Toilet Training in the right place!

This is the first dog I have ever had and I am loving it. I just have one wee problem that I need help with. We got Holly when she was 8 weeks old and were delighted the she toileted on her papers straight away and had little to no accidents. We are now trying to get her to go outdoor but with little success. She will go first thing in the morning but it is very hit and miss the rest of the day. We both work and have to leave her indoors during the day but when at home we leave the door open and try and encourage her to go outside. She will even come in from outside to go on her papers in the house and also when out for a walk she will hold it in until she comes home again. I would be grateful if anyone could suggest how to solve this. Holy is a west highland white terrier.

How long is she left alone?
Just leaving the door open wont always work you need to take her out every hour and wait until she does go then praise her.
She's only a tiny baby and the outside world can be a scary place.
Becky

3 days of the week she is at home for 5 hours. We go out regularly with her and she will go outside sometimes but other times we wait for ages and the minute she come in she rushes to her papers. She is a very confident dog and is not at all scared of going outside.

Have you tried moving her papers outside with her to begin with so she gets the idea that outside is the place to go?

Heidi

Yes, I have put them outside just beside where she normally goes but she either looks at you as if to say why are you putting my papers out here? or tries to rip them up.

How old is she now?

Nav

Hello Jennifer and welcome to Dogsey

It is quite difficult to house train a small puppy if you are not with it all the time to watch it. A puppy doesn't start to get control of its bodily functions until around 4 months of age, so until that time it is a matter of taking it out to the place you wish it to use at the appropriate times eg first thing in the morning/last thing at night/when it wakes/after play/feeding/any excitement/when it signals the need to go by sniffing the ground and circling/about once every hour and staying with it then praising it when it relieves itself.
Praising the puppy will make the action rewarding so the puppy will wish to repeat the behaviour, then as the puppy matures physically it will wait to go out to the required place because it has learn to do so is rewarding .

You can also train your puppy to relieve itself on command by using a prompt word (I say 'beclean') when it is in the middle of relieving itself so that it associates the word with the action, then give lots of praise when it has finished. Eventually you will be able to say the word and the puppy will relieve itself.


I am not a fan of newspaper because it adds another stage to house training.


If when you are not at home you are leaving the door open for the puppy to go out, it will be hit and miss whether the puppy relieves itself inside or out because you are not there to reinforce the required behaviour with praise when the puppy goes in the correct place.
You will be able to house train your puppy eventually but it will take longer than if you were with it all time.


All you can do is take it out when you are at home as described above and clear up any accidents it may have when you are not there. Never punish it for having an accident or it may become fearful to relieve itself in your presence, it may even resort to eating the evidence.

This article explains a little more about house training..

http://www.dogsey.com/dog-articles.php?t=8974

I totally agree with Mini's post above. It's not easy training a puppy so young when you're not with it all day. Hope you can find a resolution, and enjoy your puppy!

Teddy is now nearly 12 weeks but rarely has an accident in the house anymore. In fact the last five days we've had nothing. I'm lucky in that I work from home but I watched him like a hawk. I agree with Minihaha too. I don't like newspaper, even though it does offer your carpets some protection, as you are then in the situation you have now where the puppy has done the right thing in using the paper and now has to re-learn over again to go on something else.

Puppies learn at different ages just like children. Remember that even if it drives you to distraction, try not to show it. Any bad atmosphere surrounding the situation will only make it worse.

Everytime Teddy went indoors I clapped my hands and immediately picked him up and put him outside. This wasn't easy as we live in a big house and it's some distance from the lounge to the back door but I was totally consistent (even though it did drive me mad at times) when he did go outside I gave him a tiny treat (just a bit of Arden grange that he is fed on) and waved my arms around like a lunatic making a huge fuss of him. He picked it up really quickly.

The trick is to be very consistent, ignore the accidents and over praise going outside.

You'll get there in the end.