# HELP NEEDED PLEASE! Toy poodle training issues!!!



## Mfmst (Jun 18, 2014)

Could you move his crate into your bedroom so he feels reassured that you are close by, and then take him out if he starts stirring during the night? I would change his bedding to some old towels, instead of laundering the crate liner again and again. I kept my puppy confined to an area of the house during the day that has an easily cleaned and sanitized tile floor. He was never allowed to visit other parts of the house unless he was tethered to me or I carried him. At that young age, they really can't be relied on to hold it very long. I might try a 4:00AM visit outside. I'm sure he'll catch on. It doesn't sound like he had the best start with cleanliness at the breeder's.


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## mom2Zoe (Jun 17, 2014)

It sounds like you are being consistent and it is that she is still very very young.

Maybe your pup can not hold it from 1 to 6am and you should add one more outing.
I am not sure since your puppy also weed right from coming in after outside and after two hours.
My feeling is that housebreaking takes a lot of time, patience and consistency. 
Zoe had a bunch of accidents in her crate at the beginning when I would venture out for an hour or two. I started with taking her out every hour, then 2, then 3 , and eventually 4. I remember posting on here will she ever make it to four hours. It took a long time for her to be able to hold it for that long. 
At some point after a year I tested if she could go longer. It seems she could go all the way to 5 1/2- six hours. However , i do not ask her to hold it more than 5 1/2 and work my day around that.
keep doing what you are doing and try not to be discouraged, She will get it soon enough.


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## mom2Zoe (Jun 17, 2014)

Count your blessings she has not pooed inside yet. 

I also want to add that i would not worry that He got used to sleeping in his own feces and urine.
At this age that is not a learned behavior and he will quickly learn he does not want to soil his crate.
We have a friend that bought a dog home at 5 months of sitting in her own feces and urine. Even she quickly learned what was expected of her, it just took some time.


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## CEC (Jul 4, 2014)

How much room does the pup have in the crate? I gave my miniature only half of the space he gets now as an adult.


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## Dechi (Aug 22, 2015)

I too think your puppy will adjust with time and patience. It seems some accidents he's having was because he wasn't watched close enough. Maybe keep him on a leash inside and bring him in every room with you ?

I can assure you Toy poodles can learn just as any other dog. Small dogs can sometimes be stubborn, but a poodle won't be as stubborn as a yorkie. 

I got my TPoo exactly 1 month ago from a breeder. He was 16 months and had spent his life peeing and pooping inside the house, even marking inside the house as he was living with 4 other intact males !

There is no going inside my house, so he had to go outside (he had never been outside except once or twice and in people's arms). It took about 10 days to stop having accidents (knock on wood) and today he even knows the command to pee). Yesterday was pouring rain and he even did his business; after maybe 5 minutes of wanting to come inside, he did it and got a nice towel drying and blow drying for being a good boy...

So please, your dog is smart, it's a poodle, believe in it ! It will take a few weeks but things will get better. They key is patience and routine and having a watchful eye !


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## patk (Jun 13, 2013)

i think i would start with asking first if he is healthy and doesn't have a urinary tract infection? he may need a vet check. then i would ask myself what i mean by crate training. is the crate small enough that he does not have room to roam in it? do i feed and water him in his crate, but early enough that he can be taken outside to toilet before bedtime? (until bladder control is a certainty, it may be highly desirable to get up several times at night to take him out again. but it's not desirable to just give in to his barking.) do i give him toys in his crate? am i doing what i can to make his crate a retreat rather than a prison?

am i making sure that clean up means using an enzymatic cleanser that will kill not only germs, but the odor dogs can smell even after washing an item but we can't? because if they can smell it, it's an invitation to keep on doing the same thing.

when i interrupt him and take him outside, do i praise and reward him when he goes? am i prepared to begin to train him to recognize a cue word so that eventually he will go on command? 

inside, do i keep him tethered to me so that i can catch him when he tries to go, interrupt him, take him outside instead and praise and reward again when he goes outside?

in all of this, i would like to ask, what about your maltese? are you absolutely positive she hasn't marked somewhere? my two dogs were housetrained. then the female got sick and went once in the house. how do i know? because i caught the male one night going in the same spot. he was with me from five months of age and never went inside once trained. and he was not sick, but i knew the female had not been feeling well. so he got a sharp no from me and i studiously doused that part of the rug in nature's miracle. never happened again.

by the way, my male dog was not housetrained when i got him at five months. but at that age bladder control is better. had it not been, i'm pretty sure i would have had to get up several times a night to give my dog the opportunity to succeed.


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

Lots of excellent advice already. When Poppy was a pup I had to keep reminding myself not to compare her with Sophy, who was very nearly an adult and a very different dog... I would certainly get him checked for a UTI, but I think this is more a case of a puppy adapting to new household, new rules and new everything - hard work for a baby. It sounds as if your little one does not think of the crate as a pee free zone, so there is little benefit in using it for toilet training - if you have to leave him out of your sight I would use a pen with a toilet spot. A very small soft crate on the bed would keep him safe, enable you to comfort him when he wakes, and help you to work out when he needs to go out during the night (I got one on eBay which is perfect, and very useful as a car and travelling crate). I have found cheap fleece blankets make comfy bedding that is quick and easy to wash and dry - they may be easier to keep clean than dog beds while you work on this.

