AKA - The seemingly impossible task of potty training my dog.
First thing's first. This is my little bundle of beast. She's a Miniature Pinscher mix. I adopted her in April of 2010, from a "rescue shelter," and named her
Pixel. We think she was about a year old at the time. I won't mention the shelter by name, because I'm not personally impressed with them. And I think a lot of her potty issues
came from them, or were at least not
helped by them.
When I adopted her, I specifically asked if she was house trained. I asked over and over again, because I did not want a dog that was going to have potty issues. Over and over again, they assured me that she was. Frankly, I don't think they ever took her out of her lonely cage...that was outside, in some mobile kennel...away from people, fresh air, or anything stimulating. There was only one other small dog in the kennel with her. All the other dogs at the rescue were large dogs, and were outside in large kennels...able to get fresh air, sunshine, and basic stimulation. They told me, that they took her out, several times a day. However, when they brought her into one of the large kennels, to meet us, the girl said that this was her first time in one of the big kennels. So, I think they just left her, and that other poor little dog, in that mobile kennel truck thing most of the day...every day.
Well, I'm here to tell you...not only was she
not house trained...she was the
worst case, I've ever seen. She peed and pooped, wherever she liked. And I was prepared to deal with that, to an extent. After all, this was a new environment, and she had probably been though a lot. But this little girl even peed in her crate (she was crate trained, so I stuck with it...especially given her potty issues). I asked my vet, vet assistants, Petsmart trainer, looked online...everything I could think of. WHY would she pee in her crate?
Most places/people said it was because her crate was too large. That she probably peed in one spot, due to nervousness, and had plenty of room to lay away from it. Um...nope. She would climb into her crate, squat down in front of me, and pee. Then she'd just lay down, right
on the pee. As if it were the most natural and acceptable thing in the world! Everyone I told this to was surprised, and had no answers for me. This is why I think that "rescue" shelter left her in that crate all day, every day. She had no choice, but to learn to lay in her own urine. This unnatural thing, became natural for
her.
I tried using pee pads for awhile. And, they somewhat worked...some of the time. But she still peed in her crate, and still peed & pooped on the floors. Everyday that I got out of bed, I let her out of her crate, took her crate, and cleaned the crate. Every day, I had to wash her bedding and wipe down the crate. Cannot begin to tell you how stressful and tiresome that is.
A friend, who has three Min Pins, suggested making an
absolute regular schedule. Wake up, take her out to pee. Feed her breakfast, take her out to poop. Regular trips during the day to pee. Just before supper, out to pee. Feed her supper, take her out to poop. And back out to pee, just before bedtime. No water, after a certain time of night. I've never had a dog, that didn't "
tell" me, when they had to go outside to do their business. After a bit of working on a proper schedule, this really helped! And I am forever grateful to my friend!
{Her current schedule is still very regular...though not quite as strict. I no longer have to take up her water at night. And, I can let her run around the house for a bit, before taking her out in the morning. But, still the same basic schedule...
Up in the morning & out to pee. Breakfast and out to poop. Few times out during the day. Out to pee just before supper. Eat supper and out to poop. Out to pee just before bedtime.}
During this training time, she spent most of her time, in one room of the house, that has vinyl flooring. I put pee pads in there for her, but she wouldn't use them. If I put a rug in there for her to lay on, she'd immediately pee or poop on it. If I let her out, into the house, she'd pee or poop on the carpet within minutes. I would let her into the other areas of the house, but always on a leash...and always
with me. This was advice from my PetSmart trainer. This way, she wasn't banished to only one lonely room of the house, all by herself. But she also couldn't just run around willy nilly and pee and poop on my floors.
