Puppy potty training, dog house training, puppy house breaking, or whatever else we choose to call it, is the bane of most new dog owners. That is why there are so many tutorials on how to potty train a puppy, with promises of how it can be simple and effortless.
The fact though is that potty training requires time, patience, and consistency. How simple or difficult it is, will depend on our dog’s temperament, and our own temperament.
Some dog breeds such as the Shiba Inu, are naturally clean, and are relatively easy to house-break. My Shiba was potty trained when we first got him, at 10 weeks old.
Shiba Inu Sephy does not even like to potty in our backyard. Instead, he prefers to wait until we go for a dog walk. In contrast, my second dog (a Siberian Husky) was more difficult to house-train because she did not mind frolicking close to her own waste products.
It took a few weeks to potty train her.
Puppy potty training also depends a lot on us. If we are naturally calm, consistent, and patient, house breaking will seem easier and require less work.
Whatever the case, always remember that we can successfully potty train a physically healthy dog, at whatever age, no matter the history.
And that is a dog potty training fact!
Puppy Potty Training 1
Set Up a Schedule
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Puppy potty training begins by setting up a schedule. Initially, we want to bring our dog out often, and reduce the chances of her making mistakes inside the house.
When my Siberian Husky puppy was 8 weeks old, I took her out about once every hour (if she was awake), and after every 10-15 minutes of play.
I stop giving puppy water about 2-3 hours before sleep time, and take her out right before I crate her for the night. If I need to reward her during that time, I only use moist dog treats such as boiled chicken, so that she does not get thirsty from them.
Fact – Dogs learn through a process called conditioning. They repeat behaviors that get them good results and stop behaviors that get them bad results.
The more we reward a puppy for pottying outside, the more she will potty outside. When my puppy does her business in the backyard, I mark that behavior (Yes!). Once puppy finishes, I treat her and give her some good affection. Afterward, I reward her with play-time or a brief walk.
The more a puppy practices pottying inside, on her own, the more she will just go in the house. After all, it is convenient and nobody is teaching her that it is inappropriate behavior.
What we want to do is not only maximize the number of successes, but also minimize the number of mistakes.
Myth – My dog cannot be house trained because she comes from a stubborn breed, she is too stupid, she is too dominant, she doesn’t listen to me, she is too old, etc.
Any physically healthy dog can be house trained. The key to potty training is patience and consistency. Always be around to supervise our puppy when she is inside. If we do not have the time to supervise, then crate her, or put her in a long term enclosure with puppy pads.
Myth: Screaming and hitting the dog will show her that I am boss and make her stop pottying inside the house.
Screaming and hitting a dog does not work well, and usually makes things worse. How well do you learn when somebody is screaming at you, or hitting you? It is the same way for a dog, especially a puppy.
The fastest way to potty train our puppy, is to remain calm, and consistently let her know that going inside is inappropriate (Ack, ack), and going outside is appropriate (Yes).
Puppy Potty Training 2
Prevent Potty Mistakes
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There are three ways to prevent mistakes inside the house:
a) Be there to supervise.
When our puppy shows signs that she has to go potty, take her outside right away. If we do not catch it on time and she starts to do her business, then interrupt her with a non-mark (Ack, ack), and take her outside.
Myth – I can potty train my puppy by rubbing her nose in it after the fact. She always looks sheepish and puts her head down when I shout at her. She knows she has done something wrong.
Dogs will only learn when we catch them in the act.
If we are not around and our dog makes a mistake, then we have missed a learning opportunity. All we can do is clean up the mess and move on. It is important to prevent mistakes by always supervising puppy, and using a crate or long-term enclosure when we are not around, or too busy to supervise.
Note that a dog may look sheepish when we shout at her after the fact. This is because she knows that we are upset. Therefore, she is using submissive gestures (e.g. putting her head down) to try and appease us.
The dog does not know what particular event has caused our anger, but just that we are angry. Shouting and rubbing a dog’s nose in her own waste does not teach her anything. All it does is confuse our dog, and cause her to get stressed and fearful. This can actually make things worse by causing her to do submissive urination.
b) Crate train our dog.
Dogs do not generally like to soil where they sleep. Keeping our puppy in a crate will discourage her from pottying because she does not want to soil her sleeping area.
When I got my first dog, I was a bit concerned about crating him. Here is what the Humane Society of the United States and the American Dog Trainer’s Network have to say about crate training
Myth – A crate will magically keep my dog from pottying for any period of time.
The crate is not some magical cure. A crate discourages a dog from pottying, but if a dog absolutely has to go, she has to go.
Keeping a puppy for too long in a crate, will force her to potty in the crate, possibly traumatize her, and greatly set back our potty training program.
As a general rule, the longest time we should keep a puppy in a crate, during the day, is (age of dog in months + 1) hours. An 8 week old puppy can be kept a maximum of (2 month old + 1) = 3 hours in a crate.
Note that this is just a general guideline for the maximum crate time. Most puppies need to go outside more frequently than that. Take a puppy outside as soon as she wakes up, and right after any heavy activity.
At night, I crate my dogs in the bedroom. Keeping our dogs with us in the bedroom will help with the bonding process, and show them that they are part of the pack.
When puppies are really young, they may not be able to hold their bladder throughout the night. It may be necessary to make an extra trip outside at night, or really early in the morning. Once they get a bit older though, this will no longer be necessary.
c) Put our dog in a long-term enclosure.
If we will be away for a long period of time, put puppy in a long-term enclosure. This can be a secure puppy pen, or a secure and safe room (e.g. kitchen).
Make sure there is nothing dangerous in the enclosure that our puppy can destroy and swallow. Put bedding, a water bowl, some puppy pads, safe chew toys, and safe food toys in the enclosure. Put the pads in a corner as far away from the bedding as possible.
Instead of puppy pads, we can also consider using an indoor grass
When I tried using sod, I had to change it every other day, or my puppy refused to go onto it. This ended up being a lot more work than just using puppy pads.
Myth – We cannot train a dog to potty outside, as well as potty on puppy pads. She will get confused and not know what to do.
Yes, it is true that if we can be around most of the time to supervise, it is better not to let a puppy do her business in the house at all.
However, if we will be away for long periods of time, if our dog has separation anxiety issues (which may cause her to need to go potty when we leave), or if there are other medical issues (surgery) that make frequent trips outside unfeasible, then it is perfectly fine to train a dog to both go potty on pads, as well as go potty outside.
