Hello ...
 

Hello again. I was a member of this forum about four years ago, when my granddaughter got a little Yorkie puppy named Samantha Love. The puppy grew up and I left the forum. Well, this puppy is now a four-year-old dog who is not potty trained and is causing my son and granddaughter a great deal of frustration. She had ruined the carpet and has been staying with me for a few weeks while they get new carpet installed. That only took one day, but I have kept Samantha longer attempting to potty train her.

I have raised many puppies and successfully potty trained them, but have never tackled a four-year-old adult. I have two dogs of my own, a 12-year-old Bichon, Cosmo, and a two-year-old long-haired Chihuahua, Lavender. Both of them are potty pad/paper trained and are trustworthy.

Some background ... Samantha was taken from her mother at five weeks of age and not diligently potty trained. My son and daughter-in-law are divorced and my granddaughter, who is 14, spends quite a lot of time with her dad, who now has "custody" of Samantha. (Ex-daughter-in-law doesn't want to be bothered with her.) My son is very soft hearted and succumbs to Samantha's whines. He doesn't want to confine her to her (really big) crate while he's gone to work. She can climb over an x-pen, but doesn't do it when anyone is around to watch her.

I am treating Samantha like a puppy, starting at square one with potty training. She is not allowed to run loose unless I have her on her leash or can actually sit down and watch her. She uses a potty pad in her crate just fine. She is confined on the tile in the kitchen with an x-pen and I watch her, trying to catch her and put her on the potty pad. She does use the potty pad sometimes, but more often does not. When she does, she gets lots of praise and a really good treat. I am gentle with her, just tell her "no, no" and put her on the potty pad, then tell her "good girl on the paper."

I have convinced my son that keeping Sammy in her crate while he's gone isn't going to harm her, is even good for her because it keeps her safe and reinforces using a potty pad. And when (and if) she is properly potty trained, it won't be necessary any more. Have also told him that if she is allowed to soil the new carpet even once, she will think it's OK from then on and it's back to square one. No matter how successful I am with potty training, he will have to be diligent and consistent when he takes her back home. My granddaughter, who is with Sammy sometimes when my son isn't home, will also have to be diligent and consistent, which isn't going to be easy for a teenager.

Sorry for the long post ... I'm hanging in there with Samantha ... trying to catch her every time she potties and put her on the potty pad ... hoping that the light bulb will come on and she will "get it." I know it isn't going to happen quickly after four years of practicing her bad habits.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. I think it's just a matter of putting in the time and effort necessary. At this point, I can use all the encouragement I can get!

Jeanette

Just a thought, maybe your son would be more receptive to using an "x pen" w food/water dish, bed and pee pads in when he leaves her alone?

I'm sure you can do it. I would add some 'over the top' praise and some really, really GOOD treats (like cooked chicken breast or cheese or something) when she pees on the pad.

(Which you are already doing as I go back and read your post again) :)

I personally found it easier to train a dog to go outdoors but other folks have had a lot of success with the pads and sometimes the situation requires a pee pad.

I have nothing to add but with your focus - I'm sure you can help Samantha!

Hello
 

Sammy can climb over an x-pen, but she doesn't do it when someone is watching her. You can tell her "no" and she will stop trying to climb. She loves her crate, so I don't think staying in her crate while my son is gone to work will be any problem. At my house, she stays in her crate at night and any time I have to be gone, which isn't for more than an hour or two. If I can't be right with her and watching her, I put her in the kitchen on the tile and use an x-pen to close her in the kitchen. I think I have my son convinced that he's going to have to do things differently when he takes her back home and isn't going to be able to let her run around on the new carpet unless he's watching her. Working all day and then being diligent training a dog is a big job ... been there, done that.

Jeanette

Hello
 

Sammy gets cheerios for treats, dried chicken strips for better treats, and hot dogs or baby food meat sticks for "over the top" treats. She gets baby carrots just for fun.

No chance of training her to go potty outdoors. My two furkids (Bichon and Chihuahua) use papers or potty pads and I've used them for many years. Just not practical to take them out when they need to go. Samantha does use the potty pad in her crate, so that's encouraging. I'm treating her like a puppy with no training (which is pretty much what she is).

