Toilet Training for House Dogs???

[elliefiz]

Hi All

I have two mini pomeranians that I need some advice with toilet training.
I moved over to London from Dublin 5 months ago and the puppies have had to completely change their toilet habits- back in Ireland they had access to the outdoors so went outside or else used the newspaper that was in the corner of the kitchen for them.
However in London they are now officially indoor dogs- they are walked morning and evening but they are in the apartment all day. I bought a puppy potty complete with fake grass

which is in the bathroom but they have no interest in using it- instead they seem intent on using the bedroom carpets as much as possible. I try to keep an eye on them as much as possible but they are v tiny and they sneak off and do their business before I even know they have left the room! We try to keep all the room doors shut but Im not the only person in the apartmnt and my flatmates are getting pretty fed up with the puppies unexpected presents!! Any advice on how I get them to use the puppy potty in the bathroom and spare my carpets?

 

[MurphysMinder]

If they were originally trained to go outside I imagine they are finding it very confusing that you now want them to use a "puppy potty". I have to admit I have never heard of indoor dogs as such. Is it possible to take them out during the day as well as morning and evening?. If they had access to outdoors during the day they would hopefully become house trained quite quickly again. My limited knowledge of poms is that although tiny they are quite energetic little dogs, so an extra walk may make all the difference.

 

[sarahhelen1977]

If your flatmates are getting fed up with the dogs going in the bedroom and weeing then perhaps they should learn to shut the doors every time!! What about using a crate as well? Then when you let them out take them straight to the 'potty' so that they learn to relieve themselves there. Hopefully they should catch on fairly quickly that they should be 'doing their business' (I love that term!!) in that area. I have used a crate for my new puppy, and it has been brilliant - she has a safe place to go, and she can be contained when she isn't being supervised, so no damage to my things so far!! She takes herself off to bed when she is tired!

 

[FinnishLapphund]

It can be their way of showing you they don't like the new way of life, if they've been used to having more access to outdoor life and they now get two walks a day, they might just simply be a little bit bored. Just as MurphysMinder, I've always considered Pomeranians as rather active, energetic dogs, so if it's impossible for them to be taken out during the day, is it possible you can train more with them, take a little longer walks on the morning and/or evening than what they get right now?

If you want some brain-exercising toys I have some from http://www.nina-ottosson.com/DogProducts.htm (my dogs favourite is Dog Tornado Wood) and if I've understood correctly Prose's Stella enjoys http://www.boston-terrier-challenge.com/tests/busy-buddy-twist-treat.html




IF they have to learn to use the "puppy potty", I don't have any solution that doesn't involve you being more active. I understand that they're small, fast and gone within a blink of an eye, but I'm sure it will be worth the effort. Treat them like they weren't house-trained, start from zero and don't fall into the trap of telling yourself "But they already know this." Maybe they do, but it's not working for them or you, so maybe you need to start over.
If that means taking up crate training, baby-gates and/or getting "ecstatically" happy for the tiniest drop of pee on the right place, then that might be what is needed.



In Sweden most people take of their outdoor shoes and jackets as soon as possible once inside the door, I haven't really thought about if people in other countries do the same? But IF your flatmates does walk all the way into their bedroom with their outdoor shoes on before taking them off, then all those for dogs interesting smells from the outdoor, leaves a smell-track all the way through the apartment up until the shoes might end up standing on the bedroom carpet.
So from their point of view it might be, that they feel they have the choice between "puppy potty" smelling anything/nothing AND carpets smelling outdoor?

Also in case you don't already use special stuff, if a dog have "done their business" indoors, the normal household cleaning stuff doesn't do the trick as far as the dogs nose are concerned, you need to use something made to remove such traces from a dogs nose point of view. So if you haven't used special stuff when cleaning the carpets, then according to the dogs they're probably still smelling from previous "business", so why not continue doing "business" on them?

Can you make the "puppy potty" smell more interesting? Either by taking it with you outside (though I realize that is probably on a scale from unpractical to impossible), rub the soles of your outdoor shoes against the grass, take in a few leaves or something.

 

[elliefiz]

Thanks all for your suggestions- much appreciated!!

I completely agree that their new toilet habits are probably a sign that they arent all together too happy with their current living arrangements. Unfortunately there is nothing I can do about it- we live in Central London in an apartment and they dont like going outside onto our terrace because of the noise from the traffic below. I am looking for a dog walker to come in during the afternoon to break the day up for them- but dog walkers in London are sooo expensive!!

Plus I do find it hard to trust anybody else with them- I couldnt forgive myself if someone else walked them and anything ahppened to them! (I know, i know im a saddo- but i love my poms!!

)

I use an enzyme spray on the carpet where they have done their business before but it doesnt seem to deter them. I think its time to go back to basics and crate train them all over again, putting the puppy potty in the crate with them. I thought by putting newspaper on top of the puppy potty and spraying it with "wee wee" spray they would start to use it- alas they now sit on it to chew their toys and go elsewhere to do their business!!

Finnishlapphund- thank you so much for the links to the brain exercising toys- i really like the look of those because i worry about them being bored during the day when Im not in. You are right in saying they are energetic- they are so hyperactive but in the nicest possible way!

One last question- as I wasnt sure about breeding from them or not in the future (they are IKC registered, bred from top Pomeranian bloodlines) they havent been spayed yet. They are both females (half sisters!) and I wonder would this influence their toilet habits? I know male dogs that havent been castrated tend to mark their territory- is it the same for bitches?

 

[FinnishLapphund]

The number of persons allowed to walk my dogs outside our garden without me is easily counted, one (my mother) and that's it. So I think I know what you're talking about.


As I understand there's bitches that can act a little more like males in that question, haven't had one myself and from what I know they're rather rare. You're more likely to find a bitch that might lift their back leg like a male, but it's still not in the way like many males that I've known, heard of, that f. ex. could pee on every tree along an long avenue (of course we're talking about the tree's on both sides of the road).
However it wouldn't be the strangest thing I've heard bored dogs develop/begin to do to amuse themselves.



If you want something to amuse them when they're alone, then some of Nina Ottossons things are to advanced to be be used completely unsupervised, but if you want help to make them tired before you leave them they're great. But if you want something for them when they're alone, then I would rather get them a Kong each and put it in the freezer filled with cream cheese, yoghurt, carrot purée or other things and let them work with them when they're alone.
There has been more than one thread about Kong fillers on this forum and on http://www.kongcompany.com/worlds_best.html , choose Tips and advice and they have a few Kong recipes.

ETS Or do as The Henmeister just suggested on another thread, do a google search on Kong Fillers.

 

[CAYLA]

I would definately, as suggested go back to crate, but put the toilet area seperatley to the crate,(do not teach them to pass motions within the crate...... learn them to hold whilst in the crate, then place them in the fake grass area, i.e maybe an open topped play pen, everytime u release them from the crate, by carying them, and placing them in it, give them a command(wee wee pooh pooh's), and praise if/when they pass, at the end of the motion, as not to disturb them mid flow,

u can also get spray to encourage them to do their motions in a designated spot, that maybe worth a try, you should eventually beable to phase out both crate and playpen/fake grass area, when they are fully trained, and ditto close bathroom door, it's very common in a house of wooden floor, not sure if you have! for the dog to squat on any piece of carpet they can find, believe it or not, normally the cleaner dogs, that dont want urine on their feet/fur when the urine start to run beneath the,(as it does) when in motion

and it's always cleaner to go back to the same spot, rather then all over the house, it sounds like they are trying their best to be clean, in an unfamilair/alien set up.