Could Someone Give Me Some Housebreaking Tips For A Papillon?
Filed under Care & Training Q&As
I got my papillon puppy yesterday and so far everything’s been great. She has a wonderful temperament, is extremely intelligent and playful and is simply a perfect bundle of fur. Of course, as with all young puppies, my little Lilou needs to be housebroken. I know I’ve not had her for very long so I can’t expect too much, but I’d like to start off on the right foot (or paw, =P) so things don’t become a disaster later on.
I’m crate training her, and so far she’s been fantastic. She hasn’t soiled her bedding yet, even when I feared she wouldn’t make it through last night. However, I’m still having some small problems with the housebreaking process, especially with predicting when she needs to go.
Many books and various websites recommend to take a puppy out to the toilet /immediately/ after they’ve eaten, after they’ve woken up in their crate, after playing, after exercising, before they go to bed… etc. And the key word is /immediately/. Lilou doesn’t eliminate immediately; she doesn’t eliminate five minutes later; she doesn’t eliminate ten minutes later; she doesn’t eliminate fifteen minutes later, and all this means that taking her out immediately has no effect. I can’t predict when she will eliminate, and it’s not possible for me to hover over her twenty-four seven. She’s about ten weeks old, so does anyone know (or at least have a vague idea) how often I /should/ take her out rather than immediately after everything?
Also when I do take Lilou out, she gets distracted. Okay, sure, many puppies get distracted, but how do I fix this? She loves to play and every time I take her to the grass area where I want her to do her business, she runs off and goes to chew grass. I can’t get her to stand still and I wait for an eternity, outside, for nothing. Last night I was outside with her for a full two and a half hours until half past eleven when I gave up and put her in her crate. She eliminated this morning at six. While that was lucky, that won’t be the case during the daytime when she’s taking three meals a day with water always available.
I know I might sound to some of you that I’m expecting my puppy to be perfect, but I’m telling you right now that I’m not. I just want to know if I’m doing anything wrong so I can fix it early and therefore train my puppy better.
Any tips and suggestions would greatly be appreciated.
<3 XoXo <3
Yaivi
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The answer to your question is very simple. Not easy…..”simple.” This is what I did. Worked for me,six dogs, may not for you, but here goes… In the daytime, take her out every hour on the hour round the clock. When she goes, praise her, kiss her, rub her, give her a treat, or all of the above! If she doesn’t go at all, take her out 5-10 minutes later and do it all over again! When she/he was very young, for the middle of the night, I bought pee pee papers. Not the expensive “doggie ones” but the elderly people kind at Rite Aid or another inexpensive drug store. When I got up to go potty in the middle of the night (or just wake up for a minute), I would pull her out of the crate,take her with me, into the bathroom, point at the paper, put her on it, over and over and over and say, “Go potty, go potty , go potty” ( like a million times) while I sat there on the pot myself. (warm nights, I would take her outdoors and almost fall asleep on the grass) And again, when she went, I would do the praise/love thingy. It’s al about the “repitition,” I have little dogs and they learn the repitition thing very fast. Depending on your dog and/or your determination, it shouldn’t take more than somewhere between 2-6 weeks. Good luck to you, your carpet and your pretty little Pappi!!
Just get a puppy pad and praise and give him a treat when he goes on it. If he doesn’t, use a correcting sound like “ah, ah”!
Just get on a schedule and everything will fall into place.
yaivi, I like the personality of a papillon. They are so sweet.
Consistency is the key. Repetitiveness is also needed.
When I first got my Schnauzer, I happened to be off work for a few days. I got a playpen at a garage sale, cleaned it up really good and kept him in that when I had to leave him. While I was home (for the first week), every 30 minutes I picked him up and brought him into the yard until he did his business. We never let him out on his own, as we walk him on a leash 3 times a day. He gets his exercise that way and doesn’t get bored which could be why yours are digging. They may need more excerise, try walking on a leash. Scooter has NEVER had a single accident in my house. At http://www.purina.com you can get a free “puppy kit” which is a big help.
I have to say most of the books are right, To help you
though go to the pet store where you get your pet supplies.
They will have some spray that you can buy that you
spray on the grass on the area where you want your
puppy to do her eliminating. The spray has a scent that
attracts the dog to the area & helps gives her the urge
to go. She does need to be taken out as often as
possible though. You will soon learn just how soon
she goes after she eats.