Matt Yette
03-17-2005, 09:41 AM
I got Mugsy when he was 9 weeks old, he is now 15 weeks. I got him from a puppy store who gets the pups from breeders (with names and everything - I'm against mills), and when I got him, he was the only one who whined when I went near the cages with the pups in them.
Up until about 2-3 weeks ago, he was a timid pup, not super shy or scared, but enough so that I couldn't really work on any training with him for longer than a couple of minutes. He would start to get scared and shiver a lot. I started him off in a small crate (halved by putting a box in the back half), which after the first week or so, he would surprisingly make it all night long without wetting it. I left the crate in my room near my bed so he felt more comfortable about being in there. I am gone from 6:30am to 6:30pm, but my roommate is a local teacher so he is able to come home at lunch (11:30am) and after school (3:30pm), so he's never left alone for too long. About a week ago, I moved him to a larger cage, one of the metal ones with a front locking door and a black plastic tray in the bottom of it. In the back half of the cage I put his doggie bed (he loves the walls around the outside of the bed, I think) and in the front half, a piece of newspaper in case he can't hold it while no one is home.
He was never 100% consistent while in his small crate. He would usually be just fine in the morning hours, but sometimes when my roommate would get home after school, he would find that the pup had wet the crate. This discouraged me because I KNEW he could hold it for 8 hours because he does it every night, so I didn't, and still don't, understand why he would do that sometimes.
Now with the paper in his large cage, sometimes he'll use it, and sometimes he won't go in there at all. I still have to basically tell him to go back into his cage when I am not directly interacting with him, for he will still sometimes pee on the floor in the kitchen. It's so touch and go with Mugsy because he pees INSTANTLY once we get outside, and he poops freely out there too. He definitely knows that outside is where we go pee and poop. For the past few weeks, I've been putting his leash on, walking to the door, tapping on the door and telling him, "Mugsy, speak outside, speak" and he'll bark for me, and I'll praise him and we'll walk outside. Outside the door is a small hallway to the outer door, and I'd say 20% of the time he'll start to pee once he walks out to the hallway. I pick him up and scold him, telling him pee-pee OUTSIDE, and then take him out where he finishes his business. The other 80% of the time, he waits for me to open the outer door, then scoots down the porch to the driveway to go.
My problem is, I really haven't been able to get him to tell me WHEN he has to go. I take him out on schedule, basically, but I have no idea if, and when, I can begin trusting him to let me know around the house. Also, is it a good idea to facilitate relieving himself in the front part of his cage? (I don't want him to when we're home, it's more there for when no one is around and he has to go)
He's really come a LONG way in discipline, so I'm hoping I can tie that to the potty training as well. He'll sit, stay, speak, and "go nite nite", which means get in your crate. Before when I tried to instruct him on anything, he'd immediately get timid. Now when I tell him nite nite, and he wants to stay and hug his daddy, he'll lower his ears and hang around, and I will get persistent and turn my tone down a little, like he's starting to be naughty, and he'll hop on over to the crate, and I'll give him a treat. So it's going better. But sometimes I'll leave him gated in the kitchen for just a minute and he pees! Unacceptable!!
So that was my random ramblings...If anyone can offer any insight specific to my experiences I'd love it!
Matt
Up until about 2-3 weeks ago, he was a timid pup, not super shy or scared, but enough so that I couldn't really work on any training with him for longer than a couple of minutes. He would start to get scared and shiver a lot. I started him off in a small crate (halved by putting a box in the back half), which after the first week or so, he would surprisingly make it all night long without wetting it. I left the crate in my room near my bed so he felt more comfortable about being in there. I am gone from 6:30am to 6:30pm, but my roommate is a local teacher so he is able to come home at lunch (11:30am) and after school (3:30pm), so he's never left alone for too long. About a week ago, I moved him to a larger cage, one of the metal ones with a front locking door and a black plastic tray in the bottom of it. In the back half of the cage I put his doggie bed (he loves the walls around the outside of the bed, I think) and in the front half, a piece of newspaper in case he can't hold it while no one is home.
He was never 100% consistent while in his small crate. He would usually be just fine in the morning hours, but sometimes when my roommate would get home after school, he would find that the pup had wet the crate. This discouraged me because I KNEW he could hold it for 8 hours because he does it every night, so I didn't, and still don't, understand why he would do that sometimes.
Now with the paper in his large cage, sometimes he'll use it, and sometimes he won't go in there at all. I still have to basically tell him to go back into his cage when I am not directly interacting with him, for he will still sometimes pee on the floor in the kitchen. It's so touch and go with Mugsy because he pees INSTANTLY once we get outside, and he poops freely out there too. He definitely knows that outside is where we go pee and poop. For the past few weeks, I've been putting his leash on, walking to the door, tapping on the door and telling him, "Mugsy, speak outside, speak" and he'll bark for me, and I'll praise him and we'll walk outside. Outside the door is a small hallway to the outer door, and I'd say 20% of the time he'll start to pee once he walks out to the hallway. I pick him up and scold him, telling him pee-pee OUTSIDE, and then take him out where he finishes his business. The other 80% of the time, he waits for me to open the outer door, then scoots down the porch to the driveway to go.
My problem is, I really haven't been able to get him to tell me WHEN he has to go. I take him out on schedule, basically, but I have no idea if, and when, I can begin trusting him to let me know around the house. Also, is it a good idea to facilitate relieving himself in the front part of his cage? (I don't want him to when we're home, it's more there for when no one is around and he has to go)
He's really come a LONG way in discipline, so I'm hoping I can tie that to the potty training as well. He'll sit, stay, speak, and "go nite nite", which means get in your crate. Before when I tried to instruct him on anything, he'd immediately get timid. Now when I tell him nite nite, and he wants to stay and hug his daddy, he'll lower his ears and hang around, and I will get persistent and turn my tone down a little, like he's starting to be naughty, and he'll hop on over to the crate, and I'll give him a treat. So it's going better. But sometimes I'll leave him gated in the kitchen for just a minute and he pees! Unacceptable!!
So that was my random ramblings...If anyone can offer any insight specific to my experiences I'd love it!
Matt