By gum, I think I did it..

[TrixiesMom]

Even though I've only had Trixie for 3 weeks and we've been totally housebroken a week or so, Trixie and I made a deal that if she doesn't go potty when I take her out the last time of the night (not just a pee, the FULL potty), she can't sleep on my bed and needs to go in her crate.. Last night, she did the full potty, so she slept on my bed..

Now, my bed is VERY high up off the floor, she needs a lift up, it's too high for her to jump.. and she HATES her crate, even to the point of lipping off at me when I put her in.. she just HATES it... I've followed the proper procedure for crate training, we just NOT are going to do it..

I woke up around 2:30AM and went up on my elbow to see how she was, and she wasn't on my bed! So I'm thinking 'OK, I either kicked her off or she fell off.. where is she.. ?' I turn on my bedlight, and low and behold! She's in her crate! When I said 'Hey, you good girl!', she came running back over and wanted up again.. so I lifted her up and we slept until I woke up for real this time.. =) I think she thought she would go in her crate and wait until she got another invite from Mommy to come up..

I put her in her crate while I got dressed and ready to take her out, I did a check of the house and get this.. NO ACCIDENTS! She did indeed hold it all night, even though she was off my bed and had run of the house..

*huggles her good Trixiegirl*

[vinjashira]

good girl and you're gorgeous trixie!

[caseysmom]

We are not doing too well training our new puppy...whats your secret???

[Cazi]

There is only one secret to toilet training - patience :D

With Amber I tried alsorts. I bought the puppy training pads, boy what fun that was. Amber wouldn't do anything on them and she kind of liked the idea of chewing them up and playing with them.

I tried what my vet advised even though I had many doubts about it.

When she did anything indoors I ignored her. I didn't clean it straight away and when I did, I didn't let her see me.

Whenever she went to the toilet outdoors, I gave her huge praise and a treat when back indoors. It worked a treat and I was lucky in that it took 3 weeks to have her fully housetrained.

If she was having a wee then I would say 'Have a wee' and now she will wee on order.

Hope that helps.

[Jadapit]

I got a paper from the humane society telling how to housebreak a dog and it worked like a charm. When you see the dog start to go in the house say in a firm voice "stop" and then pick the dog up and take it outside. When it goes outside give the dog a ton of praise and a treat.

Take the dog out the minute you get up and before you go to bed. Walk around with them awhile because it takes them a few minutes to go sometimes. Always give them praise and a treat after they go. I had both Diamond and Jad housebroke it no time doing it that way.

[TrixiesMom]

I started taking her out every 2 hours.. She got used to the schedule, and I began to delay the schedule by 15 mins every couple days.. Like 6AM, 8AM, 10AM, 12PM, etc.etc.. then it was 6AM, 8:15AM, 10:30AM and so on.. now we're MOSTLY at 6AM, 9AM, 12PM, 3PM, 6PM and 9PM.. Don't scold when we have an accident or the puppy will think it's a bad thing to eliminate.. When I went out or had a shower, she was in her crate.. Now I'm trusting her out of her crate if I'm just running to the plaza across the street or something, gone no longer than 1/2 hour.. if we're accident-free, we get a treat..

Trixie's 10 months old and I don't let her hold it longer than 4 hours during the day..

When I noticed that alot of our accidents were in the morning as I was getting dressed to take her out, I kept her in her crate until *I* was ready to go out (completely dressed with my coat and shoes), then I put her on my bed, put her coat/collar/leash on, and carried her outside to go.. When she went outside, I praised her like an idiot and gave her a small piece of Rollover.. I still reward her for going in the right place, just to reinforce it.. It's takes sometimes takes as long as 5 mins for the puppy to realize they're supposed to go here..

Housebreaking in an apartment building (I'm on the 4th floor) in the middle of winter is NOT an easy thing.. =)

I think the main keys are praise like a fool when they do it, reward when they do it, don't get mad at accidents, and reinforce with a crate.. Trixie had a small bout of diarrhea yesterday (just mucus, nothing major), she ran to the floor and looked at me while doing it like 'I'm sorry Mommy, but I can't hold it!'

