PEE! PEE! housebreaking...

In My Humble Opinion
1

My darling Zusje is 8.5 weeks old, pit bull, sweet as pie.

I have housebroken some tough cookies, including my Preston, who was pooping in his crate at 6 months when I got him.

But Zuzu is defying me. Oh, she’s got the poop thing wired, never a single accident in the house except the one time her crate door wasn’t fastened and I had no idea she had gotten loose.

But pee? sigh… darling baby girl… I am here for you. We go out at least 15 times a day. I never ever fail to take you out upon waking, after playing, after food, at virtually every transition point in your day, plus lots of bonus. You almost never fail to pee, sometimes 2-3 times. I never fail to praise you for it.

All for naught. I have yet to leave you in your x-pen for more than 45 minutes without you peeing, and the most you seem to manage in the much smaller crate is maybe 5 hours at night. MAYBE.

She just seems completely oblivious to the idea that outside is the rockin’ place to go.

Sigh… if I have to struggle with one or the other, I confess that pee is preferable. For NOW, when it’s a few tablespoons. But what trick will it take to get you on board, sweetie? The more you succeed at going inside, the tougher it becomes to get it out of your head. But I seriously cannot reasonably hope to take you out more often than I do!

So. Any brilliant ideas?

Yes, she’s only 8.5 weeks. I don’t expect perfection. But like I said, she has the poo thing wired. She gets “here is good for poo, please make sure I am here when poo is imminent!” I do, and we’re both happy. But so far no such connection is occurring with the pee sitch, and every time she successfully pees inside her getting it goes farther away, rather than closer.

That was one of the most wonderful lessons I learned from my trainer: dogs will do what is rewarding. Elimination is, by it’s nature, inherently rewarding. If she receives that reward in her x-pen, in her crate, anywhere else in the house…she will be rewarded by the act itself, which reinforces it. If she’d just have the decency to try it when my eyeballs are actually upon her, I might have a chance because I could interrupt her reward with some icky noise and a trip outdoors. But so far no… she only does it when I am not looking.

Wah.

2

Also, on a side note…Preston, my Rotty/Border male who is the sweetest thing in the world, is kinda heavy with the resource guarding and it’s putting me on edge, especially when the resource is me or when it is potential, rather than actual, such as when I am getting ready top prepare food and no one actually has any, or when she has hers inside her x-pen and he moseys up to try and harass her out of it from outside the pen. (That has mellowed a lot, especially since I’ve taken to drapping her pen so he can’t see in… sigh sigh…)

I had an 8 year old Golden girl who did that with a baby boy and I got them eating side by side… I just can’t remember how…

I’m exhausted.

3

She is such a baby now, I would not be expecting her to hold it overnight. I did the 2 am pee with my shepherd girl until she was about 4-5 months old. At that age, there is not much lag time between urge and action, their bladders are tiny and they’re not mature enough to hold it for very long, so I would just ignore the accidents and keep doing what you’re doing. Or remote possibility, she may have a bladder infection, but I would be inclined to think she just is very young and physically very immature.

4

Pit bulls are generally great with housebreaking, and enormously praise-motivated. I wouldn’t worry, she’s just too young to hold it successfully.

T’were it me, I’d get some puppy pads, and train her to use them indoors. The process of reaching the rght place to go builds the ability to hold it. If she doesn’t have a “good-girl” alternative, then she’ll just let loose where she is and that connection/skill doesn’t strengthen.

5

I’ve always been very wary of going the pee pad route because it seems like it would be very confusing and very difficult to transition to 100% outdoors. It seems like you’re adding an element of confusion. I wouldn’t even know how to change it once it was established. How do you?

6

Well, you don’t have to. If they’re using the pads, and they can’t get to it, and they’re able to hld it, they will. Liekwise, if you’ve left them free in the house, and the pee pad i out, you’ll eventually find that it’s always dry at the end of the day.

A while back my little guy hurt his back (still don’t know how) and had to be crated all day. I am a crate hater, and so went and bought the biggest one I could find. I was able to put him on his bed at one end of the crate, and the pee pad at the other end, and he was fine while I was away. I can’t imagine what I would have done if he weren’t pad trained.

Let’s face it, life throws you curves, they deserve to have an available alternative.

7

Stoid, would you be able to take the puppy outside more?

Also, do you have any pictures of her? :wink:

8

Stoid, no advise here. I’m just happy that you’re such a compassionate and responsible dog owner. I know you’re exhausted, what you describe is hard. Bless you.

9

Oh boy! I wish I could help, but it’s been 16 yrs since I’ve had a puppy that young. My last two were adopted at 4 mos and 8 mos old. I honestly don’t remember what I did or at what age he was “potty trained”. So, I’m sorry I’m no help. Possibly some recent pictures of your pup would jog my memory. :wink:

10

My first dog was easy. Got him as a stray when he was about 5 weeks old. He was trained in a week, no lie. The accidents he did have (which could be counted on one hand for his entire life) were our fault. Not letting him out when he signaled, usually.

My current pup was tough. She was probably about 7 or 8 weeks when she was found. An elderly friend tried to take her, but that lasted about a week. He either never house broke his own dogs or had forgotten how, so she really wasn’t getting it. I took her about a week and a half later. It took her another two weeks at least to be completely sold on the concept, but I only let her have a handful of accidents. There came a point where she understood she was supposed to go outside, but she didn’t know how to signal it yet. Even after she figured it out, I slept with her for several weeks. She slept in the crate until she woke up, then I’d take her out and let her sleep on the sofa with me for the rest of the night. She was able to hold it longer during the second part of the night, probably because she hadn’t had any water in a while. That lasted until she started sleeping through the night at maybe 4 months old. Even now at about 7 months, she’ll occasionally wake me up in the middle of the night to go out. I don’t go to bed before 11:30 because if we do, she probably won’t make it through the night. I did try pee pads, but she tries to eat them.

My point (I swear I have one) is that for this dog, I had to basically turn my life over to her for a few months. I crated her during the day. I came home at lunch every day to let her out for an hour. I stopped working late. I slept with her. She was never out of my sight unless she was in her crate or in the back yard. I’d recommend you try to do the same.

Your girl may not be ready for the x-pen and you may be letting her develop a pretty bad habit. I know that you have things to do, and you may not have a fenced backyard that can serve as a temporary babysitter. I’ve seen it recommended that you tether the dog to yourself while you do whatever it is you need to do, but that really didn’t work for me at all. If you do need to use the x-pen, I would be sure to take her out immediately before putting her in there. I would also recommend moving it onto a hard surface, if it’s on carpet. My dog would go on carpet much quicker than hardwood or tile. I’d also try moving it if you have kept it in the same spot. She may have already associated that area as a potty place, and you want to get her away from any lingering urine odor.

All dogs really are different, and what worked for me may not work for you and your dog. I do think she’s too young to sleep through the night, and that you may need to change something up with the x-pen, but the details are probably going to be trial and error. I wish you luck. I know how frustrating it can be.