HELP! Puppy peeing inside even though she has her own outside access.

Hi from Australia. 6 weeks ago I bought a 5 month old Chihuahua/Mini Fox Terrier cross. She is quite beautiful and very very intelligent but Im having terrible trouble toilet training her. After I had bought her I discovered that she had been living outside in a small run, which was not what I was told when I went to see her before purchase. I was told she was an inside dog and trained. When I first got her home she peed wherever she wanted to. This included on my bed, on the sofa, and even in her own bed, as well as other places around the house, and this has been the case for most of the time I have had her. The thing which frustrates me is that she has access to the yard via a doggy door and has never once pooed inside. If she has access to outside via the dog door, and she does her business outside, why does she pee inside? I find this very odd. I do have another Chihuahua/Mini Fox Terrier who is a much older dog, and I expected some territorial behaviour from either or both but as it happens they get on extremely well and have done from day 1. Rubi [the newbie] has a very strong personality so I do suspect she is trying to dominate my other girl, and me, however, she doesn't always pee where my other girl has been.
I have tried most if not all of your methods for potty training including the clicker method. That seemed to be the best way for her to learn and we were making good progress. After using this method, and heaps of praise and food rewards, she went five days without an accident inside. I thought things were going well and began random rewards and heaps of praise when she peed outside. Recently though it rained heavily and she refused to go out to pee, doing it inside instead. At one time she peed right next to where I was standing, and it was obvious that she knew I was there. She just did it again as I was typing this. I do take her outside every time she wakes, or gets excited after a play. I take her out during the night and probably about every 2 hours during the day regardless. I have tried very hard not to growl at her but I am at my wits end. I do not know what to do with this little dog. Please HELP us. BTW Both my dogs are desexed.

Many thanks in advance for your replies and experience.
Erica [and Rubi] from Australia.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mum to Rubi

The thing which frustrates me is that she has access to the yard via a doggy door and has never once pooed inside. If she has access to outside via the dog door, and she does her business outside, why does she pee inside?

---

Peeing and Pooing are two different acts. She has learned that she is to puo outside but hasn't yet learned the same with peeing.

Quote:

---

I do have another Chihuahua/Mini Fox Terrier who is a much older dog, and I expected some territorial behaviour from either or both but as it happens they get on extremely well and have done from day 1. Rubi [the newbie] has a very strong personality so I do suspect she is trying to dominate my other girl, and me, however, she doesn't always pee where my other girl has been.

---

Territorial behavior and domination are greatly overblown. They rarely happen in a good home environment.

Quote:

---

I have tried most if not all of your methods for potty training including the clicker method.

---

I am a big fan of clicker training and have taught clicker training for several years. I just don't think potty training lends itself well to the clicker. It takes too long to get many repititions.

Quote:

---

At one time she peed right next to where I was standing, and it was obvious that she knew I was there. She just did it again as I was typing this. I do take her outside every time she wakes, or gets excited after a play. I take her out during the night and probably about every 2 hours during the day regardless. I have tried very hard not to growl at her but I am at my wits end. I do not know what to do with this little dog. Please HELP us. BTW Both my dogs are desexed.

---

I am sure she just hasn't learned yet that peeing is always done outside, rain or shine. My dogs stand under the eaves of the house when they go out to potty while it's raining. The important questions I have for you is, 1. How do you react when you catch her peeing inside? and 2. How do you react when you find a pool of pee inside but didn't catch her making it?

You need to make sure that any scent left from her toileting indoors is completely gone. Normal disinfectants won't get rid of the smell, you need a specialist cleaner, or a biological washing powder mixed up to clean it up.

Treat your dog as you would a puppy, and watch closely for when it needs to go out, after meals and sleep, play etc. Teach your dog to go on command, by putting a word to it and rewarding when it goes.

Have you had your dog checked by the vet for any problems in that area, such as cystitius. What food are you feeding? Dry completes can make the dog drink a lot more, and then pee more as well.

Also keeping yur dog confined to a very small area, is likely to help, as most dogs do not want to toilet near sleeping areas.

Keep calm, because you getting angry is more likely to make the dog stressful, and more likely to pee as well.

