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Posted by KDiamondDavis on February 06, 2003 at 13:54:05:
In Reply to: AHHHHHH! posted by jazzrine on February 06, 2003 at 10:46:46:
:Okay, my patience is wearing thin now. My sweet little pup (not really how I feel right now) has embarked on doing her wet business on my couch instead of coming upstairs to go outside. What gets me is that she knows that she has done wrong. She will come barrelling up the stairs past us and go hide under the bed and then we have to go find where she did her job. Help please. I told my husband that I am about ready to get rid of her. This is the second time that she has urinated on my new couch. I wouldn't be so frustrated if I knew that she didn't know that it was wrong, but her actions before ever being caught prove to me that she does know that she is in trouble for peeing in the house. That is the worst part....her knowing and still doing it, not letting us know she needs to go out. In the past 3 weeks she has let us know only on two occasions. She will sit by our feet and then finally give a little whimper. I don't get it. My mother has my other dog....she would not let him go...Rascal. He is a lab-rot mix and the most stubborn dog I have ever met, but it did not take this long to potty train him. Now he will bug you every half hour even if he doesn't have to go, he just likes being outside. Please help with Jazz. I am at my complete witts end.>>>>>>>
Many people make the mistake of thinking a dog knows it's wrong to potty in the house because the dog shows submission toward an angry owner. This is not guilt. The dog doesn't know. Rather than waiting for her to ask to go out, she needs to be taken out on a schedule, once per hour during the times you're at home and awake, until housetraining is complete. Some dogs NEVER learn to ask to go out, and it's far too much to ask of a puppy. That means she has to anticipate her need enough in advance to come find you, tell you, persuade you to stop what you are doing and take her out, and then until she gets all the way outside. This is far more bladder and bowel control than puppies have. Punishment--even a harsh tone of voice--only makes it physically more difficult for the dog to achieve housetraining.
The dog needs to be in the same room with you under your attention whenever she is loose in the house. When you can't supervise her, a safe confinement area such as a small room with a baby gate or a crate is best. She should not have access to being able to urinate on a sofa until she is fully housetrained.
It is also possible she has an infection and is urinating on the sofa while lying on it, because she loses control in her sleep. This is something for a veterinarian to check out.
Some dogs are very easy to housetrain, and in fact they figure it out in spite of humans who don't really understand the process. Other dogs need a lot more help. Most dogs fall somewhere in the middle. Raising a puppy is a lot of work if you do it right!
Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series at www.veterinarypartner.com