A desperate cry for help from knowledgable dog owners

We got a male beagle lab mix puppy last May, born April 5. We have an older, larger male hound mix. Both dogs are neutered. The older dog is house broken. The puppy has selected a spot in the house to do his business. He cheerfully goes out, watches the other dog, then comes in and trots to his spot to take a dump. He takes a half mile walk in th woods, comes back, goes to his spot, and takes a dump. How do we convey to him that we want him to take a dump OUTSIDE!

to make sure all the smell is gone. Just because you can't see it doesn't mean it isn't there. A black light will show you when it's all gone. (Urine flouresces under blacklight)

Next, don't just put him out. TAKE him out. On leash if necessary and keep him out until he's done something. Don't allow him to play, sniff, think of it as fun time. When he does do something, praise him to the skies. (Yes, your neighbors will think you've lost your mind). If he doesn't do anything, bring him in and CRATE him (crate just big enough to stand up, lie down and turn around) for 45 minutes to an hour then take him out again. He has to learn that this is what you want him to do and if you aren't there to re-inforce it, he has no idea that this is what you want.

And, when accidents happen, take a rolled up newspaper, hit yourself over the head with it and repeat "I forgot to watch my puppy, I forgot to watch my puppy"

Normally I don't go for crates but this is exactly what they are for. You must be totally diligent about it or it won't work and the dog will be even more confused.

Cleaning the spot isn't enough IMO. They can still smell it with their super sniffers it no matter what. I think a big obstacle is needed. When we had this issue with our pup I moved a kitty scratching post over the pup's favorite spot so that it was no longer available to her. It was in the middle of the floor or I would have moved something bigger like the couch over it. But make it so he just can't go there anymore.

You really need to check it with a black light, though, to make sure that you got it all...the spot may have spread farther than you'd think. It eliminated the area my diabetic cat used before he was diagnosed and if it cleans up cat pee, it'll do an even better job with the dog.

After cleaning it, of course.

Praising good behavior, and giving treats for it, is absolutely key. To praise, you have to be there when the dog goes. With a puppy, the crate is also key. He should be in it when you aren't home to supervise. After he learns better, you can leave the door open and close the door to the room the crate is in. As others have said, clean the spot thoroughly and put something over it if you have to. It is also not unusual for dogs to go right after coming back from a long walk. They have so much fun that they forget to go. Wait a very little while and take the dog back out. We have a puppy that is about the same age. He is pretty much house trained, and the crate and a separate room have been a blessing. Some dogs also give signs that they need to go such as circling around, doing lots of sniffing, and moving towards the door. Also, make sure he gets accustomed to every room in your house and spends some time there with you. Unfamiliar rooms sometimes get thought of as outside and treated accordingly. Good luck.

When my new Westie puppy peed on the floor, I cleaned up and promptly put several layers of newspaper over the spot. He tried another spot, but I repeated the procedure with the paper... and I put a magazine rack where the first spot had been. He was paper-trained in 2 days.

The hard part was waiting outside until he finally had to pee. Once he did that and got a Beggin' Strip treat, the housebreaking ordeal was over.

She weighed in at 29 lbs. when we first got her...at 13 weeks of age.

Wouldn't want to screw up housetraining a dog that large. The largest dog I've ever had has been about 90 lbs & those piles are plenty big enough.

We did the crate thing w/ the one we have now & it took about 1 week.

Carry him outside and tell him "go poop", or whatever words you use. Be sure to praise him once he goes. It will take a few times of this, but it's like starting house breaking all over again.

If you don't catch him while he is going in the house, then make him come to where he defecated and tell him no. Send him outside while it is being cleaned up.

Good luck :hi:

doesn't take long either.

But catch him in the act, say a quick and stern "NO" and immediately whisk him outside and plop him down to let him finish his business. Once he does, just go nuts with the praise and petting (and if you have a treat for him when he comes in, even better!). After repeating this a few times, he should learn.

I wouldn't recommend taking him to where he defecated in the house (if you didn't catch him) and scolding him and sending him outside. He really won't understand what that means. With horses (and dogs, pretty much any animal), you have about 7 seconds after they do an undesirable behavior to give them a stern "NO". Once that time window is closed, they will just be confused as to why you're yelling at them. Dogs don't tend to "get" the association between looking at their poop and why you're yelling at them.

