# How to housebreak a dog with carpets that are soiled?



## jeremed (Mar 1, 2011)

My (ex) girlfriend would let the puppy use the bathroom in the house and messes were poorly cleaned or sometimes not at all. I am trying to housebreak her ( the puppy, ;-) ) and she will not go outside. For two days I took her outside every couple of hours and she did nothing. I was giving her a good solid 15-20 minutes out each time. When she wasn't with me I had her on a leash short enough that she could only lay down and nothing else. I let her her off the leash to run around the house a bit and within a couple of minutes she pee'd and pooped TWICE. She is obviously holding it on purpose. Right now I have a tarp in the area where she is and she goes regularly like she always did.

How can I fix this? I want to keep her but unless I can break her she's going to have to go.


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## doxiemommy (Dec 18, 2009)

You don't give very much info...how old is the puppy? How long have you had her? What is her day like? More info like this will help us help you! 

Here's what I'm getting from your post, so far....you tried for 2 days to take her out every couple of hours, and she did nothing, even though you gave her 15-20 minutes outside each time. Then, you had her on a leash just short enough for her to lay down. Finally, you let her off leash to run around a bit, and then just a few minutes later she peed and pooped twice. Am I understanding you correctly? 

Well, yes, of course she peed and pooped when you gave her some freedom in the house! According to you, she hadn't done anything outside (so, of course, she still had to pee/poop), and the whole house had been used as a toilet by the puppy previously, so, when given some freedom, she did what she was used to doing! 

One important aspect of potty training is to never give a puppy any freedom in the house, unless you have seen her empty herself outside first!  When you know she has peed and pooped and is "empty", that's when you can give her a bit of freedom.

Here are a some other thoughts:
- if she is a young pup, she should probably go out more often than every couple of hours. Young pups usually start out going outside every 30-40 minutes. Part of the reasoning is that very young pups have physically undeveloped bladders, as well as the surrounding muscles. So, sometimes, aren't even aware they have to pee or poop! That's why you give them as many chances as possible. The other part of the reasoning, is, even if they don't actually HAVE to go at that given minute, you are still training them and building a potty training foundation by taking her out and saying the magic potty words, whether she goes or not.

-when you do take her out, don't stay for 15-20 minutes. Stay for 5 minutes. Say the magic potty words, whatever you've chosen. Make it boring, don't let her play. If she doesn't go, take her back inside, but only for 5 minutes. During that 5 minutes inside, watch her like a hawk in case she decides to sniff and pee inside. If you're watching her, you can catch it in time, and rush her back out so she can do it outside. 

-anyway, after the 5 minutes inside (providing she didn't try to pee inside and you waited the whole 5 minutes), you take her back out for another try. Boring, say the magic words, etc. If nothing, it's back in for another 5 minutes.

You get the point. It's 5 minutes outside to try, then 5 minutes inside (watch her carefully), then 5 back outside, etc. I know, it sounds like a pain, but if you're going to spend 20 minutes waiting outside for her to go pee, you might as well spend those 20 minutes on this technique. The reason is, after 5 minutes or so, she's not focused on peeing anymore. MAYBE for the first 5, she was sniffing around for the right spot. But, if she didn't find the perfect spot, she probably got distracted by the exciting sights, sounds, and smells of outdoors, and it's just not going to happen at that point. Take her in, then bring her out and re-focus her. Puppies have such short attention spans, you really need to just focus on a shorter time frame. Don't give her so long.

The other thing, which you've hit the nail on the head, is that she's used to peeing and pooping inside. And, if the carpets smell like urine and feces (even to her, because dogs have more sensitive noses), she will consider the whole house as a toilet. If you're actually talking about a large area of the house, it would be worth it to rent/borrow a carpet cleaner. Lots of grocery stores rent Rug Doctors....and the enzymatic cleaner "Nature's Miracle" makes a product to go in those carpet cleaners. What you need is a good, all over cleaning with an enzymatic cleaner (it works on the enzymes in the urine and feces, so even a dog's sensitive nose can't sense it). But, as I said, if it's a big area, a carpet cleaner sounds like the way to go.

And, take her out more often.....when she does finally pee or poop outside give her the yummiest treat and lots of praise!