Reward a puppy for going on his pads, and reward a puppy a lot more for going outside.
Puppy Potty Training 3
Clean Away Mistakes Properly
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During the potty training process, there will be some mistakes. When that happens, calmly non-mark our puppy (Ack, ack), and take her outside.
Once we are outside, praise and reward puppy if she continues with her business.
Then leave puppy in the backyard, come in, and clean up the mess. Cleaning up messes in front of a puppy may sometimes cause her to mimic our behavior, and engage in eating her own poop. In her mind, she is only helping to clean out the den.
Use a cleaner that is made especially for pets. A popular pet odor cleaner is Nature’s Miracle.
Do not use ammonia based cleaners as the ammonia odor, which resembles urine, may attract our dog to urinate in the area.
Puppy Potty Training 4
Make Sure the Mistakes Are Potty Mistakes.
Not all indoor urination is the result of potty training mistakes. Other reasons for indoor urination include:
- Submissive or excitement urination.
- Medical issues, e.g. urinary tract infection.
- Marking objects or territory.
- Stress or anxiety, which results from being alone, or other psychological issues.
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You are awesome. You answers are thoughtful, and rely on positive reinforcement (BOO to punitives!)
Thank you Leonard.
LOL!
Hello,
May I just say, I am so glad to have found your site, I was getting so many ambiguous weird conflicting answers on the web about Siberian Husky puppies, I thought Loki and I were doomed.
I have a question about the pee pads… he wants to chew on them well, I mean… he wants to taste and chew everything (I did puppy proof my room, though so I might rest easier…) and he especially runs to them and starts to chew, when I’m not paying every bit of attention to him (maybe because he knows I’ll pay attention to him by saying “ack”? I say that, then either give him a toy that he should be biting on, or move him to a different place and give him a toy. I hope that doesn’t read as a treat for him chewing on it?)
So I was thinking about getting a pee pad holder (also because they just seem more hygienic.) and was wondering if you could recommend any particular kind? I noticed some have grates, and others are just a plastic pad. I also want something I feel safe about him potentially chewing one. Any suggestions would be awesome, I’ve been pretty stumped.
Thanks a million-trillion.
Hello Mike,
Congratulations on your new Siberian Husky puppy! How old is Loki?
That is a good question. I usually no-mark puppy for the chewing. If she moves away on her own, then I reward her well for stopping and moving away. Otherwise, I body block her away. Then, I get her to do some obedience commands for me. This allows me to treat her and give her a toy for doing something positive.
In terms of pee pad holders, I have one of the plastic ones. Essentially, I place a puppy pad on top, and there are two locks on either end that holds the pad in place. It is nice to have, and essential for my three legged dog (during puppyhood) because the holder keeps the pad from slipping.
I haven’t tried the grate indoor potty system. My understanding is that they are cheaper in the long run because we don’t have to use puppy pads, and the dog just pees over the grate. Then, the pee collects in a container at the bottom. This requires a lot more clean-up work though. Also, grates are not a very comfortable surface for dogs to walk on. However, dogs do not generally like chewing on metal or hard-plastic, so it likely reduces the probability of the dog playing around with his potty system, and making a mess.
There are also artificial grass indoor potty systems. As I understand it, it is similar to the grate system but it has a layer of more comfortable artificial grass on top. I haven’t tried this either.
I only used puppy pads+holder in the short term, during the potty training period, and after my Sibe puppy came back from surgery.
Hugs to Loki! Sibes are awesome dogs.
Loki’s 6 weeks and 3 days old, (I got him right when he was six weeks old… too young I found out when I perused about the web a bit more… Unfortunately I don’t believe there are any laws in WV about selling puppies before 8 weeks old…)
I’ve only had him a few days and wow… what a hand full! I’d read about how intelligent huskies are, but sometimes I wonder who’s training who!
(his name was very very fitting)
I honestly believe chewing on the piddle pad is a way of having me pay attention to him. As I’ve said he’s done it while I’m here with him… but never when I leave him alone. In fact, he’s pretty great at using them correctly, only a couple of incidents where he’s missed. When I leave him for an hour or two he may have used the pad, but they appear to be okay otherwise.
If I’m at the computer and he wants attention and is yelping and barking…. I tried ignoring him until he stops (with full intentions of playing with him after he’s stopped barking and yelping… in hopes that he learns that howling and carrying on won’t get results…) but sometimes before he’s even done he’ll snatch up the piddle pad and run around over to his bed and start to chew and make noise (when I usually step in to correct him) What should I do in a situation like that… where I’m trying to ignore him to teach a lesson, but he then does something that needs correcting? Correct him and ignore him again for a length of time? Once again… I can’t thank you enough for your help!
LOL!
Loki sounds like my Shiba Inu Sephy.
Sephy loves playing chase games. When he was a puppy, his favorite game was to snatch our t.v. remote controller and run around with it. I finally put a stop to that by putting a drag lead (only with a flat collar), on him. When he starts his chasing game, I would just step on the lead, and take him straight to time-out. In this way, he doesn’t get to play, and he loses his freedom temporarily.
Sephy also tried to steal and chew-up puppy pads from the other dogs. I usually have the pads in a puppy pen that has its door open. When Sephy is up to no-good, I just no-mark him, get him away, and then close the door to the puppy pen. Then I go outside to play with puppy, and Sephy has to stay inside the house by himself. He really did not like being excluded from the fun play session, so he stopped his pad chewing behavior pretty quickly.
The key I found, is to figure out what Sephy wants most, and to use that as a reward/punishment. If I want to motivate Sephy, I use a fun chase game as his reward. If I want to stop him from doing something, I take away something he values, e.g. playing with puppy, or freedom in the house.
Yeah, the first few days are the most difficult. It gets a lot better after they are potty trained. Here are the first 10 days with my Sibe puppy Lara.
http://shibashake.com/dog/a-new-puppy-first-10-days-of-hell
Hi,
I have two puppies one 8 months and the other 6. We have only had the youngest for about 6 weeks and he is very good apart from he has recently taken to chewing up puppy pads during the day. We leave them both in our kitchen during the day with everything that they need but now we are unable to leave the puppy pads down and he hasn’t stopped urinating unfortunately
I am not sure what to do now to try and discourage this behaviour. We do have a crate but he has not been in it whilst he has been with us and I don’t know whether it would be best to put both dogs in the crate together? Really not sure what to do so any advice would be appreciated!