Trixie seems to be very in tune with me, and since dogs won't soil where they sleep, she must realize that the big high square thing I sleep on is not a place to go either, and that's why I can trust her during the night not to go on my bed or when I put her coat on up there in the morning.. =)

Now when I say 'Trixie, go pee', she goes... 'Trixie, go potty' leads to the other thing.. :D

[shutterbug0303]

Something that I found interesting that I picked up from our puppy preschool is that when a dog elimintes in the house, or makes any type of mess for that matter, you are to direct all of your anger at the mess. The dog will not associate anger with him! Since animals do not like yelling, then supposedly, they figure out what made you made (even though it wasn't them) and make sure it doesn't happen.

We never really got to use this for potty training since Sahara was broke by the time we started pre-school, but we occassionally will yell at the trash when it is torn up. The dogs get very nervous and want us to be happy. I can't say that I've seen any positive results, but if you're angry...it's a way to vent without yelling at the pups! :D :D lol

[Shelteez2]

Originally posted by shutterbug0303
Something that I found interesting that I picked up from our puppy preschool is that when a dog elimintes in the house, or makes any type of mess for that matter, you are to direct all of your anger at the mess. The dog will not associate anger with him! Since animals do not like yelling, then supposedly, they figure out what made you made (even though it wasn't them) and make sure it doesn't happen.

We never really got to use this for potty training since Sahara was broke by the time we started pre-school, but we occassionally will yell at the trash when it is torn up. The dogs get very nervous and want us to be happy. I can't say that I've seen any positive results, but if you're angry...it's a way to vent without yelling at the pups! :D :D lol

I'm sorry but I don't agree. I think you are unnecessarily upsetting your dogs.
Your dogs may very well begin to think that garbage on the ground will upset you. I seriously doubt that they are going to make the jump in logic that will connect the idea that their putting the garbage on the ground will prevent you from being upset with the garbage on the ground. Instead they are going to get in the garbage because it is a self satisfying activity (they get rewarded for it right away by all the "yummy" things they find) and then be stressed because the stuff that gets you mad is on the floor.

As for the house training, the best way to prevent a dog from going inside is constant supervision, andt he use of a safe place (crate) when you can't supervise. If you are always watching the pup then you can catch it in the act and show it the proper place to go.
Also remember the number one rule:
Carry a rolled up newspaper with you everywhere. If you come across a mess raise the paper in the air and smack yourself while repeating "I should have been watching my puppy....."

Good luck! Aren't puppies fun!

[Giselle]

Omgoodness! You have a Tibbie???

Oh my goodness, I'm hyperventilating. I ADORE Tibbies. Can you share some general info about your own? My Peke is probably mixed with Tibbie because his build and his fur is 100% Tib. I've come to LOVE those little guys. I'd like to adopt one later in life and do agility with him/her:)

[TrixiesMom]

Yes, she's a Tibbie.. =)

She's a hair over 8.5" at the shoulder.. (males are around 10", females are slightly smaller)

She's 10 months, and the infamous 1 year shed is coming up, I'm not looking forward to that LOL! Alllll the puppy fur comes out and the adult fur grows in, and not necessarily all at once.. Tibbies have been known to have some bald spots during the shed.. She was on the very low end of the weight scale, they should weigh between 9 and 15 lbs, she was 9.6, you could see her ribs and count the discs in her spine, put your fist in her hip joint.. .. she has packed some ounces on.. I'll be getting her weighed shortly..

She absolutely HAS to bark at everything once... She's very aloof with strangers and won't really go up to them until she sees me them in a non-threatening manner, like place my hand on their arm.. I'll tell them 'I'm just going to touch your arm so she can see you're not a threat.. then you can pet her.. ' They think it's quite amazing =)

Affectionate is putting it bluntly.. Multiple times a day I get nose and ear cleanings =)

She has some food allergies and tibs are not to be fed anything with corn or a derivative like corn meal, corn starch, etc. etc.

