Frustrated Chocolate Lab Puppy Owner!

lisa09

lisa09

Member
I have questions-first one--Maggie was potty trained for about a week! now she is peeing again, no urgency just peeing, she will pee just about anywhere, I just caught her peeing on my bed...SHE DID IT RIGHT IN FONT OF ME!!!:mad: I'm not happy!!! She even pees in her crate all the time, I'm very frustrated, O_o I have done everything... second-- she is still nipping, jumping and doesn't come when I call her, well sometimes she does, but she just sits there and stares at me or walks away. :( I don't understand what is going on, she is literally my fourth child, she goes everywhere I do and she follows me everywhere I treat her like gold! She will be 5 months on June 4th and I am worried if I don't get this in control now, I will have a dog that jumps on everyone, pees in my house and is nipping because it is fun. :cry: She is well tempered and calm not much of a barker, we go for 2-3 walks/runs a day and she eats high quality food, Im doing everything....please help!!!! :unsure:
 
648117

648117

Honored Member
Hi
I think there has to be no accidents for a lot longer than a week for the dog to be potty trained.

Anyway, my puppy is 8 months old and still has accidents in the house (even though we have an older dog that never toilets inside that she can follow) so I understand your frustration. Holly only has accidents in the evening now and mostly only if it is raining outside. During the day she happily takes herself out through the dog door.

I'll tell you some of the things that I've been told (although it has not fully worked with my puppy yet) to try and help you:

1) Some puppy's take longer than others, even the trainer at obedience class said she had a sheltie that took over a year to fully toilet train.

2) Make sure the crate is not too big.

3) Make sure you are taking the dog outside often enough, especially after meals and play.

4) (this one helped us) start feeding the puppy its meals in the crate. Holly would toilet in her crate, she would even go into it on her own just to toilet during the day (even if the door to the backyard was open) but feeding her in the crate helped, except she still sometimes wees in there during the night.

5) If it wees in the crate at night then pick up the water bowl a couple of hours before bed time. And don't leave the dogs food out all the time, have set feeding times.

6) Make sure the place where the puppy toileted is properly clean so the puppy can't smell it.

7) Try doing some training in the area that it toileted so it learns that that area is not a toilet (especially if the puppy is toileting in a out of the way area).

8) Give the puppy a treat every time it goes to the toilet in the correct place (we have a container of treats next to the back door).

9) If you catch the puppy going in the wrong place then take it straight outside to finish (pick the puppy up if you have to) and give it a treat if it finishs in the correct place.


That's all I can think of right now, but there are probably other things you could try.


For the other problems you could go on youtube and look at the kikopup clips, I know there are ones that deal with jumping up, biting and recall.

Holly was a biter (and still is a bit), a big part of the problem was people playing rough mouthy games with her where she was biting hands - once that stopped she was better.

For recall, practice lots in the house and yard and always have treats on you. Good treats, not just the dogs regular food.


Some other more experienced members will probably reply soon with some better advice :)
 
Anneke

Anneke

Honored Member
I think 648117 covered the potty part, pretty well, although I do get the feeling, from your post, that this little girl is testing you.
Try to stay calm, when you catch her peeing. Just pick her up and take her outside.
Have a strickt scedule for this. at 5 months old she should be able to hold it up for about 3 hours, BUT every pup is different.
Also, make sure there is no medical problem. If she does a lot of little pees everywhere, it might be she has a bladder infection, this causes a dog not to be able to hold it in.
So be sure to have that checked out.

As for the behaviour.... welcom to puppyhood:D
Your pup is being completely normal. She is testing boundries, how far can I go, before mum gets mad! And it is your job to teach her the right way! In fact she IS your fourth child!
Jumping on people: Turn your back and don't give ANY attention. Not even to say NO. Negative attention is attention too. Only give attention when all four paws are on the floor. Then praise and treat. You have a lab, most labs are VERY food motivated. Also, be carefull about HOW you praise. Keep it short: good girl!
Nipping: scream when she nips. That may sound strange, but pups yelp when they get bitten by a littermate. Don't pull your hand back, just say AUCH in a high pitched tone. When she nipps during play, playtime is over. NO ATTENTION, when she doesn't play nice.
Come when called: Treats!! Start out by having her in front of you. Say her name and give her a treat. Do this about 5 times. She doesn't have to do anything yet. Just name-treat, name-treat. Then say her name and wait. When she looks at you-treat. That is what you want. If she doesn't, go back to name-treat a few more times.
That's the beginning of a recall.
when she looks at you, when you say her name, you can start walking backwards(away from her) just a few steps. When she comes-treat and praise!!!

It is important to be more interesting to your dog, than anything else. And this is very very difficult!!! Especially when you are already frustrated!

