I have just got a 8 week old Maltese puppy. He's my first puppy although I have had 4 cats before

He was paper trained when we got him from the breeder. He would pee on the paper but poo on the carpet. I tried to have him poo on the paper, but it seems that he couldn't do it. He ended up lying down and sleeping in the tray. We live in a flat and I thought as long as he wees on the paper it should be fine. However, now he does wee and poo both on the carpet. I saw him peeing on the carpet and took him to the tray right away. I encouraged him to do it on the paper on the tray, but he just wouldn't do it. Then after several minutes, he's lying in the tray again. I thought he couldn't do it and took him out. But as soon as he's out, he did it on the carpet again.

I have no idea what to do now. Shall I try puppy training pads or crate training? Could anyone please give me some advice?

Some pups just take a long time to figure out exactly what they're supposed to do.  One of mine did for months what you're describing - first had no idea where to go (was raised in a kennel situation), then went pee in the right place but went poo in the wrong place, then switched that, then thought it was okay to do both on the carpet instead of the pad... etc.  I finally got it through to her that it was only acceptable to do both on the pad.  And even to this day she sometimes has accide... er, on-purposes.  Silly puppy.  :)  (My other dog I had 99% housetrained in 1.5 weeks.  Heaven-sent!)

My advice:

- If he does his business in his crate, yes, absolutely crate train him.  The first step is making him figure out it's not okay to do his business in his bed.

- Unless he's closed in his crate, watch him constantly.  CONSTANTLY.  You will then know every second of every day a) where he is and b) if he is even thinking about going to the bathroom.  (Or, as they say in the southern U.S., "thinkin' about fixin' to" go. :D )  That way, when he is thinking about peeing or pooing, you can be right there to direct him to the correct place and/or correct him when he starts to go in the wrong place.

- If you don't think you can watch him constantly, put him on a short leash and hold onto the leash wherever you are - watching TV, typing on the computer, etc.  If he moves around, making you think he might be getting up to wee or poo, you can glance at him.  If he starts doing it in the wrong place, you can give a correction both verbally and with the leash, then pick him up and take him to the tray.

- When he poos, put the poo in the tray.  (Make sure to continue keeping an eye on him, in this case to make sure he's not coprophagic.)  I seriously doubt he would have interest in laying in a tray with poo in it.  ;)  It will also help him to figure out where it's appropriate to go #2.  Obviously, don't put it all over the tray or anything, 'cause you still want him to be comfortable with walking onto the tray (i.e., not have to step in poo) to do his business.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head.  Good luck!

Thanks for your advice, LJE. Maltese is supposed to be easy to train. Well, I've only had him since last Thursday. I think he is confused about where to go. I did keep an eye on him all the time. Another question - when I see him circling or sniffing, or sometimes even half way on his business, I quickly pick him up and put him into the tray. Is that right? Or shall I guide him to go to the tray by himself? The other night I saw him circling and I put him into the tray straight away. I waited patiently. He was tearing the paper instead. I was there for nearly 2 hours and he didn't do it. Both of us ended up grumpy and confused...

Anyway, I will go and get a crate and maybe some puppy training pads and see how it goes.

Welcome.  =)

Out of curiosity, how old is he?

If you've only had him for 6 days, then he most likely doesn't fully understand what to do yet.

If you see him circling/sniffing, I don't think it matters whether you pick him up and take him to the tray or whether you guide him there, except that he'll get there faster if he's moved by you, and therefore he might make the connection easier.  If he's half-way into his business, to be colloquial, he ain't goin' nowhere on his own; i.e., he will not stop half-way through pooping, for instance (hey, would you want to have to? ;) ), so you will have to pick him up and take him to the tray.  (Picturing a small, bent-in-half beast being guided - er, dragged - to the other side of a room is quite the visual!)  From experience, just be careful that while you're relocating him, he doesn't pinch a load in front of you so you accidentally step on it!  I learned fast to hold my little one out from my side when relocating her.  Yuck.  :P

Regarding the night you thought he was going to do his business and you waited for two hours... sometimes that happens, and it's all part of the joy of having a puppy.  :)  Go ahead and move a bit of his poop to the tray so he starts to get the idea of tray = elimination.  I would definitely also buy some puppy pads and place one in there as well, since the scent on them should encourage him in the same way, including in the vein of going pee, not just poo.

