An excellent tool for house-breaking puppies

S

stilez

New member
Being that Liz and I are very busy, we had to rely on the puppy training pads for longer than we'd like until school was over. However, once summer hit and we moved into a new place, with new carpeting, we knew we had to train Buckley better.



We started by walking him every 45 minutes but that got old quick. The vet then suggested getting some jingle bells for the door. Put them on the door knob and everytime you took him for a walk, ring them to denote the walk. Buckley made the connection very quickly with walking/bathroom/bells.



It has become like clockwork now. When we wake up, we take him out of the crate and right out the door. Then from there on out, he just rings the bell when he needs to use the facilities. I really cannot believe how fast he caught onto this compared to the training pads. Oh yeah, positive reinforcement helped a lot too.





I snapped a picture of him looking for a treat I threw. Couldn't get him to ring the bell though...





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Is that Buckley's Ghost? :chuckle:



How long until you can take the bells down? I would assume that it might get annoying afterwhile.
 
Great idea Sean ! My wife Josie and I have experienced the exact problem....We use to put the training pad in the bathroom when we had to leave. We try to take Bruiser out about every other hour for his break, but he really got use to using the pads, (Which are stress relievers i might add, no pooh or pee to clean, ya just stop, drop, and roll it up). We tried putting it by the front door, that way if he made a move to it, we knew it was time to go downstairs.....Im going to have to find Bruiser some bells!
 

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boxer: Long shutter :). The bells aren't that bad. I kinda like it so you know if someone is walking in.





Patrick: Let us know how it goes.
 
a.k.a. Patrick said:
Great idea Sean ! My wife Josie and I have experienced the exact problem....We use to put the training pad in the bathroom when we had to leave. We try to take Bruiser out about every other hour for his break, but he really got use to using the pads, (Which are stress relievers i might add, no pooh or pee to clean, ya just stop, drop, and roll it up). We tried putting it by the front door, that way if he made a move to it, we knew it was time to go downstairs.....Im going to have to find Bruiser some bells!
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Bruiser? :chuckle: Ha Ha that is one mean looking pooch. Nobody better break into your place with Bruiser on guard. They might get a fatal ankle nibble. :D
 
My dachshund just scratches the door, he couldn't reach a bell unless it was a few inches off the ground :) Have to put some fresh paint on his scratching spot every so often, but it beats cleaning up a mess haha
 
Well after having him outside nearly all day, and/or running errands, he did it. He pee'd in my bathroom, his same ol spot. We removed the pads a couple weeks ago, I fig'd they were doing more long term damage if we kept them......

So Josie and I are giving him the evli eye, and were not on speaking terms for the moment, other then a "bad dog" outburst when we cross paths..........Ya think he knows hes in trouble here ?

<Hmm........wondering if I should swap the monkey avy for the pooch pic.....>
 

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My two dogs will come up and "talk" to me ( short little "yips" ) when they have to go out to pee/poop. They are brothers from the same litter and were crate trained together.
 
Those training pads are the problem, NEVER use them. What they do is teach the dog to go indoors. They don't associate the pad as the place to go but the indoors.



Hose breaking consists of crate training, continual positive reinforcement and praise when they go outside, firm verbal scolding when you catch them in the act indoors, and simply patience. You can also buy a spray that neutralizes pet odors so they don't seek out the same indoor spot again.
 
I agree with Leo. Big mistake letting your dog know it's okay to go inside! When we first got our pug, we paper trained him. Well, let's just say that one day my GF was studying on the floor and he decided pee all over her notes/books and then looked at us for approval! Can't hardly blame the little guy though, it was paper after all :-)



It took 3+ years to get him to not have "accidents" indoors after that!



Paco
 
a.k.a. Patrick said:
Well after having him outside nearly all day, and/or running errands, he did it. He pee'd in my bathroom, his same ol spot. We removed the pads a couple weeks ago, I fig'd they were doing more long term damage if we kept them......

So Josie and I are giving him the evli eye, and were not on speaking terms for the moment, other then a "bad dog" outburst when we cross paths..........Ya think he knows hes in trouble here ?

<Hmm........wondering if I should swap the monkey avy for the pooch pic.....>
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Well, you're making the typical mistake of punishing a dog when he has absolutely NO idea why you're doing it. Just like the worthless "method" of rubbing a puppy's face in the "mistake" he made on the floor a few hours ago, -- a "bad dog" outburst when we cross paths..........Ya think he knows hes in trouble here ? --is just abuse, though you think it's a form of training. It's been proven by many experts in the field that any punishment given has to occur WITHIN 15 SECONDS(give or take)of the incident, or the dog hasn't the slightest idea why you're being nasty.



Your suddenly and inexplicably shouting "bad dog" is only causing your dog stress, making him nervous and confused, and definitely NOT resolving his house training problem. You should seriously reconsider your training regimen. Proper discipline is good; simple verbal abuse only exacerbates the problem.
 
I dont think that hardly constitutes abuse. I agree there are better methods out there, but to say he is abusing his dog is just wrong.
 
