Minpin hell...anyone out there who can't housebreak their miniature pinscher????

Question

I've got two boys....not neutered....and I know this is important, however, I am at a loss for what to do... they continue to mark their territory no matter what.....Dog Whisperer...pls come to my rescue!!!!!

Answer 1

I have one girl min pin 2yo and is fixed. she uses wee wee pad and goes outside. GET THEM NEUTERED! It will help ALOT! not to mention neutering helps prevent testicular cancer in male dogs.

Here is some information:

13 Commandments of housetraining that all dog owners MUST keep in mind:

Housetraining can test your patience

You need to send the right signal to your dog so that it understands what you want it to do. We also need to tell them that we are pleased when they elminate where we want them to. If there is no reward or a treat, they get confused and will probably go to a different place the next time to see if that pleases you.

Puppies potty more

Puppies need to go potty every now and then - as soon as they wake up, after short naps, after play-time, after meals, before and after being crated and finally before retiring for the night. The age of the puppy and the time for which they can "hold" are directly proportional. A one-month old puppy can hold for an hour, a two-month old for two hours and so on. An eight-month old puppy upto an adult dog can hold for eight hours.

Walk the Dog

Instead of letting your dog out in the yard, take him out for a walk in the yard. But don't keep walking. That will take him hours to look for the right place to defecate. After that, take him to the same place everytime it needs to answer nature's call. There too, allow him to look for the right place only upto a distance his leash will allow him to go.

Eliminate-on-Command

It is not impossible to teach your doggie to eliminate on command. What you need to do is choose a term for asking him to defecate or urinate and remember to use only that and nothing else. Once your dog gets used to that term, it will know it's time to go potty the moment it hears that.


Showering praises works

Once your dog eliminates where you want him to, praise him to your heart's content. And give him a yummy treat for doing his business right. And remember to do this every time he does it right. It will relate going potty to rewards and do it right. For game-hungry dogs, reward in the form of a ball-game in the yard will be lapped up with no hesitation. In fact, there are some highly active dogs who deliberately slow down when they go out for potty. This is because they know they will be taken indoors as soon as they finish their business.

Signal-training helps

Even if a dog wants to go out to eliminate, you may miss the signal or you may not understand its signal. To know when your doggie wants to go potty, you can hang a bell at his level near the door and teach him to push it with ihs nose or pat it with its paw on its way out. This will make him do the same thing when you are busy elsewhere and it needs to go out.

Keep a close watch

A dog that has not been housetrained needs to be under strict vigilance. Positive confinement is of immense help. There are different methods of confinement in the house.

Crating

A crate-trained dog is usually very happy to get his own den. The advantage of crating is that dogs do not soil the palce where they sleep. So, it will naturally not eliminate inside the crate. It will give you an opportunity to take him out to go potty.

Tethering

If you don't want to crate-train him, you can allow him some liberty by tethering him to yourself. Tie him to a leash some feet long and attach the other end to yourself. This will give him freedom of movement as well as keep him under your vigilance. The moment he begins to sniff around, take him out immediately.

Baby gates

You can use baby gates to limit your dog's access to all rooms of your house. This is also done to keep it in your sight.You can also use these gates to confine your dog to one room when you are away from home. However, you should do this only if your dog does not have the habit of chewing things up.

If it is caught red-handed

Do not scold or hit him. Interrupt him verbally and take him outside immediately. Praise him enormously when he finishes his business outside. If you scream at him while he is doing it in the house, he will think you don't like to see him doing it. Make sure to clean the spoiled spot with an odor neutralizer.

Return to a soiled home

You will gain nothing by scolding or hitting the dog. It will not associate your punishment with the accident. In return, it will associate your return with punishment. This is why many dogs wear the sorry look even if they haven't done anything wrong. Maybe it is your fault. You have probably left it alone for too long. Or, you did not leave it on-empty stomach.

Sudden accidents

It is unusual for a trained adult dog to work against its housetraining. Medical attention is a must in such cases. If it is not a health disorder, consult an experienced trainer or start re-training form the very first steps.

Litter Pan Training

If you have a small dog and if you live in a high-rise or in a place that does not have a proper place to take a dog for walking, you can try litter pan training. What you do is create a space for your dog to eliminate in your house itself. This can also be an emergency-arrangement.

Marking Territory

Intact male and female dogs mark their territories by urinating. This can easily be avoided by neutering them. Spayed or neutered dogs tend to mark their territories but it is highly diminished. An intact male can be stopped from marking its territory by tying a belly band that covers its penis. When it urinates, the band gets wet and the dog does not like the wet feeling against its midsection at all. This automatically reduces the affinity to urinate to mark its territory.

Patience is the key to success

If you are patient and are ready to accept that perfect housetraining takes time, even months sometimes, you will end up having a good housetrained dog. Commitment, consistency and intelligent use of positive re-inforcement will make you the owner of a perfectly housetrained dog easily and smoothly. Don't expect miracles. You will only be disappointed.