I never had paper for mine, because I knew it would get ripped to shreds, chewed, and probably eaten.  (Dachshunds.  What can ya do.)  For each of my girls, starting a few weeks into their coming home and ending a few months later, they would gaily rip up their puppy pads when I wasn't looking.  What a mess - especially if the pads had already been eliminated on!  So FYI, he might also be interested in doing that to the puppy pads, although I would think the paper might seem a little more fun to rip up.  Just correct him when he does such things and the behavior should eventually go away.

Alsø alsø, if you want him to learn to eliminate on command, now is the time to start the training!

Best,
Lisa

Hi Pepper :)   I'm bewildered by what you're trying to achieve here and even more so since reading LJE's advice below

>- If he does his business in his crate, yes, absolutely crate train him.  The first step is making him figure out it's not okay to do his business in his bed<

Why are you intentionally training your puppy to toilet ANYWHERE indoors?  Just because you live in an apartment surely doesn't mean that you can't physically take your puppy downstairs or in an elevator to a piece of grass or yard?  It's unhealthy and unhygenic to train your puppy this way for him as well as you - dogs needs exercise, fresh air, mental stimulation, socialising etc etc - why not train him to do his business ONLY outside where these *life essentials* are available to him and you won't have to tolerate a home that smells like a kennel? :(  Perhaps I've picked you both up wrong but if not this seems a very peculiar way to raise a puppy ......  Teri

Teri,

Plenty of people have dogs that go to the bathroom indoors.  Most people in modern societies go to the bathroom indoors too.  :)  (My husband used to live in a house without a bathroom.  He can tell you how exciting it was to have to go outside to the outhouse - in any weather there may be - in order to go to the bathroom.)  I assumed Pepper had her own reasons for not taking her dog outside to the bathroom, so I didn't ask.  For my family's situation, my dogs go to the bathroom on pads indoors when the weather is bad or is cold or when I am otherwise not prepared / in the mood to take them out.  There are a few reasons for this:  a) I hate (hate!) the cold and don't want to have to bundle up to take them out in the winter, 2) our house is not structured so we can have doggy doors, 3) we have no fence around our house, so I don't just open the door and let them run free outside to do their business and run around and chase prey like dachshunds do, and 4) my husband's and my schedules vary greatly every single day, and the dogs always have food and water available to them, so not only do I not know when I'm going to wake up or go to sleep or eat or drink or go to the bathroom myself, but neither the dogs nor I know when the dogs will either.  (I'm totally disinterested in waking up in the middle of the night to let them out to potty, for one.)

They do go to the bathroom outdoors when I take them on walks, train them outdoors, or supervise them running around out there.  This happens most every day in the spring, summer, and autumn.  My dogs get plenty of exercize, fresh air, mental stimulation, are healthy, and are perfectly well socialized.  None of those results somehow directly stem from whether or not a dog poops on grass.  My house does not smell like dog either.  I'm sensitive to how people's houses smell - especially houses with animals -  and even if I'm gone for awhile, when I return, my house has no odor other than old-house-odor, because it's an old farmhouse.  The puppy pads absorb the pee (I don't let them get completely soaked so they start smelling like ammonia), and when the dogs poo, I immediately pick up the poo with toilet paper and flush it down the toilet - like I would with my own poo, minus the picking-it-up part.  ;)  My house is clean, and so are my dogs.

I wonder, how do you feel about indoor cats - should they not have a litter box available to them?

Best,
Lisa

Just remember that when a puppy is taught to use a tray or pads indoors, it's been taught that it's good to mess indoors. Fine if you're never going to visit someone else's house or stay in a hotel. ;)

Hi Lisa,

Clearly a cultural difference her I think ;)  Would I be right in asssuming you're not in the UK?   Does your country have a breed of dog that hibernates in winter or is it just their owners? 

JG made a very valid point re confusing the dog about where is acceptable to "go" and where isn't.    Anybody who's had a puppy knows that when they defecate it stinks - regardless of whether you pick up immediately or not but perhaps your hatred of the cold outdoors is equalled by your love of chemicals and artificial air fresheners :P

I'm not having a go at you or the original poster but I can't personally understand why anyone who isn't prepared to regularly take their dog out and actually *enjoy*doing so quite simply for the love and wellbeing of their pet decides to have a dog in the first place    Proper house-training to be clean indoors (ie. actually *ask out* not find the mat/tray) takes about 2 weeks and reliable bladder and bowel control comes within a couple of months - so not a long period to be inconvenienced by putting a lead on and physically carrying or walking a puppy to an appropriate area and rarely needs many middle of the night trips ;) 

Regards, Teri

>when the weather is bad or is cold or when I am otherwise not prepared / in the mood to take them out.

