Hi to you all!  I have recently found this site and have spent hours reading up on old posts to try and get as much information as possible, and found some invaluable tips and info! 

My OH has had dogs when he was younger, but I am new to owning dogs.  We bought an eight-week-old  cross breed (Jack Russell/miniature poodle cross) on Thursday.  He is a little honey and such a good boy!  He started housetraining promisingly but things seem to be going wrong!  He is crated overnight and actually holds on until we come down to him in the morning (I said that he was a honey!).  He is put to bed about midnight and we come down about 8am.  He is quiet as a little mouse all night apart from the tiniest cry when we shut him in! 

My problem is that after a good start toilet training, things seem to be heading in the wrond direction!  We take him out in the garden on a lead, as if he isn't, he runs around and dives under hedges and behind the barbecue which worries me!  He had started going, and we would say "Be quick" as he went and then really praise him and give him a treat after.  This seemed to be working for a few days, with him wetting outside, but not pooing, but today, he won't go outside and as soon as we get back in, he wets/poos!  It's not a massive problem as we have laminate floor, but I want to stop this in its tracks if poss!  We don't shout at all or punish when he does it inside, but I get the feeling that he prefers to do it inside as it's warmer/drier!  Is is just early days or should we shut him in his crate when we come back in and take him out again a few minutes later?  I don't want him to start thinking of the crate as punishment though - might this become a bad place to be if we keep shutting him in after taking him out? I caught him before he pooed this evening, shouted his name to distract him, got him outside and sat there for twenty minutes.  Came back in and he immediately wet!  Please, any info would be great!

Hi Poppysparkle,
I think you may be expecting a bit much of an 8 week old puppy.  You are really lucky that he is doing so well so far.  Whilst his bladder gets more mature you are bound to have accidents.  It doesn't mean that because he has accidents now that he is going to be like this all his life.  He is just a baby at the moment and doesn't really know much different.  You will find as he gets older that he starts really understanding where he is meant to go and where he isn't.  We have a Bichon and he was like this for months and I thought he would never be housetrained.  He would go for a while without doing anything then he would have a few days where he would have weed in the kitchen every day but I am pleased to say that he is now fully housetrained and actually asks to go out by going to the back door and crying, I am so proud of him.  Bichons are meant to be known as one of the worst dogs to house-train for some reason.   I am sure that one day it will just click and your dog will be just fine, just relax and don't shout at him or lock him in his crate because 8 weeks is very very young, it will get better!

Thanks so muc for the quick reply Anna!!  I so don't want to make mistakes and have to undo them later, so thought that I would ask the advice of you helpful lot!  He really is an angel...he's so well-behaved and considering that we only brought him home on Thursday night (taking him away from his siblings and mum) he has settled in so well.  He cried for about ten minutes when we left him on Thursday night, but since then, apart from a little cry when we first leave him he is quiet all night.  I really shouldn't complain, as you are right and he is such a little thing at the moment!  We will keep on doing what we are doing and taking him out every hour, after meals and after play, and hopefully before too long it will click!

Thanks again!

There's one thing that stands out ot me in your post - we give him a treat AFTER.....  Do you take the treat out with you? Or does he get the treat when he's back indoors?
When training any new behaviour, the dog should get the reward when they are in the process of performing, the treat signals that doing a) brings reward b)  If you are rewarding when he gets back in the house - he thinks it's going back indoors that is what is being rewarded, so being a smart pup, naturally he wants to get back inside for his reward.........

If this isn't what is happening, then maybe he's just a little bit nervous about leaving his scent outside.  Taking a piece of soiled paper outside (weigh it down with a stone) and put it in the area you want him to use (think like a small pup and make it as 'safe' as possible) and encourage him to go over the top........  Be careful that your verbal praise isn't scaring him too ;)

HTH

Thanks for the reply!  I am taking the treat out with me and as he goes I say the "Be quick" command a few times and as soon as he's finished make a real fuss of him and give him the treat. 