Thank you!
Several possibilities that I can think of-
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1. I use a plastic potty pad holder to properly hold the puppy pads down. In this way, the pads don’t move around and are always in place.
2. There are also various artificial grass systems
I have not tried any of these, but I have tried real grass (i.e. sod). I would not recommend sod because drainage is bad, and it is difficult to clean and transport. I ended up having to change it several times a day and it was more work than anything else.
To be safe, make sure to monitor how puppy ‘uses’ the artificial grass system. Some puppies may attack it or try to chew at it.
3. Install a doggy door and train puppies to use it when they need to potty.
I have 3 Maltese 1 male 2 female both females potty trained to use the doggy door 3-4 weeks the male wow hes just lazy to the point I have to crate him he is now 4 months I do take him out after he eats and drinks after he wakes up I let him loose 30 mins for play time now if the girls go out he follows and goes outside never poops in house mind you. BUT if they dont go out he just pees where he wants. I feel hes potty trained just lazy. More time than I can count Ive put him out he comes in and pees right beside me and literlly so fast I cant stop it. How do you fix that. I do put him right away back in pen when he does. Further more he is a major whiner. I mean he can wine for hours no matter hes really frustrating me.
Hello Cindi,
Yeah, I have also observed that some dogs can be more of a challenge to potty train than others. For example, I have 2 Sibes and one of them took a shorter time to house train than the other.
Some things that helped with my Sibe puppy-
1. I gave her special treats for doing her business outside. She only gets these for going potty and nothing else.
2. She really likes to play outside. Therefore, once she is done with her potty I play a fun chase game with her.
3. If she does her business inside the house, I no-mark her (Ack-ack) and I interrupt her. I have a drag-lead on her so I just use the lead to get her moving. She stops peeing as soon as I get her moving, then I take her outside to finish her potty. I praise her very well for doing it outside and give her a special treat.
In this way she learns that when she goes potty outside, it is very very rewarding. However, when she does her business inside, she just gets interrupted and taken outside.
Hi, You have a really helpful website. I also have a Shiba and I guess I didn’t realize how lucky I was with the breed being so easy to housetrain, he had accidents in the house for maybe 2 days after I brought him home, that was it, then we never had another issue with him. Unfortunately, my new dog is a whole other story. I just got a 4 month old female doberman 2 weeks ago. She is well crate trained (quite content in there overnight and for short stretches when necessary during the day) and never has an accident in the crate, even overnight. I take her out for potty breaks after getting out of the crate, after eating and drinking, after naps, and after playing. She is very good about going outside almost every time I take her out, and I praise her each time. The problem is, she also still goes in the house! I started taking her outside at least every hour in addition to all the other times we go out, but sometimes she will go inside less than 20 mins after having gone outside! I was given the (good) advice of keeping her leashed to me at all times inside to try and prevent this, and have tried this technique the last few days. Unfortunately, she is still having accidents even while on the leash, when I just take my eyes off her for a few minutes, I look back over and see that she’s just peed right where she was standing. I don’t understand how she can have to go so often, especially when she holds it fine overnight. It is getting very frustrating because even as frequently as we go outside, her accidents have not decreased at all in the two weeks she has been here. I am not sure what I am missing, or what else I should be doing differently. Any advice would be great!
Hello Bethany,
It sounds like you are doing all the right things.
One thing to try is to give the vet a call and see if they have anything to say about it. With my dogs, I try to rule out physical reasons first.
Another thing I have noticed with my Sibe puppy is that she will go out, do her business, and then play about some outside. She likes running around bushes and digging. Usually, she forgets to go potty again when she comes in, or asks to come in. Before she comes in, I take her to her potty spot and ask her to do her business.
When you leave her outside, does she pee really frequently as well? When she pees inside the house, what is she doing before that? Does she show signs that she is about to pee (circling, going to corners)? Does she squat when she pees or is she just standing? What do you do when you see her peeing?
Another possibility is that she is marking, but that seems less likely given that she still does it when tethered to you.
My puppy is 13 weeks old, she has been going outside to go to the bathroom very well. Our problem is we will take her out when we return home usually only 3 or 4 hrs after placing her in the crate, she will pee first come in eat lunch then go back out to poop. Then once back inside she will wine like she has to go outside we take her out and all she does is play. Now it seems more like a game and not going out to do her business. We walk her in the mornings before work and at night when I get home from work. Most of the time my husband will run her at lunch time around the outside of the house as well just to give her some exercise. How can we get her to wine/bark/ring potty bell (which she does very well), when she really has to go outside and not just when she wants to go out and play. I don’t want to not take her then she has an accident but taking her just for her to dig a few holes is not good either. I am assuming she is bored and that is her fun time just didn’t know if you had suggestions. Maybe not put her on a ground leash but walk her out when she has to go potty and only put her on the ground leash when we allow her to play? Usually we put her on the ground leash and let her go on her own to potty while we wait at back door. Especially when raining or when very cold outside.
Yeah, my Shiba Inu Sephy used to do the same thing. Therefore, whenever he goes to the door I would take him out on-leash directly to his potty spot. Then I say “Go Potty”. I wait there for a few minutes, but do not allow him to roam around. If he does his potty, I praise him, treat him, and play with him outside. The outside time becomes a reward for his potty.
If he does not potty then we come back into the house. Once we come back, I have a short black-out period where he is ignored if he goes to the door again.
In this way, he learns that potty trips are only for potty and not for playing. However, if he does potty, he gets rewarded with play-time outside. This encourages him to let me know when he needs to potty (because he gets rewarded with play) but discourages him from ‘crying wolf’ (because he doesn’t get to play when he doesn’t potty, and gets ignored when we come back in).
Congratulations on your new puppy! Big hugs to Bella.
Hey i have a 7 week old pomerainian poodle mix named mason that i got last night and he keeps doing his buisnes on the carpet…….he has gone on the pody pads and outside but hes gone on the carpet like 6 times……HELP PLEASE!! my mom is getting really mad at the fact that he isnt going on the pads and outside…..when i leave him in his enclosure he goes on the pads but when he is out he goes on the carpet.HELP!!! thank u!
Hello Sarah,
Congratulations on your new puppy!
