posted 02-27-2004 07:39 AM         

I am having the hardest time potty training my 4 1/2 month old puupy; whom I have had since she was 2 1/2 months old. I am gone from my apartment for 12 hours a day, during which she is in a cage. I come home on lunch and once in the afternoon to take her out. She only is feed once a day and that is in the evening when I get home from work. She also is in her cage at night. She has not gone to the bathroom outside in 1 month. She usually goes in her cage (she has no problem laying in it), and I end up having to bathe her every week. She peed on my couch last week while I was sitting on it. When I leave the aprtment to do laundary she goes behind the door. When I take shower she goes in front of the bathroom door. On the weekends I am home all day and she goes out quite a bit, but at night she is back in the cage. When I catch her in the act in the house, I yell and tell her NO; then take her outside. When I find it on the floor I take her over to it and tell her NO, then take her outside. Now I am afraid that she is so used to go in the house at this point that she will never learn. Any advice would be welcome, as I am so frustrated.

posted 02-27-2004 08:07 AM         

It sounds like she needs to be taken out more often. The fact that she lies in it in her crate is not good. Crate training is usually a sure-fire method when it is done properly.

First of all, have her checked out by a vet to rule out any medical issues.

Then I would get a fresh start on crate training. Wash the crate and everything she has peed on with an enzymatic odor neutralizer, such as Nature's Miracle.

When you can't supervise her, she should be in her crate (just big enough to turn around and lie down in - no bigger). At 4.5 months old, she should be able to "hold it" for about 5 hours. This means you need to get up with her during the night at least once to let her out. I would go with 2-3 times for now.

I would say with the problems you are having, you want to get her out as frequently as possible, and only go the whole 5 hours if there is no other choice.

When you are able to watch her, she should be with you at all times. Use a baby gate or tether her to you with a leash to make sure she can't wander off and have an accident. The whole idea is to never let her have the opportunity to make a mistake. Dogs like to pee on the same surface all the time, and unfortunately your dog is used to carpet now.

If you catch her in the act, do as you have been - startle her and take her immediately outside. If you DON'T catch her in the act, just clean it up - scolding her will only confuse her and make her try to hide before she pees on the floor in the future.

When you take her outside, go with her every time. Stand with her on leash and tell her "go potty" (or whatever command you want to use). If she doesn't go in a reasonable amount of time (5 minutes or so), bring her back in and watch her closely or crate her. Try again in 10-20 minutes. Repeat until she goes.

When she does go outside, praise her WHILE SHE IS GOING, but don't overdo it or she was stop mid-stream. Bring cookies out to give her to reinforce it as well.

Take her out after eating, drinking, sleeping and playing. Take her out at least every hour when you are home - more if she is still having trouble. We got our dog when she was 3-4 months old and we took her out every 30-45 minutes for the first week or two.

Find someone to let her out more often during the day, or find a doggie daycare or pet sitter to care for her during the day.

When you got her at 2.5 months old, she really couldn't hold it for more than 3 hours - being left alone for so long she had no choice but to pee and get used to lying in it. This is not good.

Working 12-hour days doesn't mean you can never have a dog, but a puppy?! Puppies require a LOT of time and energy to care for and train properly. I work a 6-hour day and we got an "older" puppy because there's no way we could care for an 8-week-old puppy, no matter how much we wanted one. Someone would have had to be home every 2 hours to let it out, so we elected to get a 4-month-old puppy instead.

Please be sure your puppy is getting out and socializing with people and dogs and new places. If you don't managed this, you are going to have even more problems later on.

posted 02-27-2004 11:49 AM         

At 4 1/2months old she should be eating 2meals aday as the first year of a dogs life the food intake is crucial to make sure they have strong bones and have all the calcium and nutrients they need.

posted 02-27-2004 12:36 PM         

Obedience classes sound like a wonderful idea. "Sit" is pretty easy to teach. Take a treat and hold it in front of her nose, then move it over her head and back and she will naturally sit down so she can still see the treat (don't raise it straight up or she will jump). When she sits (right when her butt hits the ground), say "Sit!" and give her the treat. Repeat, repeat, repeat.

When she seems to have it, start saying "Sit!" first and if she doesn't sit, then lure her into position. Repeat, repeat, repeat.

Once she knows how to sit on command, ask her to sit before she gets anything she wants - like food or a toy. I wouldn't make her sit before going outside, though, until she has that one down better.

Please do keep us posted!