JR House training Problems

[Kate_13]

Can anyone help me, please!

I have a young JR, who is about 4 months old. He is very cute and clever but we are having house training issues.

He is brilliant 90% of the time and either goes outside or in the cats litter tray! But that 10% he goes on the floor.

The odd thing is that at night and when we leave him at home, he is good, but if we are in he goes on the floor.

He gets oooodles of attention and walks, so what could be his reason?

Any ideas.

Thanks

 

[piebaldsparkle]

I don't know, but I wonder if there is a difference in the opertunities you give the dog to go outside when you're in to when you're going out. i.e. maybe you put your dog outside before you go out/before you go to bed, and then again when you get back/when you get up? Perhaps you don't put him out as regularly when you are at home, and he hasn't learnt to ask to go out when he needs to or you haven't learnt what his request looks like (my JR will bark at the back door when he wants to go out, and one of the labs cames and stares at you, but the other will just wait quietly at the back door, so you have to notice her and the Springer runs back and forth from the door to you and back).

I would get in a habit of putting him outside reguarly when you are home and always after he has eaten (if you don't already do so). You probably need to watch him quite closely for a while, as their behaviour will normally follow a similar pattern, before an accident happens.

 

[Sooty]

Personally I would move the litter tray to somewhere he can't use it, and concentrate on getting him to go outside. If you don't do so already, set a trigger word or phrase such as 'be clean', say it over and over and when he performs praise him to the skies. He will associate the phrase with the action, and you can get him to wee before you go out or go to bed. If he is messy at night, enclose him in either a crate or a large cardboard box that he can't jump out of - puppies rarely foul their own space. Give it time and be very patient - he will get there, some dogs are slower than others. The cold weather doesn't help either!

 

[SusanFlynn]

Something shouts to me he has shaped behaviour by doing his toilet in the house when you are there and is getting attention even if of the wrong kind.

I would ask you to think of what actions do you give out either by voice of body language when you discover the mistakes.

It is easy for animals without you and them realising it to gain re-enforced behaviour by the way we react even unwittingly.
Before you know it they have you trained or even trained themseves that is what is required.

As I say in my sign off everytime we handle animals we are training them and we have to be very very careful with babies as they learn every quickly and the behaviour we dont want is often shaped and re-enforced before we know it.

How long is baby JR left on his own and what are the 1st things done when you get home.
Have you used a dog crate as they work very well but they must not associate it with a bad place it has to be a nice place, but as dogs rearly mess in their sleeping place it is easy to work with that and train them where you want them to go to the toilet.

If you find a good dog training school they often will have good advice as well.

 

[Tiggy1]

I have a rescue JR who came to use with toilet training issues.
I generally try and let her go outside as much as possible.
Always let her out last thing at night and first thing in the morining at the same times.
When I first got her we lifted her water bowl after 4pm and only gave her dried food first thing and then lifted it if she didn't eat it at once.
She was one when we got her and she is now 4 and is about 95% dry in the house.
She now always has access to fresh water but I have to say she never squeaks if she wants to go out for a wee. She just creeps off and does it in a corner.
She will never be perfect but I took her on that understanding