Problem with my puppy...

[P1et]

Well, this is *really* off topic but I thought I would give this a shot.

We have a puppy that is about a year and a half old and I think I have trained her pretty well. She knows in the house where to go to the bathroom, and knows to go outside whenever we're outside as well. Good so far, right? Wrong. Whenever my wife and I are at work, we leave her alone in the house but with a pad so if she needs to go to the bathroom, she can. She has been trained on a pad and always uses it whenever we're around.

But for some reason, she doesn't use it when we're at work. So she takes a #1 and a #2 on our carpet EVERY SINGLE DAY. It's driving me bonkers.

What can I do to train her NOT go to on the carpet? Everything downstairs is tile, expect for a large black carpet where the TV is.

I have tried spraying Simple Green on it, the Woollite mix and other crap to clean it and get the smell out, but she keeps going back. I cannot seem to get the smell out all the way anymore, so I guess I have two questions:

1) How do I clean the carpet? I have done EVERYTHING and that smell doesn't seem to be coming off.

2) How do I prevent her from going on the carpet every single day we're at work???

:mad: :mad: :mad:

[Reddwarf]

You could try to crate train her. Our dog did the same thing. We finally pulled up the carpet in the living room and stained the concrete slab. We als installed a dog door so the dog would go outside when he wants too. No more problems.

[blkyukon]

:iagree: :iagree:


It sound to me like separation anxiety and crating would probably be your best bet.

When my dog was a pup, she wouldn't pee, she'd chew just 1 thing in the house, something small, usually one of my son's toys. We crated her for a few weeks everytime we'd leave... after a few weeks we "weened" her by leaving her out on short outings. If she chewed anything we'd crate her again and do the same thing over. It took some time but it did work.


As far as the smell, Simple Green or Woolite won't do anything. You need an enzyme cleaner. Try something like Kids n Pets or Simple Solution..either of those should remove the odor.

Good luck!

[sparkie]

:iagree: :iagree:

As far as the smell, Simple Green or Woolite won't do anything. You need an enzyme cleaner. Try something like Kids n Pets or Simple Solution..either of those should remove the odor.

Good luck!
:iagree: :iagree:
I have two inside dogs one 13 years old the other less then 1. We pulled the carpet up and put down hard wood floors. They started using the pads.

[ScottB]

Crate training was a god send with our two Cockers .... both were up and running in several days. If they make a mess in crate they are forced to see/smell it for several hours. I never found the pads to be anything more than toys to them ....

[Grimm]

Ditto the crate training...

[Russecu]

I agree with the crate training also. The dog may use the bathroom in there once or twice but after that they will accociate it almost like being their home and will soon stop. Unlike my dads dog who loves the crate but he just cocks his leg has pees outside the crate.:confused: I am looking to get a lab in the future and it is going to be crate trained until it is trustworthy of being left out. My current dog was house trained when we got him so that is the easiest way.;) All other suggestion have been great also.

[P1et]

Great suggestions guys, thanks! I might just have to read into this whole "crate training" and see what it's about.

In regards to cleaning the carpets, Blkyokon said an enzyme cleaner will work. Where can I buy these products?

[Meghan]

Great suggestions guys, thanks! I might just have to read into this whole "crate training" and see what it's about.

In regards to cleaning the carpets, Blkyokon said an enzyme cleaner will work. Where can I buy these products?
Saw Urine Gone at Target last night, looked like a new product you might could try. My dog uses doggy door so I havent had to deal with this problem with him.

[libtech]

IMO Nature's Miracle is the best enzyme odor buster out there. You can get it by the gallon at PetsMart or probably just about any pet store. I have multiple cats and a dog, so I know how well this stuff works! Now that I'm out of school and am making decent money again I plan on getting laminate floors in the not-too-far-off, but until I can afford them I keep a gallon of NM around always. You can use it with a carpet cleaner, too.

I also would like to "third" and "fourth" the idea of crate training. It's not cruel, it just helps impose discipline and it gets them in the habit of holding it instead of letting go whenever they feel like it. It's like potty training for dogs. My dog stayed crated when I wasn't home for the first year of her life (I usually had neighbors come let her out at least once during the day, though, if I was going to be gone for more than five or six hours), and even though I don't have a doggie door I've had no problems with her since the crate went into the shed. Just get a crate big enough so that if your dog does soil it s/he doesn't have to lay right in it. My dog weighs about 50lbs and I got an airline crate large enough for a mastiff. She was okay with it, and even missed it for a while after I put it away. She had a nice soft pallet and some chew toys in there. :D When we went to bed at night she'd go in there without being told.

Good luck and keep us posted on how it goes!

[wytstang]

Watch "The dog wisperer" on National Geographic Channel with Ceasar Millian, the guy is awesome with animals and training them. Most all cases end up being due to the owners not being "pack leaders". Something as simple as walking your dog with the dog walking either next to you or behind you never in front of you. If the dog is in front of you that puts him in postion of "pack leader" aka the boss. You can get a lot of good and free tips by watching that show. Goggle Dog wisperer for more info......

[sparkie]

Watch "The dog wisperer" on National Geographic Channel with Ceasar Millian, the guy is awesome with animals and training them. Most all cases end up being due to the owners not being "pack leaders". Something as simple as walking your dog with the dog walking either next to you or behind you never in front of you. If the dog is in front of you that puts him in postion of "pack leader" aka the boss. You can get a lot of good and free tips by watching that show. Goggle Dog wisperer for more info......

I seen that!!

[Padron]

Another vote for Crate training, worked well for our little Jack Russell Terrier... Petsmart or Petco should carry an Enzyme type cleaning / disinfectant product/s..

Also, I heard / read somewhere that certain cleaning products may make them go in same place again. Can't remember if it had something to do with ammonia...

[P1et]

Great tips here, thanks again! I'll keep you all up to date. She's a miniature poodle, a supposedly smart breed of dog.

Here a picture of when she was little...

http://dodgetruckworld.tenmagazines.com/gallery/P1et/246253.jpg

[Padron]

Very Cute, Should do a reflection shot of your pup in your tailgate...lol:awesome::awesome: