Puppy potty training is the bane of many new dog parents. That is why there are so many tutorials on how to housetrain a dog, 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 housebreak. My Shiba was housebroken when we first got him at 10 weeks old.
Shiba Sephy does not even like to eliminate in our backyard. Instead, he prefers to wait until we go for a walk. In contrast, my second dog (a Siberian Husky), was more difficult to housetrain because she did not mind frolicking close to her own waste products.
It took a few weeks to housetrain her.
Puppy potty training also depends a lot on us. If we are naturally calm, consistent, and patient, housebreaking will seem easier and require less work.
Whatever the case, always remember that we can successfully housetrain a physically healthy dog, at whatever age (after the weaning off process), no matter the history.
And that is a potty training fact!
1. Set Up a Schedule
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.
I observe my puppy closely, and try to identify patterns in her potty behavior. For example, she usually has to go when she wakes up, and after a bit of vigorous play. Therefore, I took her out after nap-time and after every 10-15 minutes of play. Different dogs may have different patterns depending on size, temperament, routine, and more.
I stop giving her 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 eliminating outside, the more she will repeat that behavior. When my puppy does her business in the backyard, I mark that behavior (Yes!). Once she finishes, I treat her with something special that she only gets for potty success, and give her some good affection. Then, I reward her more with play-time and her favorite activities.
Similarly, the more a puppy practices eliminating inside, on her own, the more she will go in the house. After all, it is convenient and nobody is teaching her that it is inappropriate behavior.
Therefore, we want to not only maximize the number of successes, but also minimize the number of mistakes. In this way, our puppy will learn that doing her business outside is extremely rewarding and fun. On the other hand, when she does it inside, she consistently gets interrupted and taken outside.
Myth – My dog cannot be housetrained 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 housetrained. The key to potty training is patience and consistency. Always be around to supervise our puppy when she is inside. If I do not have the time to supervise, then I crate my puppy 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 housebreak our puppy, is to remain calm, and consistently let her know that going inside is inappropriate (Ack, ack), and going outside is appropriate (Yes).
2. Prevent Potty Mistakes
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 I do not catch my puppy in time and she starts to do her business, then I interrupt her with a no-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 true that a dog may look sheepish when we shout at her after the fact. This is because she knows that we are upset, so she uses 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, as well as create stress and fear. This can make things worse by causing submissive urination.
b) Crate train our dog.
Dogs do not generally like to soil where they sleep. Keeping our puppy in a crate can 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 eliminating, 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.
The maximum crate time is dependent on the age of our puppy.
| Age | Maximum time in crate |
|---|---|
| 8–10 weeks | 30–60 minutes |
| 11–14 weeks | 1–3 hours |
| 15–16 weeks | 3–4 hours |
| 17+ weeks | 4–5 hours |
Maximum crate time from ASPCA Weekend Crate Training.
Note – this is just a general guideline for the maximum crate time. I usually take my puppy outside more frequently than that. I take her out 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.
Some puppies, e.g. pet store puppies, may already be conditioned to eliminate in their crate, because they are kept in there for overly long periods of time. In such cases, a crate will no longer be a deterrent to potty behavior.
c) Put our dog in a long-term enclosure.
If I will be away for a long period of time, I put my 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 may also use an indoor grass system.
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 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 eliminate 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 potty on pads, as well as outside.
Reward a puppy for going on his pads, and reward a puppy a lot more for going outside.
3. Clean Away Mistakes Properly
During the housetraining process, there will be some mistakes. When that happens, I calmly no-mark my puppy (Ack, ack) and take her outside. Once we are outside, I praise and reward her if she continues with her business.
Then, I leave my puppy in our fully enclosed and puppy-safe 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.
4. Make Sure the Mistakes Are Potty Mistakes
Not all indoor urination is the result of housetraining 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.
I am so glad to hear that Reptar is getting back into his groove. Ice cubes are a great idea! When summer comes, I was also thinking of freezing water in a Kong for Sephy and Shania.
Yeah it would only be when you catch him in the act. It is easiest to keep most areas closed off when he is alone. Sephy used to hang out in the kitchen and I put up a baby gate to create a small enclosure space for him there.
Hugs to Reptar and give him an ice cube from me. 🙂
The few times that he went on the bedding (on our bed) we were sleeping, so were not able to tell if it was intentional or unintentional. When he urinated in his bed however, it was intentional. He jumped down off our our bed to urintate on his. Very strange behavior for him. That has been the only strange behavior. No other signs of illness or stress.
When he busted out of his crate, both times, he went to the bathroom on the floor in two different rooms. Those rooms are generally closed off to him so I understand his need to mark that space. This may be a silly question but there is no way to non-mark him for going inside if we don’t catch him in the act, right?
He is on day 4 of his antibiotics and is drinking plenty of water, with the help of ice cubes to make it fun. So far it’s been two days without any serious potty mistakes in the house. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that all will be well when I go home today.
The day before the first incident took place, we gave him a greenie (1/2) for the first time. We stopped giving him the greenies this past Friday night when we realized that this was the only change in his routine/diet. Perhaps his stomach cannot handle the greenies.