I would set an alarm and take him out every hour during the day, every three or four hours at night for a week, with a really good treat to hand every time he does it in the right place. Think of it as a bank account - every pee and poo rewarded in the right place pays in 5p, every one done in the wrong place costs £1 - you are aiming to build up an account balance of at least a fiver!


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## lisasgirl (May 27, 2010)

Have you taken your puppy to the vet to get checked yet? It's a good idea to do that as soon as you take a new pet home. The persistent bad smell and constant peeing both indicate a possible infection or other health issue.

Once you've ruled that out, I would start incorporating yummy treats for peeing outside. Something extra special that the puppy never gets for any other reason. That's what finally did the trick for my shelter rescue who was not housetrained when we got him at 10 months old. We wound up using boiled chicken. He doesn't need the treats anymore, but it really helped him figure it out at first.

Also make sure you're using an enzymatic cleaner like Nature's Miracle, which will eliminate the smell on a level the dog can notice. Otherwise he'll keep peeing in the same spots because the scent is telling him he's in the right place for it.

I'm sure this is very frustrating. Just keep the puppy where you can see him at all times for a while, and make sure his crate is small enough that he can stretch out comfortably but not much else. Give really excellent chew toys, kongs, treats, etc. for being in the crate. Chewing is an excellent quiet activity for dogs of any age, so give your puppy lots and lots of opportunities to chew on yummy things. After all, if he's chewing, he can't bark!


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

Years ago when I had a puppy who would pee on her bed or stuffies at night, I thought hum, maybe they are too absorbent, so it just doesn't bother her, and she will just sleep in a corner to avoid it.
So "mean mommy" removed everything from her crate, and made her sleep on the bare tray. First morning woke up to her soaked in pee up to her elbows. Second morning, bone dry. Third night I gave her a washcloth to sleep on, then slowly built up to bigger towels and finally back to a bed. She never peed in the crate again after getting soaked that first time. BUT she was older than your puppy and had better bladder control. If I were you I would only try this after a Vet check, and after adapting a schedule of frequent outings at night. At his age, I would not trust him sleeping more than 4 hours, but if he is awake and crying you may need to take him out every hour, hour and a half!
Rough schedule I know, and I would not envy you having to do it, but it is what you have to do if you choose to outside train instead of pad train!


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## mom2Zoe (Jun 17, 2014)

Tiny Poodles said:


> Years ago when I had a puppy who would pee on her bed or stuffies at night, I thought hum, maybe they are too absorbent, so it just doesn't bother her, and she will just sleep in a corner to avoid it.
> So "mean mommy" removed everything from her crate, and made her sleep on the bare tray. First morning woke up to her soaked in pee up to her elbows. Second morning, bone dry. Third night I gave her a washcloth to sleep on, then slowly built up to bigger towels and finally back to a bed. She never peed in the crate again after getting soaked that first time. BUT she was older than your puppy and had better bladder control. If I were you I would only try this after a Vet check, and after adapting a schedule of frequent outings at night. At his age, I would not trust him sleeping more than 4 hours, but if he is awake and crying you may need to take him out every hour, hour and a half!
> Rough schedule I know, and I would not envy you having to do it, but it is what you have to do if you choose to outside train instead of pad train!


Totally agree. I had Zoe in the crate with nice bedding that absorbed everything. Between accidents and her ripping up the beautiful bedding I threw it out and replaced with a small skinny towel and at times nothing.(waste of money) Nice bedding comes after housebreaking.
She did have accidents in crate at beginning no matter what , but I forgot this helped a lot.


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## Dechi (Aug 22, 2015)

Same here, Merlin had a soft bed and a blankie and he used it to cover his poop during the night... 

So I took away the blankets and bought him a crate lining that couldn't be removed. That helped tremendously, he never did it again.


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## patk (Jun 13, 2013)

tp, mtz and dechi - most interesting example of negative reinforcement i have heard of. something to keep in mind.


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## Sarahlouiself (Sep 20, 2015)

Hi Everyone,

Thanks so much for your great advice. I have been taking him out every hour and still have had accidents. Also added another visit to the bathroom at 3am. Unfortunately he's still having a lot of accidents. It is odd as I noticed today that he doesn't even squat or look like he is urinating when these accidents occur, he's just standing up or even after sitting down there is a wet patch underneath him. Last night he was asleep next to me on the sofa, I had taken him out 30 minutes before and I was doing work on my laptop, I turned around and although he was asleep he had urinated on the sofa?! 
Could this be some sort of infection? 

Thanks so much!


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

I would definitely get him checked for an infection if he is that unaware and urinating in his sleep.


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## MiniPoo (Mar 6, 2014)

It is starting to sound like a physical problem. If he were mine, I would have him checked out thoroughly, starting with a test for bladder infection.


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## lisasgirl (May 27, 2010)

Definitely take him to the vet. Hope everything gets better soon!


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Oh dear, so go to the vet asap. You want to get to the root of this problem before it becomes a fixed behavior that he thinks is ok. Let us know what the vet says. Wishing you luck.


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