Potty training

[suzanne Jelderks]

Hello all, 

We have a wonderful 15 week old Goldendoodle, Pax, that we have had since he was 9 weeks old.  He has slept through the night for quite a while, has learned quite a few commands, and knows his own spot to potty in the yard. He is a very sweet, cuddly puppy.  The issue is that he continues to pee in the house at least once a day, mostly in the afternoons.   Pax doesn't seem upset when he goes in the house, and doesn't sneak off to do it.  He sleeps in a crate at night, and has a pen to spend some of the day in. I have many toys for him and he gets a fair amount of exercise each day. We take him out at regular intervals to go potty and pay attention to his water consumption. Is there something about house breaking a Doodle that I'm not aware of?  Any ideas, suggestions would be great.  :-)

[Laura and Angus]

We were told by our trainer (and Zak George online ha!) that if you're having an issue with training, you should always take a step back. For example, if you stopped giving treats/praise for pottying outside, start again. If you stopped going outside with your doodle to give them immediate feedback at the potty spot, start doing that again. If you have given your doodle more space to roam around in the house, go back to keeping them in a smaller area until you've remedied the pottying issue - this will allow you to keep a more watchful eye to catch the sniffing behaviors or to discipline and take them out immediately to go outside when they start pottying inside. Perhaps you felt like they were doing so well that they didn't need as much hovering from you and could have more independence, which doesn't seem like they are ready for yet. 

Go back to keeping your puppy in a smaller location (we always kept our pup downstairs with us with all doors closed, so we would always know where he was) and once you go a month without indoor pottying, then your puppy can be considered trained. I would say if you aren't going with your pup for pottying, you need to start taking them out to their potty spot on a leash and giving them a really amazing treat with verbal praise immediately after pottying. We still say "good potty" to our 18 month old doodle even though he was fully trained after about a month at home. Always helpful to reinforce the good behaviors in our opinion :) 

[Cindy and Olive (Ollie)]

Ooh, good reminders Laura. I totally forgot about treating for outside potty. And I was wondering maybe Pax can smell his previous pee if you're not using Nature's Miracle? Perhaps moving a rug away for a while? And maybe feeding him in the spot where he seems to like to pee? Good luck! :)

[suzanne Jelderks]

Hi Cindy,

Thanks for your suggestions!  We are using Nature's Miracle, but maybe should use more of it. ... The floor he most likes to pee on is tile, so it is pretty easy to clean up.  We do feed him in the kitchen on the tile floor.  I feel better already, just knowing I can connect with everyone on Doodlekisses and talk about any issues that may come up.  Thanks!

[suzanne Jelderks]

Thanks very much Laura.  Pax mostly pees in the kitchen, where we spend much of our time, and we do close off the rest of the house.  It's almost like he is holding back when he pees outside, like he is "saving" some pee for inside.  I will try giving him some special treats when we take him outside, rather than just a piece of his kibble. I may need to keep him on a leash when he is in the house, too.  It's great to know that there is support for whatever issues may come up with our good buddies!  Thanks again, and I'll post with progress.  :-)

[Kaitlin and Ludo]

Laura had some great thoughts!

I wonder if there is something different in the afternoon routine?  Maybe he's playing more or chewing more or gets a kong in the afternoon-- our trainer said that when puppies are more active, they need to go out more often.

If he pees in the house around the same time, maybe try and be extra vigilant at that time-- taking him out over and over until he goes-- to break the pattern?

[suzanne Jelderks]

Thanks for your input Kaitlin!  Initially Pax was barking for his food at meals, but he has been taught not to bark now.  I wonder if he now pees instead of barking, since it mostly (but not always) happens before his dinner.  At any rate, we will try to take him out more at that time, or distract him in some other way to see if that helps.  I appreciate your thoughts!

[Cindy and Olive (Ollie)]

Oh wow, that's interesting. Do you think he is peeing to get your attention/demanding dinner? How are you reacting to it? These pups are so smart!

[Kaitlin and Ludo]

Puppies don't really do thinks to spite us.  Like tearing things up because they're mad at us or peeing in the house because of x,y,z.  They don't process things the same way as humans.

However, I would definitely give a really high value treat for going potty outside (like cheese or hot dog or any other treat... you can do a hierarchy test to see what treats are the highest value by letting him smell two different treats (say kibble vs a little piece of string cheese) and then putting the cheese in one hand and the kibble in the other... the treat he goes to first is higher value.  Then do cheese and hot dog (or whatever you want to do) and find out which treats provide the most incentive.  When dealing with a behavior you're trying to change (and I totally agree that this is normal puppy behavior) or a new behavior you're trying to teach, you want the reward to be awesome.  

Also, I'd take him out a few times before dinner and really try and make sure he's empty and praise and reward him handsomely!

[suzanne Jelderks]

We'll also try giving Pax high value treats for a super potty reward, and keep him out longer (around dinnertime) to see if we can encourage him to empty his bladder.  Thanks to everyone who has had suggestions for us!  

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

He sounds like a very normal puppy, and in fact, doing better than most, at this young age. Consider taking him out a biypt earlier in the afternoons, since you know this when he is apt to have an accident. May also keep him out a tad longer , even after he pees the first time. He may not be emptying his bladder all at once.

[suzanne Jelderks]

Hi Rosemary, Yes, we need to remember that he is still young.  I think it's a good idea to keep him out longer, too, since he doesn't seem to be emptying his bladder all of the time.  Maybe he pees more often, but less volume at a time because he knows he will get a treat each time he pees outside?  :-)  He always seems to have saved more pee for in the house.  :-)   Thanks for your helpful insights!

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

Our girl Enzo was a " double pee'er". Almost never emptied her bladder first time around. Once I figured this part out, it was a breeze! :)