I've sat and thought for a few minutes how to phrase my question to you all, and have instead decided to open instead with a statement. That statement is as follows:

Housebreaking a dog during a New England winter absolutely blows.

With that said, here is the problem I am experiencing. I have searched through old posts with no luck. Our pup is 12 wks old, and came home shortly before Christmas at 8wks old. When she first came here, we had a large amount of snow on the ground, and snow eating while being walked was a big problem. It seemed as if she would pee almost constantly; the more we walked her, the more snow she ate, the more she peed in her crate. This has made it very difficult to housebreak her. A vicious cycle, right? We continued onward with crate training, per Leerburg SOP and chalked the problems up to the snow factor. She is confined to the crate other than play time and outdoor (elimination) time, and is walked frequently. She is praised enthusiastically when she eliminates outdoors.

This last week has been unseasonably warm; the snow all but melted. For four days straight we did not have one accident in the crate. The dog even began to warn us when she needed to go out. I figured we were on the road to success, and things were looking really good. Well, we just got another 6" of snow today, and are back to square one. I cannot keep the dog from eating the **&%! snow, and housebreaking has all but gone out the window in a matter of 24 hours. The dog actually stopped cold and urinated on my leg while playing tug in the kitchen a short while ago. I know it was due to the damn snow. I have narrowed my options to this: 1. Move to Florida 2. Muzzle the dog outdoors (not really curing the PROBLEM as much as avoiding it) and maybe I'm way off but 3.)prong collar to help the dog self correct and keep her nose up while walking??

I understand that there are a myriad of housebreaking problems posted on this site, and most of you are probably tired of reading them. I'm guessing everyone's answer is going to be "eliminate the snow factor", and I do believe this is the answer. However, it's easier said than done up here in N.E. I'm open to any other suggestions here, and am looking for anyone who may have had a similar experience. I could make good money with this pup clearing walkways this winter. Maybe I'll do that, and put the proceeds toward tickets to Florida. Who knows.

Thanks in advance, and if you try to reach me I'll be out clearing the driveway. With my dog.

I should add that I tried clearing a 10x10 area in the yard today, down to the grass. We'll see if that helps.

Hi Jeff I also live in New England so I know about snow.I was going to suggest that you shovel off an area for your pup to go the bathroom and always take him to go potty on a leash.I feed my dogs outside so whenever it snows I always shovel a couple of spots down to the grass to place there food bowls.As far as walking the dog try keeping the dogs head up with the leash not a hard correction just a slight tug followed with a "come on girl lets go" try to keep the pup interested in something else besides the snow like a ball on a string or tie a rag on a rope and let the dog try to bite the rag.I'm no expert but I would not want to give any hard corrections to a pup that showed interest in snow you don't want a dog that associates snow with a correction especially living in New England.When my 6 year old shepherd was a pup he ate rocks I mean he ate them right up he was like a vacum.I was so concerned that he was going to kill himself by eating rocks,thank god it was only a puppy thing and he grew out of it after a couple of months.He never had a problem with the rocks and he always pooped them out it was the weirdest thing i ever saw.What I would do when i walked him was keep his head up off the ground with the leash never a correction just a slight pull followed with praise,but no matter how hard I tried he always managed to grab a pebble every now and then.As far as the snow goes you could try a muzzel or one of those lamp shade collars that you get at the vets.Just one question is it a small crate or does the dog have plenty of room in the crate?

Hey Jeff, I'm in Canada so trust me when I say I know about the snow <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> There's not option of shoveling down to the grass here <lol>. Our pups enjoy eating the snow too, however I have found that by increasing their water intake (in a controlled manner) they are less interested in the snow. The pups watered several times through the day and then brought out side to eliminate about 20 minutes after they drink. At this time they are taken for a nice walk (on or off leash) and encourage to play and burn off steam. I believe that while the pups enjoy playing in the snow if they are not feeling thirsty when they go out they are not so frantic about eating the snow. They may still eat a little but its not constant. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> With this we have to take them out more often, but they do so much better with thier crate training. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Which I think is more pleasant for all involved.

I don't think a muzzle is going to solve the problem. It will be less than pleasant for the dog and the dog will not learn what is expected of her. Also it restricts your ability to play with the dog using a toy. Make the walks fun for the pup. When you first take her out allow her some 'free time' so she can eliminate (make sure to praise and reward). Once she's had a chance to relieve herself you can then get her interested in a toy and get some good play time in. This is positive reinforcement for relieving herself and also builds her interest in the toy. Then take her for a walk. Taking this sequence also helps the pup to learn that it is better to eliminate right away when she goes outside and that 'good things' like playing and walking will follow the sooner she's 'done her business'.