We thank for your feedback, tips and support! Always very helpful. Reptar says thanks for the hugs!
Hello Colleen,
I have been thinking about your question …
Does Reptar only go on bedding or only on furniture? Or is there no pattern?
When I first got Shania, Sephy started to urinate some on bedding as well. That was a marking behavior and he wanted to claim certain sleeping areas as his. I think it started because he wanted to cover up Shania’s scent as she was not potty trained and made some potty mistakes around the house.
It is really difficult to get the smell totally out of bedding, and what worked best was to just store the bedding away in the garage until things settled down.
Some things that may help –
1. When you take Reptar out, try taking him to areas that smell like other dogs. This will encourage him to mark which will hopefully also make him drink more and reduce his desire to mark while inside the house. Sephy also sometimes forgets to drink or holds things in until he really really has to go. Taking him out on more frequent, but shorter walks in ‘smelly’ areas helped with both.
2. Remove all previously marked bedding and make sure to clean any hard surfaces with enzymatic pet cleaners to get rid of all the smell. Important to also do that with his crate.
3. Go back to potty training basics and non-mark him for going inside, and quickly take him out. Reward him if he continues to urinate outside. I just leave Sephy outside when I clean up his messes. Otherwise, he may decide to clean it up himself – 😮
4. Because of the incident, he may now be stressed to be in a closed crate especially when he is alone. There are several possibilities –
a) Get a neighbor or dog walker to come over and take him out for a short walk in the middle of the day.
b) Dog day-care.
c) Set him up in a dog-safe small room or enclosure with potty pads (Shiba Sephy likes shredding up potty pads so this may not work for some dogs). Put on the radio, music, or t.v. so that he has familiar people sounds around.
http://www.shibashake.com/dog/separation-anxiety-dog-why-how-reduce-dog-stress
Hope some of this helps. Hugs to Reptar!
Hi,
You’ve been so helpful to my other questions, thank you. Reptar is almost 8 months old and was essentially potty trained when we got him at 9 weeks. He had a couple accidents in the first few weeks in his new home but after he made no mistakes in the house. He is crate trained and goes in his crate while we are at work. Last week he had a messy accident in his crate and busted out of it. He urinated in another room that is usually closed off to him. We didn’t catch him in the act so we couldn’t correct him for that but he knew he did wrong because when I came home and he greeted me at the door (when he was supposed to be in his crate) he looked very apologetic.
Anyway, that night (he sometimes sleeps on the bed with us), he urinated on his blanket on our bed and then proceeded to go sleep in his crate the rest of the night. He did not wake us up to go to take him out to the bathroom like he usually does. Same thing happened the next night. We took a urine sample to the vet, it came back highly concentrated meaning he does not drink enough water, but no infection was present. He is on antibiotics for the urine concentration. Since the second night, Reptar has not been invited up to sleep on the bed and has been slept in his crate. He’s woken us up a few times to go out in the middle of the night. Reptar has never before had a problem during the night. after a few months old, he would sleep through the night without any problems.
Yesterday, while we were at work, he managed to push in the front of his crate and escape again and went to the bathroom in two different rooms in the house. Minus the defecating, I was very proud of him for not destroying and ripping apart the house. He made a bed of his toys and bully sticks so we were able to see where he spent most of his day. However last night, he spent some time with us on the bed before sleep time, on his own he jumped down, went into his crate and urinated on his bed in his crate. No request to go out.
I’m at wits end trying to determine if this is behavioral or medical. I know this was very long winded but felt that this started occurring once he had his accident in his crate last week. That has been the only change in his routine and environment. Perhaps that was his big stressor. If it is behavioral, what can we do to correct this situation?
Again, I apologize for being so long winded.
Hello Meghann and Rocky!
Yeah my Shiba has some separation anxiety. The key for my Shiba was to slowly get him into a routine and to stick to the routine. Even now if there are any deviations from the routine, he gets stressed.
First I desensitized him to the ritual of me leaving. Then I got him used to me leaving for short periods of time. Once he got used to that, I slowly lengthened the alone time period.
Here are some separation anxiety techniques that may help.
Having a fixed routine helped the most. Getting a dog walker or daycare can also be helpful for those times when you get really busy.
Hope this helps. Let me know how it goes.
Great website! My name is Meghann, and I am the proud human of a Shiba named Rocky. He’s just over one year (we have the same birthday…it was fate!). I hate leaving my bubba alone for long periods of time, but I have to work. As my schedule gets busier, I have decided to re-introduce the crate, and have to start training him all over again. I also think he has some separation anxiety issues, because no matter what he does outside before I leave, there is always a little spot of wee and sometimes a poo or two when I get back…even if I’ve been gone for an hour! Do you have any tips? I have tried all the treats, feeding him while in the crate, lots of praise, etc, and every time we take a step forward, we end up jumping 2 steps back…HELP! I love my lil Shiba so much, and just want him to be a happy healthy and ultimately MOSTLY good dog.
Thanks for your help!