Nancy Richards
President
Miniature Pinscher Training Institute






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• 14 Comments/Trackbacks
June 3, 2006Training Your Dog To Eliminate Outside
Dear Fellow Miniature Pinscher Lovers,

Are you stuck at a point where you do not know how to proceed with housetraining your dog? Are you desperate to stop those accidents on your precious rug? Are you spending too much on room fresheners?

Smelly poops, carpet stains, unwelcome surprises and unwanted discoveries....in short, a perfect housetraining nightmare! If you are still spending sleepless nights conspiring on how to escape, STOP!

Don’t be ignorant. It's time to arm yourselves with the knowledge to deal with the problem. In today’s issue, we shall try and arrive at a definite solution to stop your dog's unwanted behavior.



How to Train Your Dog to Eliminate Outside?

Considering that your dog is properly crate trained, it is unlikely that your crate trained dog will eliminate inside his crate. Accidents generally occur the moment you take your dog out of his crate and leave him unsupervised. It may be advisable to keep note of your dog's potty breaks and let him out of the crate 15 minutes before the scheduled time. Take him out to the desired place and wait till he finishes potty. Reward him soon after followed by praise.

Note: To help your dog acclimatize to potty outside, it is important that you take him to the same place everyday. This will help him build association through smell while it also conditions him to go potty at a given time of day, at a given place.

Once conditioned, it is easier to train your dog to go on command. Continue letting your dog out of his crate before his scheduled time, however, refrain from taking him outside. Remember, association is important at every step of training. Verbal commands and physical gestures combined are helpful in most cases. So, when you teach him to go on command, accompany by pointing towards the door.

You may use commands such as "Out" or "Outside". Repetitive use of these two words teaches your dog to go out every time you give this command.

Note: It may be helpful to employ words commonly used in the household so that association is easy and your dog understands.

You can train him to bark, scratch the door or ring a bell each time he wants to exit. When you sense he wants to go, take him to the door and wait till he performs the desired behavior before praising him. Let him out once he’s through with asking.

A dog is a creature of habit. Know that...

1. Since your dog has been conditioned to go out at a certain time in day, he will let you know when he is uncomfortable.

2. By this time however, he is accustomed to eliminating in a particular place, therefore he will hold from eliminating inside or any other place other than his usual.

3. When you give him the command and let him out, he will go anyway. By repeating the same process everyday, you will help him associate between the variables......time, place and command.

Ringing the bell, to most, is a substitute for verbal commands. Instead of shouting "Out", ring a bell (tied to your door) and open the door. Once you have done this over days, your dog will know that ringing the bell means being let out. Soon he will be ringing the bell as a signal to open the door.

Note: Ringing the bell may not always mean that your dog wants to eliminate. If your dog feels like a walk, he will ring the bell to go outside. At least, you will avoid accidents and perhaps make a few extra miles

It is a rarity but a possibility nevertheless...even though the aforesaid training was imparted correctly...it is possible that your dog may not eliminate in the first instance you take him out. What do you do under such circumstances? Very simply...bring him inside, but don't let him free as yet. Instead keep him on the leash and be more careful than usual. Constant supervision will help avoid accidents. Take your dog out at regular intervals, or when he shows the first signs of discomfort.

Note: Puppies are usually hyperactive. They need to go out:

1) Every time they wake up
2) Immediately after each meal
3) When they are generally active and playful

It may be a good idea keep puppy diapers handy for young puppies (1 to 3 months old). Puppies older than 3 months can be brought under the training regime.

Training should be gradual. Do not speed the training process. It is advisable to carry on with the first employed training technique even when you are absolutely confident your dog has mastered it. Graduate to the next step with ease.



If an accident still occurs...

If you catch your dog in the act, do not surprise him or stun him by shouting in disgust. Let him know your presence as softly as possible and take him outside so that he can finish there. When you bring him inside, show him his mess and be as firm as possible and say "No" or "Bad Dog".

It is helpful to avoid your dog for some time after that. Show him your disappointment and disapproval by neglecting him. Nothing displeases your dog more than his failed attempts to please you. Do this every time he eliminates inside. Once bereft of love and attention, it will teach your dog that his behavior is unacceptable and he will gradually stop.

Continue training your dog simultaneously in the correct training techniques.

Note: Puppies are generally prone to disobey. Since they have limited attention span, verbal commands rarely work with them. It is important to make eye contact with puppies while you are training them.

If you discover an accident after it occurred, apply techniques as (2). Unless you make your dog aware of his mistakes, he will never learn to improve.

Keep in mind:

Never correct your dog too harshly or punish him severely. Your dog is prone to 'disobey' out of frightfulness.

Your dog spends quality time with his owner during walks. Avoid giving him the impression that the walk ends as soon as he finishes potty. Continuing walking until you or your dog grows tired

Puppies are often in the habit of sneaking into places inaccessible to his owner and eliminating there. You may discover an accident long after it occurs or when you see that stain on the carpet or behind the sofa. The only way to deal with puppy training is to keep them under constant supervision. Negligence to show disapproval is never too successful with puppies. They keep busy with more interesting things in the house than pry for your attention all the time.

