How do I get my 4 month old puppy to behave? ***EDITED?

Question

I have a shnauzzer/yorkie puppy. She is 4 months old. She pees inside constantly. She won't whine or run to the door until AFTER the fact. It is getting so bad that she will look straight up at me with her cute puppy eyes and pee right then and there! It is so frustrating!

I yell "No!" as I put her nose above the pee so she can see it, then take her straight outside. I had a dog for 10 years before getting her and this seemed to work when he was a pup!

I spray her with a spray bottle when she acts up... Edit***I DON'T spray her when she pees inside. Only when she is biting at my feet or on furniture. I have heard it is better to use a spray bottle, rather than constantly saying "No!" to puppies. Any other suggestions??

I take her out often. Maybe 10+ times a day. She has not pooped in the house in weeks, which is great! BUT she has not quite mastered the peeing part.

In my defense, I think some of you that have answered the question need to calm down. A puppy is like a child and everyone has different techniques. I don't appreciate being put down for trying something.

Also, don't appreciate you calling my dog a mutt and saying her breed is irrelevant. I have alwyas had medium- large size dogs. I am new to having a small breed and it seems to be taking longer to train her.

Answer 1

Your pup is too young to be housebroken at this age.

The most you can do at this point is get on a schedule and a routine (this is more for you than the pup).

Feed and water - immediately outside to potty - lots of praise.

The minute you stop playing - outside to potty - lots of praise.

Don't worry about walking to the door - pick her up, take her out, Give her whatever command you want the potty command to be and take her outside. Our command at our facility is "HURRY" Do you have to "HURRY" Can't be confused with anything else.

When she is not being supervised, she's crated. 100% of the time.

I also tell people to try the umbilical cord method with pups while they have them in the living room or office . Tie the pup (10 ft training leash) to themselves or loop the leash to your foot. She can't wander off and potty or chew up. She's always with you and supervised (even while you are watching tv). Every time you think of it (everyone in the house) when you have to go to the bathroom - So does the pup. OFTEN.

Lots of patience. Lots of praise, Pay attention to her and give her a command and use it.

As for the chewing. Give her toys. When she bites something inappropriate. Tell her NO! Period. Give her something else later.

Also, Obedience school for all of you. Everyone in the house. And Practice. Everyone goes to class - if not to handle - to watch and practice. If the trainer tells you something different that we did, do what they tell you and practice, practice, practice. It's a routine and consistency and rules.

You don't need to get mad, just be calm and firm. It gets better, they learn, you learn, they grow up. Keep going to class.

Answer 2

Your first step should be a vet visit to rule out medical issues, sounds like she may have a UTI and she can't help going in the house. A pup with a UTI is going to be impossible to train until it is cleared up.

Next you need supervision, supervision, and more supervision. If you can't be watching her she needs to go in her crate.

Spray bottles aren't really effective. Why? You have to be there to do it, and trust me your dog will know when you aren't, and just wait for you to leave.

If you catch her in the act, saying NO sharply, pick her up and take her outside to finish. Stay with her and praise her lavishly when she does. Forget about 'showing' her the pee, or rubbing her nose it, totally useless.

If you find a mess after the fact, to bad, your fault, you should have been watching closer.

Make sure you are cleaning the mess up with an enzymatic cleaner such as Nature's Miracle so that no traces are left behind to attract her back.

Make sure you are taking her out at regular intervals, and going with her to praise her lavishly when she does. She'll have no idea that going outside is the good thing to do if you aren't out there to tell her.

You'll find you say No to a puppy less often if you are also praising the good behavior. If your dog knows what to do, he won't get into so much trouble.

As far as biting. Tell her NO firmly, wait a second and then offer one of her toys to chew on. Praise her when she takes.

Answer 3

4 months old is not too young to start potty training, she should be going outside already. but some dogs just take longer to train, then others. all of our dogs were going potty outside by the time they were 4months old. after she is done eatin, napping or playing, take her out right away, stay with her until she goes and tell her what a good girl she is for going outside. when she pees right in front of you pick her up and take her out, i had the same problem with my cocker spainel/sheepdog. still do sometimes, but only if she gets excited to see some one( like grandpa) i have to rush her out the door. even if you don't think she has to go take her out about every 45 minutes, she will get the hint. Good Luck to you.

Answer 4

you need to buy a kennel and put her in it. then as soon as you wake up take her out. also take her out about 20 minutes after she eats or drinks. What the heck are you spraying her for. just tell her "down or no" when she does something. A puppy is just like a child it takes a while to adjust and to behave. it is not going to be learned in one day.