My girl has excellent hips.. I just need to try to stop her jumping off of my furniture because they get displaced kneecaps.

She had no microchip before me, she isn't registered with the CKC, and she was 'abandoned' at the Welland County Humane Society... My parents and I have a couple possible scenarios as to how she ended up there, but we're clueless...

She has the sweet curly Q tail that is blooming out nicely, and her mane is getting long.. Oh, and she doesn't walk, she bounces =) She's sable and black, but the black is growing in more.. she even has the white markings on her feet =) Her toetufts are so long I have to trim them because I pride myself on my extensively waxed flooring, and she skids and slips alot on them.. Her muzzle isn't quite as long as it should be, but she's growing.. also, I'm not planning to show her, so if she's 'pet quality', I don't give a hoot, she's still my Tibbie =)

She gets Rollover "Lamb and Rice" (as it has 100% digestion and is for dogs with allergies, and my girl is a VERY PICKY EATER.. she is SO stubborn, she would rather starve than eat something she doesn't like..), 1/4" twice a day, and she grazes at 1/2 cup Eukanuba Puppy dry mixed with 1/2 cup of Nature's Recipe Easy-to-Digest Lamb, Rice and Barley...

This is what she's going to end up like after the puppy shed:

http://www.tibbies.net/gallery/albums/userpics/Milli%20PG3.jpg

Her name is Milli, and is on the website I frequent, Tibetan Spaniels Network (http://www.tibbies.net)

You can email or PM me if you want to know more or anything else.. =)

[Giselle]

She has some food allergies and tibs are not to be fed anything with corn or a derivative like corn meal, corn starch, etc. etc.

my girl is a VERY PICKY EATER.. she is SO stubborn, she would rather starve than eat something she doesn't like.

That does it. My Pekingese is DEFINITELY part Tibetan Spaniel :P. He has allergies to corn and he's going on Innova EVO and/or Raw food in a few days. We've got the little scale and chicken wings all ready. :) He's also extremely picky, and refuses to eat veggies and fruits unless you're giving some to the other dog. Then, he puts on his big, sad eyes so that he gets my other dog's share of food.

I have got to get a Tibbie one day. I love these little guys and their personalities are so similar to my current dog. Are you planning to do agility with your dog? I've heard over and over again that Tibs are born for agility. I even joined a Tib-only agility message board, but I forget where I hid the link:p

Who could give up such a darling tibbie?! Who could give up ANY Tibbie?!?! If I had half the chance, my home would be filled with them. If you have any more pictures, that'd be great. Pictures of your pupster, I mean, heh.

[RobiLee]

Good Girl, Trixie! Hey, we need to see more pics of that cutie!

Robin :)

[TrixiesMom]

Hi Giselle!

I might put her in agility for fun.. she definately loves it, she loves to run and play, we'll be learning 'catch and return' in the spring... My parents live 6 doors down from me, and when I say 'Come on, let's go!', she knows we're going to Grandma's.. I open the door and she takes off, she's down there before I even turn the corner... on the way back, she likes to run, wait for me to catch up, jump and repeat the process all the way home =)

One scenario we do think is that she was stolen somehow and shaved.. when we got her, we noticed (and was confirmed from our vet) that her whiskers were hastily cut at some time..

I have a camera with some pictures of her on it, I just need to finish the roll.. but I might get my Dad's digital and take some shots today.. I'm tired of the old ones myself LOL!

[Giselle]

Lively little fellows, aren't they? My little Peke/Tib mix excels in agility. Everybody scoffs at him, but he can tear up his little backyard obstacles. He *really really* likes to jump! I think his most is 2-3 feet and that is very impressive for a bulky, pear shaped dog:p If you ever decide to enter her- remember- PICTURES!!!!!

True...Tibbies are still fairly rare. Such a cute dog! Who wouldn't steal her? LOL!

*sighs* Look at those soft, wise eyes....