Please can anyone help. I have a 5 month old dobe bitch and she is still messing everywhere. I have tried all the usual stuff, letting her out every hour and after meals etc, but she just doesnt seem to get the picture. She has a long walk every day, but as soon as she gets in she poos in the kitchen. Its the same when she has been outside. I am having to keep her in the kitchen, because i have two young children, and I really dont like this idea as she gets bored easy and then gets destructive. I dont want to get rid of her , as she is a family member, but I would like any ideas that anybody has, on how to control this mess. Thanx in advance for your help. Becky

Hi Becky
I have a nearly 5 month Dobe male and we are making good progress ont his one but for the odd accident overnight.
Are you actually taking the dog out on a lead to a designated spot or just letting her out to go on her own. I know that the few times that I have tried letting Jake out he just starts to play and doesn't realise the readon that he is let out is to do his biz.

If you're not taking her out to a designated spot and using a command for her to go then I suggest that this method is worth a try, I take Jake out on his lead and to his sandpit and then say Go wee or whatever and basically wait until he has done it and then go over the top with praise. I used to have to wait up to 1/2 hour for him to get it (which is a pain esp. when raining etc) but now he completes the whole process in about 2 mins flat !!

It sound like she has built up the idea that the house is her toilet and therefore is why she won't go when out on walks. When I first took Jake on walks, he would not go to the toilet but would hold on until we got back to the garden but now thankfully this is not the case. Make sure you clean the areas well where she has been so she can't smell it and go back to the same place and just keep going outside and stay with her until she HAS done something.

If that doesn't work, I will hand over to Kerioak who will undoubtably have many more sensible ideas.
Good Luck
Beth

P.S. Watch it with the long walks, I don't think you're supposed to walk a 5 month old for very long

We managed to get Max our GSD toilet trained by about 5 months just by praising him when he did something on the grass. We had a few accidents and I know a lot of books say you have to just ignore him if he makes a mistake, but usually an "Oh no" and he soon got the message. We started out rewarding with a tit bit when he did it in the right place and gradually weaned him off them replacing it with praise and if he tried to go on the path we gave him a stern No and immediately took him to some grass where he could releive himself. This is one of the few areas we've had no problems with him :d

thank you for your help. I am going to give the designated spot thing a try because as you mentioned, she does like to play when she goes out. Thanx again, any other ideas will be gratefully recieved. Becky

Holly our 15wk old Cocker Spaniel has a designated area - the back step :D She's being a right little madam at the moment and won't go anywhere other than on the patio and the back step is her favourite place when it's raining.

My mum reckons she prefers the patio because the grass is so long it tickles her bits :D

Fiona

Do remember too, to thoroughly clean everywhere they have gone in the house...NOT with disnfectant as this i believe may c0ntain ammonia which smells good to dogs....use a biological cleaner/washing powder solution.

We had a short period when our dog seemed to go backwards in her training, but it was because she had "gone" for a wee and i hadn't realised, so hadn't cleaned it up and she could still smell it.

Good luck
Lindsay

Becky
Just out of interest, where did you get here from as because she and Jake are the same age, I suppose they could be from the same litter!! Stranger things have happened. How's it going anyway
Beth

Hi Becky

Beth has come up with the basic rule in house training your pup - take her rather than putting her outside. I would suggest that you go right back to the beginning of house training. Every time she wakes up, has eaten, and hourly thoughout the hours you are awake, quietly take her outside. You will soon get used to putting wellies on and off and learn to keep the torch in the same place at all times <g>

Gently say the word you are going to use to get her to pee and poo - ultimately dogs learn to go on command if you are consistant in this. The reason for doing things gently and quietly is that pups are easily distracted and even a moving leaf can be more interesting that weeing.

Unless you catch her in the act then totally ignore accidents indoors - if you get mad when you see a mess all your pup will think is that you are angry when you come into the room - she won't put the mess and your anger together. If you catch her in the act then you can either take her outside (and risk a trail) or say the word you are going to use for elimination and outside, and take her out immediately afterwards (before you clean up).

I hope your pup is not Jake's sister - if it is I will start to get worried about Beth and co-incidences:-)
She posted her first mail on Monday and that afternoon we met up at an agricultural merchants a few miles away, neither of us knowing who the other was. I have since met her and Jake for coffee and he is a typical Jack-in-the-Box Dobe pup!

Let us know how you get on

Christine

Hi Christine

My god, don't tell me I HAVE done one thing right - I have just picked myself up off the floor - HOHO!!
I am however, beginning to wonder when he will actually be able to go outside on his own and do his biz (have visions of putting the lead on 8 times a day when he's 7 years old) but slowly slowly catchy monkey (or something stupid like that !)
Yes, wouldn't it be wierd if Jake was the brother of the above metioned Dobe, I would seriously worry about being a witch (although I really should work on that spell of no biting for my little mockodile!!)
Seriously though, for everyone I don't want to speak too soon but we may also be getting somewhere on the biting front.. Will keep you all posted !
Beth

Well somethings wrong with the training, I've had this breed since 70's and within days they have all been going to paper on floor and as soon as they are allowed out it has never taken more than a week at the outside, with one dog, and thats been that.

Febreeze the antibacterial type (yellow bottle) is good for covering up those accidents in the house :D