Please can someone help me i have just got a Toy poodle pup she is 15 weeks old but seems slightly simple to me, I have never had a poodle before so do not know what is normal. I have a Spaniel and he was soo easy to train to pee on paper and to come to his name, dotty the poodle on the other hand only comes when she feels like it and i often have to go back in to the house to pick her up to go out in the day. She will pee and pooh on the paper all day then suddenly takes to pee in the living room it just dose not make sense and with her being soo small i do not know how to tell her off for it, I do not want to hurt her. Also she will go running like a nutter and be a normal puppy but moment you pick her up ad lie her on her back she turns to a rag doll is this normal??? if ay toy poodle people are int the holyport berkshire area please contact me i would love someone experienced with the breed to have a look at her. Any help would be great thanks

If she's allowed to toilet indoors (on paper) she'll find it very difficult to learn that she mustn't toilet indoors (on carpet). It's much easier for them to learn 'outdoors only' for toileting.

I totally agree but as yet have not learnt her sigals for her wanting to go outside... here is a example out for the day at the stables and she waits till she gets IN the car to go home before she will pooh (no paper in the car) did not expect that to happen as she had free access to the outside world all day. I have never yet seen her toilet outside and am finding it very hard. Is it because she dose not like the cold? she is 15 weeks old and i did not have her for the crucial 8-12 week period could tis be the problem?

Shouldn't you be taking her out every couple of hours, when she wakes up, after she has been fed & also if she looks as if she is going to toilet ? I was taught to stay put with puppies until they go outdoors

Ah yes we do that as well....... was much easier with my spaniels i guess they are bigger and give me a better indicator of when they need to go. Frustrated as have trained many dogs in my life but this one is much more challenging lol will continue and see how we go

and with her being soo small i do not know how to tell her off for it, I do not want to hurt her.

You should never EVER tell any puppy off for peeing indoors -doesn't matter whether it is a Chihuahua or a Saint Bernard, you just don't do it. It will only make it ten times worse as she will think having a pee when you can see her is wrong. You praise when she goes in the right place, i.e. outdoors, you IGNORE indoor accidents. She does it because she doesn't yet understand she is meant to go outdoors. Sounds like she was traiend to go on papers which means she believes going indoors (even if in your car) is right, outdoors is scary and she is not used to it.

Also she will go running like a nutter and be a normal puppy but moment you pick her up ad lie her on her back she turns to a rag doll is this normal???

Why on earth would you put her on her back? That's very scary indeed for a puppy and even most adult dogs will hate it. In her eyes what you are doing is threatening her, so she gives in and plays helpless to avoid being hurt.

Training to go on paper is a bad idea-- she probably thinks she is only meant to go indoors which is why she waited till she got into the car. I would lift all the paper and start at the beginning again taking her out often and waiting with her till she goes.

Yes i thought putting her on her back was a bit strange and have never done it with any pup i have had BUT this is what the lady i got her from told me and i guess as she had her for the important 8-12 week period dotty has become used to it.. I will of course stop doing it now as i never looked at it that way.

I will also try your suggestion re toilet training and hope it will help. thanks for the advice and i hope u do not think me a total plonker i just neede advice with this puppy so please be kind thanks :-)

Some years ago I had a very nervous puppy who was reluctant to go outdoors for any reason. I would take her out and stay with her until she performed. Sometimes it took ages, but I persevered and she finally got the idea. If you didn't own the dog from eight weeks onwards it could be her early experiences were less then sympathetic and it sounds like she may have been told off for weeing in the wrong place and she is frightened to perform in front of you.

Thanks Zan i will remove paper but should i leave some at night as i do not know if her small belly can go all night and i do not want to give her bladder problems but trying to hold it ..or am i wrong her (seems i am doing a lot wrong well with this breed with my spaniels all was plan sailing lol)

Can I politely suggest that comparing a toy breed to a Spaniel is not sensible.  In my experience, having kept several toy breeds as well as Collies, the little ones do take far longer.  My Border Collie got it right while just a pup, yet I've known toy breeds that have been well past 8 months to get clean.

