House Training - What Am I doing wrong

Hi everyone,

I am new to this board and need help. I have a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and I have had him for a month and he is not getting house training and I have no idea what I am doing wrong. I am using crate training, if I am not home or watching he is in his crate. I get up in the morning take him out to pee, take him in feed him and then take him out again to poop. I watch and make sure he goes...saying go potty go potty. Then I say good boy when he is done and then I take him in and give him a treat (I don't take the treats outside with me because he goes nuts and cannot concentrate if he smells them). Then he goes into his crate while I am at work and I repeat this at lunch time and then when I come home for the day. Then he is out with me in the evening. He will pee ten minutes after I have had him out sometimes and I know he just peed! He never indicates he needs to go out. So I hung a bell on the door so he could let me know. I ring it with his paws before we go out to potty. Now he just rings it when he wants out to play....never to pee or poop! When he does go in the house I yell no and take him outside right away.

SO since none of this is working I am trying a method I read called umbelical cording. He is tied to me on a lease when I am home (more so training me so I can catch him in the act and make sure I am watching him). SO I am catching him everytime he pees/poops in the house.

I am missing something? Is there anything else I can do. He is 3 1/2 months old if that helps.

Thanks

I"m glad you told us his age. Only 14 weeks - you certainly can't expect perfect housetraining at that age.

If he is getting the opportunity to pee and poop in the house, it means you are not watching or supervising him closely enough. The "umbilical cord" idea is a good one. This will allow you to catch him before he pees and get him outside.

TAke him out more often, and never yell at him for peeing in the house. This could very well cause him to not want to pee in your presence at all and you don't want that. Do not punish him in any way, shape or form. If you see him looking as though he is thinking of peeing (and puppies that age have very little time between having the "urge" and actually going) say a sharp "AH AH!" or other noise to distract him then rush him outside and praise like crazy when he goes.

Keep some treats in your pocket so he can't see them, and give immediately when he pees or poops outside. Giving him the treats later in the house is no good, because he doesn't connect it with his peeing.

He'll catch on with patience and persistance, but he might not be completely reliable for months yet.

Definitely a trying situation with a Puppy. Unfortunately I have no answer to your problem, but I am very interested in the the replies you get as I am currently house training a 13 week old puppy myself. Like your Pup mine will pee outside and then not 10 minutes after coming back inside he is peeing on the floor. Yet he goes all night and doesn't pee or poop in his sleeping area. :confused:

Thanks for the advise.

I worry because alot of people tell me "oh my dog was trained in 3 days" or "your dog should be potty trained by a month" so I wondered if I had it messed up. Some people are also telling me to rub his nose in it which I refuse to do.

I will keep working at it and knowing that its okay for him not to be totally housetrained given his age makes me feel a bit better.

Sorry to laugh at your post, Mo, but the exact same thing happened to me. I taught Phoebe how to ring a bell but didn't specify that it was connected to "going potty". So she now rings the bell every time she wants to go chase a bird or say "Hi" to the neighbors! :D Luckyrescue's advice is bang-on. Your pup is still very young, and even after he's fairly reliable, you can still expect accidents from time to time. Don't worry - you'll both get it in time! As for people telling you that their pups were trained at X age or in X number of days - don't pay any attention to them. I had one person telling me that her pup was completely trained at 4 mths of age, but I specifically remember this person complaining about the poop on her carpet when her pup was 9 mths old. Just goes to show that a few months from now you'll only remember the good stuff!! ;)

Diamond is 7 1/2 months old and even she still has bad spells. Nothing but time and praise for good deeds will help you out. Try not to yell at the pup though, as it can make it not want to pee in front of you and may try to start hiding it.

Some people are also telling me to rub his nose in it which I refuse to do

I'm glad you ignored that. It's outdated,stupid and very cruel. There is never a need to be brutal or inhumane while training a dog.

Little puppies are babies, and poop and pee are part of what goes with babies of any kind!;)

Best site I have ever seen: :)

Donna's Helpful House Training Tips

http://minpins.mgbeng.com/training/housebreaking.html

Thanks Everyone

Great Website. I have printed out to read and as a reminder to myself.....I love the introduction. Very funny.

Small dogs may take longer to train. It took Newt 1 1/2 yr to be fully trained. Good luck to you.

Small breeds are naughty!!! LOL I have two MinPins, one is 14 and will still pee in the house if I am not on top of things!!!! :eek: YUCK! My other one won't but will happily pee in someone elses house! Thank goodness for belly bands for my boys if we visit anyone!