Yikes! First day with puppy and submissive peeing?

[NewfoundlandNic]

Hi guys,

 

I just picked Georgia up late last night - she was flown from another city three hours away. I had her outside immediately last night, then another couple of times when we got back home, then I gave her some water, played with her for 20 minutes, went outside again and then crated her for the night. She whined for about 10 minutes, then slept from 2:00 until 7:00 (!!). I slept on the sofa directly next to the crate.

 

When I got her out of the crate in the morning, she peed in there before I had a chance to grab her - it is partitioned so she can only access enough of it to turn around and lie down in. I brought her outside for 10 minutes - nothing. Inside, eat, sniffing new surroundings, meeting family, then back outside for ten minutes (nothing), inside house again, quiet time for 20 minutes (while I watched for potty signs) then outside again (nothing) then crate. After an hour she woke up, I got her - she had peed in the crate...

 

I have my third load of towels in, then I remembered she is not supposed to see me clean up the mess so I put her in the bathroom. Then back in crate where she screams, whines and cries. After another hour, I go to get her. Pee in crate. Arrggh!

 

I think she is submissive peeing when I approach. What do I do? I just spent twenty minutes outside with her and no poop or pee. I know I'll be cleaning up again soon.

 

Any help or advice? She is a darling, by the way. Wants nothing more than to lie at my feet.

 

Thanks,

Nicole

[Lindsey, Lee, Whopper and Simba]

Are you leaving a towel in there with her?  My thought is that if you are, try leaving her in there without it.  She may not be feeling the full effect of peeing in her crate if there is something there absorbing the moisture.  Also make sure you are using Nature's Miracle or something along those lines to get the scent completely out.  Good Luck!  She is still just adjusting to a new environment so hopefully things will quickly improve.

[Cathy w/Shiloh~Cody]

Hi-your pup has gone thru a lot and sounds like you have too-

The dogs noses are so much better than ours, I suspect the puppy can still

smell her pee, and that keeps triggering her to pee again in her crate.

Hopefully, someone can tell you something to kill the smell of her first

accident in her crate. Its the same with a rug, once a dog goes there its

hard to get them not to go there again.

[NewfoundlandNic]

Thanks. I will be heading out for some Nature's Miracle this afternoon for sure.

[Deb, Connor & Simon]

First off, congrats on getting one of the very best dogs in the world! Georgia is just precious! Considering 24 hours ago, she was at the only home she's known with her sibs and mom, then flies 3 hours on a plane, and even though the humans are very nice, she's in a brand new place. No wonder your baby is confused. :-)If she's submissive peeing, it is probably because she is stressed (nothing you've done).

After she has a chance to settle in a bit today, try taking her out as often as you can - even every 30 minutes. Have treats in your pocket and the minute she does anything outside, give her a tiny treat and rub her ears or chest and tell her what a good outside she's done. Make sure she's on a regular feeding schedule - that will help you predict her poop time, too. Take her water away after 8pm at night.  Until she's housebroken, make outside time potty time. Make inside time playtime, sleep time.

I know this is frustrating right now...everything is new. It's like the first 2 weeks home with a new baby human. But it will get better. Her personality will come out more and more and you will be so glad you chose this puppy for your family. When she gets old enough (around 3 months) enroll her in her first puppy obedience class. The more obedience training she has, the happier you both will be. :-)

Connor & Simon send doodle puppy hugs to Georgia.

[NewfoundlandNic]

Hi Deb, thanks very much. I am an experienced dog owner, but the first 24 hours are always more challenging than you remember. Like childbirth, I think we block it out :-)

 

She is a darling, and I know we will get past this, but I wanted some pointers to make sure we do this right the first time around. I have my clicker in my jacket along with treats - I just haven't been lucky enough to have a reason to use it yet lol. I intend on going to clicker training as soon as she is old enough.

 

She hasn't pooped since the plane (just finished cleaning that up from the plane crate).

 

Thanks!

Nicole

[Judi, David & Maddie Irishdoodle]

Another little tip is that when you take her out for potty make sure to say the same thing each time - I used "do your business" and even now at 14 months I say it and usually she'll pee on command. You could say "go potty" or whatever you choose.

I always took Maddie to the same area of the yard which was on the mulch so she didn't wreck the grass - she still goes to the mulch to do her business.  Make sure to give treats when she does her job and give lots of praise, pats and atta girls.

Everything is so new to her - just shower her with lots of love and be consistant in your potty training. You may want to try the bells also and each time you take her out ring the bell and soon she'll be ringing them on her own.

Good luck with your little sweetie.

 

[NewfoundlandNic]

Hi there, I do plan on integrating bells once we get the hang of doing our business outside. And I totally want to train her to go in one place: I didn't with our last doggy and always regretted it.

 

Thanks.

[Donna K & Quincy]

Welcome home little Georgia. Quincy pooped in his crate a couple of times but never peed in there, Nature's Miracle works and make sure you clean it really well. It may sound a little mean but try putting her in the crate without anything soft and see if that makes a difference. If it does, in a few days you can start putting something snuggly back in the crate with her. I don't know if it would help but there are also puppy pee pads you can get to put in here crate to help absorb the pee as long as she doesn't try to eat them. They would make clean up a lot easier. Good Luck, I know  this is a really busy time for you but it does get better fast.

[NewfoundlandNic]

Thanks so much Donna. I am so glad to hear Quincy had some accidents, after reading about the super doodles who were trained within three days I was beginning to get an inferiority complex. This has been a less than stellar day potty training wise, but I did remove the towels. Then I left her with a puppy pad (we have those around because I use them to cover the change areas in public washrooms for Dylan) and she peed on that. So...now she has nothing. I took her out for twenty minutes after dinner and she did nothing. She laid down between my feet to hide from the wind - cute but not effective. Anyway, then I crated her so I could put the kids to bed and of course within ten minutes she pooped and got it all over her and the crate. I scrubbed her in our laundry tub and cleaned up everything. I tell ya, it's a good thing "Little Miss Poopy Pants" is so cute. She peed once outside today, and that was for my husband when he got home from work. He is on potty duty tonight.

 

I know it is like children and we shouldn't compare, but I am pretty certain Parker had maybe two accidents and that was it. Don't worry, I am not giving up - far from it. I am trying to regroup for tomorrow and figure out a better gameplan. I took her out once an hour today, but she never peed outside, so I would put her back in her crate and whiz. However, she was tethered to me for at least four hours throughout the day and she didn't have one accident. I may increase the tethering tomorrow so I can catch her if she starts to sniff etc. Onwards and upwards!

 

 

[Aimee Santa Monica]

Have you got "Nature's Miracle" ? It helped me alot!   Hang in there!  I remember our first weeks- Storm did'nt have a crate then -he slept in our bathroom in a carboard box with his mamas scented toy to comfort him, he never peed in the box,but he would pee on our bathroom floor-  till i later heard about Nature's Miracle!  We later got a crate, which he sleeps in all night long.  I would give him a few treats in the crate, or a bully stick to chew on so he can just relax there and not want to pee where he takes a snack.