Lisa, that's one of the most upsetting things I've ever read on this site. :(

Very true JG

coupled with

>(I'm totally disinterested in waking up in the middle of the night to let them out to potty, for one.)<

There's really not much to say without seriously breaching TOS - probably wouldn't be any point anyway

Teri  :(

>Lisa, that's one of the most upsetting things I've ever read on this site.

Jeangenie - It truly is a shame my personal life (that you really know next to nothing about) upsets you so.  :(

>Just remember that when a puppy is taught to use a tray or pads indoors, it's been taught that it's good to mess indoors. Fine if you're never going to visit someone else's house or stay in a hotel.

My dogs do not make messes in other people's houses now that they're out of that puppy stage, nor have they ever made a mess in a hotel room.  When they need to go to the bathroom, they stand at the door / go out the door when someone opens it, as they notice there is no designated toilet area indoors for them.  Maybe I'm just lucky and have very intelligent dogs, and all the puppydogs you've known aren't so intelligent - but I somehow doubt that's the case.

>So do you "walk" your dogs around the rooms of your apartment throughout winter on their leash (providing you can still see/reach the TV or PC )

I have not tried leashing indoors myself; I have only heard it recommended by a few reputable/successful dog trainers for people who work from home.

>and how on earth do they retain (achieve?) physical condition, muscle tone never mind mental fitness with this regime?

My own dogs get to go outside and get quite enough exersize, in my opinion, and are usually pooped (NPI) by the time night rolls around.  One of my dogs in particular has been training for hunting and racing - which would, of course, mean she has no muscle tone.  ?!  But I suppose you wouldn't know that, because you decided to assume a lot about my dogs and myself - including our lifestyle, my dogs' behavior, my and my dogs' activities during any day, and my medical conditions which sometimes interfere with what we can do.

>I really wish I hadn't re-read this now - frankly there's nothing in your method of raising dogs that would be acceptable to anyone who cares an iota about animal welfare.  I'm equally as disgusted as I am depressed by it.  Teri

Apparently it's my method of raising dogs, in which I don't care about dogs.  Sigh.

>Anybody who's had a puppy knows that when they defecate it stinks - regardless of whether you pick up immediately or not

Teri - Certainly it stinks for the few seconds before I pick it up and flush it.  (Unless by your comment you're suggesting you personally know how my house smells afterward.)

>There's really not much to say without seriously breaching TOS - probably wouldn't be any point anyway

>I don't really think ANY of this individual's methods or advice are remotely defensible

>I hope ANY advice so far written by LJE is *never* found on a search engine by anyone

>Teri :)

You've made it obvious that you want to jump in with some others who not only believe they understand another person's unique circumstances, but personally insult them and accuse them of "gross animal neglect" (as was explicitly stated by someone else here) for having a different culture, lifestyle, and/or circumstances than yours.  Absolutely charming.  Thanks.

>I'm not having a go at you

Could have fooled me.

Further, in your zeal to slam me, it seems you forgot to answer my question about cats.

>Cant understand you as a owner what if someone wouldnt let you go to the loo in the night if you needed to you should know if you gotta go you gotta go regardless

trackie30 - I as the owner, I do let them go to the loo in the middle of the night if they've gotta go; they jump off the bed, walk to the pad near the people bathroom, and go to the loo.  I wrote before here, some people in the world have to go outside, regardless of weather, in order to go to the bathroom.  I see no reason why I personally am not capable of extending the privilege I have of going indoors to my dogs.  Miniature shorthaired dachshunds are not fond of snow, sleet, hail, and ice - so while I do bundle them and myself up usually once a day in the winter to go outside and do things with them, I do not require them to go out such weather three to five times a day to use the bathroom.

>I visit Poland where most people are apartment dwellers and everyone trains theri dogs to go outside and they ahve very cold winters.

Brainless - You know the personal habits of every dog owner in Poland?  Seriously, if so, I'm impressed.