It will take a while before puppy learns where it is ok to do his business, and where it is not. I got a puppy early last year and I was reminded that when it comes to puppy training, supervision and consistency are very important.
Whenever my puppy Lara was roaming outside, I make sure to supervise her very closely. If it looks like she has to go potty, I take her outside. In this way I can reward her well for doing the right thing. If I miss her potty cues and she starts to do her business, I interrupt her and take her outside. Then, I reward her if she continues with her business outside.
Having a very fixed routine also helps. For example, Lara usually needs to potty when she wakes up, and after rigorous activity, e.g. playing with the other dogs. I make sure to always take her out during those times. A fixed eating schedule will also help to keep potty time more consistent.
Hi,
We have a 21 month old Bishon/Pug/Shi Tzu cross that has always been most comfortable going to the bathroom in our front yard,or on a walk. We have allowed this since he was a puppy but this winter and last we have tried to get him to go in a fenced kennel. He adamantly refuses to go in the kennel on the rock/snow. He will hold his pee and poop for hours if he is not allowed to go in the front yard or when we take him for a walk. He also, when in the yard, will go from spot to spot until he finds the perfect area to do his business. How can we change this behavior? Any suggestions would be most appreciated. Thanks,,,,
Hello Janis,
Based on what I have read, it seems that dogs prefer going on the type of surface that they were used to as a puppy. I train all my puppies on grass, and as adult dogs that is what they prefer to go on. My Shiba Inu especially will not go on concrete or rock.
Shiba Inu Sephy also has to find the perfect spot to do his business. I think it has to do with scent, type of surface, safety of location, and probably other factors. It also depends on the temperament of the dog. Some dogs are just more particular about such things. My Siberian Huskies, for example, are a lot more relaxed about pee and poop locations.
Sephy will pee and poop in the backyard if he absolutely has to, but usually he prefers to do it during walks.
Hi I have a 3 months old shiba with me for a week now. We keep her in a wired cage and place a lavatory inside for her to do her business. She only sleeps on the lavatory and hence she has a strong urine odor on her. Do you have any idea why she likes to sleep on the lavatory and how to train her not to sleep on that? From what I know shiba likes cleaniness and will not choose to sleep on the area she pees. Appreciate your feedback
How big is the cage?
When my Shiba was a puppy and I had to leave him home alone, I usually put him in a large enclosure. In this way, I can put his puppy pads far away from his bed. I can also give him safe toys to chew on and some water in case he needs to drink.
If there is too little space, then puppy just gets used to sleeping in pee and poop, which makes potty training a lot more difficult.
http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-potty-training-facts-and-myths#enclosure
Hello we.have a nine week.old shorkie and she will go pee and poop on the pee pad in the pen but she will not go on the pee pad in the den.
Hello Tyra,
In the beginning, puppies do not really understand what are acceptable places to pee and poop. We can teach them this by supervising them closely. When my puppy pees in the house, I non-mark her, and calmly take her outside. Then I reward her very well for going outside.
In this way, she learns that peeing outside = lots of rewards, attention, and a game with me. On the other hand peeing inside = she gets interrupted and taken outside.
Hi there Ceasar I enjoyed watching all of your tv shows about dogs.
I have a 5 month old chinese pug and i’m having a hard time potty training her
i put her outside and watch her but she does nothing she just wants to play and nothing else then as soon as i take her in she’ll go potty in the house sometimes on
the newspaper and the rest of the time not.I get frustrated with her cause she’s been going potty on the couch or anywhere that is soft.I do praise her when she does go outside.She is not a crate dog.Please help me, what do i do.Thank you.
Dear Mary,
I am not Cesar Millan. Here is Millan’s official site-
http://www.cesarsway.com/
I have been trying to puppy pad train my 4 month old puppy for over a month now and she is not making ANY improvements. I am at my wits end with her! She pees and poops EVERYWHERE! I keep her in a crate at night and during the day while im at work i confine her to a small area but when shes not in either of those places, she pees and poops on the carpet. I’m about to lost my mind! any advice???
Hello Stephanie,
I just got a new puppy earlier this year, so I had a refresher course in potty training.
My Sibe puppy Lara reminded me that the most important thing with potty training is supervision. I make sure to watch her *every second* she is roaming free in the house. There were a couple of times when I thought it was ok to just step into the kitchen for some bread – but puppy always decided to potty at exactly those times!
Once I started watching puppy like a hawk, things really started to improve significantly. If I even need to step out for just 1 second, I put puppy in her long-term enclosure that has pads in it.
As soon as I see puppy start to circle and about to potty, I calmly take her outside and give her the “go potty” command. If she does her potty, I praise her very very well, treat her with a high priority item, and also play a fun game with her. In this way, puppy learns that when she does her potty outside, she gets lots of good stuff. However, when she does her potty inside, she only gets interrupted and taken outside.
Supervision and consistency were the two most important things when potty training my Sibe puppy.
Good luck and congratulations on your new puppy.
You have a really amazing website going on here.
I don’t have a Shiba, but hopefully you help me with my questions concerning my Westiepoo Terrier. I also don’t think you’ll see the last of me for a while.
I recently added a 2 month old Westiepoo Terrier to our family. He is now three months, and training has been a disaster. We have been training him to go on peepads(hopefully moving on to just newspaper soon) and we reward him whenever we catch him finishing his act. He sometimes goes on the peepad, and other times he doesn’t, but that’s not even the main problem.
I hope you can suggest something for my problem! Thanks so much (you’ll probably see me post again).
The main problem is that we are not home a lot in some weeks. We crate him for almost 8 hours on the days when we are not home, and I know that shouldn’t be allowed (but he sleeps for half the time any ways). He obviously then soils his crate because it is a long time for such a young puppy. As soon as we get home, we take him on walks and let him in the house.
I guess my question is what to do when we are gone and crating him? I know there is another method of taking him outside to do his business, but again it wouldn’t be 100% consistent because we are not always there. If he had learned to use the peepad more consistently or if we had some other method of training him, we would’ve let him roam the house instead of crating him for so long.
Hello Anonymous,
When I need to be away for a longer period of time, I usually put puppy in a long term enclosure. I put puppy pads in the enclosure, as well as safe toys, and bedding so that puppy can be comfortable in there.
http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-potty-training-facts-and-myths#long-term
[...] of Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine. Filmmaker: Suzie Vigoin Potty training a puppy requires determining the pre-potty behavior, taking t… lots of praise for desired behavior. Use consistency and [...]