Good luck to you! :)

I raised all of my dogs since 1978 on the Monks of New Skete, How to be Your Dogs Best Friend. (minus the physical rebukes)

Catching them in the act is the best thing, but they cannot be led to believe that defecating in the house is okay. Therefore, ignoring the act is not the way to go, imo.

I just wanted to clarify that "scold" didn't mean anything more than a stern "NO" and I've found that unless you actually catch them in the act or within seconds after, taking them to the spot an hour or two later and trying to get them to associate the pile of poo with being scolded doesn't work.

:)

A nice loud NO! and to my ACD that was enough. Thanks for clarifying that vs. scolding, because scolding may mean something entirely different to some people :-(.

In fact, establishing eye contact, that the monks recommend when disciplining or praising has worked the best. Like magic almost.

that you might like to be his outside spot. Show this to him. Take him to that spot when it's time to go outside.


Clean with enzyme liquid the spot inside that he keeps going to. After cleaning you can put a doggie treat or a few pieces of food in that area to make him understand it's a non-pooping zone.

As I told my husband, "What we have here is failure to communicate."

I took his poop to where I sort of wanted him to have his 'spot' and then I placed his poop there. We would walk over to it and he'd sniff around and look like "Oh, that's MINE. This must be my spot to poop."

It took a few times but I always walked him there first and he'd look like a light-bulb went off.

Let me know if it works for your doggie.

(PS--I'd make sure it was well away from where your other dog goes to poop, just in case that is a territorial thing. The new dog poop-place may need to be well away from there or it might be a disrespecting nto the older dog.)

So, patience is number one.

All of our dogs were trained within a week! Our latest was 2 days!

Here's a pic: :P

Sigh.

Boy, were we spoiled.

I love Beagles. ~sigh~

I adore beagles

We have a 10 year old girl beagle named Reba! She's the sweetest little thing.

My problem is it takes five or six months for their internal organs to adjust enough to hold everything in for 10 or 11 hours while I'm at work. The initial phase usually takes about a weekend. That's where they learn they need to go outside, and if I'm home to let them out when they need, no accidents. When I'm gone more than six or seven hours, accidents do occur. And no, I don't keep them in a crate when I'm not home. I restrict them to two rooms and let them play. Food and exercise are important to a puppy too.

I clean up accidents which occur. Like you said, just requires patience. For some inexplicable reason, I have an overabundance of puppy patience, but not much people patience....

We picked up our puppy when she was just six weeks old and you're right about their organs still developing. But, as soon as she was one year old she finally got it, it was like a switch was turned on in her brain and she never went inside the house again.

Hell, my Evita figured all of this out within 10 minutes and she spent 3 years as a feral cat.

That's why cats are smarter than dogs!

We had 3 but 1 was sort of feral and she took one look at the puppy and took off for parts unknown. One theory is that this puppy is really the reincarnation of our old cat Murgatroid. That would explain the propensity for pooping indoors. The only thing we can't figure out is whether Murgatroid has ascended to a higher plane or is being punished and has moved to a lower plane.

Dogs are the best!

:)

or spraying in the wrong places.

Even neutered or spayed ones.

I cleaned it thoroughly, then put a small bowl of food there. They won't do their business where they eat. Problem was solved in about a week.

He was so funny. I would walk him around and around for half an hour, then nothing. Then I'd turn my back on him for ONE SECOND and we would poop. He would then smile proudly. But the food trick worked.

As soon as he "eliminates", pick him up (Or take his leash) and run with him outside as fast as you can. Eventually, he'll get the idea that outside is the place to do it. (Af first, he might get the idea to poop in the house, then run like hell outside, but they usually understand after awhile.)

You wouldn't take your kid out of diapers until he was fully trained - so don't let the puppy have free access to the house if you know he's making mistakes.

Your goal is to not let him make any mistakes - so he's either crated if crate-training, in a place where its ok to pee and poop or on paper if being paper-trained or on a leash where you can swiftly move him to the right place to pee or poo if he starts to go in the wrong place. It usually takes at least 4 months of zero accidents before a puppy can be considered reliably housebroken.