I'm quite amazed that such a thread has mushroomed out of proportion.  Perhaps if some people just tried to answer others' questions to help them with their situations, rather than write out a sizable number of assumption-filled, hyper-judgemental posts, this would not be the case.  I believe I have helped out as best as I personally can for the situation Pepper described, without throwing accusations at or demanding personal details of her.  If some of you want to continue to spend your time slamming other people and their assumed ways of living on this thread, I'll simply discontinue reading this thread, so that it'll work out for all of us - except, probably, Pepper.

>I'll simply discontinue reading this thread, so that it'll work out for all of us<

Certainly sounds good to me ;)  About the only sensible suggestion you've proffered!

Teri

Lisa, what worried me about your comments was the fact that you were proffering information to an inexperienced dog-owner who was asking for information about toilet training in an apartment, in such a manner as could lead an inexperienced person to think that it is normal/acceptable for a dog to be trained to defecate inside.   

Over here in the UK, in all sorts of weather, I see little old ladies, wrapped up against the weather, taking their sometimes elderly dogs out - first thing in the morning, last thing at night - after 10.p.m.   This is the norm for over here.  Now bearing in mind that this is predominately a UK-based site, you shouldn't really be surprised at the amount of criticism you have received!

I think that may be the point, the advise was sought by an apartment dweller not such a common thing in the UK but something Lisa can offer an experience of.  Lisa does not keep her dogs in a manner that many of us would choose to but, personally, I do not seem to find it as offensive as a lot of you seem to.  I suspect many toy and small dogs, even in the UK, are not taken for walks beyond their garden when the weather is inclement in fact I believe that may be the very reason some people choose them and I'm really struggling to see the harm these dogs are suffering. 

How strange Isabel that you find such empathy with this poster even to the extent of believing apartments (a.k.a. flats ;) ) are uncommon the UK and don't seem to have resident dogs :P   Wow, times are a changing fast round these shores aren't they!

I hate to break it to you Isabel but flats/apartments are in abundance in the UK and a great many are lived in by people with dogs   Strangely enough my own dogs play on a daily basis, come rain, snow or shine, with 5 toy dogs, one mini-mongrel and a Kerry Blue.  Their 7 playmates are exclusively owned by retired ladies who simply dress themselves for the weather and get on with it - in other words good pet owners.   There are many others we meet on a less regular basis but nevertheless in all climes :)

Oh, and all those "well cleared Canadian sidewalks" - why would they trouble the low under carriage of any dog breed that wasn't hype surely?  Working for the Canadian Tourist Board as a side line per chance ..........  :P :D  

Hardly empathy as I would not choose to do this myself but I just don't seem to be able to whip myself up to the level of animosity that Lisa is experiencing here.
Of course we have lots of apartments, or flats if you prefer, but I think in this country we do have a different attitude to dogs living in them, of course people do but it is often frowned on, leases often exclude it and many breeders and rescues will not allow a dog to go to a flat without a garden.  In other countries that does not seem to be the case and I'm not saying one is right and one is wrong.
I can't follow the relevance of your comments about playing on a daily basis and pensioners etc  Lisa has told us she takes the dogs out for exercise it just seems she does not see the need to take them out for toileting, odd I know but doesn't really constitute cruelty. 
You've really lost me on how you think I am hyping Canada or why you would object if I did, my husband loves it and clearly so does Blue. I said apart from the cleared sidewalks not much use for walking dogs not everyone lives in the towns.  But as Blue says we went a bit off topic talking about Canada because Lisa doesn't even live there.

>You've really lost me<

:(  Don't say that Isabel :(

>apart from the cleared sidewalks not much use for walking dogs not everyone lives in the towns<
except maybe the "apartment" dwellers ....

Was just pulling your leg about the Canadian Tourist Board Isabel - thought you had a GSOH using all those smilies   ooops

Teri :)
things to do, bye

Perhaps a few more from yourself and I might have caught on ;) :) Dunces hat again!

>It truly is a shame my personal life (that you really know next to nothing about) upsets you so.

No, it's not your personal life that upsets me - it's that of your dogs. :(

>Maybe I'm just lucky and have very intelligent dogs, and all the puppydogs you've known aren't so intelligent - but I somehow doubt that's the case.

Lisa, you obviously haven't read the very many posts from desperate people who've discovered that using pads or trays has lead to their dogs still not being housetrained even by 8 or 9 months of age.

All the dogs (puppies or adults) I've known have very quickly learned that relieving themselves indoors is unacceptable. Just the same as a child learning that it's never acceptable to defecate in the hallway.