Great info, but I have a unique situation I need some help with. We live in a harsh weather climate and have a pretty small breed so we cannot let her outside for the bathroom. We have “successfully” trained her to do her business on puppy pads in the basement, which she has free access to all day long (except at night when she is asleep in her crate). We have had her for 5 months now (from 2 months to now 7 months old) and in that time, she has twice gone an entire month without making a mistake, but then out of nowhere, starts to pooh (maybe half of the time) on the carpet nearby. After the first time this happened, we tried everything to stop her from doing that in the carpeted area in question…including making loud noises when she roamed into that area and spraying the area with vinegar to cover/taint the smell. We finally had to erect a barrier so she was unable to access that carpeted area. Once we did that, she went potty strictly on the puppy pads for another month (or more) straight and we thought we were in the clear. But this past week, she has picked another different carpeted area to use for half of her pooh business. Given where this area is in the house, we are not able to block it off. What do we do now?? Why is she doing it? We always give her treats when we see her doing it correctly, and never when she fails. And she has never peed anywhere but the pads, only half of the time with her poohs. What can we do? Is she mad about something and doing it to spite us? Please help!!
Hello Greg,
My guess is that she does not understand that she is not supposed to go on the carpet. She may have learned that she gets rewarded when she does her business in that general area, and not that she has to go on the pads.
Also, when my Sibe was recovering from surgery and using puppy pads, I noticed that she only wants to go on there once. If the pad is already soiled, she does not like going on there again, and does her business close to the pads. This can also be another factor.
What do you do when she makes a mistake? Do you catch her making a mistake while she is doing it?
Nah, dogs are not spiteful like that. It is just not the way they operate. Likely, she just does not yet fully understand where exactly it is ok to potty and where it is not. Dog’s don’t easily generalize the way humans do, so if we teach them not to go on one carpet, they may still think that it is ok to go on another carpet. That is why it is easier to teach them not to go in the house at all.
One thing that seemed to help with my Sibe is to set up a potty enclosure for her inside the house on tile floor. In this way, the place that she is supposed to potty is well defined. Then I put puppy pads inside the enclosure. I make sure to change the puppy pads as soon as she goes so that it is always clean.
When she makes a mistake, I non-mark her, interrupt her potty, and take her inside the enclosure. If she continues with her potty, I praise her, give her treats, and play a fun game with her afterward.
Hello and thank you for the info on this website, they are very helpful
we cleaned it up, and placed a puppy pad at the place that he normally goes. this morning he had pooped all AROUND the puppy pad, but not on it… 
I have a 4 month old Shiba Inu named Duke. me and my bf got him when he was about 7 weeks old. He was only crated for the first week and as soon as he learned to only pee on his puppy pad, we let him sleep with us in the bedroom . For the past 2 months he has never peed or pooped in the bedroom, which is also where we keep him when we leave for work during the day.
When we are home he behaves perfectly and sits by the door anytime he needs to go out which makes us believe that he is potty trained. last week, we decided to allow him into the living room at nights, which ended up in a disaster! The first morning he had pooped all over the living room
How can we get him to not poop at nights? the last food he gets is usually around 7 pm and we do take him out a lot before bedtime. We really feel bad crating him, since he is just too nice and cute!!
I would really appreciate your help, since we don’t know what else to do
Thanks!
Hello Nikki,
Dogs generally, and Shibas especially do not like to soil their sleeping area. It sounds like Duke knows that he is not supposed to poop in the bedroom, but he does not know that the living room is also off-limits.
We could redo potty training exercises for the living room, but then we may have to repeat this for other rooms. For this reason, I find that it is easier to teach my dogs to just not go inside the house. In this way, it is clear – inside the house = no poop, outside the house = can poop.
The only way I know to potty train a dog is through supervision, or to keep the dog in a crate or enclosure, when supervision is not possible.
As for crating, my Shiba likes being in his crate at night. He was crate trained as a puppy, and it is now his routine to sleep in his crate at night. He goes in on his own, and sleeps all night. In the mornings, we open his crate door for him, and usually he will sleep in there for another hour more before he gets out.
The only time he does not want to sleep in his crate is on the night that he gets home from his yearly vet visit. I think he feels woozy then, and prefers to be by himself in the living room.
My Sibes like to sleep in the backyard during the hot weather. However, once it starts to cool down, they also prefer sleeping in their crates at night, in the bedroom.
Here are a couple of articles that I found to be helpful while I was deciding whether to crate Shiba Sephy -
1. Humane Society of the United States.
2. American Dog Trainer’s Network.
What do you feed your husky for treats that they will not get anywhere else? I have heard they have sensitive tummys and I don’t wanna cause my little girl any discomfort, but I need to get her to go potty outside…. i also heard that sometimes feeding them treats to go potty won’t always work because they will only eat the treats when they are hungry for them. This has been the case with my puppy, she doesn’t accept praise or treats really. She just runs around being distracted by everything. Any advice on that? Thank you!!
With puppy Lara I used boiled chicken and dried chicken strips. In general I use treats that are mostly meat and has as few additives as possible. Another one that I sometimes use is the Innova EVO treats. All these are poultry based so only give to a dog that is not allergic to poultry.
As for type of reward it will depend to some degree on the dog. Both my Sibes are very food focused. I also make sure that they work for all of their food. My Shiba is less food focused so I use freedom and play-time as a reward.
For example, when he was young he would keep knocking at the door to ask to go out .We did not have an enclosed backyard then so I couldn’t just let him out. It turns out that most of the time he was only interested in going out to explore. Therefore, when he knocks at the door I would take him out on leash, take him to our potty spot, and say go-potty. I would wait for about 5-10 minutes. If he goes potty, I praise him a lot and then let him explore and also play a really fun game with him. If he does not go, we just come back inside.
Hello,
My bf and I just brought home a Shiba Inu last night. We took him out many times during the night (about 4 after putting him in the crate for bed time) but every time we took him out he would not go potty and would come back in and go in the crate. The pup is smaller than we expected so we are exchanging it for a much smaller one tonight. Do you have any suggestions to get him to potty outside? When we took he out we carried him from the crate to the spot we want him to go and said “potty”. The one time he did actually go I gave him a treat and praised him but that was only once. Are we missing some important piece of housebreaking information? I know it has only been one night but every blog says they hate going to the potty in their crate and our little guy will only go in his crate.