Good luck
Jan

Thanks for your reply Bill. As to how I react when Rubi pees inside. If I catch her in the act, I will wag my finger at her and say 'Ah aa, No' in a serious but not raised voice and then immediately put her outside and say 'outside squat'. If I find a pee spot and shes not near it I do and say nothing to her. I NEVER yell at my girls or raise my voice. I see my dogs as little people with fur on, and try to treat them that way, although I am aware that dogs are not really human and have needs and behaviours specific to their species. :o Having said that they sure can be smarter than many people though. Thanks again for your input, its much appreciated.
- Erica

Hi Jan and thanks for taking the time to reply. I have been doing as you suggested re the residual scent from her peeing. I use a specialist cleaner. And yes, I have told myself that Rubi is really only 'new' about 8 weeks old, and that has saved me headaches. It wasn't her fault that she was left in a very small area in the side of a yard for five months, so she has learned her behaviour from her siblings, and her limited physical environment. My sister is a vet and has checked Rubi out and says all is fine, its just learned behaviour. I have to try to retrain her brain. I never get angry with her, although I do get frustrated and she may pick up on that so I will try to keep calm. In the past day or two she has improved slightly, which is pleasing. I am very patient, and she is a very smart little dog. She learned how to say Hi by raising her paw, to drop down, to 'leave it' when I put a treat on the floor near her until I say 'at ease', and other tricks - and she learned all the above in around 15 minutes or less per trick. As I said, she's clever. I just have to get her to understand that outside is for peeing and inside is not. We will get there however slowly. Thanks again.
- Erica

Erica,
You seem to be responding to her peeing inside correctly, howevever I would like to point out one thing you may or may not be doing that is very important. When you catch her in the act and put her outside, stay out with her. As soon as she begins peeing offer encouraging words. Once she is finished, hopefully you have a treat on you that you can give to her. Praise her lavishly for peeing outside as you are giving her a treat.

Hi Erica! I have 5 month old puppy too! He is an Alaskan Malamute :) I was getting frustrated when he was peeing and pooping in the house but I knew it was just a phase. Luckily the only carpets in my house are the stairs and landing so when he did have an accident I'd just mop it up. He did have certain sptos he liked to go as i hadn't cleaned it correctly.

I'll try to add any extra advice to the above as they have covered lots of points :) I'm sorry if I mention things that are on this website. This is my second visit and I haven't had a browse yet :)

I wouldn't lose hope just yet as your baby is still a puppy! Most dogs are classed as puppies until they are about 18 months old and they don't really mature mentally until they are 2 years old. My boy will be bigger than a German Shepherd in a few more months and will probably still be bounding about like a new puppy then! Puppies bladders won't be fully mature until 6 months anyway, so you have one month left :p

I wonder if it is mainly because where ever she lived before she was allowed to pee where ever and her bladder has got used to that meaning she can't hold it for very long now? Like us if we go to the toilet too often and don't train ourselves to wait, when our bladders get to a certain level we get an urge to go to the loo more often when actually our bladder might hardly be full at all just our instincts telling us to go out of habit.

I don't know if you have a "crate" for your puppy(a cage basically). Even if you don't want to do this for the long term might I suggest you try it just for the peeing training and you can stop using it if you like when she is over this phase.

The reasons I use "crate training" is: it means when you are out of the house they cannot harm themselves by eating/chewing anything that might hurt them, not destroying your possessions while you are out and not soiling inside the house.

Here is my routine. Morning: Go down stairs and do not talk to Hudson straight away(The reason for this is if you fuss them when you return to them they will become anxious when you leave them again. "Separation anxiety" bad cases have led to dogs being put down as they have been so traumatised)
Then let Hudson out of his cage let him sniff around the room for a bit of have cuddles then I take him outside and say "wee wee" he has a wee. We may play a bit before I tell him to have a poo but I know he will need to so I don't leave it too long. I give him his breakfast after he has pooed.
When I go to work I tell him to get in his crate where I give him his dinner. (Never put him in his crate as punishment as they will associate it negatively. A crate should be their safe place and their own "den" it also shouldn't be too big for them. Enough room to turn around, stand and lay down in)
When I return I do the same as i do in the mornings. And at night time I put him in his crate when I go to bed.

The point of all this is, as mentioned above dogs don't(normally) soil where they sleep! So by leaving them in the crate you are not giving them an option to go to the toilet until you return and they are outside. I believe this is why we have been successful and also just that Hudson has lived here since he was 8 weeks and now knows where he needs to go for his business! We do need to watch him though as he started making a habit of running next door to do a poo as I don't think he wanted to soil his own garden!

In conclusion, you don't need to worry yet but It must be annoying is you have carpets!

Hope this helps!