It's nothing to do with being 'thick.'  The 3 most intelligent breeds according to the experts are
1.  Border Collie
2.  Poodle
3.  GSD
And I've trained a Toy Poodle in obedience and tracking, but she still took an age to toilet train.  While I appreciate what you are saying about the 8 - 12 week period, it's a known fact that toy breeds are often kept until they're 12 weeks before homing, as a matter of course.  Certainly a lot of the toy breed clubs recommend this.

I would go back to basics just as you would with any new older dog, and treat as an 8 week old, taking outside every hour - and, importantly, staying with pup so that praise can be lavish when you get the desired wee/poo.  If you do this you will get there in the end.  Don't despair, just remember she's not a Spaniel!  :-)

Having owned Poodles all my life I can assure you the little ones take a little longer, our big girls are clean right away but any toy we've owned had many minor accidents.  They are supper smart and we'd never tell them off for an accident, in my view it was lack of vigilance on my part.  You really need to get down to there level, reward when she gets it right.  Use a word specific, our dogs caught up almost immediately.  Paper in the house is a NO NO now, we did it with our first toy and he continued to pee for years whenever he saw a paper and as far as he was concerned this was right, we'd trained him to pee indoors!  We never used paper again, always take in and out, never leaving the back door open all the time  either.  Good luck you will get there, pup sounds pretty normal to me, only a baby!

I'd love a new Poodle puppy :(

thankyou so much for the FRIENDLY advice i had no idea toy breeds were soo differnet to the breeds i am used to. i will go back to basics and start from scratch hopefully will before she is 8 mths old lol...again thanks

>They are supper smart and we'd never tell them off for an accident, in my view it was lack of vigilance on my part

:-)  As any sensible person would agree.  (I'd love another too.)  I just need to wait until I have far less dogs!

I really, really, really fancy another toy, but this time I would adore a particolour.  Sigh!

Oh jean you do make me laugh. I woudl have another too but know that would be wrong I cam only jsut manage my three small medium and large.

To the op yes I had a bit of a shock when we got  our pomx she has taken an age to train and even now can be down right lazy if the weather doesnt suit, she is five now lol I have since heard this is often the case with the little ones. As annoying as it is its only a small wee or poo to ignore anyway so ignore I do we clear up and carry on going out with her.
Definitely not stupid just does things her own way in her own time. She was great when we did agility and probably has the best recall of the three

Actually I think she is very bright as most dogs are and only does what she wants

>Oh jean you do make me laugh.

Then you would have loved the lady I saw the other day.  I have a very, very small Chi lad, the sort that gets carried round.  Grrr!  Which is why I never let him go.  When we did ringcraft  I always put him next to the huge Rottie so he would be perfectly ok with large dogs.  He has no idea that he is so very tiny, and loves attention.  If people don't make a fuss of him, he'll dance to get attention.  And it works.

I took him to the vet for a booster jab, and walked him along the pavement hoping he would wee for me first.  He is quite pretty to be fair, with lovely ear furnishings and super plume for a tail.  He's just far too small.  A passing lady looked with open mouth as we went past.  She asked 'is that a dog.'

I said no, it's a fairies pony.  (I just can't help myself.)   :-)

> i will remove paper but should i leave some at night as i do not know if her small belly can go all night and i do not want to give her bladder problems

No you can't expect her to hold on all night - it's your job to get up in the middle of the night to take her out.  When they were very young I'd go out with my pups at midnight, 3am and 6am.  I then aim to bring the last wee forwards a bit and the 3am wee back a bit.  They are all bit different though and some are just born sleepers.  My youngest dog was sleeping right through the night within a few short weeks but another was nearly 6 months old before he could sleep past 5am...

Many of us have our puppies in crates beside our own beds for the first few weeks so that we can teach the pup how to settle and sleep at night, and so that the pups can teach us the difference between the "I'm a bit bored" whinging and the "oh, oh quick I need a wee!" type of yell :)

Fairies pony  :) how lovely, stupid lady I bet she went off with a tale to tell

>I said no, it's a fairies pony.  (I just can't help myself.)   

ROFL!! But what a cute image! :-)