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How can I help my puppy?
Hi everyone
I'd appreciate some advice from experienced dog owners please.
My cockapoo puppy Coco is four months old today. We've had her since she was 9 weeks old and we got her from a breeder on a reputable breeders' website.
The breeder told us she was paper trained but when we arrived to collect her there was paper all over the lounge floor and about ten puppies just weeing and pooing wherever they wanted. We took her to the vets for a check-up on our second day with her and we had to spend a fortune getting her sorted out because she had a tummy full of worms, a bad ear infection because her ears had never been cleaned and fleas. She was also half the weight she should have been.
We decided to crate train her as we were advised by the vet and some friends that it was best. So we set up the crate in one corner of the utility room and some paper and puppy mats in another corner. She quickly got the hang of the puppy mats for weeing and she did her poos outside in the garden.
So far, so good. However, in the last two weeks she has reverted to weeing all over the house. Nothing has changed and I'm home all day with her. She gets walks, cuddles, play and treats. We praise her madly when she does it on the paper and ignore her when she doesn't. It's becoming the norm now and she hardly ever does it on the paper.
What are we doing wrong and what can we do to help her please?
I'd appreciate some advice from experienced dog owners please.
My cockapoo puppy Coco is four months old today. We've had her since she was 9 weeks old and we got her from a breeder on a reputable breeders' website.
The breeder told us she was paper trained but when we arrived to collect her there was paper all over the lounge floor and about ten puppies just weeing and pooing wherever they wanted. We took her to the vets for a check-up on our second day with her and we had to spend a fortune getting her sorted out because she had a tummy full of worms, a bad ear infection because her ears had never been cleaned and fleas. She was also half the weight she should have been.
We decided to crate train her as we were advised by the vet and some friends that it was best. So we set up the crate in one corner of the utility room and some paper and puppy mats in another corner. She quickly got the hang of the puppy mats for weeing and she did her poos outside in the garden.
So far, so good. However, in the last two weeks she has reverted to weeing all over the house. Nothing has changed and I'm home all day with her. She gets walks, cuddles, play and treats. We praise her madly when she does it on the paper and ignore her when she doesn't. It's becoming the norm now and she hardly ever does it on the paper.
What are we doing wrong and what can we do to help her please?
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Take her out for a wee after every meal, every sleep and every play time and at 30-60 minute intervals. Stay with her outside until she wees then praise like crazy. If you don't feel embarresed, you aren't doing it right. If she doesn't go after 5/10 mins, bring her in and try in half an hour.
Try to introduce a cue word - lots of people use 'busy' so ultimately you can tell her to toilet.
Inside, clean up the mess with a pet odour remover or biological washing liquid & white spirit so the smell is gone - she may toilet indoors because to her it smells like a toilet now that she has had a few accidents. Do not punish her, especially if you catch her in the act as it could make her afraid to toilet infront of you.
Good luck. I'm trying hard to resist the urge to mention that no reputable breeder would call a Cocker X Poodle a 'Cockerpoo'.......:o:D
Also one thought, crate training usually succeeds because the puppy is restricted to a limited space and they don't like to mess the area they sleep in, so thats the incentive. If you let her have the run of the utility room and don't lock her in the crate, there is a comfortable enough space between her sleeping and toilet area therefore this wont be a deterrent for her.
good luck with it, and don't be too downhearted, they get it in the end
Your pup will get there in the end and good on you for coming for advice. It is worth it in the end, they are such rewarding animals.
As time consuming as it may sound, take pup out every 30mins or so in case it needs to 'go' and to be honest, it really shouldn't take too long to get back into good habits. Good luck and are we going to get pics?
Good luck with your puppy.
Agree Stress Monkey cocker x poodle and reputable breeder in the same breath.. :mad::mad:
deliberate cross breeding is a whole other debate, not something i agree with, and wouldnt go as far to call these 'breeder's reputable
if its an accident, fair enough these things happen, but to deliberatly cross them....well i know of one near me with no end of troubles, and his anus was designed for the poodle, but everything else for the cocker - a much larger dog....
hmmm how is that responsible?:eek:
sorry ive gone off topic - but its a very tough subject when it coems to so called designer dogs!:mad:
We did this with our labrador puppy, she's 9 months now. All of sudden she just stopped having the accidents indoors and she would take herself outside and then she started weeing indoors again, no rhyme or reason and then she started going back outside.
We completely scrapped the paper training idea and just took her outside often.
My dog is crated trained and she slept all through the night from about 12 weeks.
It gets easier and everything clicks into place and they then become a joy because it can be frustrating at times.
We lock her in her crate at night and the last week she's been dry. She has improved with her weeing habits and now only does it on the mats, but her pooing tends to be on the kitchen floor if she can't get outside. We take her out frequently and she just won't do it when she's out. She gets three walks a day and never wees or poos when on the walks
As for the cross-breed issue, we used to have a labradoodle and I had no idea it was bad to cross breeds. We wanted a dog that didn't shed because my husband and son both have allergies and couldn't cope with the moulting issue. We have friends with cockapoos and that's why we wanted one.
Anyone thinking of getting a dog soon, shelters have puppies too. I despise these backyard breeders.
We've tried all your suggestions and we take her for regular walks, but she waits till she's back inside the house and then she does it in the kitchen! If anyone picks her up she wees on them! She poos at almost the exact same time every night so we take her out and wait and wait ... and then she waits till she gets inside!
We're persevering with the puppy mats and most of the time she does use them for wees. If we take them away she just does them wherever she feels like.
Any other suggestions because no one is enjoying her at the moment and we're very frustrated :mad:
I found that giving over the top with praise worked for me. When he did it on command to begin with I would clap my hands, belly rub, treat and basically make an enormous fuss and go beserk! In fact that works for all the training I do with him.
I call it wee wee too which can be a bit embarrassing when the neighbours are in the garden:D
Typical times when a puppy will want to urinate are:
- During an excitable game
- Straight after waking up
- Straight after eating or drinking
Watch for the signs that he's about to pee or poo. Some of these are typically:
- Walking and sniffing the floor with a purpose
- Circling and sniffing around a certain spot
- Walking and sniffing with the tail held high
Clean the areas where he has urinated or defecated with a strong perfume/deodoriser.
If he pees wipe up with a kitchen towel, take it outside and rub it on the lawn in several places. Do the same with a little poo.
If you shout at the dog etc it's only likely to get worse. Urinating is a sign of submission so he may do it if he feels threatened.
If he does do it outside praise him and maybe even reward with a small treat. Dogs quickly learn to follow patterns that end up with a reward.
Some dogs learn quicker than others so persist.
If it becomes very difficult you may want to consider using a crate. Dogs are naturally reluctant to pee or poo in their bed if it's at all possible. Not too big or he'll pee in the corner, not too small or he'll be uncomfortable. Take him outside as soon as you remove him from the crate.
One thing that wasn't mentioned that helped was putting him on a leash and tying the leash to your belt or wrist. So he is around you as much as possible and you can see when he starts to sniff or such and scoop him up to go outside. It is a bit of a pain, but it helped my guy a lot.
We trained them by saying "get busy" and it helps.
As cosmo said, as soon as you let him out of the crate, he goes outside. Before he has anything to eat or drink, or you have your coffee, he goes outside. You come back in with him, you feed and water him and then he goes back out. It is a pain, but in the long run it has helped.