Dalmation advice please

Hello,

We recently got a Dalmation dog. She's not a pure bred since hubby said the mother is a jack russell. This dog does not have any characteristics of a Jack Russell. In my eyes she's pure Dalmation! l have been reading various websites and Ceili (kay-lee) has all of the dalmation characteristics. Hubby is still questioning what she is :roll:

We have been having problems house training her. She uses the carpet in the living room as a bathroom! Even after we have taken her out. Hubby says by hitting her and punishing her this teaches her. l tend to disagree! l say we need take her out more often. She is only 4 months old and we got her at 3 months. He seems to think that she should have already been trained since he has had dogs all his life and he "knows" how to train a dog!! Well, it's not working and he has never had a Dalmation before.

Can any one offer some advice on training this puppy? She is a lovely dog and l can't see getting rid of her when we haven't given her a proper chance!

Thank you so much in advance!!!

 

Keep in mind that Dalmations can be very, very stubborn. They are not one of the easily trained dogs, and this includes housebreaking. This might not be as easy as you think. As for housebreaking, you are right. A four month old pup needs to be taken out frequently, and praised to high Heaven when she does her business outside. She will catch on a lot quicker this way than just being spanked when she pees in the house. This is called positive reinforcement. She will make the connection eventually, but it will happen much sooner if she is given little if any opportunity to "go" inside. If she's taken out hourly, it'll happen even faster. I make a very loud noise, and/or clap my hands to startle my pup, then scoop him up, place him outside, then praise like crazy when he goes. I don't bring him back inside the hosue until he goes outside. This method is very effective.

 

Are you using a crate as well?
Punishment and/or scolding, especially when its after the fact, will likely only set you back on getting her house trained. I would stop doing this immediately if possible.
If you are not using a crate and do not intend to I would at least restrict her access in the house by keeping her confined to one room at all times when you are unable to watch her every move. You can then watch for signals that she may have to go (sniffing, circling, squatting) and get her outside in time. Take her outside frequenlty..especailly after naps, playing and eating. Make sure you are outside with her so that you witness her going in the right place and can give her lots of praise the second she is finished. Be patient and consistant and she should be it up in no time.

 

Here is an article on house training that I thought you might also find useful:
http://www.clickersolutions.com/article ... etrain.htm

 

We use a squirt bottle to punish our dogs . Everything i've read says never hit or strike a dog.

 

Punishing a dog for having an accident only makes the dog hide the next time he is going to pee on the floor...

Have you considered crate training? If not, that might be the way to go. As Jas said, you have to watch the puppy ALL THE TIME. Confine her to the room you are in or tether her to you with a leash through your belt loops. If you can't watch her, she should be crated (in a crate just large enough for her to turn around and lie down in).

Since you are having trouble, I would take her out AT LEAST every hour, plus after eating, drinking, playing, or sleeping. IMMEDIATELY when she wakes up you should pick her up and wisk her outside. In addition to these times, look for her circling or sniffing more than usual and bring her outside.

EVERY TIME you take her outside, you MUST go out with her. Take her to the place you want her to go and tell her to "go potty" or whatever command you want to use. When she goes, praise her WHILE SHE IS GOING although don't make it too exciting or she will stop in the middle. You can even bring treats out to give to her right after she finishes. Do this every time! Oh, and preface opening the door with something like "Want to go outside?" and always use the same door to go out.

If she starts to pee inside, clap your hands to startle her and pick her up and hustle her outside. Praise her if she finishes outside. Use an enzyme-based cleaner (like Nature's Miracle) to clean up the urine on your carpet. If she has an accident when you weren't watching her, it's YOUR FAULT so say nothing and just clean it up.

It's a lot of work, but worth it in the end.

 

please don't let your husband hit your dog. I thinkk if your husband hits it it might be better off wherever it was before. Hitting animals is bad. People who hurt animals are more likely to also hurt people. But anyway..
these things take time, even if the dog was housebroken before, this is a new environment and new owners, the dog could be very nervous and needs sometime to settle in to its new surroundings. good luck

 

Oh, and four months is very young! I didn't trust Nala until about 6-9 months, even though we had very few accidents. The reason we had very few accidents is because I was ALWAYS with her (or she was crated). Keep up your vigil well past the time when you think she has it.

 

Thank you all so much for your help!!

l totally agree with all of you and have tried to convince DH to do the same! l have never hit her, he on the other hand! :roll: Breaks my heart to do it!!!

Anyway, today went well with only one accident in the house. Which it was my fault as l was busy getting ready for work but l just cleaned it up.

Each time l took her out today she was brilliant and l did praise her and each time she was in the process of doing her business l said to her "go potty" and then praised her. l don't have a crate but l do have her in a little room off the living room. It is her "bedroom"

Sometimes Ceili will tell us she needs to go out by barking at us. But sometimes that doesn't mean she wants to go out it's to get me up off "her" place on the sofa!! hehe she thinks she has me trained!! lol

I have asked the local Vets here and the pet supply store for something to get rid of the smell in the carpets and they gave me this new liquid can't remember the name off hand, it's in a yellow bottle but, it doesn't work! Sometimes l wish l was back in the states as it's easier to get products that work well. Here it's difficult to find the right products l was used to!!

So on to tomorrow and continuing saga of training Ceili! Thank you all so much for your help!! I really appreciate it! Nern, thank you for the very useful link!!!

 

Nice to have you here Tln Ireland. I am going to be going thru the same things soon, can you purchase Simple Solution or Natures Miracle in Ireland? These products get the smell out so's the pup won't go there again. The simple solution got the smell of cat urine out of my car. Thank god.

My father lives in Galway, is that Northern, I've not paid attention. He's been there for about 13 years now.

 

I am so stupid sometimes, I thought wow putins dad lives in a totally different conitinent , that must be hard, I can't imagine my dad living ona differnt contininent. Then I realized oh yea I do live in a different continent than my dad. Doesn'T really bother me, oh yea maybe that is because I haven'T talked to him in like 3 years. Sometimes I have extremely dumb moments!

 

I haven't seen the Natures Miracle here but will contact the vet on Monday to see if they have it. I have 2 cats also, one seems has been caught using my carpet as a toilet!!! grrrrrr!!! We won't got into her behavior on this section!! l have tried everything with her!

Galway is in the Republic of Ireland which every one seems to know as Ireland!! lol I live in Northern lreland (UK) but l am close to the border to the Republic! I am an American living here for the past 3 years and l do love all of Ireland!!

As for Ceili, Well today we had NO accidents!!! She is responding well to our training!! Yeah!!! Now, if l can get her to stop eating the cats food! But with that situation, if she goes into the kitchen she gets put in her room for a few mins then let out, if she goes in there again back to her room. Well l did this 3 times tonight and the last time being let out she walked to the kitchen door, looked at me, then back to the kitchen then came and sat down on her chair!! Hmmmmmm, maybe that worked?? Don't know till tomorrow when we do it again!! lol

 

glad to hear celli is doign better, I was just in Bulin and cork 2 weeks ago on vacation, Ireland is so beautiful!!

honeybear

 

Thats great, hope he starting to listen.
So now do you live in Belfast or England? My mothers family is from London, I've still got my aunt uncle granny and cousins there.