Jules x

Look forward to hearing how it's going x

We had a bit of an issue with a puppy in our wider family who just didn't get it when it came to urinating in the house. The taking her out immediately and staying out with her was a pain, but it paid off eventually, suddenly she understood what was expected. Good luck with it, I am sure you will have a good outcome very soon.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by HudsonRiver

Hi Erica! I have 5 month old puppy too! He is an Alaskan Malamute :)
I wouldn't lose hope just yet as your baby is still a puppy! Most dogs are classed as puppies until they are about 18 months old and they don't really mature mentally until they are 2 years old. Puppies bladders won't be fully mature until 6 months anyway, so you have one month left :p

I wonder if it is mainly because where ever she lived before she was allowed to pee where ever and her bladder has got used to that meaning she can't hold it for very long now?
Jules x

Look forward to hearing how it's going x

---

Hey Jules, and thankyou for taking the time to write such a long response. I really do appreciate it when people take the time to give to others and to share their knowledge - it makes the world a happier place, and it would be nice if it happened more often and about many things, not just our beloved pets. Anyway, good news on the Rubi front. We've had a number of pee free days where she seems to have decided that, rain or shine it is okay to go out through the dog door and pee on the grass. Wooo Hoooo, I am so pleased, and I'm sure she is too.
Our pets are smarter than most people think and they do pick up on our moods so, even though I never raised my voice, she knew I wasn't happy about her behaviour - she just didn't quite know how to get to where I wanted her to go BUT it seems that may have changed, and suddenly too. Its as if she had a 'lightbulb' moment. I'm not saying its all okay yet - as you point out she is still a baby, but she really has been SO good.

Shes a funny little thing. I think you're right when you mention that where she was before she was allowed to pee anywhere. I get the feeling she was rarely allowed inside and when she did come in, she got excited and what do excited puppies do? they pee. I will never be certain but I think she may associate inside with peeing for that reason. She certainly has some kind of hangup about urination because when I take her and Maya, my ten year old, for a walk, Maya pees on every thing she can, trying to eliminate other dogs scent, but Rubi hangs on. No matter how long we walk, she will wait till we get home. When she empties her bladder after a long walk she can squat for ages. I dont know how she holds on as long as she does.
Dogs get phobias and fears and neurosis just like people do and Ive been trying patiently to coax her into a 360 on her previous learned behaviour. It must be hard on her, on any animal that has been conditioned the wrong way, or worse, mistreated. Can you imagine how smart they are even to understand what we're saying? I reckon it must be a bit like me speaking english and living with a person who speaks another language, neither one understanding the other but having to get along somehow so we listen and learn. We would try to remember expressions, cue words, and responses and rewards. Dogs are SO much better at this than most people, so much smarter, and so much more patient than people give them credit for - at least I think so.
I have spent many many hours outside with Rubi, both in the day and in the dark and cold, waiting for her to pee. I have encouraged quietly, praised lavishly when she's done it, ignored the puddles inside when I havent seen her do it etc. Thats why I posted here - I was so desperate, because I felt I'd done just about everything right [except crating] and I was so worried that something was terribly wrong but it seems not.
I know that my patience will be rewarded tenfold in the future but she has been a hard one to toilet train. My other older girl spoilt me - she trained so easily. Anyway, things are going well now and even if there's a little backward moment, it will be 5 steps forward 1 back from now on, I just know it.

It sounds as though you have more work than I do, if only in the size of the puddles :) My Rubi is only 2 kilos [about 2 and 1/4 pounds?] so her pee spots were relatively small. Hudson is already many times her size so you probably need a mop and bucket ;). Like me though you will be rewarded with love and company and loyalty and unconditional love, for as long as you two are together. Like you, I just love my dogs. By the way, I just viewed Hudson playing with Lula. He really was very gentle wasn't he? They looked as though they didnt have a care in the world, and that's just how it should be.
Well, must go. Many thanks again for taking the time to respond to my request. Have a great day.

Erica [Mum to Maya and Rubi]

Hi there and thanks for taking time out to respond to my post. Yes you're right about staying out with the puppy and being patient. As I've said in my post below I have spent many hours outside with Rubi, both in the day and in the dark and cold, waiting for her to pee, quietly but persistently coaching her, and it seems [fingers crossed] to have finally paid off. Patience, persistence, and the knowledge that we actually dont speak the same language, is a must. Our dogs are smarter than we are Im sure. Anyway, Ive had quite a few pee free days and am very happy, as too is Rubi Im sure.
have a great day,
Erica