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## jeremed (Mar 1, 2011)

Thank you for replying. Here's some more info and answers to your questions.

She's about 4 or 5 months old now and she's been here for about 3 months.

Most of her day is just relaxing or very light playing. I keep her near me when possible. If I put her in my recliner for example, she'll stay there more or less. I play with her for a few minutes at a time throughout the day just to engage her.

When she wasn't using the bathroom for those two days I thought something may have just been wrong with her because she so young and I didn't figure she could hold her pee AND poop in for two whole days.

She's a beagle and I may just not know how to read beagle's, but she's ALWAYS sniffing around so I don't know how I can tell when she's sniffing to use the bathroom or just sniffing... to sniff. When I take her outside it's 15-20 minutes of non-stop sniffing - every inch of the ground. I tug the leash to break her sniffing focus but she just looks up at me like I'm stupid then goes right back to it.

I bought some spray at Walmart that's supposed to encourage them to go in a specific area. I tried spraying it outside in a couple of places and walking her by them. As far as I can tell she doesn't even take notice of the spray.

I do use my keyword ( "go peepee" ) outside a lot when I'm with her. I'm sure she hears me although she doesn't seem to be _listening_.

I am getting the carpets cleaned soon so hopefully that will help and I will be getting her a bigger crate ( she outgrew her first one ) so she's not just on the short leash a lot.

Based on her age, are the 40 minute outside intervals still accurate? I have some treats in my pocket every time I take her out. Hopefully I will get to give her one soon!


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## doxiemommy (Dec 18, 2009)

Since she's 4-5 months, I'd try every hour or so, especially since she's still having inside accidents. You basically want to take her out so often that she doesn't NEED to have any accidents, because she's always given the chance to go outside.

You're right that she doesn't LISTEN to you saying "go peepee". She might listen for the first few minutes, but, after that, she's involved in sniffing and exploring, and has forgotten all about going to the bathroom. That's why the 5 minutes outside to try, then 5 minutes back inside is recommended. If you're trying for 5 minutes, then going back in, it's a more focused try. Also, if you're watching her closely inside, you might catch her just in time to take her out, and that way, she'll finally pee outside!


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## Maggie Girl (Feb 27, 2011)

I have a beagle, too. It is hard to tell since they are always sniffing. I noticed ours sniffs and circles when he's looking for a spot to pee or poop. 

I'm certainly no expert, but here is what happened with our dog: When ours was the age of your pup he was not housebroke completely either, maybe 85%. We were new at housebreaking and he was having major issues w/staying in a crate at night. It was a stressful time for all of us. We couldn't be confident of him signalling that he needed out and so we took him out often "just in case". Not long after we gave up and we decided to just let him stay outdoors in our fence since we were having so much trouble, and he really liked it outside as well. Recently, after doing lots of reading on having an inside dog (and it's an ongoing learning process) we decided to try having him solely inside again so we could spend more time with him. After staying outside that whole summer and fall and getting used to using the outdoors as his potty spot, he was self-housebroke (save for one random accident last night). I guess after peeing only outdoors for so long it seems only natural for him to go outside. This time around having him inside has been much better. We have also gotten used to using the crate for when we leave him home alone and it's working out good for us, too. And he can go many hours in between pee breaks now, since he's older, so as your dog grows the frequency will become much less. Sometimes he only poops once a day and pees 3 times a day. It's much easier now since he's matured. Regardless of our dog wanting to pee outside on his own counsel, I still give him a small treat when he does to reinforce that it's something that we like him to do. Beagles looooove food so treats will help if used properly. Good luck!


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## dantero (Feb 2, 2011)

You've gotten good advice already. 1 thing to add, instead of the spray at Walmart take the results of her accidents outside. If she pees, soak it up with a piece of cloth you don't care about, the poop can just be picked up with paper towels. Put them outside where you'd like her to potty, then take her to that spot. Smelling their own poop/pee is more likely to make them realize they need to go again than a spray.


