Puppy Training Q&As

Dear Cindy, My Dogo (born May 2009) has a poop problem. I've tried many things but nothing seems to work. 1. After eating between 6-7 in the afternoon, I take her to walk for about half a mile and after that I let her play in the backyard for about 1.5 hours. At that time, her crate is quite big, 1.2m x 1.2 m. In the morning, about 5:45, she pooped in her crate. 2. After that I tried to put her in crate with the door opened. For a few days she didn't poop in the crate...

I have spent a very large amount of time searching for answers to this particular issue, and so far I have not found the answers I have needed. I am hoping you can help me. I have 2 dogs that are approximately 3 years old. We adopted them about 6 months ago, and as far as we know, they have always been together, and it seems like they have very similar issues. They are fearful dogs, but once we started crating them and keeping them on a leash otherwise, they have started to become a littl...

I have a 3 yr old staffordshire terrier. He's housebroken but pees on beds and couches. What can I do? David

Hello, I have a 1 year old toy poodle and a 2 year old yorkie. They successfully use puppy pads during the day and they are gated in a sizable tiled area. When I am home, they have full run of the house and they always go downstairs to use the pad. However, if I leave them in the house for even 15 minutes alone or I am in the shower, I find poop and urine in my carpeted dining room upstairs. It seems as if they make an effort to go to the bathroom. I am also not able to figure out which on...

Hi Cindy, Thanks for all the great DVDs and advice. I wrote to you not too long ago praising how our dog had no problems or accidents in the house because we have been following your training DVDs religiously. We have a 5 month old Boxer that has been PERFECT (and I mean PERFECT). He is trained to go to the bathroom (on leash) on command in a specific area in the yard and has done so for the last 3 months without a hitch and will sometimes goes potty on walks, but not often. Yester...

Hello, I'm a first time dog owner, and have just recently purchased a Morkie (Maltese/Yorkie cross). As to date, he is 14 weeks old. A week after I brought him home (6 weeks ago), he was diagnosed with Giardia. Unfortunately, the vet I brought him to was incompetent, and gave me the wrong meds. After finishing those meds and not seeing any improvement in his diarrhea, I brought him to another vet, and that's when they told me he not only had Giardia but also Coccidia. He has 2 more...

Hi Cindy, My puppy, born Feb 3rd is a Rat Terrier. She can't seem to get through a meal with out having to go outside to do her business. I take her out before she eats. She starts eating and then has to go poop again in the middle. It's very frustrating as I have to stand in the area waiting or she'll go in the crate. She is on a raw food diet with Kibble on the side. She'll eat her meat, go the the bathroom and then want to finish her meal. I realize that she is s...

Hi Cindy, We are house training our G.S. pup (13 weeks old) and he is doing quite well. Now, while in the house, he is either on a leash with me or in his crate. He has not had an accident since we began this practice but I'm not sure how to correct him if/when he does. In the past when I have caught him in the act, I would sternly say 'No - Outside' and take him out to his potty spot. Should my correction be more firm than this or this appropriate? Thank you, Adam

Hi, I so hope you can help me. I am at my wits end and I have not been able to find any similar questions about this problem. We have a three year old golden retriever. She is housebroken and goes during walks and in the fenced in area of our yard. About a year ago, we got rid of the grass and replaced it with gravel. At first our dog was a little hesitant to urinate on the gravel but then she got the hang of it and did it all the time. We recently covered most of the gravel with p...

Hello, Your website is fantastic and full of so much information. I have many of your DVDs and have looked through many articles. You must be very busy but I was hoping you could help me with what seems like a very simple problem. I have a 6 month old mix and have had him since 12 weeks. He has been crate trained and has no problem going to the bathroom outside on command. In the past 3 weeks he has suddenly been going (once or twice a week) to the bathroom by the back door which h...

Cindy, We have a 10 week old Labradoodle puppy that is just about housebroken due to constant watching him. He seems very intelligent (he actual like?s watching your training DVDs) but trying to watch him for signs of wanting to go outside does not promote a relaxed atmosphere. Is it possible to train him to come to us and let us know he needs to go outside? Thanks. John

Hi Cindy, I have a 7 year old dachshund (Maddie) who refuses to "poop" in our backyard. Maddie has always lived in an apartment until we recently purchased our first house. She has always been walked and rarely has accidents in the house. She doesn't seem to have a problem urinating in the yard, but refuses to poop. At first I thought she was just trying to force me to still take her for her walks, which I have no problem doing. However, I have gotten some really nasty looks from neighbors...

Hi, I have a 9 month 3 1/2 pound yorkie poodle mix who goes in her kennel and anywhere else she can. I can't seem to find a kennel small enough where she can't find a corner to pee in. I have tried the small cat kennels as well as a nylabone kennel all are too big for her.

Hi! I want to thank you, your "8 weeks to 8 months" video has worked great for my newly adopted 6 month german shephed pup. I saw changes in days with the in-home leash training! I am the first to admit it is me who needs more training then the dog, and that is why I'm coming to you. My dog I working on potty training. I say "working" because she will not poop in front of anyone. I was having problems with her going in the house right when I got her in sneaky places where I couldn'...

Hi, We have purchased training items from you in the past for our german shephard. Well we have a new situation. We have a 10 week old Boston Terrier that is doing great he pees and poops on command outside, but inside his crate he gives no warning that he needs a potty break. During the day I take him out every couple hours and have stuck to the crate training. But at night, he pees in his crate without letting us know he needs to go, even though I wake up acouple of times to take...

My boyfriend and I have 2 dogs, both small ~20 lbs. We acquired both as adults, Robot from a pound and Diesel from an elderly couple that couldn't care for him anymore. The problem we are having is with house training. We have a doggie door, and tried crate-training them. Robot transitioned very well, and we never have any problems with him. Diesel still has accidents in the house, although lately they seem less like accidents. In the mornings, it's almost as if he forgets he can go ...

Hi, My wife and I got your puppy DVDs and religiously followed what have been suggested in your DVDs, eBook, and articles. We understand by now a puppy choosing to pee in the crate is a hard problem to solve. We have a situation where our puppy would not pee outside after good 15-20 min waiting. Then, when she gets in the house, she rushes to her crate "TO PEE." Just today alone, she peed in her crate 2 times and in the kitchen one time. When she did that in the kitchen, we stopped...

Dear Cindy, I have a house training problem with our Bichon Frise who is 2 years old. Since she had her first litter this past July, there are times she will not potty outside. We have a huge backyard, so we let her out when we see her signs of needing to potty. We leave her outside plenty long enough and wait for her to paw at the door before letting her back in. But since the litter, she will come in after being outside, sometimes even an hour or more, depending on the weather a...

Hi Cindy, I really enjoy the newsletters, but have a question I have not seen addressed before. I currently have a Great Dane, my 5th of the breed and the 4th that I got as an adult from rescue. Now that I am working a business from my home, I am thinking that when my dog passes (he is very sweet, but 6-1/2 with very poor conformation, a crooked back, and cardiomyopathy, and they generally average only 7 to 9 years) I may see about getting a puppy. I have not used crates for my big...

Hi! I have a male Black Lab (3 years old). I'm trying to train him to go poop in a certain area of the yard so my kids (ages 4 and 1) don't step in his messes when they are playing. I've tried a lot of positive reenforcement when he goes where I want him to. I've even tried putting a temporary fence around our yard so he only has access to the areas I want him to go. The positive reenforcement worked when I could take him to the spot, but the first chance he got to go in the yard, ...