Hello Tara,
One possibility is to perhaps enhance the rewards he gets for going potty outside. For example, with my Sibes I usually treat them with something really good that they don’t get anywhere else. I also reward them with a fun game after they potty.
http://shibashake.com/dog/dog-potty-training-facts-and-myths
If the puppy is from a pet store or an online store, he could have become used to pottying in the crate because that was probably the only option open to him. I think with continued consistency and patience, he will learn that he does not need to do this anymore, but it is likely that breaking the habit may take some extra time and effort.
Good luck and big hugs to Shiba puppy.
[...] again. You can try again in a week or two just letting him out on his own.Powered by Yahoo! AnswersMandy asks…How can I train my dog to potty outside?My little Pekingese is about a year and half ol…>How can I train my dog to potty outside?My little Pekingese is about a year and half old now. He [...]
I will soon be a new Shiba mommy and I’ve been doing a lot of research on crate training. My fiancé and I are running into one issue. We will be at work for about 8.5 hours during the day and we feel that is too long to crate the puppy (8 wks old). We have come up with 2 options and I would love to know your opinion.
Option 1- Gate off our galley kitchen for her during the day… She would have her crate, water, toys, and some potty pads since she will not be able to hold it for the whole day….
Option 2- I work in a very secluded area with woods and a small park so I was considering bringing my puppy to work with me and crating her for approx. 2 hour increments. This would only be on good to moderate (no snow or torrential rain but light rain is ok- my car is kinda crappy) weather days because I would have the crate in my car with all the windows down. She would have the opportunity to go for 4- 15 min walks (8:15, 11:00, 3:45 and 5:00) and 1- 30 minute walk (1-1:30) during the day.
I’m trying to do what is best for her and I know leaving her in the car is kinda mean but it would be a steady crating schedule. I feel like leaving her crated at home for 8 hours would be much worse and I think using the potty pads will result in more issues when we are home. I feel like she will consider that her potty place even though we will be taking her out often.
What are your thoughts?
Hello Meri,
Congratulations on your soon to be new furry family addition!
I agree. You are absolutely right.
In terms of the two options it is difficult for me to say since I have not seen either environments.
A concern I would have for option 2 is that in warmer weather, things may heat up really quickly in a car, and especially more so in an enclosed crate. Also, the Shiba puppy may try to entertain everyone at the park with Shiba screams.
The frequent walks sound really good but may be risky for such a young puppy. Before a puppy is fully vaccinated, she will be pretty susceptible to parvo, giardia, worms, and various other diseases that may be contracted by meeting sick adult dogs, or by smelling and eating their poop.
Solely based on what you say, option-1 sounds like a safer option. A possibility is to get a neighbor to maybe look in on her during the day and perhaps take her on a short walk just in the backyard? I think lots of neighbors will volunteer to spend time with a Shiba puppy.
Another possibility is to hire a pet sitter a couple of days a week.
I have a three month old female Shiba named Pria and she barks A LOT. With previous dogs, spraying them with water stopped their negative behaviors like excessive barking, biting and chewing but Pria doesn’t mind the water at all. Is there any way to teach a Shiba not to do certain things? Also, as long as I take her out every 3-4hours, she potties outside. How do I teach her a way to let me know she needs to go? Any thoughts would be appreciated!
Hello Lee,
Congratulations on your new Shiba puppy!
Haha, yeah Shibas are very stubborn. With my Shiba consistency and patience were very important. If I lose my cool, he gets even more ill behaved.
I also follow the NILIF (Nothing in Life is Free). This means Shiba must work for everything that he wants including his food, going outside, going to walks, and also for my affection. Before I give my Shiba anything, I just ask for a simple command that he already knows, e.g. Sit. This teaches him that the best way to get what he wants is to do what I want first.
Here are more of my experiences in training my Shiba, Sephy.
http://shibashake.com/dog/shiba-inu-training-secrets
http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-training-tips-and-advice
During puppyhood, I always took my Shiba outside through the same door during potty breaks. In this way, he learns that that is the potty door. Now, he just goes and waits there when he needs to do his business.
Some people also teach their Shiba to ring a bell when they need to go. Install a bell by the door and consistently ring it before opening the door for potty breaks. Shiba will catch on pretty quickly. I don’t do this because I know Sephy will just keep ringing the bell just to drive me nuts.
Did you have any problems with Sephy after he was neutered? Kiba was neutered on Thursday and he’s had three accidents in the house since then. (One I think was because of the fireworks though!)
It’s not consistently happening and isn’t in the same place – the other suspicion I have is that we’re not letting him out when he has to go, but the problem with that is now that the nicer weather has come, he never wants to come inside! However, he barks when other dogs go by and bugs the neighbors, so we have to keep him in. I’m never sure if he is asking to go potty or just to play, so I try to gauge how long it’s been since he was out last.
He still goes all night in his crate with no problem, and doesn’t make a mess in his playpen if we leave him there a few hours while we’re out.
Wow, Lara just got spayed on Thrusday as well!
Heh, we had a lot of problems with Sephy after he was neutered but most of it involved the evil E-collar. There were no accidents in the house, but I did take him out a lot more during his recovery period, mainly to drain his energy.
One thing that I did notice with Lara after her spaying is that she needed to go out a lot more, especially in the first few days. I think this may have to do with the medications and possibly the anesthesia – perhaps the body is flushing out the stuff?
She is pretty much back to her normal routine now, although the hot weather also causes her to drink more and have to go out more.
Yeah, when Sephy was young, he would want to go out all the time. Frequently it was just to go look at people. Most of the time I would put a lead on him, take him out to his potty spot and give him the go potty command. If he does not want to go, I would wait a few minutes, then come right back in.
If he does his potty, I would praise him, reward him, and then play with him outside for a bit.
Big hugs to Kiba. Hope he is mostly recovered now. Did you have to put an E-collar on him?
Hi Colleen. I found your tips very helpful, but, I am still searching for a particular answer. Our 2 year old Boston Terrier has been a mess to train. We’ve tried just about everything, and when we think she has turned a corner, it’s back to square one. I have used crate training for my other 3 dogs, and it’s been quite successful. However, with Olive, it seems as though she goes potty in it, kicks it all around, and gets covered in it within a relatively short amount of time. Initially, I decided to keep at it, and wash her and her crate every time. After a month, it became too much. Any thoughts on this behavior? Thank you so much. -John
Yeah, that definitely sounds like a challenge.
