I am such a failure :-(

[ziggy925]

Ruger is impossible to housebreak and I know it my fault. He goes on papers in my home, and he goes on walks -- lots of praise. He will sometime walk around at the door and I always take him out when he does. He has been neutered and he's now 2.

He's a great little dog and I love him dearly, but he pees on everything at my girlfriend's house -- carpet, floors, walls. She has a Westie, and they get along great, and Ruger loves my girlfriend, but if I can't get him to stop peeing over there it's gonna be the death of me, and getting him to stop peeing at my place wouldn't be bad either.

At my girlfriends he doesn't go on as many walks, but she has a small yard and we open the door for her dog and Ruger often goes out, too. But he usually waits for the Westie to go out and then just eats his food inside. :-/

What do I do? I can't get up at 6, and I never see him go in the house, although I'm home most of the time. Do I go back to the crate?

Help!

[Roccosmommy]

Don't beat yourself up - just start working on his training. First, is his potty set-up at your GF's house the same as at home? If not, it should be. Rather than just let him out, you should take him out to be sure he is doing all of his business then praise and reward him. And is there a good reason he's not getting many walks or you can't get up at 6 to take him out? I think you need to just bite the bulllet, and dedicate the time and patience needed to train him. The payoff is well worth it. Simply putting him in a crate is not the answer and is not fair to him.

[ziggy925]

Originally Posted by Roccosmommy

Don't beat yourself up - just start working on his training. First, is his potty set-up at your GF's house the same as at home? If not, it should be. Rather than just let him out, you should take him out to be sure he is doing all of his business then praise and reward him. And is there a good reason he's not getting many walks or you can't get up at 6 to take him out? I think you need to just bite the bulllet, and dedicate the time and patience needed to train him. The payoff is well worth it. Simply putting him in a crate is not the answer and is not fair to him.

Thanks. For one thing, this time of year it's usually snowing and below 0 at 6am.

BTW, does he have to potty in exactly the same spot, or just along the walk?

[yorkiemini]

What about a belly band?

[horsnaround]

That's what I was thinking for the times he can not be watched. The belly bands work great. But you still need to take him out and work on the potty training. Or attach him to you so you can watch him at all times.

[ziggy925]

Well, I knew this all along. I'm not training the dog; I'm training me!

I took him out at 7 this morning and so far so good. No pee on any of the indoor pads and he did all of his business outside. Lot's of praise on each "elimination."

This is my first dog. Is the idea here to just walk him a lot, or will he eventually let me know when he wants to go out? He did bark to go out again when we got back home, but it was another dog out there.

Anyway, the dog is fine but I'm cold and wet.

[horsnaround]

Lol yes in the end it is them training us. I do believe he will learn to give you a sign that he needs to go out. Some people hang a bell on the door. Mine either stare at me or bark. You will get trained it just takes patients and consistence. And yes getting wet and cold included. Good luck and keep us posted

[Harrysmum]

Just a thought - but I'm wondering if he's 'covering up' the smell of your girlfriend's Westie?

The reason this occured to me - yesterday my daughter brought her dog over. My daughter hung her coat over the back of a chair - and guess what? Harry cocked his leg and peed on it! And he's been house-trained for over a year now....

I think he was covering up all tracks of every other dog... Good luck, keep warm! Sally x

[ziggy925]

This is driving me nuts. I've been trying to pickup on his signals, aside from our "very" early morning walks. So, if he stands anywhere near the door and looks at me I leash him up and take him out. Of course if he goes out he's going to pee, but now he stands at the door every five minutes and looks at me. Help!!! What do I do?

BTW, I take him out at around 7am, or before, and somehow he manages to pee on his papers before we go out. And that's after going out at 10pm hte night before. Do I have to walk him at 3am, too?

FYI he sleeps with me and used to sleep fairly late, but now he gets up before me and runs around looking out the window.

No accidents during the day whether I'm home or not, knock on wood.

[Charlie_Boy2011]

Why not just leave a potty pad out for him to use at your gfs? Or are you trying to get him to only potty outside?

You might need to crate him at night again if he is able to get down and do his business while you're still asleep. Totally retrain him to only potty outdoors like he is a puppy.

Good luck.

[ziggy925]

Looks like I may have this problem fixed except at night -- not sure about my girlfriend's yet.

So, what say you all? Crate or belly bands at night? Which will work best over the longrun? Will either allow me to eventually use nothing?

Apparently he's getting up before me and going on the pads.

[ziggy925]

PS. It's only been 4 days since I started getting up really early -- for me. Do I just keep walking him early and will this stop?

Everybody says be consistant. Well Ruger is consitantly going on his pads before I get up. He seems to be adjusting his schedule so he always goes before we go out. If I walk him at 3am will he just go at 2am?

[kjc]

Vet check for inappropriate urination...then I'd use a bellyband at night and anytime he cannot be watched. Yorkies will mark in homes with other pets, I'd use bellybands and puppy training schedule. Many need to be retrained when taken to a different home, even where there are no other pets. Eventually things will normalize, after the bad habits are broken.

[ziggy925]

Originally Posted by kjc

Vet check for inappropriate urination...then I'd use a bellyband at night and anytime he cannot be watched. Yorkies will mark in homes with other pets, I'd use bellybands and puppy training schedule. Many need to be retrained when taken to a different home, even where there are no other pets. Eventually things will normalize, after the bad habits are broken.

Okay. So use the bellyband at night and when he's at my girlfriend's house, but not in place of continued training. My understanding is that most dogs will not go in the bellyband and only go when you take it off, unlike a baby and a diaper.

[kjc]

Originally Posted by ziggy925

Okay. So use the bellyband at night and when he's at my girlfriend's house, but not in place of continued training. My understanding is that most dogs will not go in the bellyband and only go when you take it off, unlike a baby and a diaper.

Yes, but maybe he'll go in the band at first, but then decide not to (at least that's what mine did). My dog also improved alot when I gave him more attention (I know this does not make a lot of sense, but if he's marking (neutered or not) he's making his presensce known, so maybe he's got low self esteem?) I've got 3 girl dogs too and my male was feeling a bit left out... so he started marking in the house. Once I made extra cuddle time just for him, great improvement! In the meantime, the bellyband will protect the house! I think too, after they mark for a week or two, they forget how to 'hold' it... the bellyband helps in retraining this.