When I'd take her outside to potty, she just didn't get it. She'd look around at all the wildlife (we have a lot of that here), then get bored, look at me, and just wonder when the heck we were going back in. I'd tell her "go potty," in a happy voice...over and over again...
nothing. The few times she
did go potty, I'd jump up and down, do a happy dance, and sing happy puppy praises...
literally. I'm fairly certain, that if my neighbors saw or heard me, they thought I was completely nuts! I even gave her treats, when she'd get it right. Most times, she'd stand there & stare, then we'd go in the house...and she'd pee or poop in the house. :-|
This went on for
months...and I mean
months! Overall, it may have taken me over a year, to truly potty train her. There were times, I thought about taking her back to the "rescue" shelter. But she was such a sweet girl, I just couldn't do that. Not if they were going to stick her back in that lonely kennel, for the rest of her life. On the days, when I just couldn't take it anymore (and had thoughts of puppaside), I'd take her to my parents house (they live right behind me). I know this breaks routine, but sometimes, enough is just simply,
enough!
During this time, we also enrolled in a class at our local PetSmart. Mom went with me, and our classmates were all awesome. Our trainer was
the best! Love her, to this day! Since we live out in the middle of nowhere, I thought this would be good socialization for Pixel (and good for us too lol). And I believe it helped with her potty issues. One of our first few classes, Pixel stood in the middle of the room, peed on the floor, and looked around at everyone, as if to say "See what I did? Isn't that good?" Amazingly enough...no one was as impressed as she had expected...not even the other dogs.
Going potty inside, was not Pixel's only issue. She was a terrible barker, pulled endlessly on her leash, and needed lots of help. I knew she would do well...I'd already taught her a
few things. Like, not diving into her food, the second the bowl hit the floor. And not jumping up on the couch, without being invited first. She picked most things up, fairly quickly.
I think our training helped a lot. And I will sing praises to our trainer, until the end of time! She trained w/a strong hand. If the dog did wrong, they got a good tug on the leash, and firm voice. She warned us, at the beginning of class, that this was her method. If anyone wanted to leave, and get another trainer, with a softer hand, she'd understand. We all stayed. None of the dogs were ever hurt, and I'm sorry if you disagree with firm training. But some dogs
do need a firmer hand, than others. Pixel is sweet, but beyond hard-headed...so she was certainly one of "those" dogs. Even our trainer was surprised by how obstinate Pixel could be, when she wanted to.
Eventually, with a regular routine, excited happy dances, treats, PetSmart training, a few "wrong!" commands, and a
LOT of patience, Pixel began to pick up on peeing outside. Pooping eventually came, but it did take a bit longer. She is now a professional pee-er. She will pee on command...even if she doesn't really have to. She'll at least try. Which is not to say, that she never has incidents. She does. But those are always at my Mom's house (sorry Mom), and always on a throw rug in the master bathroom.
Mind you...the saga is not over. The pooping thing took more than just training. It also took changing her diet. Originally, I had her on Eukenuba. But I would notice, that some days, her stool was very dark, and dry. Other days, it was beyond soft. Eventually, we got things worked out. For starters, my dad is forbidden from giving her people food (which he just loves to do). She can have a bite or two of chicken, if it doesn't have too much seasoning. But that's about it.
And she now gets 1/4cup of
Wellness Small Breed Super5Mix, and 2-3 baby carrots (cut up) for breakfast & for dinner. The Wellness and carrots have worked
wonders! She still has problems once in awhile, as all dogs do, but mostly, she's regular. Poop after breakfast...poop after supper. Never too hard or too soft.
So, Pixel has learned to potty outside. YAY! Well...not so fast. She'll potty outside, given good weather. In the rainy season however...that's a whole other story! Most dogs don't like to go in the rain, right? Well, Pixel will not only
not go when it's raining...she won't go
after it's rained. All I can figure is, the dirt smells icky to her, when it's wet. You begin to understand, my very very long and tiresome saga. I love Pixel, but this little girl has nearly driven me to drink.
So, how to solve the winter issues?