Have you tried tethering her to you? That way, you can always keep an eye on her and as soon as she starts to show potty signs, you can quickly pick her up and take her out. Make sure to reward her very well for doing it outside so she learns that pottying outside means very good rewards. I usually give my dogs something really good that they *only* get when they potty outside.
Keeping a very fixed eating schedule also helped a lot while potty training my dogs. I usually give them more food earlier in the day, and switch to feeding them boiled chicken instead of kibble after around 5pm. This makes it less likely for them to need to go in the middle of the night.
I also try to get my puppy to poop at least once in the evening. After some running-around type activity, she is usually ready to do her business.
What do you do when she goes inside the house?
Hello, how are you? Hope everything is going well with the new puppy.
Recently, Reptar has decided it is OK to go to the bathroom in the house. At first, it was just #2 but today I came home to find both. He has not be crated since the “incident” where he chipped his teeth and bled significantly from his mouth and nose trying to escape. He did wonderfully for almost 2 months having the house to himself. He is not chewing anything, just going potty. Those are the only environmental factors.
We got him at 8 weeks and he had a few accidents but never really had to be potty trained so I don’t even know where to begin re-potty training an adult dog. Crating him during the day at this point is not an option. I watch him go to the bathroom in the morning so I think he is OK and won’t have to during the day, but to my surprise. Also, it is not every day. A few days a week generally. Any advice or insight on how to correct this? I saw him circling last night and immediately let him out (this happened a few times before bed) but I can’t be here to do this when I am not home.
Thanks!
Hi Colleen,
Great to hear from you! Things are going much better with puppy. Shiba Sephy has now accepted her and is actually having fun playing with her and serving as her chew toy. It is very good to see. I was worried for a while there that he was not going to enjoy a new addition to his pack.
In terms of the pottying -
1. A fixed eating schedule and fixed routine helps to keep the pottying schedule fixed as well.
2. One thing I have noticed with my guys is that they get thirsty after eating bully sticks. They usually drink a whole lot after this and then have to go pee soon after.
3. Putting in a doggy door is probably the easiest way to solve the problem. If that is not possible, then perhaps set up a potty area in the garage or similar area? That way there is a fixed area for him to go potty when he needs to. Also makes clean-up a lot easier.
4. Shiba Sephy drinks a lot more during the hot weather, and during these times he actually deigns to pee in our backyard. Usually he waits until his walks to pee. When it is warmer, I take him out more to do his business. A dog walker can be helpful during these times.
Hugs to Reptar! Glad to see that he is settling in to the new place.
Hello! I am very grateful to have run across your website. We have an English White Lab (6 years old, neutered) and a Shiba Inu (Unknown years of age, non neutered, seizure disorder) that live at home with us. We love them both dearly! I just wanted to ask and see… Our Shiba started marking in the house about 8 months ago ( I know… long time! ) and at first, he had urinary stones. Got those taken care of but now, he seems to think it’s OK to pee in the house!
It’s always on the same spot – corner of our bed (even when we are sleeping), both couches, and sometimes a kitchen chair leg. He is very dominant compared to our Lab, he always follows us around and has to know where we are at all times. He seems like he never sleeps! I know he was abused with previous owners, and that was about 6 years ago. I’m just baffled on what to do!!
We are going to get a big fenced in area in our kitchen and have it set up for both of them when we are gone. I’m unsure what else to do! I feel like we have tried everything, except crating. I love him and I refuse to give him up to anyone else. Multiple owner dogs always have a tough time
Let me know if you have any suggestions, VERY much appreciated
Your website is beautiful and so are your dogs!
Sarah
I have a Shiba Inu male puppy and he peed and pooped in his crate the first week we had him (8 weeks). The Vet told us, when we went for first check-up after the Breeder that if there is TOO MUCH ROOM in the crate, they will treat it as a yard rather than a crate. We put a partition in the crate to make it just big enough for him to stand up, turn around and lie down, and no accidents since. We keep him in crate between potty breaks and feed him in crate so he will like his crate. As he gets older, we will let him out more in between as he is a real chewer–he has lots of chew toys and frozen stuff in the crate, as he is teething.
Hi Emme, Thanks for the really good advice and information. It is awesome that you are not only potty training, but also doing crate exercises during the puppy stage. That is when dogs absorb the most information.
Hugs to your puppy. He is a very lucky Shiba!
well she has been doing great with not pottying in the house but still no luck on the crate. We put her in it at night and when we go to work or go out. We cant leave her loose because she chews on EVERYTHING.
We keep her out in the garage because when we had her in the living room it made the house smell really bad. We have tried the sent removing spray and it didnt seem to phase her.
Its been a while since we have noticed her pee as soon as we put her in and she goes in on her own now. We make sure to have her go potty before we put her in and during the day she is in it for about 4 hours at a time. we dont take her out at night anymore because even when we did she still went in the crate. I think we might try it again and see if it works better now. I think we are going to try and have her in the room with us at night for a week and see if that helps or not.
She really is doing great at in the house. she cries at the door now andwe have learned all her signs. I think we have had only 1 accident and i think it was more to be a brat. I wouldnt share my hot dog with her and i think it made her mad cause she went behind the couch i was sitting on and peed and came right back layed down and gave me a take that look.
I just hope we can get the kennel down soon. We have to bathe her constantly andf i know its not good for her skin.
Hi Nicole,
Glad to hear that things are going so well.
LOL – such a Shiba move. Shibas are great at finding out what annoys their owners most and then using that as a weapon.
My Shiba did that with leash-biting on me, and then he switched to Shiba screaming on the dog walker. The thing that helped most for Sephy is to show him that when he did that – not only did he not get what he wanted in the first place (e.g. getting to the other dog, going somewhere he couldn’t) but he also lost something else that he valued. In his case, I quickly ended the walk and marched straight home. He stopped his leash-biting thing soon after
I think it is a great idea to teach her to go into the crate herself. Another thing that may help is to do crate training exercises when you are home and don’t have to leave. For example, put her in the crate for a very short time, with a really awesome food toy to work on. Then open the door after a very short while – before she even thinks about peeing. Repeat several times a day. Then you can slowly lengthen the time that she stays in the crate.
This will teach her that going into the crate is a good and positive thing, and does not necessarily mean staying home alone.
