dog help

I didn't know where else to post this, but I figured parents with young children may have pets. Can you help me? Our toy poodle dog has a litter box type thing and he does his business in it, but sometimes he poops on the floor of our apartment! He's a little dog and our routine varies so he can't always go outside at the exact time and our manager doesn't want dogs to poop outside. We want him to use his box when he's inside. Wehn e poops on the floor, I've tried taking him to his poo, putting his face near it and hitting the ground beside him with a shoe or newspaper and yelling NO. Well, he certainly looks nervous and afraid when I've done it, but it doesn't change the fact that he will still poop on the floor! Can you offer any suggestions? I have small children and don't want them having these germs around. It's very gross and upsetting!Thank you. I'd be grateful for your help.

There are several books with good treatments on the subject, including "Training your puppy in 5 minutes" (5 minutes at a time, not total). They carry that one at Whiskers n Paws in Horizon Plaza.


But basically:

- Until he is properly trained, keep an eagle eye out and get him to the box as soon as he shows signs of going (circles, sniffing, etc...). You might want to tie the leash to your waist so he doesn't have the run of the place.

- If he doesn't go after a couple of minutes, leave the box and come back every 10-15 minutes until he does his biz.

- When he does his business in the box, use a word such as "potty", "hurry up" or "do the biz" and praise him profusely. Once he is trained, you'll eventually be able to take him to the box and say the word to make him pee and poo on command.

- When he does it somewhere else and you don't catch him, ignore it. Coming up later and "explaining" means nothing to him. Dogs live in the now.

- When he does it somewhere else and you catch him, use a noisy object (can with some coins or dropped keys are good) to startle him, then lead him to the box. Do not scold him as this gives him attention and he craves attention. Try to startle him unobtrusively so he doesn't connect this with you.

- Make sure you clean the location thoroughly or the smell will make him want to go there again.


This will take time and accidents will happen. Be patient. Every success is a step in the right direction, but every time you scold him he will regress.


"I've tried taking him to his poo, putting his face near it and hitting the ground beside him with a shoe or newspaper and yelling NO."


This doesn't work. Dogs have no sense of time that way. Unless you catch him in the act, he will not understand that the punishment is related. And even if you do catch him, punishment will probably not have any effect.


In general, punishment of this kind (known as "positive punishment") works badly when training dogs and other animals. If nothing else, you run the very real risk of the dog becoming aggressive out of fear in the long run.


The best kind of punishment for a dog is ignoring them or withdrawing something fun like a toy they are playing with (known as "negative punishment").


The best kind of training is focused on positive reinforcement, praising the good things and ignoring the bad.

not you, I am about to have a kid with an exuberant puppy around. We have different issues to deal with but pee/potty is one area I made sure he was trained well. Taking our dog's nose near the business is a very old fashioned way and does not work. Your dog just may get scared and try to hide where s/he is doing the business instead which would be the last thing you want.


The trick as mentioned above is to catch the dog doing the deed, otherwise its no good. Generally dogs have the urge to go after their food(pee or potty) or after their nap (pee). When you catch them in the middle of it, you have to scare them with a loud noise or yelling or pick them up (if your dog is small) so that it stops midstream or in the middle. Take them to the place they should go to and praise them. It might take time as they are not sure what happened but with the pressure bearing down they will finally let go. Praise them again with a treat this time. Sometimes if you have just missed catching them- scold the poo or the pee but never the dog. S/he needs to know that its the act that is bad, not them.

I did it with newspapers, putting his poo on a piece of newspaper and left it where I wanted him to do his business, i.e. the shower. I took a while for him to be trained.

We've moved several times but I didn't need to train him again every time, he could figure out where the shower was and helped himself....amazing!!

"Sometimes if you have just missed catching them- scold the poo or the pee but never the dog. S/he needs to know that its the act that is bad, not them."


Scold the pee or the poo. That's cool. Neat trick, thanks.

Thanks so much. we have a bathroom no ne else uses and have newspapers on a plastic tray. I really appreciate you guys taking all the time you did to help share your great ideas!! You're all so kind and deserve a huge thank you or cyber handshake or hug. ha ha. I was really just out of ideas entirely!

Thanks so much. we have a bathroom no ne else uses and have newspapers on a plastic tray. I really appreciate you guys taking all the time you did to help share your great ideas!! You're all so kind and deserve a huge thank you or cyber handshake or hug. ha ha. I was really just out of ideas entirely!

Do let us know how it turns out. And remember to be patient. It can take weeks and months to get it completely right.