April 19, 2011
My boyfriend has 3 year old dogs that are not yet house trained. What can I do?
Full Question:
A friend of mine gave me your web site and I must say it is incredible. You have so much information. I probably have just blown off an hour at work just looking at the sight. Don't tell my manager.I have a problem. My boyfriend and I are moving in together and he has two teacup poodles. I love them very much. Their names are Minnie and Teddy. I am afraid that I will end up moving right back out after I move in because the dogs are not yet house trained, and they are 3 years old! Is there anything we can do. He did have a doggie door on his last house and they sometimes used it, but most of the time did not. Should we kennel them at night? I have been taking them outside and giving them a doggy treat whenever they pee or poop. Please advise of what I can do to make sure the "go" outside and not in the house. I want to keep this relationship a good one.
Ed's Answer:
This is a simple problem. Get two puppy dog crates and crate train these dogs. I have an extensive Q&A section and article on my web site about house training. Look in the list of training articles on my web site http://leerburg.com/articles.htm.
If I were you I would get him to agree to this before you move in - or get used to the idea of your home smelling like pee.
This is a very doable thing - the problem is that pet owners seem to think that small dogs are not really dogs and should not be treated like normal dogs and cannot be trained like normal dogs etc etc etc etc.
Bottom line if these were my dogs they would NEVER BE OUT OF A DOG CRATE unless I had my eyes on them or unless they were in a fenced yard. They would live in the crates and never be left alone without being in the crate. It will take some time but they will get house trained this way.
If I were you I would get him to agree to this before you move in - or get used to the idea of your home smelling like pee.
This is a very doable thing - the problem is that pet owners seem to think that small dogs are not really dogs and should not be treated like normal dogs and cannot be trained like normal dogs etc etc etc etc.
Bottom line if these were my dogs they would NEVER BE OUT OF A DOG CRATE unless I had my eyes on them or unless they were in a fenced yard. They would live in the crates and never be left alone without being in the crate. It will take some time but they will get house trained this way.
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