# Housebreaking challenge



## Dechi (Aug 22, 2015)

We're not out of the woods yet with pipi training ! The leaves are falling right now and there is almost no more grass, and when it's over, there will be one foot of leave on the ground.

Well, mister " routine " Merlin doesn't like doing his business with leaves on the ground. So for the last two days, he holds it as much as he can. When I take him outside, he just stands there, looking miserable, without doing anything.

This morning he had to poop, because he didn't do it yesterday. But he didn't pee. It's been almost 14 hours since he went last night. This is costing him his freedom in the house. Luckily I am not working yet but when I am, this will cause a big problem.

I will have to be more stubvorn than him on this one. He HAS to do it in the leaves. Soon we will have to train for snow, too. Sigh.


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## Deblakeside (Oct 2, 2015)

*Puppy training with leaves and snow*

We don't have TOO many leaves on the ground yet, but it may explain Billy's hesitant peeing and pooping in the past week. I've only had him for 3 months, and he is not reliable in the house yet. I try to take him out every 2 hours and lots of praise for "outside busines," but at times I get involved in something, and he has an accident. His poop accidents are either by the back door, so I think he's trying to tell me he needs to go out, or, ironically, right in front of the toilet in the downstairs bathroom! How can I get him more reliable, and how can I train him to "ask" to go out?


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## sparkyjoe (Oct 26, 2011)

Forgive my ignorance if I don't know of any limitations you may have in this situation, but is there a reason you cannot sweep the leaves (or clear the snow) from a small section of the yard to allow him to do his business?

I know it's not ideal, but if it allows him to potty without as much frustration maybe it's worth the trouble?


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## Dechi (Aug 22, 2015)

Glad to know I'm not the only one with that problem and sorry you're having it too !

Many dogs will shake when they have to go poop. Merlin does and my chihuahua too. That's how I know he has to go no 2, because he won't tell me.

I train my dogs to react to me asking " do you want to go out ?". If they perk up with my high pitched question, I put them down and walk towards the door, repeating the question and encouraging them to come towards the door too. Then I let them out.

After a while, the dog will come to you and wait for the question. It means you have to understand that when they are looking at you and waiting, you need to ask... Not the most straightforward way but it's worked for me for years !


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## Deblakeside (Oct 2, 2015)

*Asking to go out*

Thanks for the advice. I have noticed that he comes up to me sometimes and just looks at me; and sometimes he comes up and starts acting a bit luny, crouching and hopping from side to side. I have reacting as if this was an "ask" to go out and do his business, but when I've taken him out, he is not consistently pooping or peeing. There is also the male stud thing- he will lift his leg and mark almost any time he's outside, but thaat's not the same as REALLY having to go. I am really confused and feel the pressure of getting this solved before winter sets in.


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## Dechi (Aug 22, 2015)

sparkyjoe said:


> Forgive my ignorance if I don't know of any limitations you may have in this situation, but is there a reason you cannot sweep the leaves (or clear the snow) from a small section of the yard to allow him to do his business?
> 
> I know it's not ideal, but if it allows him to potty without as much frustration maybe it's worth the trouble?


That's good advice and I will shovel in winter; we get more than 4 feet of snow around here so we don't have a choice. He will have his own little area.

As for the leaves, we pick them up once, when they've all fallen, because we would be doing it every day, three times a day, with more leaves falling and the wind blowing more. Also, Merlin's problem, being a fearful dog, is not only stepping in the leaves, but also the fact that his environment has changed in texture, color, smell. Even if I was to clear an area, the outside has changed in all aspects, and he doesn't do well with change.


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## Dechi (Aug 22, 2015)

Deblakeside said:


> Thanks for the advice. I have noticed that he comes up to me sometimes and just looks at me; and sometimes he comes up and starts acting a bit luny, crouching and hopping from side to side. I have reacting as if this was an "ask" to go out and do his business, but when I've taken him out, he is not consistently pooping or peeing. There is also the male stud thing- he will lift his leg and mark almost any time he's outside, but thaat's not the same as REALLY having to go. I am really confused and feel the pressure of getting this solved before winter sets in.


