Puppy going backwards!

[Bethwalka]

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Hi everyone,

I have a 10 week old puppy and it seems she is going backwards! She used to always pee or poo on her pee pad on a night but recently has started to pee and poo on the floor elsewhere! She's in a crate but I don't close the door as she has been so well behaved on a night so far. She doesn't whine during the night and is brilliantly behaved apart from this!

She has also started to pee in the living room and I've been trying to put her on her pad when she looks like she's going to pee but she just sits and doesn't pee.

Please help! Any advice would be great, thank you!

 

[JoanneF]

With young puppies it's too long to expect them to hold on all night (their little bladder and bowels aren't big enough or strong enough) so set your alarm for a couple of times in the night.

With toileting, take her out frequently during the day, after waking, eating, playing etc and every 45 minutes to an hour. Also watch for signals like circling or scratching the floor which can indicate she wants to toilet. Get her out and give huge praise and a high value reward or treat when he toilets. Don't make her come to you for the treat, so she knows that it's for toileting and not for coming to you. While she is toileting you can start to introduce a cue word like do weewee; or busy busy; so in future you can tell her when it is a good time. If she has toileted indoors don't get annoyed in case she becomes anxious about toileting, you want her to tell you she needs out, not to avoid you.

I don't like puppy pads. They give mixed messages about whether it's ok to toilet indoors.

 

[Bethwalka]

That's great help, thank you

 

[gypsysmum2]

Ditch the puppy pads! They just tell dogs that it is ok to toilet indoors. Do not leave doors open. Puppies need to learn the difference between outside and inside.

As Joanne says it is all about rewarding the right behaviour and ignoring the wrong behaviour. You are looking to train a dog that thinks "oh, I need a wee/poo - if I go outside I will get a fantastic reward!" Make sure the timing of the reward is good so that your puppy is in no doubt as to why it got the reward. Before long you should see her looking at you, as she goes, because she is anticipating the reward coming her way.