Help me Pee's!!!!
 

I bought a female brindle pit bull (11 months) one week ago. I do not know how to get her to not pee and poop in my apartment and on the rugs. I take her outside to go to the bathroom and she does her business, Then when i leave, and return there are puddles and piles. I am at witts end. Does she just not know or is her breed just stubborn like her? If i can't get her to not go in the house then i will have to let her go. I don't want to do that. If any one has any ideas, I am open to all suggestions.

Thanks a million.

Jeanette Lynn

Firstly, I do not know what brindles are tho I do know some great pit bulls. I don;t think they are any more difficult to train than other dogs.

Usually the first place to look is to see if it is a medical problem. Pets communicate with us by doing things they know we do not not want them to do -and she is 11 months so she should be on her way to doing her biz quite well.

That said, what is her history? How long have you had her?

There are some pitbull people here. They may be able to offer othe suggestions.

Thank You, Cyberkitten, for the reply. I love my puppy, she is beautiful, loving, and protectant of me already. My fience is the one with the short fuse. I had 4 kids, and potty training them was not always that easy, but, I would not get rid of them, or trade them in for one that might catch on quicker. I have never had a puppy. So training them as a pit or any other dog is not something i am experienced in. I am hoping someone has gone through this and could give me some pointers. I have only had her 1 week,
she is barely use to the new environment or us, I am hoping this is just that part of the transition.

Ohhh, wow, one week. It took my beagle - now deceased after a long life (bit too short for me, sigh!) - several months to get it down. And he was a very bright dog!! (There were days I was ready to tear my hair out by we persevered - those are the puppy year, lol)

This dog may have been in a situation too where was scared. Also, he may be scared in a new situation. So you may have added complication. Never scold him - that will just make him more afraid.

Here is an article that may help you:

[url]http://petplace.netscape.com/articles/artShow.asp?artID=797[/url]
[url]http://www.soyouwanna.com/site/syws/traindog/traindog2.html#para2[/url] (may be less helpful since it is for younger puppies)

Good luck! I am sure some of those than operate rescues can give you great advice.

Jeanette,please do not give up on her,a week is hardly enough to get her to know you,or you her.....brindles are beautiful pits..
There are tons of people here who can help you,CK included....so hold on and come back here to check.
You know she'll not be around long if you dump her in a shelter and I am sure you don't want that :sad:
Is she spayed? Do you crate her? Where did she come from? How long is she on her own? Those are questions you'll be asked,so come back to the Forum ever now and then,ok :thumbs up

I've found that the best to housebreak a dog is with crate-training. Might I suggest the book : 'how to housebreak your dog in 7 days' by Shirlee Kalstone. A dog will never go in his bed. So if you crate him when you're not around, he'll hold it until you get home and let him outside. With a crate, the dog is never left unsupervised, so not only does it make it easier to housebreak, but it will also stop any destructive behavior he might get later on, when he starts teething
I know it can be frustrating. My father got a puppy (a gorgeous Springer Spaniel) 4 weeks ago. They are really intelligent dogs, and he's just now starting to get the picture! A young pup doesn't have complete control over his sphincters (spelling!?!), so patience is the key.
Good luck :thumbs up

We've had good luck with "training mats". Ask for them at your local pet store. For some reason, the dog is attracted to going to the washroom on them, and you slowly move it towards outdoors. Daisy was housebroken EXTREMELY quickly. Pits in general aren't a problem. Just lots of patients, and you'll be fine!

Where did you get this dog? Has she ever been in a house before? Pit bulls are very smart and trainable. What do you do when she has accidents?

You have only had her a week, and your finance has a "short fuse". Pit bulls are VERY soft towards people and simply "shut down" under any harsh corrections of any kind. These two factors may be making her very nervous and causing a vicious cycle. My pit bull falls apart if I even give her a dirty look.

You need to treat her as you would an unhousetrained young puppy. Take her out at regular intervals and confine or crate her when you can't watch her. When you're home, attach to yourself with a leash to keep her from making mistakes.

NO punishment, yelling, rubbing her nose in it etc. I'm not saying YOU are doing this, but many people do and this abuse makes the situation worse.

Here's a bunch of links on housetraining dogs. I'm sure they will be helpful. Just be consistant and kind with her, and I know she'll catch on quickly.
[URL=http://www.wonderpuppy.net/canwehelp/htgen.htm]Housetraining[/URL]

Plain white vinegar is still the best tool I have ever used for house breaking.

The hardest one to train was a 3 year old Phantom Poodle, rescued from a puppy mill breeder. She was always caged and had no training what so ever...took me 3 day's to house break her and 5 to train on a leash. Usually leash training is easier, then I found out she would be roped with a horse lead and tied outside for the basic grooming..a quick shave down in any kind of weather.

Patience goes a long way too..

CK,brindle is just the coulouring... :)

Sounds to me that this pup hasn't been really housebroken.

I am also curious as to where you got him.

Also,any breed can be stubborn.

LR is right.You need to treat her as an unhousetrained young puppy.Is she crate trained?How long is she left alone in the house?

Hi Jeanette,
I have a 12 week old puppy who I have had for a month, we got off to a difficult start with housebreaking but this past week has been WONDERFUL! Here is what I do.

1/ Batman was never left unsupervised. I found having him on his leash helped with this.
2/ He was fed on a schedule and we wrote down when he ate, played, peed pooed etc... This helped us find a pattern. For example we learned that after he had a drink he usually peed 3 times.
3/ We two brass bells hanging from a string. When he has to go he paws and the bells to let us know he has to go out. (He is not getting this yet... we make him ring it but he stares at it now).
4/ When he goes out we tell him "Hurry Up". He now knows this means go to the washroom. He will sometimes do a tiny pee when he say it... you can tell he didn't really have to go yet. Having a word cue is really helpful because when I walk him and think he needs to go I wait until we are near a garbage can so I don't have to carry the poo with me. As soon as I say "Hurry up" he starts sniffing... although sometimes he won't go.
5/ When he goes outside he gets a very small yogurt treat. This made a BIG difference when we started doing this. Now we are not giving a treat everytime.... eventually we don't want him to need a treat to motivate him to go outside.
6/ We take him out about every 30 minutes... but I would recommend 15 when starting.
7/ We have learned what he looks like and does when he has to go. This REALLY helped!!!
8/ When we are not home he is in his crate. (but not for longer than 3 hours)

Also...
*If we catch him starting to go inside we wisk him outside, after saying "NO!"
*If he has peed and we missed it we just clean it up, spray it with some Petzyme and forget it"
*Whenever he goes outside we act like he is the most amazing dog in the entire universe!!
*The more you watch him the better. Try to catch him in the act and don't let accidents happen (although they will).
*If your BF has a short fuse you MUST explain to him that getting angry after the dog has an accident will only create further accidents in the future. My fiance was positive we should show Batman his 'mess' and tell him no. I had to explain that new research has proved that this is detrimental to housebreaking.

Finally if you keep a log of when and where he goes you will hopefully start seeing an improvement in the times he goes outside and this will motivate you and the bf to keep at it.

Jeanette,see what did I tell you,there are wonderful people here,I hope you come back and follow all the excellent advice given :thumbs up