>I do let them go to the loo in the middle of the night if they've gotta go; they jump off the bed, walk to the pad near the people bathroom, and go to the loo.

And then you immediately get out of bed, pick it up, flush it and remove the odour? Even more trouble than letting them outside, I would have thought.

Remember, all we have to go on is what you tell us - if you say you don't take your dogs out when you can't be bothered (your own words), how caring does that make you sound?

No I may not know all the people in Polands habits, but do know what is culturally acceptable.  Until not long ago it was considered by most people that dogs lived outside and were not kept indoors other than lap dogs which again were expectd to impinge as little as possible on the householder.

I have subscribed to canine magazines since the fall of communism when the dogggy scene and dog ownership for pleasure has increased and read the articles on housetraining, training, breeding and showing in the environments that most people live (flats/apartments).  It is amazing how ingenious breeders can be rearing large breed puppies indoors, not something I would choose to do.

Good housetraining to go outdoors is considered paramount, though they still seem somewyhat behind with the poop scooping message, though even that is starting to be seen as an owners responsibility.

I cant beleive i was reading that you cant be bothered to take him out when its cold im confused here why get a dog maybe you should have got a cat then you wouldnt have to go out  puzzled rain sleet or snow my dog goes out three times a day if possible regardless of the weather :(

Cant understand you as a owner what if someone wouldnt let you go to the loo in the night if you needed to you should know if you gotta go you gotta go regardless if people dont want their dog to soil their apartment which i believe was the question here then they should make the effort to take or let the dog out surely?

I am sorry but I am with Teri on this one. 

If you have a dog you have to take it out if there is no fenced garden.  I visit Poland where most people are apartment dwellers and everyone trains theri dogs to go outside and they ahve very cold winters. 

Only puppies and very old dogs will have an area laid out with paper (usually the bathroom or kitchen) if the householders are not home in case of accidents, but the dogs are trained that they do not go indoors.

Many of these people keep huge dogs and I am amazed that they do and don't have the neighbours complaining, but they manage it.

When I first replied on this thread it was the early hours of the morning - hence I didn't take it all in :rolleyes:

I've just returned from an hour long run with my long haired dogs splashing in waterlogged muddy fields and puddles while it's blowing a gale with intermittent downpours - we're all soaked but THEY loved it and I loved watching them do it!   l've just re-read your advice and personal routine apart from the other stuff already highlighted there's this little gem -

>put him on a short leash and hold onto the leash wherever you are - watching TV, typing on the computer, etc<

So do you "walk" your dogs around the rooms of your apartment throughout winter on their leash (providing you can still see/reach the TV or PC ) and how on earth do they retain (achieve?) physical condition, muscle tone never mind mental fitness with this regime?  I really wish I hadn't re-read this now - frankly there's nothing in your method of raising dogs that would be acceptable to anyone who cares an iota about animal welfare.  I'm equally as disgusted as I am depressed by it.  Teri   

Dogs dont usually like to go to the loo near their bed and i think you should see him circleling and surely you couold take him out as when he is a bit older he will be able to hold on until you take him out i live in a flat to so i know how difficult it is to run down to a peice of grass every time but for the dogs sake and your apartment persevere i did and it does pay off it really isnt very nice to have him going everywhere especially in his crate he may be confused is the crate to sleep in or poo in? i agree fully with teri confused as to the thread above

Teri,
       Can I just say a bit about

>put him on a short leash and hold onto the leash wherever you are - watching TV, typing on the computer, etc<

I'd seen this suggested for housetraining and thought little of it until I got my rescue boy Zymi who to be honest at 6months had me driven to distraction. If he was housetrained he forgot it the minute I got him I was in the garden more than the house for weeks and he'd still come in and mess in the house. I was watching him and I had a cage but keeping him attached to me by the lead was the turning point. He was also the most destructive pup I've ever had not just chewing but atually eating chunks out of things. Again the houselead really helped. He's 2 next month and the light of my life so the lead thing can help. But he still gets and needs exercise and training several times a day

Anne

Hi Anne, Perhaps for the avoidance of doubt I should have used the entire paragraph ;)

>If you don't think you can watch him constantly, put him on a short leash and hold onto the leash wherever you are - watching TV, typing on the computer, etc.  If he moves around, making you think he might be getting up to wee or poo, you can glance at him.  If he starts doing it in the wrong place, you can give a correction both verbally and with the leash, then pick him up and take him to the tray.<

I don't really think ANY of this individual's methods or advice are remotely defensible nor related to your own situation as you've taken on an older rescue dog who may have had no training whatsoever - I can't say what worked for you would have been my choice of training but then I don't know your dog or how much you had to put up with ;) - although I assume the lead was never used by you "for correction"!

