that picked up only a few months old.  








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  • We got our dog from a pup and when I was toilet training her, I did what PP's said and took her outside every time she woke up, drank or ate. When she peed in the house I also jumped up and went no no no! (Mainly at the thought of having to clean up more pee) but not shouty, just kinda high. I also took her immediately outside and gave her the toilet command again. Whenever she peed outside I fussed over her and treated her.
    I think it probably took us about 3-6 months to have Willow completely trained so don't worry about, as long as you keep positively reinforcing good behaviour Ripley will get it :)
    Good on you for rescuing a dog, we got a pup from a breeder but I would love to rescue next time.
  • We also just adopted a puppy, we have had her about 2 months. When we adopted her we were told that she was house trained. This didn't seem to be the case when we got her home (maybe just because it was a new environment). We had the exact same issue. I would get so frustrated because I would let her outside, she wouldn't pee, and then she would pee in the house 5 minutes later. She's completely trained now. What we did was the following:
    1. Made sure she was never alone. When we were out she was in her crate. When we were home she was in the same room as us. That way we could catch her having an accident when she did. 2. When we caught her we would firmly say 'No' and bring her outside. Even while she was peeing we would pick her up and carry her to the door. She never had an accident that we didn't notice. It's time consuming but worth it. 3. We got her used to a schedule. She goes out first thing in the morning. We take her out on our lunch break. She goes put right when we get home at 5:30. She goes out at 9:30 before she goes to bed. We try not to break the schedule if we can avoid it. She hasn't had an accident in a month and we now let her go from room to room unattended.
    Good luck! I know it can be frustrating and it may take awhile but it will happen :)
  • It sounds like you're doing everything right, and people have given great additional advice (ex: making sure your pup is contained when she's in the house with baby gates, etc.). I just wanted to jump in with a little encouragement - it just takes some dogs longer. I was super consistent with my Yorkie, and he didn't fully "get it" until I had had him for about a year and a half. 
  • vk2204vk2204 member
    1000 Comments Third Anniversary 100 Love Its Name Dropper
    I would think because she was a stray she could 'go' any where she wanted to, and she is still in that mindframe. It has only been a month and she seems to be showing progress by going outside on your command. It will probably take a bit of time but continue to do what you're doing and it should work out.
    image 
  • Wow, thanks so much for the input, guys. I'll just keep at it. Maybe I'm just being impatient. Overall she's a MUCH easier dog than the older one was when we got him, just this one little thing is stumping me.

    Oh and for whoever asked, she's definitely spayed. I shall never be a doggie grandparent. Ever.

  • Wow, thanks so much for the input, guys. I'll just keep at it. Maybe I'm just being impatient. Overall she's a MUCH easier dog than the older one was when we got him, just this one little thing is stumping me.

    Oh and for whoever asked, she's definitely spayed. I shall never be a doggie grandparent. Ever.
    What if you have a kid and then they get a dog?

    AH points for Liatris. Wait - can I give out actual points? I never quite caught on to all this...
  • Definitely agree with keeping her confined to an area even when you're home. And I'm sure you know this but take her to the same spot every time you take her out until she gets it. We have a basset hound and they are notoriously stubborn so it took us a while to train her completely. We would take her to the same spot on the grass and stay there until she went and then reward her. And like others have said, take her out immediately after she has an accident. I thought we would never get ours trained and I think it took longer than normal for us because ours is seriously so stubborn. Now we can let her have the run of our apartment all day and we don't have to worry about a thing. At first we kept her in the kitchen since there's no carpet in there and easier to clean up any accidents.
    image
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