Consistancy and patience are of paramount importance above all else. Don't forget that she is only 12 weeks old. This is a young dog and you cannot expect to much. They all develop at diferent rates, but the general rule of thumb we use is that the pup can only be expected 'hold' thier bladder/bowls in the crate for as many hours as they are months old. Puppies are puppies and all good things take time! There are several good books that may be helpful... have you read much on raising a pup?

Anyway, hope this helps you a little. Hang in there!

Jeff, I know what it is like to have a small pup to housebreak in the snow. My female (now 2 yrs old) shipped in to me in the middle of a blizzard !! I live in CT. Shoveling an area down to the grass will help, I did that also. BTW it is not good for young dogs to eat snow, it causes diarrhea(sp), which is very dangerous for a young dog. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> The best thing that you can do is keep the pup busy and distract & redirect it's attention when it tries to eat the snow, like Steve mentioned. Also saying 'No' & a little tug on the leash will help redirect the pup's attention. If you keep playing or walking it won't be so inclined to stop to eat the snow. I started marking (using markers) with my pup looking at me when I called her name right away....so she learned very quickly that when she heard her name & she looked at me she would get a piece of hotdog. I would drop the hot dog piece from my mouth, so she would always look up at me when I said her name. This also would keep her spending more time when walking looking up at me so that she would be ready to get her hotdog when I said her name. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> I would use that to redirect her attention to me & not the snow. It only took a couple of walks for her to learn this. I would also reinforce it in the house (kitchen floor) when I played with her. (Too cold to spend much time outside in the mid of winter with single digit temps) Also, watch out for the ice melt salt on the sidewalks. It will burn their paws. Wash or wipe the pups feet with a wet cloth after walking on the salt. I use the pet friendly salt on my walks & drive & am carefull where I walk my dogs in the icy weather. I try to stay on the snowy areas. Hope this info helps. Good luck with you pup. Spring is coming. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Thanks everyone for the replies so far. Re: the muzzle, I certainly don't like the idea,mainly because I feel it doesn't address the problem itself, but I was just brainstorming out loud. I was entertaining that idea due to the fact that I do not want to correct her for eating snow; after all, it's really not that big a deal, and I understand that her bladder just can't cope with the added liquid. She does not ingest enough to affect her stools, they are of good consistency. To this point I have just tried re-directing her, but it's almost impossible to anticipate when she's going to gobble some up due to the fact that her nose is already to the ground, sniffing around for a place to go.

I am, quite obviously, not a dog trainer. But yes I read as much as possible, here and elsewhere (which is why I was hesitant to post; I understand there is probably no "magic bullet" fix all for this, and that it is probably more a product of her age). I understand what is going on with the dog physically, and she is walked frequently (at a minimum every 2hrs. during the day, and every 2.5hrs throughout the night), consistently. No accidents overnight. And with that schedule, she did GREAT for the past 4 days. No accidents. However, the weather was up in the high 50's and the snow had all but disappeared. I do believe she was beginning to grasp the purpose of us going out. She is just WAY too easily distracted by the snow.

Now, with the way it is going, you could NOT walk her enough. Every 20 minutes would not even cut it.

I have started marker training, which she is very receptive to. Almost too receptive as she anticipates me putting my hand in my pocket for the treat now, which sometimes stops her from eliminating, so I like the idea of dropping it from the mouth. She loves the crate, and will enter directly after coming inside on command. Also it is the appropriate size. As far as the rock salt goes, luckily we have ample space on our property to walk her without going near any streets, and I do not drop any rock salt where we travel, so it works out nice.

Thanks again for the Winter tips. I know we will beat this by Spring. But Florida still sounds good if anyone wants their walkway done. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

Jeff, i'm curious, when you first got her and you had to shovel, did you play with her by throwing small shovel fulls of snow at her? maybe she views eating snow as playing. If that's not the case, DON"T start that game, lol, don't forget, puppies will act like puppies <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />,
AL

Al-

No, I didn't start the "catch the snowball in your mouth" game with this one. My last dog enjoyed that game, and luckily he was able to control the obsession.

Things actually went very well today with a nice clear patch of yard to use for walks. Almost zero snow eating, and only one small crate accident during the day. More than acceptable to me at this point. We'll see what the impending snowstorm brings....