What I can say categorically is I hope ANY advice so far written by LJE is *never* found on a search engine by anyone :rolleyes:
Teri :)

 

I agree about the indoor lead it may have it's uses.  I think a little "over"interpretation has been added to conclude that this is the, perhaps, only form of exercise offered but I don't think that is necessarily so :)
Like most people I am rather uncomfortable about the idea that a puppy is being trained to use a litter tray presumably into adulthood but I expect there is a great deal of cultural differences at play here.  Perhaps the only person suffering though is the one living with stinky poos in their house and plus the ones depositing off the the tray I doubt the pup is too bothered.  I have to confess though, I personally, do not get up in the night to pups I use a puppy pen with an area away from the bed layed out with paper that they can use until they are physically able to control themselves overnight then we switch to a crate until fully reliable in terms of toileting and chewing with tends to be adult.  The pup is not being taught to use the papered area as much as allowed nothing is said to them and I clear up while they are out playing first thing.  As I do a very concentrated effort on housetraining my pups are generally pretty reliable after about 7/10 days so clearly my method does not inhibit that.  I suppose some may think I'm a lazy, dirty beast ;) but I think, when you have a puppy to deal with, you need all the time in bed you can get, we are early risers anyway up about 6.30, but I would not dream of not taking them out during the course of the day, donning coat, wellies or whatever else is needed to cope with the elements.

Isabel, in LJE's own words:

>I hate (hate!) the cold and don't want to have to bundle up to take them out in the winter,<

so the "over" interpretation would be ....

No, I was referring to this bit of interpretation ;)

>So do you "walk" your dogs around the rooms of your apartment throughout winter on their leash (providing you can still see/reach the TV or PC  ) and how on earth do they retain (achieve?) physical condition, muscle tone never mind mental fitness with this regime?

which, incidentally, was after Lisa told us

>My dogs get plenty of exercize, fresh air, mental stimulation, are healthy, and are perfectly well socialized.

Unless you wish to call her a liar it is clear she does take the dogs out when it suits her, but don't we all pick a break in the clouds when we can :), it's just this ethical question as to whether she should be making greater efforts to allow the dogs outdoor access for toileting.
I think there is plenty to chew over from the other issues in the message Lisa is giving without adding a little hype ;):)

Really Isabel,

Was that round about where she reassured us

>They do go to the bathroom outdoors when I take them on walks, train them outdoors, or supervise them running around out there.  This happens most every day in the spring, summer, and autumn<

I don't do hype Isabel - you should know better than that ;) 

Well in the light of her not actually specifying what the winter regime is I have to accept what I suspect is your interpretation :D  However Lisa has not actually said where she is, if it is North America or Canada or the like it might actually be a little difficult to keep an area clear enough from snow to a allow a dachsund to make any purchase on terrafirma let alone get into position for a poo :D but now I'm just guessing :p :D

It's still the Western world Isabel - regardless of exact location ;)  If it's that darn cold the weight of a Dachs ain't going to make it sink  (dog or poo :P)

Teri ;)

To be honest guys comparing the weather in Scotland at times to the weather in North Amercian and Canada which I have experience of all , I know the pouring rain in Scotland every other day is the worse ;-) it is cold and damp and goes through you bones. -15 in a crisp country that doesn't have the same wet and dampness I will have anytime. I think it doesn' matter where you are and I don't think there is an excuse for not training a puppy properly and fairly to them.

I don't know when the last time I had the TV on ;-)

Teri,  you are not alone in what you have interpretated. The poster was quite clear.  It is no way to train a puppy that is for sure.  Of course IMHO

Thanks Blue :)  You and me both on the global comparisons front ;)

We had a winter of regular -20 about 7/8 years back and my dogs still got out every day.  Funnily enough all the little OAPs with their tiny breeds managed out and about too.   Perhaps they just weren't pc literate :P

Cheers, Teri

 

I have 5 white westies and and backyard with mud everywhere due to an extension, and it has poured and poured this week and it is cold again.. hail rain or snow mines are out , if they need out in the middle of the night, yes it is hard but I get up infact I tend to do the very late nights and very early mornings so they are only required to sleep for 5-6 hours and this generally works. Once they are a little older the can hold that bit longer.

