Hi folks, i posted about 3 months ago about my sibe, and this is sort of an update and new problem. shes now 6 months old and is doing great, she has settled down a lot and is a really nice dog, the nipping and mouthing have now stopped and was kinda instant after teething stopped. and has even stopped bulling my 4 year old son and plays really nicely with him its a pleasure to watch. its quite amusing when she follows my 1.5 year old daughter around, she doesnt like to leave her side. so all well but this last thing she still hasnt mastered house training. now this is kinda strange as if the backdoor is open she will only go outside, no accedents just outside but if the door is ever closed she makes no effort to try to get outside and just goes where she stands. any advice for getting her to tell us to she wants to go outside? im lost
hi that is your problem ;-) you havnt actually 'house trained' her go back to as if she was a small pup... take her out after eating,playing sleeping...go out with her i find it easier to put a name to it 'go pee pee 'toilet' 'be busy' etc it shouldnt take long.. too clever by half these sibes ;-) ;-)
Hi Brian as Tupacs says it seems maybe you haven't actually house trained your puppy . A puppy will usually relieve itself anywhere away from the sleeping and eating area , what you have to do when house training is to teach it where to go so that by the time it has control of its bodily functions it will wait to go outside. When you leave the door open your puppy will go out sometimes to relieve itself because it has the opportunity to do so rather than because it has been taught this is what should be done. For the moment you need to close the door, take your puppy out and stay with it at those times when it is most likely to want to relieve itself . This is first thing in the morning/last thing at night/ straight after food / play/excitement/ when it sniffs the ground and 'circles' and about an hour after it last went out. When it relieves itself outside give lots of praise immediately it finishes so the behaviour you wish the puppy to repeat is rewarded. I give a tip bit too to begin with. If the puppy does have an accident in the house I would quickly clean it up with an none ammonia based cleaner (like biological washing powder) to remove every trace of the scent to prevent the same spot being used again and I would do this without looking at or speaking to the puppy. Scolding or punishing a puppy for having an accident can make it afraid to relieve itself when you are around and that is the last thing you want. At 6 months old you puppy should have some control over bodily functions so if you are consistent it should grasp what is required of it and be clean in the house quite quickly.
Also if you catch her going inside the house immediately (before she is done doing it's business) take her (pick it up if you can, I know my Sibe is small enough that I can, also if done at a puppy it's easier to do this) outside to where you want her to go potty and praise her when she finishes going potty outside. Also a firm "no" may be used if you catch her, and then pick her up/lead her out side. it's pointless to scold her for mistakes after she did them because she won't understand. Lots of good girls and pets and happy voice when she's doing what you want her to do will encourage her to do what you want (I even still say "good girl" to my 5 year old dog when I see her going outside just so she knows that that's still what I want her to do Also with grooming/wiping muddy paws paws/drying off constant praise (even if she's struggling a bit) and happy voice and "good girl" while you're doing what ever you're doing to her she'll more likely cooperate instead of struggling all the time.