Thanks for the vote of confidence. Some days Sammy uses the potty pad several times and some days she doesn't. She has used it every time a couple of days. I'm retired and I have plenty of time and I'm hanging in there, just doing it over and over and over and thinking she will catch on, practicing the three "p's" of dog training ... patience, persistence, and praise.

Jeanette

Had a good day yesterday, Sammy used the potty pad all day, every time! I'm waiting for her to go to the potty pad and use it when she's loose in the house, not confined in the crate or kitchen. That will be a real milestone!

Jeanette

Does your son have an area of the house that is not carpeted, maybe tile floor somewhere? If so, could he gate off that area and use potty pads, while he is gone during the day? I'm thinking of Samantha and her being crated for 8+ hours every day. Even if it is just during this potty training phase, that could go on for months, and that is a lot of hours to be crated. Especially if she is then crated again at night, she would be spending 16+ hours crated every day:(

I agree with you...any dog even a 4 yr old can be potty trained with consistency...and it shouldn't stop even when they do start using the pads all the time..continue to praise and treat forever...thats where alot of people make their mistakes, they think their pup is potty trained so they stop praising and treating and the next thing you know the pup is pottying in the house again, looking for that attention they use to get.

Your son might consider a play yard its like a xpen but it has a floor in and a zip up top so they can't climb out...there is room for a bed/water/food on one end and potty pads on the other while he is at work...you can order them online...I got mine off ebay...they come in alot of different sizes and colors....I love mine and so do my pups...I can't offer much help on pad training cause my babies go outside...Good luck!

This is the play yard I was talking about.

I've recently started using the one like bellababy08 posted, except its quite a bit bigger. Works great. I like it a lot better than the two metal crates hooked together that I had been using. I got mine off of Ebay also.

Sounds like you are doing a great job! She has the other dogs to watch as well and that should help,because she will want to do what the pack does.
Welcome back!

Yes, I agree, it's a lot of time in the crate. Darin's kitchen isn't very big, but maybe he could manage to keep her in there with some kind of fencing. He'll have to experiment. The opening is pretty big between the kitchen and living room, where it's carpeted. It isn't just a doorway. As I said, Sammy can climb an x-pen. She doesn't at my house, but I don't go away and leave her in the kitchen behind the x-pen fence either.

Jeanette

Yes, you're right, her potty training will have to go on pretty much forever! The play yard doesn't look all that much bigger than her big crate. I have two big crates just like Sammy's that could be hooked together to make a really, really big place for her, with a top, of course, so she couldn't climb out. I'll look at some play yards.

Jeanette

Well, Sammy pooped on the floor in the kitchen first thing this morning, after I let her out of her crate and before I got her penned in the kitchen. I just told her "no, no" and put her on the potty pad, then told her "good girl on the paper."

I don't know that my two well-trained dogs are having much effect on her. :o) They use newspapers consistently and will use potty pads, too.

I don't know that investing in the cost of a play yard would be warranted. It wouldn't offer more than we already have with the big crates. Have to give this some thought.

Jeanette

There are gating systems sold that expand up to 8 feet. I bought one for my son's living room to kitchen opening. It wasn't inexpensive, but you might check on Craislist for someone selling a baby or even pet gate that would cover the opening.

I have an x-pen that is long enough for the opening, but Sammy has climbed over an x-pen in the past. She doesn't do it at my house, but I don't leave her in the kitchen when I'm gone, she goes in her crate. I will look on Craigslist or Amazon and see what I can find. Eight feet isn't that much more than two big crates put together. We could even put three crates together, but that would pretty much take all the room in my son's kitchen. I think Sammy is just going to have to be confined when someone can't be right there watching her. She plays in my kitchen, tosses her toys and runs around. She is loose every day to play, I throw toys for her, cuddle her, just spend time with her. She even joins in to play with my little long-haired Chihuahua, Lavender, sometimes. She and Lavender are about the same size and Lavender tries and tries to get Sammy to play. My Bichon boy, Cosmo, just stays on the sidelines and watches. Too much girl energy for an older gentleman (he's 12) like him!

Jeanette