Potty Training Advise for Pets!

Hi C.

Here is my input.

Is he neutered? Many intact male dogs will lift their legs in the house to mark their territory. Having him neutered may help with this.

You can purchase a product called a Belly Band. It is a soft fabric that you can put on your dogs midsection which will prevent him from being able to mark, and if he does try to the material acts as a diaper and absorbs the pee, saving your furniture. While this is not a real solution to the problem, it will help with damage control. They are often made by individuals and can come in any sort of material. I had a jungle pattern one and a flame pattern one. They have velcro along one side to help you adjust it to your dog. They are machine washable.

The last bit of advice I can offer is that if you are home, he needs to be on a leash attached to you. If you wear a belt you can put the loop of the leash through your belt and still have your hands free. That way you are right there and can catch him in the act. If you catch him trying to mark in the house you can give a quick pop on the leash with a "No Potty!" and get him outside right away, be sure to praise praise praise him when he does potty outside.

I do not believe that putting him in a crate for 14 days will solve this problem. You need to be able to train him and the only way you can do that is if you catch him during the bad behavior. I do agree with many others that you should NOT rub his nose in it.

I have owned dogs for 11 years and put many titles on them, I have also experienced a dominant male marking in the house and the above was what worked for me.

Good luck! :)

The best advice I can give you is to contact my friend who is a dog trainer. She helped our dog break that horrid habit, along with many others. She is AMAZING....and doesn't cost you a fortune either! Her name is Julia Bowlin ###-###-####. Our dog was 5 years old from Greenhill and came with numerous issues. She worked with our entire family and our dog. He's now a healthy, happy, well adjusted dog that only "goes" in the back yard where he's suppose to go. Happy training!

I'm no expert, but I think in these cases it's always best to rule out any physical problems first. So if you haven't already consulted your Vet, that would be a good place to start. They should also be able to talk to you about any possible psychological issues too, although it doesn't sound like that's likely based on your description.

If there are no medical issues, you may just want to treat him like a pup for a little while - continue frequent potty breaks, keep him on a leash right with you while in the house, and use the crate whenever you are out or can't keep a close eye on him.

Hope that helps!

Is he fixed? My husband had a German Shepard when I met him and he started to lift his leg, especially on things that were mine (he eventually accepted me!). Due to this new and very naughty behavior he was neutered and never did it again.

Not sure if this will "fix" (sorry for the pun!) your problem with your four-legged buddy. Good luck!

C.,

I have found that even if the pet is older you can potty train by keeping them in a crate for 14 days. Only take your pet out to feed and to go to the bathroom. I would leave some water in the crate with your pet. I know that it is very hard to leave your pet in a crate for that long, but I have done this with 3 dogs of older ages and it has been successful. Also if you feel that your pet is dominating your home bite him or her on the ear to show that you are the dominate one. I know it sounds crazy, but it has worked for me. I wish you the best of luck.

I am a writer and long-time dog owner who speciaizes in pets. Has the dog been neutered? If not, that could solve the problem pretty quickly. If he has, then I would suggest you try confering with an animal behaviorist. I know there is one connected with the University of Washington. I'd google animal behaviorist, your city, etc. and see what you come up with. Your vet may be able to recommend someone -- or have some suggestions. There also may be a physical reason (though it sounds more behaviioral to me).
Also...get him obedience trained so you can establish yourself as Alpha dog in the pack. The training is as much for you as the dog as it teaches you the proper tone of voice and body language to comminicate with your dog.

Absolutely do dot rub his nose in it!!!!!!!! That is disgusting. Keep your dog on a leash when you are at home and crate him when you are gone. Take him out every 2 hours. Be vigilant about taking him out. Use the leach so you know what he is doing and when he tries to go to his corner take him outside. Do not carry him make him walk. Keep it up and he will figure it out.

We got a product at a petstore that is an enzymatic cleaner for pet stains. Every time a pet has peed/pooped/vomited in our house we clean the area with this cleaner. We have not had a problem with pets going back to the same place again and again. (We may just be lucky.)

I think that a pet is more likely to use a place where they can smell the odor of a previous use, and that by cleaning up the mess with this type of product you remove that draw.

Hi C.,
My dog never got it when it came to potty training so we installed a pet door in our house so she can come and go as she pleased and never messed in the house.
Now we live in a small apartment and we both work so we use potty pads, actually we use the adult people pads because they are biger and cheaper the pet ones. she goes only on them faithfully while we are away at work and we pick them up and don't have a mess to contend with later and no smell.

K.

Have you tried the Piddle Pads? My mom got a dog that the owners could no longer keep and they had it piddle pad trained and she wouldn't go anywhere but on that. Then my mom moved her piddle pad outside and she started using that. I don't know if that will help any. I've had dogs all my life but as well grew up in the country and never had to worry about housebreaking because they were always outside. But it sounds like you may have a strong willed dog on your hands and you just have to have a stronger will than him. Maybe watch the Dog Whisperer, he is AWESOME and always has good advice. Good Luck!

Hello C.: I just went through bringing up a GSD puppy with great success (well, we're not done yet - he's just 15 months old) and as you know, there are many ups and downs that can come with the process. This is a big topic for many dog owners. You were on the right track when you started crate training, but as you said, you did not follow through. There's the root of your problem. Potty training, especially fixing problems with potty training, requires very disciplined behaviour on your part to be successful. I would highly recommend you check out the following website and specifically the blog on the site: www.leerburg.com.

It helps if you shove his nose in his mess when you scold him. That makes a connection in his mind. I don't know the Griffin breed. Are they eager to please?

I just saw a clip on TV (forget which show) but it was about this subject. They said to keep the pet away from the area where he keeps messing (they even joked about walling off the area). I think that you may have to "retrain" him....start off in the crate, take him outside often, and back in the crate.
I hope this helps!

I raise Chihuahuas and I firmley beleive in the crate. Is your dog fixed? He may not be going potty but marking his territory. Back to the crate. when your not with him put him away and when you sleep put him away. But Your problem sounds like a marking problem.

If he is not fixed, fixing him will eliminate most of the problem. You need to go to the pet store and buy cleaner that is specially designed to take the scent out of the mess. Otherwise, no matter how clean it smells and looks to you, your dog will still be getting the chemical signal to mark the same spot again.
You also should confine your pet to a small room most of the time. Let him out to play and cuddle, but do not give him free roam of the house. Maybe even keep him on a leash whenever he is out of that room. A dog will generally not potty in "their" space. If he continues to potty in that room, make a smaller space. Once he gets the hang of not going in that room, you can gradually allow him access to more and more of the house. Don't give him too much freedom too fast though, and regress back to smaller space if he messes.

At 3 years old, he is too old to be doing this, and you need to get a handle on it soon.

A great way to keep your house Pee free is to put small toddler underwear or a diaper cover on the dog with a hole for the tail. Take the pants off only when you take him out. This process usually takes a week or so even with the dumbest dogs. When I pet sat a poodle with a total pee problem (50 times in a two hour walk), he had the pants on for three days and he didn't pee in the house at all the fourth. He peed in the pants and on himself ONCE and then held it for two hours until I got him out. Little dogs tend to have little bladders.

Good luck!

H.

Hi C....this is really simple but it works! Put a rag with some Melaleuca oil on it and hang it on the spot where he lifts his leg...dogs HATE the smell of the oil and it completely absorbs the odor of the other dog's marking that territory.
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