Trying to decide how to handle leaving a dog at home...

[Savvv]

Hey all, so my g/f and I have this min-pin/jack russell mix female and she is coming up on 4 months old. For the 2 months we've had her, we would cage her whenever we would leave the house. Make sure to take her outside to go and then come in and cage her so she wasn't in there struggling to hold it.

Well eventually we'd like her to be able to free roam the house. So we are starting by bringing her open cage into the master bathroom and just closing the door to the bathroom so she can run around or hop back into her bed if she likes. Thing is she is peeing and/or pooping on the floor if we're gone for a bit longer than she can hold it.

We can try putting piddle pads down while we're gone but I'm hoping she'll still know to ring her bell on the backdoor to go outside and go rather than look all over the place for a piddle pad to go on. She's still young and we're getting there with teaching her things. Wanna get some input on a good way to handle leaving her alone and how to build up to just letting her roam the whole house without worry.

[STOICH]

Sounds like the pup isn't ready to have that freedom yet. That should only come once 100% potty trained. And that can take up to 6 months. I would revert back to crating when gone.

Otherwise, how's she doing? Any accidents when you're home? Catching on to her 'signs'?

[Savvv]

Sounds like the pup isn't ready to have that freedom yet. That should only come once 100% potty trained. And that can take up to 6 months. I would revert back to crating when gone.

Otherwise, how's she doing? Any accidents when you're home? Catching on to her 'signs'?

Here n there. Not very often though. She's religious about the bell ringing and knows to USE it just to get outside and then not go haha. But we can tell when shes gotta #2 just by her sniffing and scurrying around. The one night she peed on the fireplace brick right infront of us like no big deal. Took her outside right away, couldn't really rub her nose in that one.

At most she'll get the bathroom. So long as there's still pee/poop in there when we get back she won't get more than that.

[STOICH]

Any accidents in the crate when you kept her in there?

The crate helps the dog instinctively hold it as they do not like to soil their living area. If you are not there to correct the pup when they have an accident inside the house, your pup may get the idea that it's OK to go in the house when you're not home.

Don't rush; get the potty training down to no accidents over the course of 2-3 weeks, then you can start giving more freedom.

I would also suggest staying away from training pads, newspaper or anything encouraging the pup to go indoors. This generally does nothing but extend to hinder the time it takes for complete training.

[Savvv]

Makes perfect sense. Thanks. So far the only accident in the crate was when we were running the vacuum and she ran into the crate and peed. But otherwise she doesn't go inside it at all.

[GTiTOM]

Took her outside right away, couldn't really rub her nose in that one.

you're not really rubbing her nose in her accidents, are you?

[sakigt]

Dont feel bad about leaving her in the crate, it took our dog months before he could stay out. But everytime the dog has an accident outside the crate it sets them back weeks. The best way to avoid this is to make sure accidents are avoided.

[Savvv]

you're not really rubbing her nose in her accidents, are you?

I am, and if you have a better proven way of prevention I'm all ears. So far she's been getting the hint with her #2's.

[STOICH]

Your voice can be a lot more powerful than physical action/correction.

The correction of accidents in the house should go somewhat like this:

- Catch the pup in the act or within a few seconds afterwards.
- Use you chosen word for "no" in a stern voice
- Followed by using your chosen word/phrase for "outside" as you are taking the dog outside
- Once outside encourage the pup to go, even if they don't have to. But if they do, praise and/or treat. <<< Very important - you want the dog to know that going outside is a GOOD thing.

While you go through this process, keep your words/commands to a confined minimum. The more you talk in general (whether it be to the dog, yourself, or others), the more the dog may not understand what's wrong.

Also, if you haven't already, get to known your pups potty schedule so you know when it needs to go. Try to stay outside for as long as possible to give the pup some time. And be sure to praise/treat.

While rubbing their noise/face in it might be effective, it's really not called for and just adds an unneeded step in the process.

[dunhamjr]

the general rule of thumb i have heard for puppies is that they can only hold it for as many hours as they are months.

not a strict rule but a guideline.

also puppies need to mature before they can be left alone.

our vizsla wasnt really able to be left uncaged until she was around 2 yrs old. and even then we started with only leaving her confined in a single bedroom. she is now 4.5yrs old and we have just for the past 2 months or so letting her have free roam of the house.

[GTiTOM]

I am, and if you have a better proven way of prevention I'm all ears. So far she's been getting the hint with her #2's.

Through positive encouragement. Or basically what stoich outlined. Praise and reward when they go outside. Ignore accidents inside.

Just google "should I rub my dogs nose in it's pee", and see how many results say yes and how many say no. It's definitely not the appropriate way to house train a dog

[MotownSVT]

It's definitely not the appropriate way to house train a dog

More often than not it'll lead them to going off somewhere in the house and hiding from you while they pee/poop... rubbing their nose in it doesn't lead them to make the correlation between outside=good and inside=bad.