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Old January 20th, 2010, 04:46 PM
2bass 2bass is offline
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House training my lab puppy...

My puppy was getting to be pretty good for not using our apartment as her bathroom. However, lately she's gotten...almost lazy. If she is not crate/tied/in your direct line of vision, she will pee and poo immediately. She can have just gone out five minutes before and she will still eliminate in the house. It's getting frustrating because we KNOW she can hold it, as she does no problem when she's in one of her areas (kitchen where her food is, or her crate.) But she doesn't even try to. It's getting to be almost too much, she's 5 months old and doesn't seem to be doing much better than when we first got 3 and a half months ago. Does anyone have any advice?
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Old January 20th, 2010, 06:48 PM
babydoll101 babydoll101 is offline
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Maybe she is smelling where she has gone before in the apartment? I know there is something out there you can buy and spray it in the spots where she is going, to eliminate the smell and urgancy to do it again. Just a guess
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Old January 21st, 2010, 02:57 PM
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Stinkycat Stinkycat is offline
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I don't know if this will work for your puppy but it worked for our border collie pup.

She did the SAME thing, go outside then come in and pee and poo right away, and talk about frustrating!

We taught Luna to goto the door and she would have to bark to be let outside, so I would point at the door and get her excited then as soon as she barked I would open the door, and when she did her business (didn't let her back in until she did something) we'd jump up and down and play with her and feed her bite size treats everytime. And I'm glad to say it's worked and Luna is only 13 weeks old and house trained.

I think consistency is key to housebreaking.

Good luck, and I feel your frustration!
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Old January 21st, 2010, 03:06 PM
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Marcha Marcha is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 2bass View Post
She can have just gone out five minutes before and she will still eliminate in the house.
When she's gone out five minutes before - did she eliminate then? Or did you take her in again before she eliminated?

Has your eating schedule changed in the last month? Has hers?
Has your playing schedule changed in the last month? Has hers?
Has your sleep schedule changed in the last month? Has hers?
Has your outdoors/ walking schedule changed in the last month? Has hers?
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Old January 22nd, 2010, 11:51 PM
2bass 2bass is offline
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She's not so bad for peeing inside unless she's asked for the door (she doesn't bark, at all, ever, so it's really hard to tell when she wants out) and no one saw her. This happens maybe 2-3 times a week now. The pooping, however, it constant, a few times a day. Sometimes she'll have gone outside and then go right away inside as well, other times she won't go outside but then will go as soon as she gets in. Today she actually pooped in the stairwell of our building on her way back inside.

Her eating schedule is the same, small bowl of food in the morning, small bowl when I get home from work and small bowl in the evening.
Most days, she gets fed her breakfast, then I take her out, then she plays for a bit, then my boyfriend takes her out again, then she's tied or crated while we're at work (sometimes taken out by our roommate if she's at home too) then taken out when I get home, fed, taken out when my boyfriend gets home, plays for a while then fed and taken out again, then once more by whoever the last to go to bed is. It's fairly consistent and has been for a while. She was really good at first and now it's getting really bad. Otherwise, she's a really well-behaved puppy.
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Old January 23rd, 2010, 12:13 AM
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Marcha Marcha is offline
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Can you describe the walks she get? What do you do? Training? Play? Short leash, long leash, run, walk, ... that kind of thing. And how long does a walk last?
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Old January 23rd, 2010, 01:12 AM
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Bailey_ Bailey_ is offline
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You say that she goes out, but is she actually pooping when she is there? If we don't *wait* for our dogs to go, they will go when they are ready. Just because you walk into the bathroom doesn't mean you automatically have to go either.

We need to remember that the smell of grass doesn't always trigger the 'bathroom' feeling for our dogs either. Sometimes it can trigger a desire to smell evvvverything, or cause our dogs to want to play - essentially ignoring the feeling to go to the bathroom.

You're still dealing with a puppy. Consistancy is your best bet. Staying outside with her until you physically WATCH her pee and poo before letting her back inside, will be the absolute best way to teach her where and when to go.

And continue keeping an eye on her when she is inside. If that means she is kenneled or on leash while you can't physically watch her, then so be it. Avoid any instances where she could soil in your house and it should teach her that 'inside' is not her bathroom.
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Old January 23rd, 2010, 01:24 PM
2bass 2bass is offline
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Her walks vary. Usually in the morning they're a bit shorter, just walking up and down the street and around the building a few times (she seems to prefer pooping behind our apartment building) then at least once or twice a day she gets a nice long walk around the neighborhood. We also have been trying to train her a bit off-leash by letting her run around and play with us behind our building as well. With me, she usually gets a longer leash, but I think my boyfriend may keep it a little shorter.

Usually she doesn't go when she's outside, but it does happen that she'll go outside then 15 minutes later poop in the apartment as well. It wouldn't be so much of an issue if it were that we weren't taking her out at the right times so she didn't have to go when we went out and then poops an hour later or something like that, it's that a lot of the time she goes out and no matter how long she's been out, seems to hold it until she gets in the house.

She was actually much better at holding it when she was younger, now she's actually getting worse. She's also started peeing when she's excited which she didn't do before.
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Old January 23rd, 2010, 03:06 PM
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Melinda Melinda is offline
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have you changed her food? she seems to be pooping an awful lot, don't take her back inside until she does goes, and don't play or run with her outside until she goes either, she'll start to think that outside means playtime only. Once she's gone outside, praise her instantly with excitement and treats, inside leash her to you until you know the signs that she's about to go or has to go......if possible, even pick her up to get her outside before an accident occurs, don't set her up for failure by bringing her back in before she does her business, even if it takes 30 minutes, take her directly to where ever it is you want her to do her business and stand there letting her smell around to find the perfect spot.....which only she knows.
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