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## jeremed (Mar 1, 2011)

Molly is doing a lot better now. I got her a nice big kennel but blocked off most of it so she has room to lay down but not poop and get away from it. When I let her out she heads right for the front door ( mostly automatically but sometimes with a little guidance ) and does her business outside. I take her out like this maybe 5 times a day. She's doing really great with using the bathroom outside. The problem now is that I bring her back in so she can run around and play and if I turn my back on her she will pee and/or poop in the house again. Yesterday I took her out for her morning business and she pee'd twice and pooped three times. I figured "she's gotta be empty!" so I brought her back in and let her run around for about 20 minutes. Sure enough she pee'd and pooped again. I feel like I'm giving her ample time outside. She knows now to use the bathroom outside but she doesn't know NOT to use the bathroom inside. When she uses the bathoom inside I pick her up and take her over to it and say "NO!" then I take her outside. Sometimes she uses the bathroom yet again. I want to start letting her out of her kennel more often but I can't. How do I fix? I did have the carpets cleaned by the way. Before they were cleaned I put down a lot of nature's miracle and the carpet people also used some kind of pet stain eliminator/destroyer.


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## Maggie Girl (Feb 27, 2011)

It sounds like you're making good progress, so that's good news! As for the incidents still occuring when you aren't looking, maybe try keeping her on a leash in the house so she's always in your presence. She's relearning bathroom rules and has bad habits to break so it will take time. Have you tried rewarding for the pees/poops that are done outdoors? Don't have to give much, break them into pieces... a tiny treat is still a treat to them! After a while she will realize that outdoor peeing/pooping is what earns the good stuff, and going indoors only results in "NO!" and no treat. I found treats to be very helpful.


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## jeremed (Mar 1, 2011)

Thank you for replying again. I guess I am just expecting too much too soon. I've never tried housebreaking a dog before. I do reward her for going outside. When we're outside I give her a lot of praise and petting when she does her business then when we come back in I break off a piece of a treat and give it to her at the front door. When she comes in after going outside and I taker her leash off she sits and waits because she knows the treat is coming. So she _is_ learning the routine. I'll just keep at it!


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## dilbert (Nov 1, 2008)

jeremed said:


> I do reward her for going outside. When we're outside I give her a lot of praise and petting when she does her business then when we come back in I break off a piece of a treat and give it to her at the front door. When she comes in after going outside and I taker her leash off she sits and waits because she knows the treat is coming. So she _is_ learning the routine. I'll just keep at it!


You need to offer the food treat outside immediately after she pees or poops. Dogs associate a reward with the _very last thing that happened_ before getting the reward. That's why in all training, you need to reward as quickly as possible after the target behavior happens. (This is a fundamental concept in clicker training and what makes clicker training so successful.) By waiting to reward her with food (a high value reward) until you go inside, you are rewarding her for coming inside. Not for going potty. And as you say, she knows this as demonstrated by her sitting. So when she's doing her business, she's just hurrying up so she can go to the door and get her reward. And in her rush, she may not empty completely. Even though you are praising her, that's a lower value reward than the food. So she'll rush through it. 

Try starting to reward her with food _immediately_ after she pees/poops. Always give a BIG reward (2 or 3 treats) for going. Then add to it. The bigger the output, the bigger the reward. This will reinforce her completely emptying.

All the house training books I've read lists rewarding at the door as a common mistake. The booklet _Way to Go! How to Housetrain a Dog of Any Age_ by Karen B. London Ph.D. and Patricia B. McConnell Ph.D. is a great guide. It's only $6. Or you can get the Kindle e-book version at Amazon for $4.75. Even if you do not have a Kindle, you could read it on your PC or smartphone with the free Kindle readers that are available. You can also look at Chapter 4 "Errorless Housetraining" in the *FREE* e-book _Before you get Your Puppy_ by Dr. Ian Dunbar. You can download it, and the _After you get your Puppy_ book, at http://www.dogstardaily.com/free-downloads Both of those books are amazing resources. And who can beat free?

Good Luck. Keep at it and concentrate on the great progress you've made. :clap2:


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## jeremed (Mar 1, 2011)

Rewarding her outside makes much more sense now that you laid it out that way. I started giving her the food rewards outside a couple of days ago. I downloaded that free ebook and started on the errorless training chapter. So far that's a lot different from what I'm doing with her kennel. I'll see what I can get out of it. Thanks!


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