Meghann
Thanks SJ! 😛
Hi! What a great website! 😀
Thanks for the advice on Jyro, I will have to work on that. As far as the peeing on command, I will try the pads again, but for some reason they really like to chew them up and make a mess. These two little monsters feed off of each others company, and can tear a place up in no time. I agree with the stubbornness also. It is interesting, Jy and Ryssa are brother and sister, and like children, they are night and day difference. Jyro is laid back and loves praise, Ryssa is a princess and she puts off that vibe that she can make it on her own if we just let her. She is going to bow to no one! We love them both and don’t regret our decision about getting two of them, it is a challenge!!
P.S. do you have any comment about the underground fence?
We are the new parents of not one but two Shiba pups, they are currently 7 months old. We have had zero troubles potty training the female (Ryssa), the male (Jyro) is another story. He does pretty good most of the time but when ever someone comes in the door, doesn’t matter who it is, he gets excited and wets all over. I think he knows he is doing it because he will make a nice little trail to the back door (that is were we always take him out to go). It dosn’t matter if he has just been out to go or if it has been an hour or so he still makes a nice little trail! We are moving to a new house in a couple of months and I want to get this problem under controll. I don’t want to ruin the carpet, and I don’t want to get rid of him. I also have another question. As stated earlier, we are moving to a new house. This new piece of property doesn’t have a fenced in yard like we currently have. I worked with the pups for a couple of weeks to get them used to going on a leash. It didn’t work out so well. On several occasions we walked half to three fourths of a mile just to get them to go. I don’t have time for that esp. in the morings. I was sure to take treats and give lots of praise but it didn’t get any better. We are going to put up a fence but it will take time. Do you recommend an underground fence? Any advice you have for us would be greatly appreciated!
“Jyro is laid back and loves praise, Ryssa is a princess and she puts off that vibe that she can make it on her own if we just let her.”
That is very interesting. Many people have said that female Shibas are generally more stand-offish than male Shibas so what you say is further support of that theory.
Except my male Shiba is very stand-offish as well – guess you just never can tell with a Shiba. 🙂
Re underground fence – I am not a fan of hidden fences, especially for a Shiba Inu. Firstly, Shibas are very stubborn and often times they are willing to take some physical discomfort/pain if they really want to do something. That is why aversive techniques did not work well on my Shiba. The hidden fence uses the same concept. A Shiba will probably escape from a hidden fence.
Secondly, hidden fences may have unwanted side effects. A Shiba may associate the pain with the people or dogs passing by, or even just with the environment. This may make him become either aggressive or fearful towards those objects. With a Shiba it will probably be the former.
In my opinion they are too risky and not very effective, especially for Shibas.
Re pottying on command –
My Shiba Inu doesn’t potty on command either and is extremely finicky about doing his business, especially pooping. My Siberian does the potty on command but I haven’t been able to train my Shiba to do it. Shibas’ and their stubborness 🙂
My Shiba Inu does like to mark though – so he will very likely pee on spots where there is scent from other dogs. You could try taking them out in the neighborhood instead of the backyard and see how that goes. Just make sure they have all their shots before doing this.
As a short term solution you could also set up some pads in the garage or near the door in case they really need to potty. Most Shibas are very clean though and will try their best to hold it in until you come home.
There are items – Pee Posts – that you can buy that supposedly encourage a dog to pee. It has some scent on it that will make a dog want to mark. I have never tried using these though. My guess would be that they would not be too effective with a Shiba – but you never know 🙂
Hope this helps. Congrats on the new house 🙂
Hello Jyro and Ryssa – love the names! 🙂
Sounds like Jyro is doing excitement urination. What you want to do is to keep greetings as low key as possible.
Tell your visitors “no-talk, no-touch, and no eye-contact” – i.e. just ignore the dogs. The no eye contact is especially important because eye contact is attention to a dog and it will get them excited.
Once Jyro is totally calm, then you can start giving him a little bit of attention – just start with the keys, then voice, then briefly with the touch. But as soon as he gets excited again you want to non-mark (ack-ack) and then ignore.
You can get some friends to help you with training this. Practice the greeting outside so that you don’t have to clean up the mess.
Here is a good link on excitement urination:
http://behavior.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/local-assets/pdfs/Submissive_and_Excitement_Urination_in_Dogs.pdf
Hi, I just wanted to ask you how you trained your dogs not to run out of opened doors, Bear will sit before we go out and he sits before we go back inside but how do i stop him running out the back/front door as sometimes he does before i can get to the door to close it.
Thanks again for all your wonderful tips helping me raise a wonderful good natured Husky……….Bear
Hi Shibashake
Since Bear has been on his new dry food he has been so much better at night, whine for about an hour then i take him out to the toilet just befor i’m ready to go to bed then he is fine sleeps through the night. Hooray!!! I tend to agre with you that Bear was that hungry he just stressed himself out over it, but he is doing well now.
No i havn’t got a crate in the bedroom but have just bought another crate(canvas one) so he can sleep in the bedroom with us, i think he will settle alot better with us.