I have an old shed, just a few steps outside the house. The wood floor rotted out years ago, and it was filled with nothing but junk. Bunnies and squirrels and whatever else lives around here had the run of it. Mom helped me clean out all the junk, and I ripped out what was left of the rotted wood floor. I tried taking Pixel out there to pee, but she would not. I couldn't blame her...it smelled like a barn! I spent a few days, digging out about a foot of dirt. Then I put in some fresher (less peed on by wildlife) dirt, and covered that with a bag of sand (she seems to like sandy spots in the yard). That did the trick. Once the smell was gone, Pixel was more than happy to pee and poop on the dirt floor of the shed. Best part of it is, the shed has electrical outlets. I now have a light out there, for night time visits. I have a few leaks, but I'm working on that. We only use the shed, when it rains. She
really doesn't like the smell of wet dirt!
Recently, I've setup potty areas outside my house and my parents house. So, no more wandering around to potty. Surprisingly, Pixel took right to them. Again...this becomes routine. She knows she has to go, and no wandering or doggie day dreaming. This is potty area. As long as I keep up on cleaning the areas, she's happy as could be, to always use the same area. I swear I have a better picture somewhere...darned if I can find it. Her potty pen is to the left.
That's Mushroom's kennel to the right. You can read all about her "
Catio" on my other blog.
I use a pooper scooper to pick up the poop, then drop it in an old coffee canister, then put the lid on. Once the coffee canister is filled, it goes in the trash. I occasionally scoop out the pee areas, if she pees in the same spot, and toss that out. I also set up a 1 gallon sprayer with a bleach/water mix, and spray down the area, to keep down the smell & bugs. Lastly, I keep some extra sand on hand, and spread that out, as it gets depleted.
Pixel likes the clean, sandy area. I like that it's just a step outside my door, and one area to clean. I also mounted a zip leash to the wall, just inside the door. Now I can be ultra lazy. I hook Pixel up to the leash, open the door, tell her to go potty, and wait for her to finish. I no longer have to stand in 20 degree weather, or 109 degree weather, or in 40mph winds. I just stand inside and wait. Yay for lazy! Hey...I've earned it. ;)
If you are having potty issues with your dog, this is what worked for me.
Absolute regular schedule.
{Once you get this down, slight alterations in time should be okay}
Wake up...take dog out to pee. Feed breakfast. Take dog out to poop.
Few trips outside during the day.
Just before dinner...take dog out to pee. Feed Dinner. Take dog out to poop.
No water, after 8pm. Take out to pee, just before bed.
Each time you take the dog out to potty, use the words "go potty" or "go
pee" or whatever command you choose. This seemed to help. Do it
every
time. Pixel didn't get it at first, but now heads strait for her potty area, when she hears "go potty."
If your dog
does go pee or poop outside, as they should, give them a treat & lots of praise. Have treats ready outside. Otherwise, they'll learn that they get a treat upon going back into the house, and they'll just think about going inside to get that treat. Once they get the concept down, you can try giving them a treat, once inside. Pixel still gets a treat after pooping (she gets it inside now). My nephew thinks this is the oddest thing, he's ever seen...giving a dog a treat for pooping. LOL. But it works!
If your dog goes pee or poop outside, as they should, get excited. Praise the heck out of them. If you have to do a happy dance...do a happy dance!
If they go potty
inside, clean it up, as soon as possible, and as well as possible. Help them understand, that this smell does not belong in the house. And simply tell them "wrong." Pixel was also occasionally sent to her bed, or put in the room with vinyl flooring (especially when I knew she knew better). Never to her crate...because that's her safe/happy place. It shouldn't be a punishment place.
Pay attention to what their stools/poop look like. If it looks dark or dry, or if it seems like they are straining to go, change their food. This may take some time to get just right, but can make all the difference in the world.
Get them into a training program. PetSmart and Petco both offer classes. Even if you don't think your dog needs training,
I believe the socialization and regulation help. They learn that there are rules to everything, and that
you are the boss. We didn't work on potty training in class, but I think just having the class helped Pixel understand the concept a bit better. When she peed on the floor, during class, no one seemed to praise her or think it was a good idea...not even the other dogs. Hmmm.
It's okay to be frustrated beyond belief. It's even okay to have thoughts of puppaside. Just keep telling yourself that you'll get through this. All dogs can learn. Some just need a little more help.