Well if I was within 15 seconds of the accident, chances sway that it could have been avoided. Kind of like a dog nipping at the postman, "If I'd only knew" type of mentality.

What your telling me is a canine has no memory of "bad situations or incidences?" I have to disagree with these so called experts your referring to, sorry. 15 seconds may be best, but its not an absolute.

I did scold the dog for wizzin in the bathroom..I took him in there, and showed him the accident, and repeated "bad dog". I see no abuse in "reminding" a dog, its done a bad thing........Or maybe I should have waited until I caught him in the act? What would have been worse, let him pee, then scold him?

As for abuse, that dog is more spoiled then my kids.....and yes, he gets positive affirmations, including the regular hugs and kisses puppies get when we go downstairs, and he relieves himself in the proper location (and yes, I pick it up in a baggy), and a treat. BUt if I dont get that to him in 15 seconds of him relieveing himself, he'll never remember ? I agree, proper discipline is good, and in the eye of the guy scoopin the poopin, and clean'in the pee'in.....
 
I guess nobody but the dog knows for sure, but ...



I think if you take the dog to the puddle and scold him, he will associate your displeasure with his pee, but no way is he going to comprehend what he did wrong. You pretty much have to catch him right in the act. He just doesn't have a sense of the past that is going to let him get what you are referring to, after the fact.



That is the rational approach, but we have certainly had the exact same emotional response to Matilda that you were describing. I don't think it is "abuse," but I don't think they have the slightest idea of what the problem is, either.



House training is a PITA, but at least they won't be borrowing your car when they turn 16!
 
a.k.a. Patrick said:
...I did scold the dog for wizzin in the bathroom..I took him in there, and showed him the accident, and repeated "bad dog"...
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This simply will never work. Never! You are making the very common mistake of believing a dog's brain works like a human's. It simply does not. The only way a dog will know he is doing wrong is to scold him in the act and not after. For all we know if you bring him to the accident and show it to him and scold him he probably thinks that you are scolding him for sniffing or looking at it, not the act of doing it.



Positive reinforcement and praise does work however. Think of positive reinforcement as GOOD ACTION --> PAYCHECK, that is, for every time your dog does what you want (pooping outside for example) he gets a paycheck in the form of praise or a treat. If you use treats also use praise because you don't always have handy those great little smelly soft things they like to munch on.



We have two TDI and AKC certified therapy dogs that continually undergo training in all sorts of situations (crowds, noise, cars, wheelchairs,crashing pans, kids grabbing.) Going through weekly training with them you begin to see how their little brains work, the best reinforcement and training is praise! Even treats don't work as good as praise and attention. Good sit! Good stay! Good down! Our dogs even know the difference between "stay" (don't move no matter what!) and "wait" (stay for a moment while I get my keys or leave the house then you can romp.



One thing I taught them early on, and you guys should really think about this, is the command "LEAVE IT!" spoken very loud and forceably and if need be a yank on the leash. This is of absolute importance if you bring Rover to a car show or cruise night, you want them to know that if you say "LEAVE IT!" they damned well better not sniff at or lick that antifreeze on the ground! As you may know... antifreeze KILLS dogs! "LEAVE IT" is easy to teach... put a small dollop of peanut butter or their favorite treat on the ground and walk by with Rover on the leash. As soon as he goes to get it shout "LEAVE IT!" and yank the leash and keep walking. Do this several times over a few days and pretty soon just a "LEAVE IT" in a normal tone of voice will stop him cold. You can then progress to "OK" and let him have the treat. What will soon happen is that Rover will not touch anything on the ground unless you say "OK."
 
Yeah, it's very important to do the correction the right way. If you scold a dog and it looks "guilty", that doesn't mean it has any idea what you're scolding it for, just that it knows you're angry at it. Teaching the dog that you can get angry for unfathomable (to the dog) reasons isn't good. If the dog gets mixed/confusing signals it won't *fully* trust you. You gotta be just *so* consistent and understandable in the *dog's* eyes.



Remember that when you discipline for soiling, you're punishing for doing something that is a) natural and b) satisfying. Gotta make "doing it in the right place" more important to the dog than the voiding itself, which is asking quite a lot.



Heh heh, all this housetraining talk makes me glad I have a dog-door and a big fenced yard :D It was a lot tougher without either of those luxuries. Even *with* them, the first month or so is always a lot of work. Just gotta be *so* vigilant and self-disciplined.



Oh, and everybody oughta take DFTowel's advice and get the stuff that eliminates the odor. Nature's Miracle is a good brand. Even when *we* can't smell it, the dog can, and will return to do it there again. Good excuse to buy a nice extractor too, might sound better than "it's for the car" ;)
 
DFTowel said:
One thing I taught them early on, and you guys should really think about this, is the command "LEAVE IT!" ...What will soon happen is that Rover will not touch anything on the ground unless you say "OK."
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Oh yeah :xyxthumbs This really can save your dog's life. Gotta admit I'm a fanatic about dogs being well trained, but *everybody* should teach their dogs the "leave it" command.
 
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