You get out what you put in ;-) of course again IMHO

Wind, wet and cold would not put me off but I must admit deep snow would, depending on the type of snow I find it impossible to walk a coated cocker as it forms balls on their legs and underbelly which by the time you get home is in rock solid ice balls only removable, slowly, in a warm bath which I reckon is an unpleasant sensation!  I could never walk my Dandie in it :).  Fortunately in the UK we have to deal with this less and less and I can get round it by driving to the shore for a walk on the beach no good if you are hundreds of miles from the coast though.  Very cold snow usually desicates to powder, anyone know if you can get snowshoes to fit a dachsund? :D

As I say I don't find not getting up in the night inhibits their housetraining at all.

Oh Isabel have you lived in the wonderful snow countries like Canada etc it is a totally different experience.

Snow in these countries is not like our in the UK.. it is crisp fresh and dry.. yes could but lovely to walk in etc.. 

Here we just get wet wet snow and muddy puddles :-))

Not Canada no, I've been seriously restricted to the winter alps and the lower slopes of the himalayas :) but my husband was born in Canada and has returned there for the last few winters for the skiing, he says it hasn't changed much :)

"he says it hasn't changed much :-)"  hasn't changed much from wonderful winters or awful ;-)

It is the one thing I hate about he Uk the up and down weather but I am fond of everything else.

Education is generally good and the dogs shows are reachable in a day :-)) better not go off topic too much here.

Wonderful winters, thats why he keeps going back, the deep snow hasn't changed, he loves it on his skies but apart from the cleared sidewalks (which they are very good at doing :)) not much use for walking in especially if your belly is as low as a Dachshunds ;)

Lisa is from Missouri (sp?) - I wasn't aware, from friends there, that there were such extremes of temperature as there are in other parts of the States!

Margot

This link may set the winter temperatures into context :

http://www.nps.gov/mnrr/pphtml/weather.html

-15F is bloomin cold!!

-11 C happens most winters in the Midlands - admittedly not for weeks on end, but it's not unusual (as we keen gardeners know to our cost! I still daren't put out the summer bedding plants because there's still a risk of frost).

I agree the post was quite clear. The dog is taken out as and when the owner can be bothered (her words), not when the dog needs to. And we all know that's several times a day purely for toileting, apart from at least two walks every day of the year, whatever the weather.
:)

>Well in the light of her not actually specifying what the winter regime is I have to accept what I suspect is your interpretation :-D<

That isn't possible Isabel ;-))  

Sorry must have my dunces hat on today :), what isn't possible?

I was just messing with you Isabel.. you accepted someone elses interpretation ;-))  

:D You're right, hard to imagine :p :D
Fortunately I did not have to accept it for long ;) as Lisa has since informed us what she does in the winter.

Hi Teri,
         No the lead was only so that I was conscious of Zymi all the time never used to correct him but did help to get him outside if he started to go in the house. I had never had trouble housetraining any of my pups previously using the watch them like a hawk and take them outside after meals after sleep after play and in between times too. Myself I find having pup crated within earshot at night and taking out as needed worked.

I had seen the lead method  with no correction suggested on here and to be honest I couldn't ever see the need until Zymi came along. He's been quite an education :D

Anne  

Dogs unlike cats do not generally litter tray train as they need a larger toileting area than a liter tray would provide needing to circle and move about until they are comfortable.  He probably sees th tray as just the right size for a bed.

You should train him to go outside in an are not frequenbted by other dogs, where he will be going when he is adult.  I am assuming you have a communal garden of some description close to the apartment.  Take him there every half hour when he is awake or any timne after a game food or on waking up after a nap.  Cut out the toileting indoors altogether other than laying paper down in a lrger area than a tray for emergencies.

Also what have you been cleaning his accidents up with?  He will be drawn to toilet in an area he has been before led there by the smell.  You must not use Pine disinfectandts or any product with bleach as these smell like urine to the pup.  You should use biological washing powder/liquid solution and then some kind of neutraliser like bicarbonate of soda solution or vinegar.

Expect it to take until at least 6 months to have him fully trained because you won't be able to get him outside quickly enough at times.  This is how long it took for peopele who ahve had two of my breed to housetrain them and they are known for being a very clean breed, which many of the toy breeds are not.