The lifting decreases a lot when tou have them spayed. Keep doing a good job, we still have time before winter. At least a little time...


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## Dechi (Aug 22, 2015)

I just went outside with Merlin, in the backyard. I put my coat on to make sure I could stay with him as long as need be. My chihuahua wanted to come, so she was helping too.

It took about 3 minutes and he peed. It was almost 16 hours since he last went... After that I made him run in the leaves, so he'd have good memories from it. He was happily running and that triggered the need to poop. So we're good for many hours now, he did number 1 and number 2 !

He was praised a lot and now sits on my knees. I can go to my hairdresser appointment and leave him in the house, so I'm happy.

I have won one battle but the war isn't over ! ;-)


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## sparkyjoe (Oct 26, 2011)

Is Merlin at all food motivated? Would it be possible to maybe play a game of "find it" in the leaves?

Take a small handful of treats (at least 3) and scatter them in the leaves so he has to hunt through the leaves to find the treats.

Maybe make it super easy at first by clearing the leaves in a small spot and showing him where you're putting the treats. Making it gradually more difficult by hiding a treat under a single leaf, showing him that you're doing it, and so on until you can scatter the treats.

That way he could have even more positive leaf experiences.

I know that one of the things the trainers in our puppy class recommended was to make potentially scary experiences as fun as possible. "Have a party" during thunderstorms and fireworks, or in the case with my last dog, he was fearful of big trucks, particularly the trash truck, so whenever I saw a big truck I would grab the treats and go into super happy mode throwing treats. Soon, he started being less fearful and I was eventually able to phase out the treats and just bring out the happy voice and praises. I do it now with our pup as much as possible during thunderstorms and fireworks so he is less likely to develop noise phobias.


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## Dechi (Aug 22, 2015)

That's a clever idea, sparkyjoe ! Maybe I'll try that although Merlin hasn't been food motivated so far. But you never know...


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## sparkyjoe (Oct 26, 2011)

If he's able to handle it, you might need to pull out some SUPER high value treats.

Some examples of treats that are generally very high value, that aren't too hard to come by...

- Diced Ham Cubes
- Cheese (I like string cheese, so I can pull off pieces, but you can also just cut some up.)
- Braunschweiger, the ladies at my training center love this stuff!
- Hot Dogs, cut into small pieces, some folks like to microwave it a LOT until it's harder. 
- Chicken (I've gotten chicken "tenderloins", which is a nice, boneless piece from the breast, but you can use whatever cut you like. I boil it and then dice. The broth is nice for a kibble topper!)
- "Meat Loaf" I get a human grade food (Golden Life Dog Food) which is basically meat loaf. Made with Chicken, Turkey, Beef, or Salmon. It also has veggies and berries in it. Fletcher LOVES it. You could make your own, or buy premade.
- Peanut Butter - Always a favorite, but might be hard to use in this situation. Be sure to get the kind with just ground nuts, not the kind that has salt, sugar, or any other additives.
- Canned Dog Food - If you can find some that he likes, you could always put small cubes of it on plastic wrap, wax paper, or foil, and freeze it, then maybe you could use it in this situation.

You want to go for whatever your pup is attracted to, and can tolerate, so you might have experiment a bit, but it's worth it! Think STINKY! for more interest.


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## Dechi (Aug 22, 2015)

I'll get some wieners at the grocery store next time and we'll see how it goes. I tried cheese, dried beef, dried chicken, peanut butter and those didn't work.


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## sparkyjoe (Oct 26, 2011)

You might have better luck with lightly cooked "fresh" meat if he turned his nose up at the dried options?

Wieners are a good start! Be sure to check the ingredients and be careful giving him too much of a new protein source at once to help avoid tummy upset.

If he turns up his nose, you might try them various ways, such as "raw", boiled, grilled, etc to see if maybe he has a preference for cold or warm, soft or crunchy.


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