My 5 month old Pit bull mix puppy /almost/ has the hang of potty training, but both me and my boyfriend are extremely frusterated with her.
She goes potty when I let her outside. Every time I let her out, I tell her to "go potty"
(for the record, we live in a condo, so we don't have a fenced yard, but our back door goes right out to the grass so she has a line she gets put on.)
After she goes potty, she is rewarded (good girl! when she was younger, she got treats too)
Our routine is (on the weekend) we let her out and she pees. I let her back in and feed her, then let her out and she'll pee and poop. Let her back in, and she plays with the cat and the older dog, yada yada yada, then I'll let her out after a few hours. She pees, or doesn't pee and just stands at the door barking non-stop to get in. If she comes in without peeing, she'll go upstairs and pee in my 2yr old sons room, then comes back downstairs and continues her puppy ways.
We have more problems on weekdays though, as we're not home during the day. She is crate trained, and only has accidents if I get too busy at work to come home at lunch, or if she ate something bad and gets diarrhea. Regardless, she'll go upstairs (after we've gotten home and already let her out) and she poops in my sons room. It's a daily occurrence, and I don't know what to do. Sometimes she gets up there and comes back down so fast you don't even know what happens until it smells in a few minutes.
I'm just at a loss. I let her out before & after she eats, every couple hours, and after she wakes up from a long nap. Any advice is welcomed! I'm considering bell training her as well. Any input on that?
Answers & Comments
Verified answer
Baby gate the bottom of the stairs so she can't go upstairs without you. Also, at 5 months she is still very young and perhaps it would be best if you go outside and stay with her to ensure she's peed before she comes back inside. She won't stand at the door barking non stop if you're out there with her.
ADD: Do not tape your dogs nose with newspaper or anything else. Neither should you put her nose near the accident. The puppy is only 5 months old ffs. Hitting dogs and putting their nose in the mess is not house training, it's abuse.
As for the numpty who said I suggested the dog uses a gated area to eliminate. Are your congnitive skills defective. I said to gate off the bottom of the stairs so the dog cannot go upstairs without the owner. DUH!! Dogs should never be encouraged to pee anywhere in the house.
I live in an apartment with my 3 pit bulls. The Oldest is 13 months, then a 7 month and now a four week old one. the biggest thing in an apartment is that they need to know the difference between potty and play time. only take your dog out to pee. thats it. in her head she thinks if i wine i get to go outside and f*ck around. when its time to play get up and take her to a park or a different location once a day for a good 2 hours that way she knows the difference. Pit Bulls are a good breed because they actually dont NEED a yard. it helps but they do fine in an apartment. keep up with the positive reinforcement and if she pees right in front of you a stern "NO!" so that she knows you are disappointed and she has not pleased you at all (dont beat the sh*t out o her just a loud yell) Most pit bulls are play motivated so get her in the habit of tug or fetch. Dogs are able to "hold it" at about 6 months. ive dont this with all my dogs even when i had a yard the back yard was for potty and not for just hanging out.
do not rub her nose in it.
do not encourage her to go in "the gated area" that's retarded..
Use that pit bull loyalty to your advantage in this and any training with pit bulls! these dogs were bread to fight to the death for there humans. THEY WANT TO PLEASE YOU! let your bully know that when she goes in the house you are not please. when she goes outside act like she just sh!t a gold nugget out!
For the bell training, it depends on how old the dog is. Discipline is also a big factor, if she doesn't ever develop a conscious she wont know that she did anything wrong!
ok put her nose in her pee pr poo make her smell it and then tap her nose with newspaper