[andrea]

We adopted our puppy Cain from a local Rescue Organization about a week and a half ago. He is a collie/german shepherd mix and is about 3 or 3.5 months old. He is a sweet little guy and we love him! He is already my 3 year old sons best buddy.

The first few days we had him at home we were able to stay with him all day. There were a lot of accidents that first day as he was very shy and scared of his new environment. The next 2 days went well with zero accidents and Cain has since been showing signs that he is getting comfortable with us. My problem is this... My husband and I both work and our son is at a sitter's house during the day. We've started crate training Cain. He has no problem being in the crate and he goes in easily. There is some crying but for the most part he handles it well. I work close to home so I come home every day on my lunch break to let him out, but we are having lots of accidents IN the crate. I do my best to clean it out but I feel like he isn't taking advantage of his "potty opportunities" while we are outside. He eliminates (and then spreads it everywhere) during the day sometimes and overnight. I wake up to let him out but it's the same kind of problem.

Does anyone have any potty training tips for me? He is young so I was considering leaving the crate open in a bathroom during the day with potty pads on the floor outside of the crate so that he can relieve himself when it will be a while before I can get to him. Anyone have thoughts on this? Because he is young I do not expect him to always be able to hold it for as long as we aren't home... Please help!!!

**** ALSO, any tips on training a puppy not to bite? He doesn't generally bite skin but he has a tendency to bite my son's clothing/hair while they are playing and he gets to be too rough. Thoughts?

[lange]

Hi. Most important thing i want to touch on is the biting. You want to control that now. Teach your dog bite inhibition (soft bite) first. This should be taught by you & your husband only. Meanwhile your kid should be completely off limits.

Adults-bite inhibition
Kids- NO bite

Once the dog learns to inhibit it's bite you adults can move on to NO bites too. Teaching bite inhibition is a sort of bite insurance for your family, for the future. You can read/understand it here: Teaching Bite Inhibition | Dog Star Daily If you still don't fully understand do some online searches.

Be sure your dog is not allowed to bite anyone's clothes or hair EVEN if you are teaching bite inhibition. This is because a dog can not learn to control his bite on something that isn't connected to pain receptors. So if the dogs get away with HARD biting clothes or hair, it will reinforce the dog to think that people have a high pain tolerance which is the opposite of what you are training.

I hope that all makes sense.

Now for Potty, correct me if I'm wrong but the problem is that he isn't potting when you take him outside. What you can do is take him out on leash. Ignore him, no talking, no eye contact, ect..Wait as long as you can for your dog to potty then when he's in the ACT of it, say "go potty/hurry up/whateverpottywordyouwanttouse2train". Once he's done praise him like crazt, let him off leash & play. This way he can realize that the fun happens AFTEr he eliminates. Teaching him the "potty word" should help speed up the process in the future. Also keep in mind, a dog doesn't always eliminate all at one. Sometimes they need to pee twice before they're really done.

Also keep in mind that he may not be able to hold his bladder for the lengeth of time he's in the crate so paper training may be worth the try. Really, a dog shouldn't be left in a crate the whole day even if they get a potty break. As he getting older he'll need more time to play & learn as well. otherwise they can get behavioral issues. The faster you can house train him the better for Cain. Good luck!

[lovemyH&A]

It sound like he just can't hold it during the day! He's such a young one! Usually, puppies don't gain full physical control of their bladder and bowels until they're about 6 months old, or there abouts. So, during the day, that's just a long time to hold it.

When our puppies were younger we got an ex-pen, set it up in the kitchen (thank goodness for laminate flooring!) and put their crate, toys, and water in the pen. That way, they had room to pee somewhere besides their crates, if they couldn't hold it.

Wishing you luck!

[sallyi]

Hi Andrea!

Congratulations! You got a puppy ^_^! They are truely the sunshine of any family

ABOUT POTTY TRAINING:
Cain is so young~ I remembered that when I potty trained my puppy (chihuahua) she'd normally potty after her meals like within 30 minutes.

This is how I setup my puppy's living quarters. I bought a cage and i made a U-shaped fence and placed it against the cage as you can see below in bird's eye view:
___________
|................|
| cage.........|
|____ _____.|
|.................|
|fenced area |
|__________.|

Puppies tend to potty right after their meal times or within 30 minutes after their meal. So what I did was after feeding my puppy food inside the cage, I'd put her at the fenced area and CLOSE the cage's door. The fenced area will have house training pads so I basically wait until she potties and congratulate her. Of course, you must quickly take away the poop so:

1. Cain won't "eat" it (some puppies have the tendencies to eat it.)
2. Cain won't have the chance to PLAY or STEP on it, and it'll become its habit to leave its potties alone after it's done.

After your pup did its dandy work and you've congratulated it, you can open the cage's door again. Oh, inside the cage, i'd put some rags for the puppy to sleep and some toys to keep it company when it's alone. Dogs like to keep their sleeping quarters clean, so they'll not potty in that area.

If Cain continues to potty in his sleeping quarters (the cage)....
1. Get ordor eliminator and clean his cage so there won't be the smell of its potty. (No ammonia substance in the detergent because a dog's urine consists of it and they'll potty once they smell it.)
2. Try pouring some dog kibbles in its sleeping quarters when you are feeding him. I heard that a dog won't potty at where it eats.

The 1st few months you'll need to be pretty deligent about it because it's the EASIEST time to train your pup to potty at the right place at an INDOOR AREA. After 6 months your puppy will only potty on the house training pads.

Keep in Mind*** You must PREVENT accidents by crating Cain when you or any family member is busy. Only let Cain out when someone can supervise him and quickly take him to the training pads or outside to potty when he starts snifffing around (a sign of wanting to go to the toilet). If any accidents happen... use the ordor eliminator to clean the floor ~

ABOUT CHEWING: THe "OUCH" method, which was in the article that was suggested by Lange, works but don't over do it. Your Cain may think that you're a squeeky toy when it chews your hand. Hahaha~ When you used the "OUCH" method and it doesn't seem to work, you might want to try stickin a chewing bone or toy into its mouth instead.


Goodluck!! Do tell us Cain's progress okay ^_~

[lange]

Originally Posted by sallyi

___________
|................|
| cage.........|
|____ _____.|
|.................|
|fenced area |
|__________.|

Interesting birds eye view! Very creative