We Have A Westie Puppy And We’re Trying To House Train Him…?
Filed under Care & Training Q&As
we have the crate that is only big enough for him to stand, lay and turn around etc. we let him out every 30 min- 1 hour to pee out side and socialize etc. This is the problem: he pees in the crate even when we have read dogs don’t want to soil there “den” and tonight I caught him eating his own poop. I could not stop gagging. What are we doing wrong?
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That’s pretty normal, just keep it up. Make sure you aren’t forcing him into the crate… he needs to think of it as his home. Eventually he will think of the whole house as his home. You may be sending him out too often. You need to actually take him outside yourself though… don’t just let them out the door. They have no idea what you expect when you do that. Take them for a walk and give them lots of loving when they go outside. Watch him like a hawk, wait for him to start to pee on the floor, then scold him and take him outside… then wait for him to finish up outside, then give lots of praise for going outside.
Poop-eating is normal. You can try to stop it, but the dog just needs to learn that there aren’t any useful calories in that stuff. Dogs will eat everything they encounter up to a point where they learn otherwise. You just have to stay with them. As puppies, their mothers are there 100% of the time, and that’s your job now.
People might not like this, but you need to use both positive and negative reinforcement. Sometimes you need to ‘set them up’ to get in trouble. You should issue a sharp, barking ‘no’ and if the dog doesn’t respond to that, you may have to get physical. Don’t hurt them, but let him know you mean business. A tap on the nose or pinch of the neck is common and it is not abusive. It is less painful than what their mothers might do. Dogs learn what’s right by getting praise, but there is no way to teach them what’s wrong unless you use negative conditioning and redirection. ALWAYS show the dog what’s right, after you scold them for being wrong.
I house-trained my dog in three days this way… but I had to skip work, sleep with him, and so on. If you can’t do that, you won’t be successful.
i know a way to get him to pee in one spot
-wait until he randomly pees in the desired area, then force his noise close to the pee so he smells it for about 20 seconds, this tells the puppy sternly and assertively to pee there and only there
It sounds like you are doing everything right. He might be peeing in his crate because he is too young to hold it and know when he needs to go pee. After he’s a few months old, he’ll have better bladder control. But you are doing the right thing.
Some dogs do eat poop. I know, it’s really gross, but the only thing you can do to stop them is clean it up before he can get it. Also, some dogs will do that in the crate when they don’t normally, because they would rather eat the poop than lay in it.
Some dogs just eat their own poop. Often the mother dog will eat the pups poop in an attempt to keep the den clean. This keeps predators away because they don’t smell the puppy poo. Mommy dog eating the poo also keeps the pups cleaner. The pups may have seen the mommy eat the poo and just learned it form her. Some dogs don’t digest their food well and so eat their poop. Try not giving the pup any food or water after 5pm. Maybe the pup will be a little thirsty, but it will be okay. Some pups don’t have much bladder control until they are older. Some pups are just harder to train, meaning they just need to grow up more. Just be consistent with your training. Remember they are still babies. Try not to be too overly angry or loud when your puppy has an accident, but do be happy when they do good by going outside. I don’t recommend giving treats when they go potty outside, because this may cause them to go potty anywhere just to get a treat. Not fully understanding you want them to go outside to potty. Hope this helps. Hang in there. My pup was 8 months old before he became fully potty trained.