Another house breaking question

Ok I know housebreaking has been discused alot on this board but I still am at my wits end with my poms. They are almost 18mo and still are going in the house. I take them out frequently and on a nice day they will spend hours outside, only to come in and potty. They do potty outside but it seems only if they want to. I reward them when they go outside. I have tried the puppy pads they either go right beside them or tear them up. They seem to know they are not to go inside b/c I am seldom able to catch them. If I do I tell them no and take them back outside. I am trying to get the smell out of the carpet but then they pick a new spot. I have heard poms, well small dogs in particular are very hard to housetrain. Is this a dominance thing? Like they are trying to tell me they are the boss and not me and they will potty where they want? Again sorry for bringing up a topic that has been discused so much but I need a little help here. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

 

I don't know that it's a dominance thing. I have heard that the toy breeds can be harder to house train, though. The only thing I can think of is when you're in the house with them, supervise them at all times (I know it's really hard) and make sure you catch them in the moment. If you can't keep your eye on them at all times, (and who can?) confine them to a small area in one room, maybe with a gate. It seems as though unless you can do this, they'll continue to find places and go when you're not looking. It sounds like they've learned that they shouldn't go in the house WHEN YOU"RE AROUND; now you just have to teach them they can't go in the house at all.

Otherwise, you might consider consulting with a trainer. Good luck!

 

I trained my puppies with small pieces of american cheese. They did like treats, but the cheese worked. With both my chihuahua's they would go on the pad and come running up to me, to "tell me" what they did. Then they will head straight for the kitchen!

 

:idea: I just want to second what karma said, I agree totally. Romeo would do very well at going outside , but he had a couple of spots in the house that if I wasn't watching him he would go at. I gated off the areas and haven't had any problems since. I actually used baby gates that I had, but whatever kind you use I highly recommend them.

 

Thanks for your replies. I will have to work harder with them. Since they are not puppies anymore I was concerned that it is only going to get harder with time.

 

hiya! one of my dogs used to LOVE going inside the house. go outside? no way!! i'd take her for a long walk and when we get back in, she'd go do her thing. i used to think she hated me :cry:

my dog trainer had me crate train the dogs and keep them in the kitchen (i learned that they hated going on the linoleum). I used a doggie gate to keep them in the kitchen when I can't watch them. When I'm at work during the day, they stay in the kitchen. They have their bed, water and crates. The only time I keep them locked in their crate is at night. they sleep in their crate, and the crate is kept in the kitchen, because that's their area.

I have had no more potty incidents in the house.

There is a lot more to this than what I'm saying, but if you're interested I'll fill you in. It's time to go home...it's after 5pm!

 

I have thought about the crates and gates, the only thing is its not just when we arent home in fact it mostly when we are home. Never during the night, they will go potty outside if they feel like it.

 

hiya! my girl roxy would go in the house if i was home or not. i was skeptical about the gate and crate, but now i'm a believer.

one of the things the trainer said was that roxy didn't think the house belonged to me. so, the gate and crate was to teach her that the house belonged to me, that she was living in the house because i was letting her and that she has to abide by my rules. it's no different than raising a kid.

so, you should begin by putting your doggies somewhere where you can gate them off. i chose the kitchen, but you can pick anyplace that isn't carpeted. that area is their area. for a while, whenever we entered their "area" (aka the kitchen) we had to sit down and let them come to us. this was to show them that we respected their territory. we couldn't touch anything in the kitchen until they first approached us and gave us the OK. (however, that didn't last long because it started to become a hassle to sit down on the floor every time i wanted to look in the fridge or cook dinner... :lol: )

at night they sleep in their crate. the crate is left in their area open during the days so they can go inside. make sure you crate train them properly. if you don't know how, i'll tell you, but there's also loads of info on the internet on how to crate train.

now, you mention that your dogs do their business when they are in the house with you. like i said in an earlier post, put them in their area and gate it off when you can't keep your eyes on them. for example, if i need to go take a shower, pete, roxy and ozzy all have to go in the kitchen. if i'm lounging in the living room they can be free to hang out in the living room with me.

there's another step. when you take them out to do their business, let them go only where you want them to go. so, pick a spot for them to pee and another spot to poop (dogs don't like doing both in the same place). take them to spot #1 and let them hang out there until they do their business. Even if it means staying out there for 15 minutes and they're looking at you like, "So, why are we hanging out here?" If they do their business (most likely #1), praise them profusely and give them a treat. Then take them to spot #2 for the next part of the business. Stay another 15 minutes.

Now, if they don't go in spot #1 after 15 minutes, take them back inside and put them in their area. Gate it off. Do this every two hours until they do their business. It's a hassle, I know, but after a week, they get the picture and learn where they need to go. This is supposed to teach them that you tell them where they go. They can't go wherever they choose.

To be honest, I didn't have to carry through with the above step since just gating them off and keeping an eye on them and making sure their walks were regular were sufficient. Oh yes, that reminds me, make sure you walk them on a ROUTINE. Don't sway from the routine. If you walk them at 10 am, 6 pm and 10 pm every day, stick to it as closely as possible.

There's more stuff, like making them "go to their place" (their bed) when i'm in the livingroom and having them stay there until I tell them OK. This helps in keeping and eye on them. A quick way to start doing this is to put a big bed right in front of the TV and have them stay there (there's another lesson in how to do this). They feel comforted because they think your eyes are on them, even though it's on the TV.

Hope that helps!!

 

you could try keeping a leash on them and attaching them to you...then they have to go were you go and you can look for signs of having to go potty also if they go you can catch them in the act...I am doing this right now with my puppy and it really works, the only time she has accidents is when I drop the leash and dont pay attention...goodluck

 

Some are harder than others to train ,But you can try this also ,use some puppy pads and put the poop /wipe their pee pee up on them ,put one inside and one outside and see if they will go that way ...don't know it will work but might .There is also puppy litter to consider .Baby gating them in one room is best until they learn or even winnie's suggestion but would be hard with twoleashed to you .Seems to me they are just wanting to do what they want to do ,have to nip it now cause as they get older they will not want to change as easy as they could now ,be tuff ! .