Potty Training Tips-
First off, never believed in crating a puppy or dog - just did not seem right but when you have
many dogs, you have to do some thing that works. Well, it works for potty training. We crate our dogs at night
time for sleepy time. We crate 3 to 4 dogs in a huge crate with a comforter in it. We use a plastic fence for
the smaller dogs and pups at night time. We tell our dogs "sleepy time, let's go to bed" and they go to crates.
Some times one or two are not in the mood to sleep in a crate, so they sleep with us. Our dogs and pups understand this
is their secure place, it is not punishment. Will have new pictures soon that show the dogs sleeping quarters.
They sleep in our kitchen and living room. When the pups are first born, we fence them with 2 Iris Plastic Fences hooked
together, put paper at one end and food, water and toys at the other end. You may want to do this initially. Will
work on this part of our web site more in upcoming weeks to give you a better idea of what we do to get them potty trained.
Remember dogs live in the present -
not the past, not the future. That is human thinking. Also, think before you name your dog. Dogs know tones
not words. Therefore if you name your dog with a similar name to "No" the dog will have a hard time distinguishing
the difference. For instance, Beau is not a good name - sounds a lot like NO. If you use their name while correcting
them, their name will be associated with NEGATIVE feedback which is not good.
We potty train the puppies for inside and outside purposes.
First off make sure your home is clean,
no urine or feces smell from other animals. Your new puppy will automatically potty where other animals have done the
same. Have your supplies ready before the puppy arrives at your home - Pee pads or news paper, crate/fence, paper towels,
cleaning fluids, treats - meat works well. Believe it or not there are pee sticks you can buy at your local pet store
or the Internet. The pee sticks have urine on them; stick them in the ground where you would like the puppy to urinate
and the smell could initiate the puppy's response. Also, you may want to consider fencing off a small part of your yard
for pottying purposes. This provides you and your puppy with some tools for potty training - the puppy will recognize
this area as the potty area and the feces will be in one area instead of the entire yard.
Clear a spot inside your home away from the walls, carpet, high traffic areas, etc. Use a
spot that you can easily monitor but the puppy will not be distracted while pottying. Put a pee pad (Pee pads are NOT
working well for us - the pups just chew it up) or newspaper in the spot you want them to potty. We layer our newspaper
for pottying purposes, that way when the puppy has a bowel movement on the newspaper you simply roll up the top layer of the
newspaper and bingo there's a clean sheet underneath. Keep an eye on your puppy - this is a KEY ELEMENT, how can you
train the pup if you do not watch the pup? You might consider putting the pup in a crate or fenced in area when you
are unable to watch the pup. Initially when they are small, this can be done in a small crate then you graduate the
pup to a larger space. Reasoning - Pups and dogs do not want to sleep and play with their poo .
When the puppy starts to potty in the wrong place, say a sharp "NO" or "Uh-Uh".
Once again -When they start to potty in wrong place, not afterwards because that is in the past and dogs live in the present.
Signs of potty time - Hunching over at the back for bowel movement, turning tight circles, walking around smelling the floor,
squatting or hiking of the leg, whimpering while on the furniture or bed. Or the pup is standing at the door looking
at you with a look of wonder because you do not realize the pup needs to go outside and the next thing you know the puppy
is sitting in urine.
Right
when the signs start is the time for "NO" then quickly pick the puppy up. If there is urine or feces in the
wrong place try to remember to wipe or pick it up with a paper towel and bring this with you to the newspaper or outside.
Put the pup on the paper or outside. Then place the paper towel of urine/feces in the spot you want the pup to potty,
let the dog smell the paper towel. Smell it not put their nose in it. If you put their nose in the feces, you
could be setting your puppy up for a raging sinus infection or worse. If you put the pup on the paper and the pup walks
off the paper, put the pup back on the paper, try this a few times. Be PERSISTENT. Pottying may not happen, it's
OK, there will be plenty of times to practice. If they do potty on the paper, wait till they come off the paper then
PRAISE them and give them a treat like meat. If you praise the puppy during mid stream or mid bowel movement the puppy
will stop pottying and come to you. Once again, praise after the puppy walks off of the paper then give the treat.
When outside it is best to bring the
pup to the same spot each time so the pup will associate this with pottying. Wait 10 to 15 minutes, if the pup potties
PRAISE the pup and give them a treat like meat. Puppies can get distracted easily while outside, so if there is no pottying
by 15 minutes the puppy has probably already forgotten about it and you will have to wait for next time. Some small
dogs are scared to potty outside; small dogs can be easy prey for birds, coyotes, snakes, etc. Watch for owls in your
area, especially at sunrise and sunset. Also, it is very unlikely the pup will go outside to potty if it is raining.
When outside in the yard, watch the
puppy. Some puppies are small enough to go through the holes in the fence and will do so. For outside potty training
you should bring your puppy outside initially every 2 hours and when you have the puppy at the spot to potty say some thing
like "Pee Poo", this will associate words with potty time. Remember, dogs do not know words, they know tones
- so keep it simple. Don't say "Pee Poo" or what ever words you choose till you are ready for the puppy to
potty - if you say "Pee Poo" before you are even out the door and the puppy does the doo, who's fault is that?
YOURS. Repeat the waiting regimen, praise, treats, etc.