How is Bear doing with his new food?
GREAT…….GREAT…….GREAT, Bear has no diarrhea, he is more alert and plays more and it’s only his 3rd day on the food so things can only get better…..i hope….fingers crossed lol.
The only thing i wanted to ask was when we took Bear for his walk last night it was really raining hard…but we still enjoyed it……but when we got home and i wiped his paws/coat down i notice his coat had a horrible smell to it, i can’t described the smell only that it was was horrid. Is it something to do with the rain? (his coat doesn’t smell too bad today) he has a shower every 2 weeks, he really enjoys this and looks like a drowned rat bless him. Is this horrid smell something i should be worried about? could it be because he has not been 100% with diet change etc and it coming through his coat? i don’t know what it is………any suggestions!!!
Hi to you and you doggies….so cute
Hi Shibashake,
Does Bear only howl when you are not there with him? or does he also howl when you are there with him?
Bear only howls when i am NOT when i not in the same room as he is, even when my husband and/or daughter are with him he still sometimes cry’s out for short time,
Do you put him in the crate during the day? Does he howl when he is in the crate during the day?
During the day Bear will go into his crate off his own back……he take his favourite Teddy in with him, lays down or has a play but he will NOT fall a sleep in there he comes back out, lays on his cusion then falls a sleep.(The crate door is NOT closed during the day on him just at night, No howling while he is in there during the day.)
The only time Bear whines is at meal times(we have a gate at the kitchen door)he can see me doing his meal and i’m assuming it’s because he getting excited about his food, but this is the only time he whines when i am around, when he is with me there is no whining, no howling no noise just a content little Bear (Only when i am there tho).
How do i go a bout dealing with the separation anxiety? Bear has been the way he is with me since the day i picked him up and bought him home so it not something new, i have tried putting his food in his crate and shutting the door, soon as he finished i opened the door but each day the door stay closed a little longer and this worked, he slept in his crate all night(no howling) until his last bout of diarrhea and he was starved for 36 hrs(as told by the vet) that when it changed, thats when the howling started at night all night. Could it have been because he was so hungry that he howled for attention hoping to get something to eat ?
I Have never opened the crate door when he has whined/howled he has to be quiet then i open the door and mark him *good boy* for being quiet, if he doesn’t stop the i non mark him and move out of site until he is quiet which can take a while, am i doing this all wrong? i do try different methods if one doesn’t work with him which has been working on everything else a part from crate training at night……..nothing working…..
Thanks for your help
Sarah&Bear
P.s. I would ask the training teacher what her thought were but i am going to find another class as this one i was going to was a bit boring there was long pauses in between task and she really doesn’t seem interested in each puppy, she never interacts with any of the puppies only her own, is this how it;s done? am i expecting too much from these classes? i thought they would be different to what they are and all bear is interested in is one of the puppy’s(female) as the task they do he already does(apart from *Down*Command)sometimes without a command he just knows when to sit,stay come etc. What do you think?
Thanks again Shibashake,
Hope you and your dogs are well…….
Hi Shibashake,
Another night of no sleep, Bear howled all night again but i am worried he is stressing himself out even when i came to let him out at 6am i stood there for 5mins until he quietened down but he was like a dog possessed, he was going mad, it was quite frightning as i never have seen him like that, i just don’t understand why bear has changed about the crate, everything is the same, i forgot to mention before that he has had no diarrhea now for 2 days so it’s not because he needs the toilet as i have been taken him out during the night and all he does is a little pee(hardly worth the fuss), so i don’t think all the howling is him to pee. I am really at my witts end with night times with him. Ok …. so what if i keep him out the crate at night for a few days wont it make it harder for me to train him to use the crate at night again? I should say he goes into the crate during the day off his own back and is quite happy so i am really stumped with this, any suggestions as to how i can get some sleep at night ? with the lack of sleep i am loosing my patients which I DO NOT want to happen as bear is my baby but i need to sought something out as we can’t go on like this.
Thanks for your advice a bout trying Orijen, yes you can get it here but not where i live (middle of Knowmans land lol), but as i have started the Annameat Puppy i will see how he gets on with it, i have look at the Orijen and compared them, they are virtually the same with same ingredients and all, thanks again.
I have not given Bear any treats or any other treat for 4/5 days now, i will wait to see how he gets on with his new food before given him anything else.
Yes training is going well and i think i enjoy it more than Bear does lol, although the last couple of days have been a struggle, he not interested in playing, training games nothing, do you think this is because he has had so many probs with diarrhea that it’s draining him? Bear has NOT lost any weight though, but only put on 1k in 17 days, how much weight should he be putting on weekly?
Thanks again for all your help i really appriciate it and i know Bear does aswel.
Thanks……..