Hi Nicole,
You have a very lucky Shiba princess. I guess all Shibas are either Princes or Princesses – lol.
With regards to the crate it could be -
Does she go into the crate by herself and then pees right away? When does she go into the crate?
I had many issues while crate training Sephy because it is so counter-intuitive. Usually I put Sephy in the crate when I need to leave him home alone – and he quickly figured that out. As a result, the crate became an indicator that we were going to leave, which stressed him out.
I later discovered that putting him in the kitchen was better because I spent a lot of time with him in there while cooking, or just hanging out, and he didn’t associate that space with me leaving.
How are things going with the potty training?
after she pees in the crate she usually get put outside till we finish cleaning it out. Then a bath. Sometimes she stays outside for a while and sometimes she gets put right back in the crate after its clean. We keep trying different things. I do have to admit that we arent very consistant with what we do. It seems to be dependant on what we are doing at the moment and what kind of a mood we are in. I know we are doing something wrong were just trying to figure out what to try and stick with.
I do like the thought on the pottying outside. She usually pees and runs right back to the door so we bring her in. now i think we will definatly try doing the play and exploration more and if she doesnt seem intrested in pottying just bring her back in.
thanks for all your help. We are loving the breed. She fits into our family perfectly.
i have a 3 almost 4 month old female shiba pup named jazmine. We have been trying to potty train her for about 2 months now with what seems like no luck. We reward her every time she goes outside but she still seems to love to go in the house. I live in North dakota and when we got her there was a few inches of snow on the ground so i dont think that helped in the beginning. but now the snow is long gone and the same problems are still there. We try and take her out at least once an hour if not more, but sometimes she doesnt go. she is a dog that is easily distracted and i think it causes her to forget she needs to potty. We have gotten the house accidents down for the most part but now the issue is in her crate. There are time when as soon as we put her in there she goes potty, before we even close the door! I swear she does it just to make the point of ok your going to have me in here im going to pee or poop then. I read that they dont usually like to potty where they live but we cant seem to get our to stop. any advise would be greatly appreciated. thank you
nicole
Hi Nicole,
“We have gotten the house accidents down for the most part but now the issue is in her crate.”
Hmmm, there could be several reasons for this -
Let us know how it goes. Shibas are very smart and will learn to use whatever to push the boundaries if they can.
Congrats on your new pup! They can be holy terrors when they are young but they grow up to be awesome Shibas.
He is a very lucky boy. A very spoiled little boy too. Check out some of his new pictures. I cant believe how quickly he is growing. When do they usually reach their full grown height?
Unfortunately, I do not get to work from home. In my previous advertising position I was on the path to be able to do so however, when I took this new job, it was not an option.
It is amazing what you can do with open source code. I generally work with native source code using HTML, ASP.NET and PHP languages. I haven’t done too much in the way of using a blogging platform. It is very intriguing yet intimidating, can’t wait to learn though!
Hi Colleen,
Thanks so much for sharing what you did with us. That was very helpful and quite amazing.
Reptar is a very lucky boy!
That is very cool! Does this mean you get to work from home most of the time?
Yeah I really got into WordPress about 6 months back and have been having a lot of fun with it since then. Do you usually use a blogging platform? or do you prefer to go HTML native?
It is quite amazing what one can achieve nowadays with all the free PHP and Javascript code out there. Hurray for open-source!
It took us awhile to determine that he had a change in his diet.
At first we thought it was just an upset stomach because he showed no other signs of illness. He was not lethargic and he was eating and drinking like normal. Once he started having accidents on our bed and purposely going in his crate we took a urine sample to the vet. It came back with no sign of infection. As happy as I was Reptar was OK, it still did not explain the behavior so I could understand it. I did some research on the internet and all pointed to signs of either a UTI or neglect. This boy is hardly neglected and since his urine sample came back with no infection, we were back to square one.
I went over and over his change in diet and environment. Trying to remember if he ate anything on a walk, in the house etc… It took me about 4 days to remember that I went grocery shopping (for Reptar) the day before his first incident. He had started eating some greenies, as well as some sweet potato chew thing. We stopped giving him both when we realized that’s what changed.
We had no choice but to take this day by day. I watched him like a hawk. I am a light sleeper which helped in this situation because when he moves or makes a noise, I wake up. I would get up and let him out a few times every night during the night for about 5-7 days. This may seem like overkill to some but I believe it reinforced him that pottying outside is the right thing to do. He had one accident in the house after taking away the new food items and it took us a few days to get him back to his regular routine.
I made sure I did not stress him out even more. Reptar is very senstive to stressors and reacts negatively. He knew he did wrong and the days I came home and he broke out of his crate, he was traumatized enough. I did not scold him for making a mistake in the house because I was never home to catch him in the act. Also, I did not force him to sleep in his crate, nor on the bed with us. He had to stay in the bedroom but was able to sleep where he felt most comfortable. This may not have been the best situation but being that I am a very light sleeper, even if he rolled over I woke up.
Our biggest concern was that it wasnt medical. once that was ruled out, we went to behavior. We determined what caused the original accident and then the new behaviors that followed. we went back to basics which helped a great deal. Since then, he’s only had once accident in the house. During this time, I’ve formed a tighter closer bond with Reptar too! It’s been quite month- Just in time for level 2 obedience! Wish us luck! We also posted some new pictures too.
Thanks again! Hope this helps.
OH and to answer your question – I’m a Web Programmer. I develop and manage a NY State College website. Those websites you saw were mostly designed by designers and then I programmed them. Fortunately, design goes hand in hand so I guess I’m a designer by trade.
Awww – that is one super handsome boy! Reptar has awesome coloring and his ears are just too adorable. He definitely deserves lots of ice cubes
I am happy he is feeling good again and super Kudos to you for getting him there so quickly. When you have some time, maybe you can list out some of the things you did – e.g., identified all recent changes (Greenie) and reverted things back to previous routine, etc.
I think this would be very helpful for everyone.
Btw. are you a web designer? The example sites on your main site look really good. The ice cream one made me want to go out and get some.
Have a good weekend and definitely take more pictures!
Reptar is doing much better! Still no accidents in the house and he seems to be back to normal! 5 days left on his meds. He says thank you for your support!
If that doesn’t work you can see his “thank you” picture here. http://www.colleenrcallahan.com/photos/reptar.jpg