When the puppy potties in the correct spot without supervision, praise them after they are done
then give a treat such as meat - ANOTHER KEY ELEMENT - POSITIVE FEEDBACK.
TIMING IS KEY. Timing with stopping the pottying when needed, timing when to give treats,
timing with words, timing with praise. Puppies can be litter trained also. One couple who bought a pup uses a
cat litter box with 100% success.
NEGATIVE
FEEDBACK does not work well!! How would you feel if some one was constantly fussing at you, especially while you were
young and potty training.
Pick
feces up quickly around the potty area, this is because of airborne pathogens and tracking the feces around. While inside,
let the urine stay for a little while on the newspaper; cover it with a clean newspaper. That way the pup can smell
where the potty spot is.
When
the puppy makes you happy because of the puppy's accomplishment, you can see in their eyes the respect they have for you as
their pack leader. If the pup is not potty trained by one year of age, YOU have done some thing wrong not the puppy.
Remember that accidents will happen. Also, Maltese have small bladders and when they become excited they can accidentally
urinate. To avoid this, wait till the puppy is calm before giving them attention. Ignore the excitement or you
will provide the puppy with positive feedback at the wrong time.
Other things to take into consideration. Pick things up and off the floor. Boys love
to mark new things that come into their home, they are protecting their territory. Pick up their bedding, they will
mark this too - after all it does belong to the pup.
If you leave home for less than 2 hours - you might want to CRATE THE PUP - if you don't and you come back home and
the home is a nasty mess, that would be YOUR FAULT, not the pup, should have crated the pup. If you are going be gone
for more than 2 hours, put them in the bathroom or other room with necessary food, water, bedding, and pee pad/paper.
Put the food, water, especially newspaper, etc. at the opposite end of the containment area. That way, when you come
home from a long day at work and all you want is some puppy love, the pups food and feces is at the other end. The pup
will not be jumping up and down in the poo and scattering food while taking a splish splash bath in the water bowl.
Within this thrill of the moment, the pup does not realize that he/she has become a poo covered pup with morsels of puppy
food hanging here and there and only looks at you with those angel eyes saying "Pick Me Up Because I Missed You So Much."
Once again that would be YOUR FAULT, not the pup's.
When you get home, wait for the pup to calm down then take the pup out of the crate or room. Don't let them out
of the crate/room on their own because if the pup gets out of the crate or room you can bet they are going to potty soon.
So, pick the pup up and bring the pup to the proper potty spot and you do your thing as mentioned before while the pup does
his/her thing.
BEST TO CRATE
AT NIGHT TIME. If not, they will have free roam of the house while you sleep or worse than that, pee/poo in your bed
at night or morning. Once again that would be YOUR FAULT, should have crated the pup at night. They get use to
night time crating fast, just ignore the whining - the whining usually stops within 10 to 15 minutes. Some are OK to
sleep with, others are going to pee/poo that bed up no matter what.
If you don't keep the training up when you get the pup, the pup will forget all of their training.
Puppyhood is the best time for any kind of training. They are a sponge for knowledge. BOYS can learn Potty Training
as easily as the girls. Fender is the pup that was litter trained. A male puppy, 100% trained by 7 weeks old before
he left Island Puppy Love. He remained as such because his new owner's were ready for the new addition to their home.
SMART PUP, his new owners crated him with a litter box initially and then graduated him to a fenced in area with a litter
box without any accidents. His new owners both worked and took care of 6 kids. Know why they succeeded?
Because his new human parents were smart enough to have every thing in place before the pup arrived, they gave the effort
as a family and they are just good folks any way.
Please don't crate your dog for more than 2 to 3 hours, maybe 4 at the max, unless it is a crate
that gives them room to potty. The litter box idea in a crate works. A fence/pen with pee pad works. We use an
IRIS plastic fence at times, crates other times and bathrooms on other days - whatever fits the situation. The reasoning
behind crating without room to potty for long periods is the pup will hold their urine and feces for the time in the crate
if there is no room to potty, maybe. If the pup is in the crate for let's say 8 hours, holds it all in, etc. the pup
could get a bladder infection, resorption of the feces back into the system and so forth it goes. There is nothing wrong with
crating just use some sense about it. How would you feel if you had to hold it in all day?
WATCH FOR FECES ON THE BUTT - if a large amount of feces sticks in the hair around the anus, this
could cause the puppy to strain and cause hemorrhoids. GENTLY was away the feces with running water, gently cut away
excess hair, and gently apply Preparation H if needed. To avoid this, for the most part, keep the hair cut away back
there.
July, 2010 update - Just noticed some
pups just go crazy, running in a wide circle when in a new area and happy as can be and then the pup is ready to have a bowel
movement -watch for running in a circle or back and forth. If no paper is on the floor, put some down real fast for
the pup. Also, seems some pups want to have bowel movements in the rest room.
11/29/10 Notes - We do not have carpet in our home. A new pup will likely urinate on carpet
- with that in mind, when you first introduce your pup to carpet, be there and ready to say "No" or "Uh Uh"
and carry the pup to the proper spot. Also, the boys automatically mark their area when new people come to our home.
To avoid this, simply pick your pup up before letting people in. Or crate him but you do not want the crate to be punishment.
Crates must equal security. Another KEY ELEMENT.
If you do not think you are up to being a Maltese owner, Tell you what you should do - DON'T
BUY ONE. We do not want God's little angels going to the wrong homes.