Hi me again,
Bear had started puppy classes but had to stop them for a week due to his diarrhea back again……something in the dry food causing this so he is starting a new food today called Annamaet Ultra after being starved for 24 hrs bless him……have you heard of this food ? it from America? So i am hoping that finally once and for all Bear diarrhea will come to an end, fingers crossed hey…
Anyway the problem i have is that Bear is Howling and crying all night…no let up…..from 10pm till 5.30am non stop, i take him out every hour just incase it was because he wanted the toilet….yes he went for a wee every time but my problem is that he poops in his crate inbetween the hourly treks outside, why is this? he had stopped pooping in his crate for 5 nights then started again, i am having to sleep downstairs again…my poor hubby bless him….. but in a seperate room, the howling is so loud that my neighbours are complaining, as you can appriciate he is doing this all night and it is finally getting me down, even tho i do not show it around Bear. I don’t know what to do anymore, i have tried so many things but he still howls all night and poops in his crate….and what a mess….yes the crate had been made smaller just enough for him to turn around in, he still pooped in it and because i made the divider out of wood and covered in material he has trashed it, now he has the whole crate so he can do his buisness at one end, until i can make another divider he’ll have the whole crate, HELP!!!! what else can i do?
Apart from this Bear is doing really well, his obedience is going well, he does as he is told MOST of the time lol we are getting there.
Hope you can help….
Sarahxx
Hiya to you and your 2 loverly doggies……
Hi Shibashake,
Love the new pictures of your two loverly dogs…….so cute together.
Bear is doing better, he now had all his injections but the last one caused him to get diarrhea again bless him, but he is now starting to get over it so should be back on his proper food soon.
I have a question a bout feeding……..as he has been on chicken and rice and nothing else he has been getting his food in his bowl which he eats well, the problem comes when he has finished, you go to remove the bowl and he growls at me then tries to bite me…..he hasn’t succeeded yet…….Bear never used to do this before so i don’t know why he has started now, any ideas as to how i go a bout solving this please? Before long he will succeed in biting me but i want to put a stop to it before that happens.
Bear has his first puppy class tonight so i am hoping we will enjoy it especially Bear, he will love playing with the other puppies……i hope lol.
Thanks for your help and guidance with everything.
Sarah&Bear
xx
Hi
It’s 3.15am here and Bear is in his crate crying etc, he has been poops and wee he just will not settle i really don’t know what to do.
Back garden is fully enclosed with a 6ft fence. I have stareted putting him outside if he misbehaves again after being non-marked.
My husband is fine thanks for asking, he is worried about me with not sleeping etc but he helps on his days off(he’s a night worker)and does as much as he can. The good thing is Bear goes to him know and doesn’t bite him anymore
Rules……Yes we have rules in place no jumping,no getting on furniture ect, no probs with this at the moment as he is non-marked if he breaks these rules.
Food bag/cat basket……..i realised that Bear was trying to hump these things but was non-marked straight away.
I have put Bear back on his chicken and rice diet, i am at the vets on Tuesday for his second lot of vaccinations so will have a word with him if it doesn’t seem to be getting any better.
All in all i think he is trying to push me to my limites, when he’s doing something he shouldn’t be doing he knows he doing wrong as he looks at you first then does the same thing he has been non-marked for.
3.30am…….Bear is still howling in his crate so i am going to take him out to see if he needs the toilet and then ill put him back in his crate and go to bed before i fall down, i forgot what my bed looks and feels like ha ha
Thanks, you are a great help.
Speak soon
Sarah xx
Hiya again,
I’m really sorry if i’m being a pain in the you no what.
Since my last email……well Bear has pooped and urinated inside,even tho i would have just got back in after taking him out for the 100th time(it feels like that at the mo:-(…). Bear is also try to urinate on the cat basket and on his food bag, he has never done this before but he hasn’t had the chance to actually do anything on them as i don’t let him out my sight. Do you know why he doing this? Is he trying to mark his territory?
Diarrhea……I’m having a real problem with this, i thought it had cleared up but it hasn’t, i don’t know whether it could have been the small bit of peanut butter or cheesespread that i put in his Kong(it was a very small amount) it seems everything i try Bear gets diarrhea, is this normal? do you think i should carry on with his treats etc and hope the diarrhea will go once his tummy gets used to the treats etc.
One more thing Bear will not go to the toilet in his usual place, for some reason he wants to go futher up, his spot is grass and it gets cleaned up straight after he done his buisness. Any suggestions as to why he is behaving this way please.
Thankyou for your time and help i appreciate it.
Sarah x
Hi Shibashak,
Mmmmm yes my poor hubby, he not to bad but he getting a bit peaed off now bless him, can’t say i blame him tho, if it were the other way around i would be the same as we have not been apart in 14 years (only when he goes to work….night shift), now we are but i am hoping it will not be for much longer tho, fingers crossed…..Thanks for asking
I am having a bad morning……i really felt like i was going backwards and just sat and cried……….
Bear has been awake 2hrs and he has weeed on the carpet twice even tho i have took him out as soon as he woke up and then about every 20mins as he kept going to back door,……he didn’t always do anything but as soon as we got inside he went to his crate circled inside so i went to grab him to take him out……………TOO LATE……he pooped all in his crate(do you think this could be because it raining hard here today?), i don’t understand why he done this as he has now started going in his crate by himself and has a play so i thought i was getting somewhere……WRONG. Why would he do this in a place he likes and goes into to eat, sleep sometimes and play sometimes? HELP!!!!!!!!!!