I got up this morning, got him out of his crate and took him straight outside.  He wet, do did all the above.  Stood out a bit longer and eventually he pooed a little bit.  Got back inside and he immediately dashed around the kitchen, sniffing his favourite place and went to poo again...I called out, and took him straight back out again.  I had just put his feed down, so presume that he wanted to get back for it, so he went without problem really quickly, so did all the above again. 

He's crouched to dirty/wet since, but I have kept calling out to distract him and then gone and taken him outside, but he's not performed again yet.  I think that it will be a case of watching and being very attentive so that he finally gets it!

One more point - how often to bath him?  Is it safe to bath him often?  I have mild asthma and am trying to keep this under control so am bathing him pretty frequently.  I don't want to do  him any damage with regards to skin problems though!  Can anyone advise of the pros and cons of regular bathing?

Hi poppysparkle
good luck with the house training just like to add that maybe you should try without the lead as a friend of mine new to dog too started with the same routine with her springer and now its the only way she can get her to perform outside unless she in the park etc but at home its a nightmare.
He is only exploring his garden and if you keep a close eye on him he should come to no harm.

How many times have you bathed him since you ve had him?
you say you only got him on thursday?

I have thought about the benefits of letting him run around or keeping him on the lead.  Because I have small children I am trying to get him to do it in one place, hence the lead.

I have actually bathed him twice since we got him!  He smelt very doggy when we picked him up and the owner also had cats, which I am very allergic to!  Wondering if I should now leave it a while before bathing again.

some dogs dont like going out in the wet, like mine, she took 4 months to house train, it was three months that she was housetrained if the weather was nice and four months until she realised that wet weather was alright, i would stay outside for what seemed like ages, bringing her in then taking her out again five minutes later and every time she would go inside, even if i spent 3 hours outside, which i did one time, just to see if it would have any effect.  some dogs it just takes longer then others, but if her is waiting 8 hours over night, i dont think it will take very long.
good luck, and have fun with him

Thanks Keisha!  I've just taken him out for a bit and let him off the lead.  He did run round the garden and then did a number two!  Not in the place that I want him to mind, but maybe I should just resign myself to checking the garden before the kids go out!  Only problem is that it is a rather large garden - although he did keep to the patio, so all's not lost yet! ;-)

Is he okay running around the garden by the way??!  The person that I bought him off had said that she allowed him to run round in her garden and that this would be okay.  He's not had his first injection yet...but feel bad having him cooped up in the house on such a lovely day!  Otherwise he is just sitting and sleeping with the odd play session for twenty minutes or so.

Thanks for all of your input by the way...it's invaluable!

As long as no other dogs come in your garden he'll be fine, and will benefit tremendously from being out of doors. Are you carrying him round the streets to get him used to traffic, people, etc?

That's good news...thanks JeanGenie!  No, no other dogs, but I'm pretty sure that next door's cats will visit!

We've carried him to the pet shop around the corner on Saturday, but haven't done it since.  Thanks for that tip though, will do that more often.  We live on a very busy road so I think that suddenly taking him out for a walk when he is fully vaccinated might be not such a good idea!

As for the bathing...any thoughts on how often is too often?

I'm so glad that I found you lot...I've learnt so much this weekend but think that I have RSI from all the time spent scrolling through old messages!

I personally don't believe in bathing dogs a lot :) You will probably find that his rear end may get a little mucky, also his body if he learns to roll in things !! :) Try to just wash the mucky bits. If his paws get mucky, try just using an old bowl in the garden to wash them off. You may find that every now and again he will need a bathe - it's probably a good idea to do it from time to time to get him used to it :) But dogs, in general, don't need bathing - a good brush usually gets rid of the loose hair and dried mud.

Daisy

hi i am a new puppy owner myself and have had the same problems , i would like to say that i have found that putting my gsd puppy in a large shoulder bag has worked wonders he can see all around yet has the closness and smells of his family (us) you could try a baby carrier also if you have one
I have not yet bathed my gal so i cannot answer on that one but i know she needs it lol
Toilet training pads have worked for us aswell she pees no mess and i leave it outside for a while till she knows where it is and pees on it again then i shall use a clean again same place so far brill and she is only 9wks old so i dont thinl she is diong bad hope this helps a little 

Have you tried a pee post I dont know how well they work they have a smell on them to attract the male dog.
I have only bathed my pup once because she has a long coat and just needed a freshen up after being with her litter mates but generally I wouldnt bath them very often just the feet after a romp but thats for the good of my floors more than anything else!!!!!
You will get better advice from breeders who show as to how it will affect his coat I would imagine.

