Potty Training My Cockapoo

Updated on July 26, 2010
L.B. asks from Berwick, ME
6 answers

Thank you for all the great tips!!! Potty training is going better. She is going on the paper that I put down near the door
But sometimes will go elsewhere. It seems like she is starting to understand why we go outside and she is enjoying the reward and praise she gets after she goes outside.

I picked up a bell at the dollar store and will try the bell suggestion.

Thanks!

HELP!!!! We love our 16 week old cockapoo, but she is not learning to potty train! We are using a crate, fit to her size, but she has peed in it a few times. Sometimes she pees on the newpaper I put down for her. She poops all over the place. (I try to keep a close eye on her when she is out of the crate but she is fast and will get away and before I can blink my eye she has pooped on the floor). We take her outside and she does not seem to understand that we want her to pee. We take her out at regular times and do not play with her when we take her out, but she will still pee/poop somewhere other than the grass, such as the porch or when we go inside or not at all. II take her out soon after eating and still no luck!!!!

Last night she did not mess in her crate and when I took her out this a.m, she dribbled a few drops on the floor, I ran outside with her and put her in the grass and she did not go right away, after a little while went by she walked over to the patio and peed on it.

Help, help, help, any tips appreciated!!!!

.

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S.S.

answers from Binghamton on

How soon after eating are you taking her out? I would wait about 30 minutes, give or take 10 before taking her out after a meal. Does she have a bowl of water at all times down for her? If so, you can put ice cubes in her bowl instead of the water, that way she will get the water she needs but won't over indulge until she has matured enough to be able to hold it. As far as not going when she's outside I have a few suggestions, first is take her for a walk, my dog has a hard time going if we just let him in the backyard, he has to go for a walk to help work the food through his system and 2nd, this is going to sound a little far fetched but go to a vets or a shelter (or even find a friend who has a dog or two) ask them for the 'droppings' and design the area where you want her to go (if you have a friend with a dog have them bring the dog over and direct them as to where you want the dog to leave their scent (all the dog has to do is pee/poop) but be sure to keep it a couple feet away from the patio.) Dogs will always go where another dog has, it's a way of marking their territory. Be sure to praise her ALOT when she goes where you want. Also, just a side note, dogs live in the here and now and will not remember why you are yelling at them for something they did a hour ago so although you still feel the need to grumble it could just confuse her as to what you want her to do. You could also teach her to ring bells when she has to go out. Let me know how everything works out for you. Good luck!

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J.C.

answers from Sacramento on

We got a new puppy last summer and it was recommended to us by my sister who had her hunting dog, then puppy, the yr earlier professionally trained. She said the trainer recommended to us to tie a larger jingle bell ( got some at Walmart in crafts) on a long ribbon on the interior of the the primary exterior door handle or knob.You tie it to the knob of the door you use most often to take the puppy out to go. The bell needs to be hung securely on the ribbon at the dogs eye level. Each time you take the dog out that door to you ring the bell on your own with the puppy at your feet. After about a week or so of continually ringing the bell each time our pup was walking over to the same door and poking the bell with his nose to tell us he needed to go out to go. We have used the bell method for over a yr and have kept it on, the dog continues to ring it when he wants out. It is helpful too because our house is 2 story so if we are upstairs we hear the bell ring and quickly go down to let the dog out. Be sure you are taking the dog our hourly to go especially after the puppy eats, drinks alot and plays actively. It is unusual that you dog "goes" in his crate, I do knojw some breeds are harder to train than onthers, keep trying.Puppies and dogs generally like them since they give them a sense of security, we cover the top and sides of ours with a ligh sheet or blanket so it is den-like. When he/she does go outside be sure you are really praising the puppy immediatley and do this praising for a while. Hope these tips help, we've been there, keep trying. Good luck

PS- U may also want to search this topic on the same web-site, I know the question has come up before and you can see how it was answered.

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N.B.

answers from Jamestown on

We had this problem too with our shepherd/beagle/collie pup when she was 10-13wks. Thank God for Wal-mart's pet carpet shampooer! She also did her business in the crate a few times the first week.

When she "goes" in the house tell her "No Bad Potty in the house!" and take her outside immediately!..sometimes taking the paper towel saturated in the urine outside and "making" her sniff it in the grass, will help her identify that that's where she is supposed to go and tell her excitedly " Good Potty outside" and give her a treat after she does her business.

When she poopies inside, do the same thing. "Bad poopies inside, Good poopies outside" . Put her poop in the designated area you want her to go. It took us four days after doing this before Liliah got the idea.

Our trainer says that if we don't see the puppy do it, we cannot punish them for it since WE were not watching him/her close enough.

Try this web site. It helped us before we could get our puppy into obedience training:
http://information.i-love-dogs.com/dog-articles/dog-train...

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D.H.

answers from Indianapolis on

Take a deep breath..........It sounds like she has been left in a cage most of her life without knowing what is going on...............we ended up with a dog that way too........he didn't even know he was SUPPOSED to go outside, he thought that was what his cage was for. She needs to be trained and it's hard, and you need to take it slow.........

First off.........take her to a park, and walk her........let her smell the outside, make sure when you get there you give her plenty of water so she has to pee.............and the longer you can stay in the park, the better, so she has to go outside...........

Next, when you get her home.........to start with, let her out every half hour for the first 3 or 4 days.........EVERY hour........my hubby and I switched every other night.......the if she does well with that, try every hour, then hour and a half.....and progress as she does, if she does really well, then be sure to praise her ALOT, and give her treats...........turkey hotdogs, in pieces work and they are cheap...........

Try to make sure you feed her at the same time, or watch when she eats........about half an hour to an hour, she will have to go out.......don't rush her.........

This takes patience, but once she figures out what you are wanting, and she is getting treats and loving praise with excitement when she does what she is supposed to, she'll be just fine........

Good Luck and hang in there, you can do this!

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C.H.

answers from New York on

I'll try to keep this brief and this is just my experience with training my own dogs! Maybe use a leash to get her right to the spot you want her to go and when you have her there and she's actually going use a word such as "potty" or "pee pee". Then she can relate the word to what she has to do. This has always worked for me. You have to be persistent with the training, shortly after she drinks or eats take her right out since that will give it enought time to pass through.
Shrink the crate down so she has no room to really turn around much in, just to lay down. Then she can't make the mess and they don't like to mess on themselves..usually. If she was at a pet shop or cage like atmosphere for a little while before you got her she might be use to going in close quarters so it might take you a little longer. I've seen it work thought being persistent and having a smaller cage.
Be happy it's summer time and easier then the winter to do this! Lots of reptition though and praise her after she goes of course on the spot you want in the grass.
She might not be use to grass either if like I said she was raised initially in a pet shop or run or a crate. So spend time there too with the leash.
Woops, guess this is longer then I thought! Good luck!
Oh, I just wanted to add after just reading some of the other posts that I don't think it would be a good idea to gather "poop" from a shelter or vet clinic because the chance of disease or parasites. I doubt they would give you any for that reason either!

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A.T.

answers from New York on

HAve you tried the pee pads? We had trouble at first too then resorted to the pads and they work great for us.

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