But remember: well behaved dogs are not born! You have to teach them what you want! And this takes time and effort.
In this stage of your dogs life, you need to set the rules.
And remember to have FUN!! Play with her, throw balls, toys, play tug games.
If she likes to tug, that is a good motivator too, when you don't have treats on hand. ;)

Raising a pup is not an easy thing, but it can be very rewarding!
Feel free to ask anything here. There are a lot of experienced members, with a lot of different training ideas.
Good luck!
 
tigerlily46514

tigerlily46514

Honored Member
GREAT ADVICE ABOVE!!
You are working with a 4 month old baby dog. Some babydogs do not even develop the nerve endings til about 4 mos old, so it'd be like trying to trying to potty train a 1 year old human, jsut physically impossible, the nerves are not yet fully developed.

so do be patient, this is an infant baby dog!!
and GOOD ON YOU for walking the dog and giving good dog food!:) And do hang in there, you are not alone, LOTS of owners of puppies seem to go through a "pull out their hair" stage of frustration, but, it gets easier!

Here are some videos, each one is super short, hope something here helps: (There are some GREAT tips in this video, like about using proper cleansers, etc)
 
tigerlily46514

tigerlily46514

Honored Member
//and doesn't come when I call her, well sometimes she does, but she just sits there and stares at me or walks away. :(//
Let the puppy know YES! when she does return to you when called, like the others have also mentioned, i second their ideas.
My dog also sits there and stares at me when i call him,:D and i am very thrilled with that, just exactly what i want him to do, so he gets a party-in-his-mouth when he does that.
Which makes him want to do it more often.
Recall (the dog comes when called) is not the easiest thing in the world, but do hang in there. I think recall is not something we just teach, and then stop teaching it, imo. My dog gets daily practice to keep his recall sharp.

Lots and lots and lots of ways to teach recall, but, reply#4 in this thread is how i did it, and it worked great:
http://www.dogtrickacademy.com/members/forums/threads/recall.4659/
I put in a few tips in that reply#4, like don't use your dog's NAME only, (common mistake, but dog hears his name all day long)
and try to never ever call your dog when you know he won't return, such as when he is doing his pre-urination sniff/ about to pee, when you gotta go, you gotta go. Calling your dog when he won't come, weakens the cue. During training----and training recall takes a long long time---- the dog should be rewarded in some way, evvvvery time he gets it "right" and DOES show up.


I was extremely slow to fade out the rewards for coming to me when i called him. HOw i did it, was, i taught my dog that the word for CHEESE is "Buddy, come". My dog really thought i was yelling "cheese" to him,:ROFLMAO: so, of course, what dog says no to "cheese"?:ROFLMAO:
Then, after dog was solidly coming every time, even from far away,
even from around distractions,
then, i slowly, slowly faded out the treats, and began to use praise only/no treat, about every 3rd time,-----treat/treat/praise only/treat/treat/praise/treat/praise/treat/treat/praise/treat, and so on, slowly slowly fading out the food, AFTER he had it nailed----NOT while he was LEARNING it, okay?
there is NO harm done, if you continue rewarding "too long", but, you might weaken the cue if you withdraw rewards too fast, see?

and slowly,
faded out the treats.
This worked for my dog.
Keep treats itty bitty, so you don't get a fat dog, or a full dog.

To this day, years later, i STILL reward him every once in while for showing up when i call him, he never knows, if this might be the time he gets a prize for showing up.

and there are other tips in that thread, too.

but again, recall is sort of an ONGOING thing, that your dog might need lots of ongoing practice to keep it sharp.
 
lisa09

lisa09

Member
Thanks for all the advise. I will try feeding her in her crate, that might work to prevent the peeing in the crate at night,which is the only time she is in it becuase she literaly goes everywhere I go, and im not hanging out in her crate :ROFLMAO: I clean her accidents with natures choice(I think that's what it is called), any other suggestions? Her nipping and biting I have tried the ouch thing but that didnt really work, maybe I wasn't persistent enough, :unsure: I will try again She gets treats every time she pees and every time she comes to me when called, problem is outside not in side, I only call her after she is done, she goes in pretty much the same areas all the time. Does anyone have any suggestions on training treats, I was told carrots, broccoli, cheese, hot dogs but she doesn't like hot dogs, any other ideas?
 
KibasMom

KibasMom

Member
I wouldn't worry too much about it. Your pup still seems pretty young. It took my puppy until only last month to be mostly potty trained, he is now 7 months old. You should expect relapses every now and then and make sure you have a potty schedule that is mapped out. When I first got Kiba it was every half hour and every week or few days I would bump up the time by 15 minutes. He's been accident free for nearly a month now. Btw, how big is the kennel you have your pup in? Its usually practically ingrained into dogs that they dont like to go to the bathroom in a place that they are laying in but if the kennel that you have is too big for the puppy then they will settle for relieving themselves in a corner of it. Hope that helped, good luck!
 
