I recently became the proud owner of a 13 week old male Papillon. He has done extremely well with housebreaking. He had been crate trained when I got him, so it was just a matter of days adjusting to being in his new crate ALONE. I take him out to potty first thing in the morning (or middle of the night, if he whines). After he goes potty he knows he can come in and play. This has worked very well, however, I can't get him to go potty on dirt or concrete...only grass. We plan to take him camping at our mountain property and there is NO grass! We did a trial run over the weekend and he would not go until we were driving down the mountain and he couldn't hold it any longer and we made any emergency 'pull-over'.
Any suggestions on how I can get him to go in dirt? Our backyard is all dirt, but he will hold it and whine until I take him in front (grass) :-/
Thanks,
maybe place some grass bits in the dirt so he can pee on it, and gradually reduce the size until he is peeing in dirt? Or, put some dirt in his pee area on the grass until he is peeing in dirt?
Reg: 08-29-2006
Posts: 2324
Loc: Central Coast, California
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Quote: Ellen_Bolliger
but he will hold it and whine until I take him in front (grass) :-/
Thanks,
Unless there is a medical reason that someone else knows about, I don't think waiting him out on dirt will hurt him. Meaning, when he whines, don't take him to the grass. At some point he WILL go on the dirt and then you should mark and praise that.
Dogs will let it out when it gets bad enough. At that point they don't care where they are letting it "go".
If he is truly crate trained then when he whines, take him out to a dirt spot and wait just as Sarah suggested. If after 15 minutes or so and he doesn't go, put him back in his crate. Wait 5-10 minutes then take him out again. Do this until he goes where YOU want him to. He'll then get the idea that going on dirt is ok.
It's a matter of familiarity for the dog.
Case in point, this weekend I worked on getting my dog to go down stairs. It was a LONG wait with a lot of coaxing and NO force. He eventually took his first steps - then it was just a matter of a few more minutes before he was walking up and down normally.
I think that this is just an unfamiliar act for your dog and can be trained to be comfortable with it.
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Finicky Pup
#239354 - 05/11/2009 10:37 AM 
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Re: Finicky Pup
[Re: Ellen_Bolliger ]
#239355 - 05/11/2009 10:40 AM 
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