Bear went in his crate last night and i gave him a Dentist Teething Bone(don’t know if you have heard of these!), close the door…..Great he was settled…or so i thought, i slept on the settee next to the crate so he could see me and fell asleep…..(i was/am so tiered), he woke me clawring at the crate 20 mins after i’d fell a sleep, i waited as i was not going to let him out but he just went on and on clawring,howling etc so when he quietend down a bit i let him out……(i know big mistake but i am so tiered i needed some sleep) he layed next to me and fell a sleep….. typical. I really don’t know how to sort this!!
As for his food i took your advice and made him work for it…..these kongs are ideal for that and he loved it.
He does the sit command well as i use this when given his treats ect and when putting his harness on.
Picture…….as soon as i have the time to upload the pics on my computor i will email you them as he does look cute bless him.
As for obedience classes i am looking in to some but they cost so much so will have a shop around first to see what comes up.
I really appriciate all your advise, i can’t thankyou enough.
Thanks
Sarah x
Morning Shibashake,
I didn’t have room for his crate in the bedroom so i have been staying downstairs with Bear(my poor hubby). I started feeding him his meals in the crate and folling one of your links about crate training and it seems to be working although he is not sleeping in the crate, he sometimes goes in there for a sit which is a start i suppose but it will take time but he’ll get there.
As for making him work/train…….i got no chance………he just will not play outside, i try taking him for morning and evening walks but he just not interested i have to drag him as he just lies down munching on grass….Bear thinks he a cow ha ha. When we are inside the house he goes crazy running around like he possesed, i have tried treats but it doesn’t work just gives him diarrhea, he is one lazy Husky……. Please what else can i try? I’m worried as he gets bigger Bear running round inside will be a nightmare, knocking everything off shelves etc.
In the day Bear sleeps in kitchen most of the time but he sleeps next to or on his bag of dry food….he can’t get to it as it’s in a heavy nylon sack but i just wondered if this was normal and what should i do?…….I would move the sack but i have nowhere else to put it.
How to i stop Bear from jumping up to his food bowl when i am trying to put it down for him? he nearly knocks it out my hand.
Thanks for your time
look forward to your reply
Sarah
Thanks for dropping by hubberguy. Glad you found the information to be helpful 🙂
Re running out doors – Hmmmm … Siberians are very independent so you can never be 100% sure with them. I know that my girl will bolt out the door if she sees a squirrel or cat – no matter the training.
My breeder trains her dogs not to bolt out of their crate by putting them back in their crate and not allowing them out for a time if they try to bolt. This is similar to the door manners that you are already practicing. One thing you can do is to practice the door manners more frequently. You don’t have to take Bear out for a walk, just bring him out, play with him briefly, and then back inside to practice door manners. In the meantime, you must carefully manage it so that Bear doesn’t get rewarded for bolting – i.e. he successfully gets out. If he gets out sometimes, he will just keep trying because he knows that if he tries hard enough, he will get what he wants.
Again though – you can never be 100% sure of them. Instinct takes over and they are off. I only have the door open when I am right there to supervise.
Hi Sarah,
I am so glad to hear that things are going so well with Bear – YAY! I knew you guys would get there given the enormous amount of effort you were putting into it! 😀
I am no expert on the wet-dog smell, but supposedly it is caused by bacteria that grows in the dog’s fur. It is the wetness that encourages their growth – so the general consensus is to dry your dog with a dryer after baths.
Another possibility is that it could be a result of food or skin allergies. However, since it only happened that one time, that seems less likely.
You may also want to consider cutting down on the number of baths you give Bear. Bathing too often can cause too much of the dog’s natural oils to be washed off resulting in dry skin and a less healthy coat. Once a month should be plenty unless there are smell emergencies 🙂
Brushing is actually a great way to remove regular dirt. Look into getting a Furminator – those brushes are awesome especially for double coated dogs like the Siberian Husky.
http://www.shibashake.com/dog/home-dog-grooming-tips
I don’t give Shania traditional baths – she just soaks in her little wading pool when it is hot outside. Then she just dries naturally in the sun. I haven’t had an issue with the wet-dog smell so I don’t have much experience with this issue. Maybe my nose is just really insensitive 🙂
Great hub, very informative.
Hi Sarah – Sounds like you are doing a really good job with the crate training. The only thing I can think of is that when Bear got hungry, he got anxious, and then became even more stressed when he realized you were not there.
Given the symptoms you describe I would also guess that the pooping inside the crate is from the stress of being away from you.
Is Bear’s crate in your bedroom? Both my dogs like sleeping in the bedroom and it is actually a very good bonding exercise to let them do so. It shows them that they are part of the pack/family.