KibasMom

KibasMom

Member
I just saw your other post! The ouch thing doesn't work with my dog either. Mostly you are going to have to wait for them to outgrow it because no matter how many times you give them a little smack on the nose, cry or do whatever, they are still most likely going to do it. The best thing you can do is definitely not encourage it and usually if my pup is nipping too hard when we play I ignore him till he calms down and repeat the process, soon he realizes that biting hard or biting at all gets him no attention. If that still doesnt work I would try a bitter spray that they sell specifically for puppies. If he's biting your hand or arm just spray it where he's biting and after a few times of the unpleasant taste in his mouth he might get the message. Also, I find that bananas and apples are excellent training treats as well as lunch meat because you can break it into pieces
 
Anneke

Anneke

Honored Member
My dogs don't eat fruit or veggies:D They hate it. So I use cheese, boiled chicken, hotdogs, ham, store bought treats(i know, not that good, but very easy) Their favorite is cheese.
 
tigerlily46514

tigerlily46514

Honored Member
If "ouch" is not working to stop puppy biting, you might consider the ideas in the video "Stop Puppy Biting" above, to train a puppy to do something else than bite. Worth a try anyway.

Excellent question---what to use for treats!? cuz that DOES matter!! It matters both in keeping up a dog's motivation to stick with his lessons, as well as the dog's health, and your budget, as well.:ROFLMAO:
I find most store bought treats to be horrible "health wise" to the dog, and the better ones are out of my budget.
What you use for a rreward, can vary from one dog to another. Some ppl here use tennis balls to reward their dog, as their dog truly loves tennis balls, but, my dog would probably glare at me if i offered him a tennis ball. I can however, offer him a brand new squeak toy for a reward, but, sometimes, that can prove a bit interruptive for some tricks, for *my* dog.

Lots of us also use tug-toy play as reward, but, for some tricks, i find tuggie toy play as a reward overly stimulating for *my* dog:rolleyes: for *that* particular trick, but, other times, tug-toy works great.
To use toy play as a reward, it's great if dog knows the "release" or "drop it" cue, so lesson can continue.:ROFLMAO:

For food rewards, do look over the recipes in the "Treats" section, lots and lots of homemade recipes there. Again, be sure to keep treats small, like size of a raisen, to avoid a full or a fat dog.:oops:
Some ppl do use carrotts, or frozen green beans. Bits of hotdogs rolled in parmesan cheese are seen as top treat by my dog, as are bits of real meat.
Here is the treat i use most often,http://www.dogtrickacademy.com/members/forums/threads/liver-cookies.4061/page-2
it's super easy to make, ----->about as hard to make as a batch of cookies every 3 weeks,
it's economical, costs about $6 to $8 for several weeks of treats,
it's totally healthy,
and most importantly,
dogs go crazy-gagga-nutz for that recipe!
(be sure you drain the ingredients super super well, btw)

GOOD LUCK and keep us posted!!
 
soca2

soca2

Member
Hi, The first thing I would do is visit your veterinarian and make sure there is no infection, bladder or kidney issues. My Lab actually has a kidney problem. Her accidents were lots of urine and she did not seem to know it was coming. Not that your puppy has kidney problems but it is always best to make sure there are no health issues first. Then she needs supervision so that she cannot have accidents, taken out more frequently until the problem improves I would use her crate to feed her and give her appropriate chew items making sure she is not in there to long. My Lab is deaf and I got her at about 13 weeks with absolutely no bite inhibition. That is a problem with deaf dogs because they can not hear the yelps of the other puppies when they bite too hard. It took lots of work but I taught her by yelping (even though she could not hear it it helps you with the correct behavior) and the behavior is pulling away, turning away and leaving the room if necessary. It is about telling the puppy you hurt me I am done playing with you. It needs to be immediate and very clear. It also needs to be done every time the puppy bites hard and then start doing the same for the softer bites and then when puppy is biting softer it should be done when the puppy's teeth touch you. They are learning that humans have soft skin and any teeth hurt them. Make sure to have toys handy and filled frozen Kongs are great. Teach her to hold and give toys and too retrieve. Labs are mouthy and need an appropriate outlet.
Carry around her food in a pouch and use it to reward her anytime she is doing something you like. Watching you, sitting, lying calmly, chewing an appropriate item!
Cheryl
 
MissyBC

MissyBC

Experienced Member
As for potty schedules... here's one I used for my dog when she was a pup:

7:35 a.m. - pee + poo
7:50 - walk/no pee or poo
9:25 - pee + poo
10:15 - 10:45 - walk
10:25 - pee
10:50 - eat
11:40 - pee
11:50 - crate (our mudroom)
12:45 - pee
1:15 - eat
2:00 - 2:55 - walk
2:10 - pee
2:12 - poo
4:15 - pee
5:55 - pee
8:00 - eat
8:40 - pee + walk
10:30 - play
10:45 - pee + poo

Your schedule is most likely quite different but I wanted to give you an example. I got my pup on January 28, 2011 and this schedule was from Feb. 9th, 2011. That day, we had no accidents 'cause I stuck to her like glue!

Missy was potty trained by the time she was 6 months old. Her signal to go outside is: licking, scratching, then biting the floor (if I don't get to her sooner!)... :)

Hope this helps!

GOOD LUCK!
 
Dogster

Dogster

Honored Member
Hmm.... Well, if you follow a schedule like the one above^ and you notice that your puppy doesn't pee in the house anymore, than it's a potty training problem.:D Don't worry, you'll get your pup potty trained!!!! It's just a matter of time!!!
 
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