New puppy won't wee outside!

[Teddybear069]

Join our free community today.

Connect with other like-minded dog lovers!

Login or Register

We have an 8 week old staffy called Ted. The first few days we had him he was making great progress with toileting outside with only a couple of accidents inside. But for the past few days he has started to wee and poop inside, it is driving me mad!! We will stand outside for 30 mind, he'll do nothing then come indoors and do it! Any advicev

 

[londonpuppysitter]

Hi, sorry to hear about your new puppy's frustrating toilet habits, they have minds of their own don't they?

Are you crate training by any chance? Crate training is very useful for toilet training, and it's also a great way to teach your pup to settle and go to sleep. Young puppies should actually be sleeping 2 out of every 3 hours a day for the best development. If you are interacting with your pup when he is awake, playing educational games where he has to work things out and practicing discipline and self control, like training him simple tricks and teaching him games with rules and boundaries, then you will be mentally stimulating him, which is actually a much more effective technique to tire a young pup out than physical exercise. And it's fun! Physical exercise like long walks can be a strain on a young pup's developing joints which are still growing.

For the toilet training, I would suggest purchasing a smallish crate (your pup should be able to stand up in it but not really move around too much, it is literally for the pup to settle down and sleep in, not play). The general doggie rule is that dogs will try to avoid going to the toilet where they sleep, so if you create a comfortable space for them to sleep that is small enough so that they can't move over to one corner to go to the toilet and then go back over to the other to sleep or play, then they will instinctively learn to 'hold it' until you let them out. The idea is to take your pup straight outside after being in the crate. If he refuses to go to the toilet and you think he is waiting to go as soon as he gets indoors, then put him straight back inside the crate for five to ten minutes, and try taking him out again after that. You don't need to stay outside with your pup for 30 minutes waiting for him to go. 5-10 minutes is ample time for him to decide to relieve himself or not. Is your pup exploring and playing when he is let out to go to the toilet? If so then he is probably being distracted. Puppies have short attention spans and he may easily have forgotten that he needs to pee because he wants to explore the environment - there are so many interesting smells outside! Try taking him out on a leash, even if it is in your back yard. Walk him on leash to the spot where you want him to toilet, and then stand still. He won't be able to go too far, and once he has explored al the area he can reach he'll have nothing much else to do. Also, being on the end of a lead will encourage your pup to make circles around you, and they usually go round in circles when they need to go to the toilet, so this action can often remind them of what they are meant to be doing. Taking your dog into the back yard on a lead to go to the toilet will also help when you start taking him on walks to go to the toilet, because he will already be used to going to the toilet while on the lead. Otherwise, many pups will hold it until they get back home.

If your pup still doesn't go outside, and when you put him back in the crate he seems agitated, don't leave him in there for too long, take him out again to avoid him having an accident in the crate. I know it's tedious but you have to be persistent with all of this, and he will soon get the message. Put aside three days where all your attention and focus is on toilet training, and you should see an improvement if you have managed to be consistent.

When your pup has relieved himself outside it is time for some free playtime - but this should always be supervised when you are crate training. He shouldn't have any accidents inside if he has already been outside., but it's best to supervise just to be on the safe side. By observing you pup more like this you should become even more in tune with his behaviours and cues, and perhaps recognise when he needs to go to the toilet because you'l see the slight change in his behaviour. Some puppies get briefly agitated a few seconds before they need to go, and this can be easy to miss. Keep play sessions short, and when you can't supervise playtime, put your pup back into the crate for some more sleep. If he whines it's important to ignore him if you know he's not whining for the toilet, otherwise when he is in the crate he will learn how to get attention, which defeats the point of the crate. The crate means - settle down and have some rest. You can give your pup a good chew to occupy him in the crate if you think he isn't going to sleep, he will still be learning to settle and be by himself.

Another good tip is to regulate his feeding and drinking times, so that you can start to estimate how your pup's system is working. Some puppies go the toilet five minutes after food time, others don't have any movement until up to an hour afterwards.

If you really are struggling, or don't want to use a crate, then try puppy pad training first. If you train your pup to go on a puppy pad or paper inside, this will at least save your floors, and it will teach the dog that he shouldn't just go to the toilet anywhere - there is a place to go to the toilet! And once he gets this, then you can move that "place' to the outside, by moving the puppy pad or paper.

I hope you will find some use from all of that! Please visit my website and blog for more tips and entertaining new dog owner content - and I'd love it if you joined my mailing list

Zara M.

http://londonpuppysitter.com

 

[poppy2714]

Are puppy training pads worth there money? I am worried about the amount of accidents with my puppy.

 

[LizzieGC]

Hi. We tried our pup with pads and he just ate them! We started by taking him outside after drinking/meals etc and telling him to empty. When he peed or pooped we would praise him and give him a treat. If he did have an accident outside we would not tell him off but just tell him no. Now when he goes outside we say empty and he does it straight away. I think I key word helps he cries now to tell us he needs to go out.

Hi. We tried our pup with pads and he just ate them! We started by taking him outside after drinking/meals etc and telling him to empty. When he peed or pooped we would praise him and give him a treat. If he did have an accident outside we would not tell him off but just tell him no. Now when he goes outside we say empty and he does it straight away. I think I key word helps he cries now to tell us he needs to go out.