HELP I need help potty training my Italian Greyhound!!!

I have had my Italian Greyhound for 4 weeks now. He is absolutely wonderful. I got him at 10 weeks old. Full of energy, a cuddle bug and fits our family well. We also have a 7 year old ****zu. But after having owned and trained 8 dogs in my lifetime ranging from Labs,and Shepards to ****zus and Muts. I have never had such a hard, frustrating time. I have tried everything from starting him on pads to taking him outside everytime.

This is what happens... I will take him outside for usually 15 minutes and he goes potty instantly so i wait and tell him to go poo but he doesn't. So I take him back inside and within 5 minutes he will run off and poop in the house somewhere.

Or in the middle of the night he wake me up about 3:20. So i take him to the door where the pad is and he will poop on the pad instantly but then runs up stairs before I can catch him and poops more in the hall or pees.

No matter what I do or how often I take him to the exact same place to do his business. just keeps doing it every where in the house. I work from home so i am outside with him every hour and a half or so. I say "NO" in a firm voice but to no avail. I have never had to spank a dog to get them to potty train. I am at my wits end. nad my carpet is getting trashed. Needless to say I am spending alot of time with the carpet cleaning machine!!!
Please help!!!!!!

You may need to walk him around a little more when you take him out.

Much of housebreaking is not training the puppy, but making it easier for your puppy, you, and your carpet while its body to catches up to its instincts. At around 8 weeks when the puppy goes to its new home, the time from when it realizes it has to go, and when it can't wait any longer is a matter of seconds. Only time will fix that. You can hardly be expected to be attentive enough to avoid all accidents. There is no sense punishing the puppy for your inattention. It is not fair to punish you either, but you still have to clean it up if you didn't have the puppy outside in time.

Housebreaking starts before you get home with the new puppy. If you don't have a crate, buy one. I prefer the more enclosed, den like plastic ones. Skip the bedding. At first it gets wet, and later it can be chewed into choking hazards. A wire grid in the bottom will help keep the puppy up out of accidents at first. They are available with the crates, but expensive and hard to find. A piece of closely spaced wire closet shelving from a home supply place is cheaper. I am now using a plastic vegetable bin with plenty of holes drilled in the bottom. It helps block off part of the crate for the smaller puppy. If you already have a metal crate, covering it may help. Just make sure you use something the puppy can't pull in and chew. Dogs that start out in crates as little puppies, accept them very well. Never leave an unattended puppy loose in the house. If nobody can watch it, put it in the crate. I suggest letting the dog have its crate all its life. A crate needs to be just big enough for a dog to stretch out in.

Choose a command and spot you want it to use. The less accessible to strays, the less chance of serious disease. If it is a female, choosing a non grassy spot will avoid brown spots later. When you bring it home, take it to the spot and give it the command in a firm, but friendly voice. Keep repeating the command and let the puppy sniff around. Sometimes you need to walk it around to stimulate its body to eliminate. If it does anything, praise it. Really let it know what a good dog it is and how much you love it, and maybe a treat. Note, being out there not only means you can praise it, but it also keeps it from being snatched by a hawk. If it doesn't go, take it inside and give it a drink and any meals scheduled. A young puppy will need to go out immediately afterward. Go to the spot and follow the above routine. Praising it if it goes is extremely important. If it doesn't go, take it back inside and put it in its crate and try again soon. Do not let it loose in the house until it does go.

At first it is your responsibility to know and take the puppy out when it needs to go. It needs to go out the first thing in the morning, after eating, drinking, and sleeping. If it quits playing, and starts running around sniffing, it is looking for a place to go. Take it out quickly. You will just have to be what I call puppy broke until it is a little older. How successful you are depends on how attentive you are.

By the time most dogs are about 3 months old, they have figured out that if they go to the door and stand, you will let them out. The praise slowly shifts to going to the door. Some people hang a bell there for the dog to paw. If your dog doesn't figure this out, try praising it and putting it out if it even gets near the door. When you catch it in the act, give it a sharp ''Ah, ah, ah!'' and take it out. Clean up accidents promptly. I mostly keep the little puppies out of the carpeted rooms. Still I need the can of carpet foam sometimes. First blot up all the urine you can with a dry towel. Keep moving it and stepping on it until a fresh area stays dry. A couple big putty knives work well on bowel movements. Just slide one under it while holding it with the other. This gets it up with a minimum of pushing it down into the carpet. This works with even relatively soft ones, vomit, dirt from over turned house plants, or anything else from solids to thick liquids. Finish up with a good shot of carpet foam. Note, do not let the puppy lick up the carpet foam. Once the dog is reliably housebroken, your carpet may need a good steam cleaning.

Many people strongly strongly push cleaning up all evidence of past accidents. I am slower to suggest that. Dogs will return to the same spot if they can find it. When you see one sniffing the spot, that is your clue to run it out.

no advice

but i just have to giggle, whenever we get americans, you guys can't say 'toilet'



no offence intended.

He sounds gorgeous

Can I just ask you to clarify something please, have you actually smacked him? or told him off? as if so, this can mean that a sensitive little pup may well be too scared to go in front of you. This can sometimes explain why dogs will "go" in the house.

Also remembe he is only 14 weeks and has almost no control yet over his bladder and bowels

I don't expect pups to be entirely clean until around maybe 20 weeks and even then, there may be the odd accident due to owners not paying attention, or adolescence and the hormonal changes (esp. with bitches, and males may start to scent mark).

I must admit, I really loathe pads because I find pups get confused - we are saying to them it's Ok to "go" indoors but then at times being cross when they "go" indoors (dogs can even hear the faster beating of our hearts, see flared nostrils, etc ... they can be very affected by this and be too scared to go in front of us, even if we think we are not being cross).

I'd tend to remember the rule "take outside and be with them when they
wake up
after playing
after eating
first thing
last thing

etc.

and reward with a titbit as they go or right after "

If you do get cross (not saying you do but many owners do, even though the dogs cannot help it, just like babies can't help it) it can really mess up the training

Wys
x

I recommend getting a crate and bedding called profleece. The profleece works like a vet bed, and is hard to rip/chew and is also a lot cheaper!