I go to training classes with my dogs and took the puppy along at 8 wks after her first jab (carried) to meet everyone she adored the fuss and my OH sat with her while I trained my older dog  she started her first puppy class at 12 wks and at 16 wks was moved upto the intermediate I do train at home but I think it was easier because she wasnt strange to the training class on her first lesson and had met all the instructors a few times she loves it.

regards
Roni

Hi, I bath my dogs usually about 3 times a year, but you can buy those bath wipes from wilko's or the pet shops, you get about 5 in the pack and there like big baby wipes, works wonders!!!! Hope he's getting better with his toilet training. Take care. x

Hi
My 2 Bichons are 2 yrs & 18mths, the older dog Molly is still not house trained, or should I rephrase that, she is when she wants to, other times she just wees/poos when she wants but never when we are there, she uses a dog flap now no problem & trots of looking to see if we are watching . Fudge the younger one is fine. I have been told Bichons are hard to train, the vet said Molly will never house train at her age, dont know if anyone agrees, or even has any advice, I have taken her back to basics so many times but she still has "indoor moments" she also hates the rain.
Good job we love her to bits
regards Pauline

You say you've taken her back to basics many times - they key is to go back to basics and stay there until it become habit for her - take her out every half an hour or so, and reward her (with something she views as a worth while reward so she repeats the behaviour to get the reward - it may even be worth while withholding part of a meal to use as a reward - she won't starve!) when she performs.  Don't let up until you've had a reasonable period with no 'accidents'.

Hi all!  I am new to this site and have had a gsd pup for about 10 months now... He is to say the very least hyper active and I am finding it really hard controlling him.  He has been to puppy classes and they asked us to leave the class because he was causing a problem with the other dogs.  He has had one to one sessions with the Crown Protection Services.  They had him for about 3 weeks and when he was there he was perfect although they did say that he had a problem retaining information.  They have done as much as they can with him.  My fiance and I went and had some training with him as well so we could continue the work with him at  home but as soon as he got home he became uncontrollable again.  I am at the end of the rope and really need some help!!!  Any ideas

Sending your dog away to get trained is to be honest a waste of money It took me a year to retrain a bitch for a friend back to normality after having been sent away to be trained

Depending on where you live you might want to try the British Association for German Shepherd Dogs they have branches around the country for GSDs & whatever your problem they will have seen it before

Thanks.  I will give them a call and see what they say.  I have tried everything with him.  I have been to training with him and have spent a fortune.  Sending  him away was the last straw and I am still no better off.  I really adore that dog and dont really want to see him go.  I will try anything.

Don't let him go... Come on here and ask for advice, they are a very helpful bunch. If I could I would take him and you know that. I will lend you that book I was reading about, maybe try contacting the author, you have to try everything on Sky, he is such a lovely boy.

I promise not to rush into it.  I am willing to try anything.

Good. Talk about it tonight.

Hi Poppysparkel,
Just thought I'd write a quick note re: training your pup to go in one area of the garden.  I did this with my last dog because like you, it was a big garden and a pain to have to search everywhere for dog poo. It did work, but needs a lot of patience but personally, I found it well worth the effort. First of all I would put some of the low garden edging around the area you want the puppy to go so that he can distinguish between his toilet area and the rest of the garden.  Then I would keep taking him out on the lead as you have been doing, and as he starts to go, give him the command you want to use and reward with your treat when he finishes.  AFTER he has been to the toilet THEN let him off the leash to play.  This is a great motivator for any puppy as they love to run around. I think the trick is to never let him run round the garden on his own until this toilet area is practically perfect.  As I said, a hassle to start with but as you will have your pup for a long long time I think the ground work pays off in the end.
good luck