Note:

1. Commercial food takes longer to digest and can make your dog poop more.

2. Follow a routine with your dog. Decide a time to feed and a time when you let him out. Knowledge combined you can successfully condition your dog.

3. Always maintain a diary of your dog's routine, till he is properly trained. This will help you bring training activities into a pattern. Following a method is always beneficial.

To sum up, excellent management, careful supervision, loads of patience and knowledge of correct training methods combined, is your key to successful housetraining.

So gear up and start over! Cheers to a successful training session.

Nancy Richards
President
Miniature Pinscher Training Institute






• 33 Comments/Trackbacks
May 22, 2006Houstraining Your Adult Dog
I have already told you about house-training puppies in the previous newsletters. But what do you do if you have adopted an adult dog who is not house-trained or your well trained adult dog suddenly starts pooping or peeing all over the place? You will need to start all over again. It's not just about re-training the dog, but also a matter of supervising the dog all the time till you feel confident that he or she will be able to hold while they are indoors.

There are several reasons why an adult dog might soil the house or suddenly revert to soiling the house. The primary reason may be medical. To provide relief, take your dog to the vet for a good checkup. Once you figure out that your dog is not suffering from any disease, start re-training him. However, let us find out why your dog may be relieving itself indoors, in the in the first place.


Probable reasons for your dog doing what it should not be doing:

Your dog may housesoil if he is anxious or because he is upset. You might not be home when something scares him, like sudden thunder, which might cause him to have an accident.

Your dog may be just playing some naughty game with you! If he doesn't want to wet its cuddly paws in the rain, he may do it just when you are not looking.

The most common reason for having accidents may be due to separation anxiety. If he is shredding up furniture, destroying rugs and shoes and house-soiling, only when you are absent, he may be suffering from separation anxiety. There is no point scolding him. It might just make matters worse. What you need to do is make your entry and exit as normal as possible so that your dog stops reacting to them. Don't pay him attention for 30 to 40 minutes before you go out. This will make your dog get accustomed to your absence during the day. Leave a special toy or treat for him when you're away, and don’t react to him when you come home until he’s calmed down and is relaxed. If these don't work, you can ask the vet for a prescription to calm him down.

Your dog may not have understood the meaning of housetraining, which is why he messes up sometimes, even when you are at home. You just need to limit him to a room when you aren't home and keep an eye on him when you are. However, don't restrain him in one room for too long.


House-training a Grown-up dog:

You need to observe your dog and his behaviour very closely. Maybe even maintain a diary of where he goes and when. Whether he is going when you are home and also when you are outside; where you are when he goes out or feels the need to. It might be that you keep him in for too long when he needs to relieve himself at regular intervals.

House-training your dog is quite similar to house-training your pup. In fact, it should be easier for you because he should be able to hold himself for longer. You can try dog crates, but be careful to introduce him gradually if it's something new for him. Baby gates can be useful too. Dogs don't normally pee or poop where they sleep or eat.

What you define as "outside" may be very different from what your dog makes of the same word. His "outside" can be any place beyond the kitchen or his crate. By limiting him to a room, and then gradually extending the area he has access to, you can teach him where he can eliminate and where he can't.

Take him for walks to his toilet area regularly, every four hours or so. Keep the walk brief, so that he gets the message, that it is specifically a toilet walk. If he doesn't urinate or defecate, return home and go out again after half an hour. When he does eliminate outside, praise him liberally.

When you are home, tie him with a string to your belt, so that you can keep him under constant supervision. This is called the "umbilical cord" connection. If he feels the need to go out at times other than his bathroom walks, he can let you know easily.

If you discover an accident after it has happened, don't punish him because he won't know what has made you cross. Besides, that won't stop him from making the same mistake. Clean it up without creating a fuss.

If you catch him in the act, you can rush out with him while saying "No" so that he can finish outside. Do not shout at him. That will not help any of you. Try to teach him the word "outside" for such occasions.

Once you see your dog responding to the training, you need to gradually lessen your vigilance and start giving him more freedom at home, off the leash. You will still have to keep an eye open to check when he indicates the need to go out, or if he has had an accident again.

As added precaution, you can install stretch gates to stop him from going to places like the living room where you might have an expensive carpet. It is also important to not just clean up messes, but also to get rid of the odor immediately to prevent him from going again. You can use products like Nature’s Miracle or Anti-Icky-Poo for this.

I am pretty sure that if you practise the above steps for a month, you will have a clean house and a happy well-trained dog very soon.

Answer 2

I have a female, 2 yrs old now, she was 6mos old when I got her and she had been in a kennel
anyway I was determined to housebreak her so I took her outside every hour or two for the first month, I didn't give her time to think about going on the carpet
you know little dogs are harder to break because they are so quick

Answer 3

Sorry, but if you refuse to neuter your pets, they will continue to mark their territory. It is your choice, not their fault.

Answer 4

ANYBODY can housebreak ANY dog!!!

ALL ***YOUR*** FAULT!!! NOT the breed!