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New owner- potty training?
by Sean
ORIGINAL MESSAGE:
I am a recent owner of a baby maltese (4 1/2 yrs old)named
CeCe. He is really playful and very cute but my biggest
problem is to get CeCe potty trained.. We purchased the
diaper pad for him to do his thing but it doesn't seem to work.
He just goes anywhere in our apartment. What can I do to
train CeCe ? any suggestion will be very helpful !!!
DISCUSSION:
Sean. Go to the top of this forum and find where it says "make a selection." Choose archives; hit go. Then you will find about 9 zillion questions and responses on potty training. This is one of those topics that is discussed here on a regular basis. If you can't find the help you need there, come back and ask again. Am not trying to "palm you off," just directing you to the most expedient method for finding a multitude of suggestions on the topic. Primarily though, you need to pay 100% attention to your dog, get it on a strict "input-output" schedule, and make potty training the center of yours (and Ce-Ce's) existence until it accomplished. Crates, confinement, and leashing the dog to you alone or in combination work the best. All the "best" solutions are in the archives. Please remember that you are responsible for this phase of training. Many dogs end up in shelters or rescue because their human parents didn't do the work to get them potty trained and then decide they don't want a dog that goes in the house.
cathy brown
Hi Sean and CeCe and good luck. On 10-07-98 I posted,(First Timer-Maltese), for help. Everybody tried to offer help, but I found out your dog and you are going to have to find each other. Sassy isn't going for anything. I got her from the humane society and she is only 1 years old, but she has a mind of her own. I tried the crate idea and all she does is get herself in a sweat drenching fit. I think the past owners kept her crated all the time. I tried the kitty box with a pee pad. She wouldn't go in the box at all. I tried just the pee pad by the front door and she peed on it last night. This afternoon she went in the dining room on the rug, so I'm stuck for ideas. In one of the archives it said try a bell tied to the door knob. I went and bought a small kitty cowlike bell today. I'm hoping and praying it will work. Will also hope and pray for you. Good Luck to both of you ..Rose & Sassy
Rose & Sassy
Rose...you can't just "try" things one after another and expect one of them to be a magic bullet that works immediately. You need to decide how YOU are going to train Sassy, then help her to do the right thing (over and over and over again) consistently. You absolutely cannot let her roam free in the house until she is potty trained. If the crate didn't work, keep her confined in a laundry room or small bathroom with her papers (if that is where you want her to go--actually I had good look with outdoors and if you don't mind weather changes, I personally think it is a better route). When she is not confined try keep her leashed with the leash around your wrist or on your belt. Feed her, giver her 15 min, then take her where you want her to go potty. After 10 min if no potty bring her in and KEEP your eyes on her (this is where the leash comes in handy) and when you see any sign that she needs to go--even if it is in mid-squat--pick her up and take her to where you want her to pee.) If she gives no sign, take her out in another 15 min. When she does go in the appropriate place, prasie her like she just hung the moon. DO THIS UNTIL SHE DOESN"T HAVE ONE ACCIDENT. It is not a week or two--it may be a month or two or even more. But YOU have to make the commitment to get the dog to where you want it to go EVERY time until it learns the behavior. It is a big effort, but absolutely essential for both you and Sassie that it be a successful effort. The good news for you (and you, too, Sean) is that Sassie (and CeCe) are old enough that they CAN hold their bladders. All you need to do is train them about where you choose that they relieve themselves. These dogs are big lovers and will do almost anything if they see you are pleased and if you give them love and attention. So think this potty training effort through and decide where you want the children to relieve themselves then make it happen there and only there; without consistency they will only be confused. Oh and one more important thing: find all the places Sassy (and CeCe) have pottied in your house, even if ou have to buy a black light at PetSmart or somewhere to see them and drench them in Natures Miracle or Simple Solution or similar stuff to get their smell out--it will call them right back and make the housebreaking process much more difficult.
cathy brown
Sean,Our maltese is 11 years old she is potty trained to the extent of when we are at home. If we leave her out in the house when we leave we will have an accident waiting for us when we get home. My best advise is to leave your dog in a bathroom or small room at night or when you leave. They will not go where they sleep or eat and time yourself for the other times. I love our maltese but I must say that potty training was the ultimate challenge as our maltese felt she must be missing something while she was outside. She even went to the extent of trying to trick us that she went so that she could come back inside. Goodluck!!!
tammy
Hi! Congrats on your new baby. You mentioned this dog is 4 1/2 years old? Chances are he was never housebroke to begin with. At this stage in his life, (even though I have never trained this way), the crate training should be tried. Much in the archives about this. I have always had good luck housebreaking, but as a dog gets over puppyhood and has been allowed to get away with going potty in the house, I would imagine it gets harder. But, "dog" that dog! Do not let him out of your site, even if you have to have him on a leash with you all the time. Pay attention to what he is doing and learn to read his needs, like when he is about to go potty. Take him out constantly, or to the wee wee pad. Personally, I am not sure a wee wee pad will work for him right now, the house is the house, is the house. Take him out constantly, and when he goes potty, praise, praise, praise and give a treat. Good luck, and don't give up on him, sounds like someone else already did that! OH, and welcome to this forum!!
Robin M. & Taffy
Hi Sean,You don't say if CeCe was supposedly paper trained to the wee wee pads or supposedly trained to go outside. Whenever you bring a dog into a new environment they are temporarily disoriented, confused, and perhaps even somewhat depressed. CeCe was 4 1/2 when you got her and this is a big shake-up to her life. Don't be discouraged. Keep her confined to a small uncarpeted area when you are not with her. Take her with you into the other part of the house only when she can be under your constant watch. She needs some time to 1)become accustomed to her new home,2)learn what is expected of her. I believe that every dog when wrenched from one home and taken to another seems to forget what potty training is. You'll make it. Best of luck to you.
Sharon
You don't mention if your apartment is carpeted, and if there is the possibility of another animal having had accidents there before. They simply can't resist already marked areas! I've never had any easier pup to potty train than a Maltese. They are usually extremely picky about their surroundings. We confined Kashi to the kitchen for a few weeks with wee-wee pads. (It meant that we had to constantly step over hand-made barriers, but ultimately was worth it). He got the hang of that right away. Then all of a sudden he decided all on his own that OUTSIDE was the place to go, and now he will absolutely NOT go on papers in the house. It's outside or nothing (except when it's raining, and then that's the real challenge to get him to go at all!) Clean your carpets if you need to, confine and then try the wee-wee pads again. Kashi has never had an accident in the house! Good luck.
Cindy & Kashi
Sean, I'm assuming that's a typo and you mean CeCe is 4-1/2 months old, not years old. Everyone who writes that it takes patience and consistency is so right. My experience is identical to Cindy's where mine was pad-trained from the time I got him at 9 weeks (he spoiled me at first by getting it after the first week) and then deciding at 5-1/2 months it was housebreaking or nothing (and when it's raining he looks at me like, "You're kidding me, right?"). It takes extreme vigilance - you must watch them every minute. I thought I was until I bought a blacklite and was astounded at what I saw (his pee had virtually no smell but it was stepping into a puddle that made me start wondering). I went through gallons of Nature's Miracle (works great, by the way) but am happy to say that crate training, vigilance and a sense of humor succeeded, not to mention every time he went correctly I praised him like he'd just succeeded in bringing about total world peace! Don't lose faith!
siobhan
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