Answer 5

Ask your MOM if you behaved when you were 4 months old:)
You have to be patient, they are very smart and will get the message but you have to be consistent. I trained my pekingese to go on a pad when I'm not home. When she went on the floor I would pick her up, take her to the spot show her say NO and then took her to the bathroom and placed her on top of the pad and said GOOD GIRL took me 2 weekends but she got it. Also trained her to go outside on a weekend, took her out every 2 hours to the same spot and she learned that too.
However dogs have a way of telling you when they don't like something. If I don't have play time with my Abby every morning before I go I should expect to find a little gift on the floor on my side of the bed. I LOVE HER SHE"S VERY SPUNKY

Answer 6

get into a routine when she wakes up put her outside stand with her until she goes potty plenty of praise and treats
be4 u feed her and 20 minutes after dinner if you see her sqat if she is gonna go to the potty in doors pick her up and put her outside
i dont think rubbing her noses into the wee is the best way to show her its wrong
when she is biting say no push her away gently and ignore her for a bit or yelp
it willl take time but you will get there

Answer 7

DO NOT rub the dogs nose in the urine. That will only teach the dog to run from you/ She does not understand hat she is doing is bad unless she is caught in the act. Instead ignore bad choices and reward good ones. Get her on a routine. Take her out right after she eats and keep her monitored very well. kennel her when you are not home.

Answer 8

I've been feeding my dog human food. He gets supper which consists of boiled rice, hamburger, peas, carrots. My vet told me that fruits and veggies are good for dogs (just avoid stuff like onions, garlic, grapes - though my dog was fed them lots, and other foods known to make dogs sick). In fact, he told me if I want to give a treat it would be good to give him veggies or fruit. My dog loves bananas and peppers and carrots and corn on the cob (just don't go overboard with corn since its hard for dogs to digest). So yes, human food is not bad. My farm dogs were always fed scraps and lived just as long as other dogs. We never took them to the vet and they were never sick and lived to be old. Just don't go overboard.

Answer 9

One thing that seems to work for stubborn puppies is this~

Keep her leashed to you when she is inside. This way you can see the very first signs of having to go. If you can not keep her attached to you, crate her.

Keep working!

Answer 10

I foster puppies for my local shelter and have house trained dozens of dogs, yours might still be too young to hold it at all. Puppies just go when they need to until they are between 3 and 6 months. Some dogs just can't hold it at all until they are 6 months old - so you might have to just wait another couple months. That being said, it sounds like the only thing you are doing to teach her to go outside is to punish her when she goes inside - which isn't going to work at all, no matter how old she is. You need to prevent her from going inside and reward her for going outside. This is how I house train every puppy that comes through my door and it usually works within a couple days, sometimes a week.

First, the puppy must sleep in a crate at night no matter what. For your puppy you will need a very small crate - maybe a cat carrier. It should not be big enough for the puppy to pee in one side and lay down in the other. Very first thing in the morning (you may have to get up early since your puppy seems to have trouble holding it) go get her and CARRY her outside, pick a spot to take her and take her there every time you take her out. Put her down and give her a command like "go potty" or "pee" or "go to the bathroom" again, whatever command you pick use it every time you take her outside. Since it is first thing in the morning she will probably go. When she does get very excited and praise her and pet her, you can also give her a treat if you want. Wait about 2 minutes if she doesn't go right away, and if she pees, after you praise her stay outside with her for another 2 minutes to see if she needs to poop. When you come back inside she goes straight to her food dish to eat/drink, then on a leash. She must follow you around the house, everywhere you go all day long for a couple days. About 45 minutes after she eats take her back outside to go. If she doesn't go after 2 minutes or so, take her back inside - but don't talk to her, make eye contact with her or pet her (don't scold her, either, she won't get it). Since she has just eaten take her back outside every 15 minutes until she goes. After that take her out every hour or so. If you see her pacing around, walking around frantically or smelling the ground take her right outside. She may not whine or go for the door - most puppies don't. If you have to go anywhere she needs to go in her crate or outside while you are gone, don't put her in a bathroom or kitchen where she can go on the floor (that will only teach her its okay to go on the floor as long as you aren't looking).

After 2 days of going outside on the leash and not having accidents in the house you can start letting her off the leash after she goes outside. Leave her off it for an hour to start, then take her outside to go potty. If she goes, she gets praised and stays off the leash inside. If she doesn't go, she goes back on the leash until the next time she goes outside. As the next few days come you can leave her off the leash for another half hour, then another hour until she's off for several hours at a time, just be sure to let her out to pee every hour until she is 6 months old, then you can just let her out every 2 or 3 hours unless she acts like she needs out.

It may seem like a lot of work to drag her around with you on a leash - but its not really, and this technique works really well, plus it leash trains them along the way and most puppies like following people around. It should take 2 days on leash full time, another 2 on leash part of the time and then another 1 to 3 days of close supervision. If at anytime along the way she goes in the house, start all over being on the leash for a full day. I've only had that happen a couple times, but it was when I wasn't paying close enough attention.

As for spraying her with a spray bottle when she misbehaves, it won't work too well. I would grab her by the back of her neck (firmly, but without hurting her) and lay her down on the ground. Hold her there until she calms down, leaning over her and making eye contact with her. I usually say something like "hey" or "sshhhttt", but I don't use "no". This is being dominant over the puppy and its what her mom would do. It works much better and will usually stop a behavior like jumping or biting within 2 or 3 times.

Good luck!