I have an article on separation anxiety but it is mostly for during the day when you have to leave on errands.
http://www.shibashake.com/dog/separation-anxiety-dog-why-how-reduce-dog-stress
Re training class: What you say sounds very reasonable. In the classes that I went to, the instructor always used one of the class dogs to show the training techniques. In general, if you feel uncomfortable or unhappy with anything in the class, you should look for something else that better fits you and Bear. There are many dog trainers out there that are not all that great – so don’t take everything that they say as truth 🙂 I learned this the hard way when I was starting out.
How is Bear doing with his new food?
Hugs to Bear – he is such a handsome boy!
Hi Sarah, Does Bear only howl when you are not there with him? or does he also howl when you are there with him?
Do you put him in the crate during the day? Does he howl when he is in the crate during the day?
It could be a separation anxiety issue – i.e. Bear wants to be close to you at all times and when you are not there he wants to know where you are.
It could also just be a manipulation technique. If you had previously let Bear out when he was whining, then he may have learned that whining will get him out of the crate. If it doesn’t work he may continue to escalate his behavior to see if he gets any results.
There could also be other reasons – e.g. having to go, having digestives issues, etc., but these are the common ones. How you deal with it will very much depend on the reason for his whining.
If he whines when you are there, here is something you can try –
1. When he starts whining, you non mark him (ack-ack), and move farther away from him. If he continues, you non-mark him again, and move still farther away and so on until you are out of his view.
2. Then just ignore him. No talking, no looking, nothing until he stops whining.
3. As soon as he stops – mark the behavior (Good boy) and start to approach him. If he starts to whine again, move away again. Whenever he whines, make sure you ignore him (no talk, no eye contact).
This way he learns that whining drives you away, but being quiet brings you closer. You may want to try this out during the day first to see how he responds to it. Only do this for short sessions at a time so that you do not overly stress him. I would like to hear how he responds.
Also ask your class instructor what she thinks. She gets to observe Bear in real time, so she may have a better idea of the source of this behavior.
Hope this helps. Let me know how it goes.
Glad to hear things are going better with his diet. Once that gets fully resolved it will be easier to deal with the other issues. 🙂
My guess is that the pooping and howling is from the diarrhea. I think once you get that under control – things will improve significantly. You may want to postpone the crating at night until the diarrhea is gone. Sometimes moving around helps them to deal with digestive pain etc.
For now, no treats or anything else either. Just go back to the chicken+rice, wait until the diarrhea goes away, then slowly introduce the Orijen into his diet.
Do 1/4 Orijen and 3/4 chicken and rice for the first few days (3-4 days) and if that is good, then increase it to 1/2 Orijen, 1/2 chicken+rice. Wait another 3-4 days, then do 3/4 Orijen, 1/4 chicken+rice and so on.
Hope this works out. Let me know how it goes. Glad to hear that obedience is working out well. You are almost there 🙂
Hello Sarah,
Sorry to hear about the troubles. I looked into possible kibble brands, and found that Orijen actually sells in the UK.
http://www.orijenpetfoods.co.uk/acatalog/Grain_Fre
Orijen is a great brand. I have tried it out on both of my dogs and they did really well on it. It has also gotten a lot of good reviews from many other dog owners.
I am guessing that you probably cannot get it at the regular grocery store. The grocery stores here don’t sell the better kibble brands either. I get mine from a local dog food/pet store. The Orijen site has a list of stores where you can get their product from.
http://www.orijenpetfoods.co.uk/acatalog/stockists
There are many crappy brands of dog food from the States so I would not use that as a criteria. Go for Orijen – I think you will be happy with the results. The ingredients in it are top notch.
Let me know if I can be of further help in this.
Hi Sarah, So glad to hear that Bear is doing well. He is such a cutie – gotta love those big ears 😀
“the problem comes when he has finished, you go to remove the bowl and he growls at me then tries to bite me”
Does he try to bite at you when you hand-feed him? If not, then I would hand feed him some of his food every day.
Another thing to try is to just put a bit of his food in the bowl. Wait for him to finish, add a bit more, and repeat. For now, do not try to touch him or pet him while eating. Just use a spoon to let the food drop into the bowl – make sure not to put yourself in biting range.
What you want to do is teach him to associate good things with you being around his food. You may also want to be sitting on a chair so that you are not looming over him. Only add food into his bowl when he is not showing any aggression, otherwise ignore him until he stops, then add food. You could also ask him for commands for each scoop – Sit, scoop; Sit, scoop.
If you have the time, check out my article on food aggression. It has more ways on addressing this issue –
http://www.shibashake.com/dog/stop-food-aggression-stop-resource-guarding
Good luck in doggy class – let me know how it goes! 🙂
Re Rules: If Bear is marking around the house, then it could be a symptom of leadership issues.
Some ways to determine if there are any leadership issues is to look at how Bear is responding to the current house rules and to look at how Bear responds to different people in the household (e.g. your husband). For example, my Shiba was a crazy little thing at first because I didn’t have enough house rules, and did not respond properly to him when he was breaking those house rules. He would also respond much better to my partner because I was not firm or consistent enough with him.
Learning how to communicate with my Shiba was probably the thing that made the most difference. Two very important parts of that communication are consistency and timing. Make sure to always use the same mark and non-mark. Make sure to consistently enforce all house rules. Make sure to reward at the right time, and to take away rewards at the right time. <— not a lecture, more of a bad memory 🙂
I had a difficult time with Shiba, but once I started really focusing on consistency and timing, things really improved for me. Whenever I rewarded him, I would think to myself, is this rewarding him for a good behavior? and whenever I took something away, I would ask myself, did he deserve this, or something else?
Hope this makes sense. 🙂
Hi Sarah,
Re howling in the crate: It is important that you do not let him out while he is whining. In general you want to wait until he stops whining and let him out then. You can also teach him the quiet command, during the day. Ring the doorbell, or do something else that you know will get him to start whining, then say quiet, together with a consistent hand gesture for the command. Wait until he stops whining, and as soon as he does that, mark the behavior, and reward him.
Once you get his diarrhea under control, you probably want to be more strict about his crate practices. If you let him out while he is whining, then you are rewarding his whining behavior, and he will just keep on doing it.
Opps I also want to add that Siberians are very good at escaping – digging under or jumping over fences. So only put Bear in the backyard if it is totally secure with a high fence (at least 6 feet).
In general, it is better to set up a time-out area inside the house. I use my laundry room. Just make sure there is nothing in there that he can destroy.
Sarah, I am so sorry to hear that. *HUGS* I think you need to take some little breaks from Bear. Do you have a fully enclosed backyard? or someone who can dogsit for you for a couple of hours?
When I first got my Shiba Inu I got to burn-out stage too. Having breaks from him really helped me a lot, and ended up helping him too in the end.
Ok, I think we need to fix each of the problems one by one and not try to do too much:
1. Diarrhea – This is the most important one and should be fixed first. Get Bear back on chicken and rice and do not give him anything else. Once the diarrhea stops, get him back on his regular food but do not give him any treats or any additional food. Just keep the diarrhea away for now.
2. Leadership and rules in the house – It sounds like Bear may be marking. It is hard to say given that I am not there to observe, but peeing on his food and the cat basket certainly seems like marking behavior.
My Shiba has done this twice, both times on bedding material, and when he does that, I non-mark him, and he gets banished to the backyard which he really dislikes. He doesn’t get to come in for a good long while.
It is important to have certain rules around the house, and you must make sure that Bear follows those rules. If he does not, non-mark him, and temporarily take away something that he values, e.g. his freedom. When my Shiba misbehaves, he gets put in a time-out area which is boring and he gets absolutely no attention during this time. Don’t make time-outs too long – I start with 1 minute and then extend it as necessary.
Some of my house rules: No getting on furniture, No biting/mouthing on people, No humping, No digging on carpets, No running out doorways.
3. Take some time out for yourself. This is also very important. 😀
Btw how does Bear act towards your husband?
Good to hear from you Sarah. Your poor husband – lol. How is he holding up through all this?
Re sleeping downstairs: Have you switched Bear to a new diet? As soon as you get his diarrhea issues resolved, you probably want to try crating him at night again. If there is absolutely no space in your bedroom, you can try putting the crate outside your bedroom door and just leave the bedroom door open. My dogs really like being in the bedroom with us at night. The bedroom has a lot of people smells and I think it helps to make them feel safe.
Re running around the house: My Siberian loves to hunt so she has a lot of fun hunting for lizards and such in our backyard. Because of her hunting instinct, I also play the flirt-pole with her which she also really enjoys.
Bear is still really young – so the both of you just need to figure out what you like doing together 🙂 You might consider enrolling Bear in a puppy obedience class. That way, you get some obedience training under your belt and Bear gets to drain some of his energy playing with other puppies.
My Siberian also works for all of her food from toys and such so that could be another activity for Bear. Sometimes my Siberian gets a bit lazy and will not work on the food toys, but when she gets hungry enough, she will overcome her laziness 🙂 The Buster Cube and Omega Paw ball are great for dispensing kibble.
Re munching grass: Both my dogs like munching on grass from time to time. Grass eating could also be a result of his disgestive issues.
Re sleeping on bag of food: Hmmm as long as he can’t get at the food himself, I don’t see a problem with it. That is so cute though! Get a picture and post it for me 🙂
Re jumping on food bowl: It is really important to stop him from doing that. When he jumps on you, you want to non-mark him (ack, ack) and turn away from him. Only give him food when he is calm and not jumping.
It would be even better to teach him the “Sit” command and ask him for a “Sit” before giving him any food. Another possibility is to have him wait for you outside the kitchen when you are preparing his food. If he tries to come in, non-mark him, and body block him so that he moves outside again. You will probably have to repeat these things many times initially until he learns what you want him to do.
I don’t give either of my dogs food in a bowl. They usually have to do obedience commands for their food, or I use food for handling and grooming exercises. The rest of it goes into food toys.
Hi Shibashake,
Well i made the area bigger and put down some pads taking your advice and he pooped on the floor(no weeing) and shreded the pads, what a sight to come down to lol, took him out for potty……nothing….let him play for a while before his breakfast and now he’s asleep at my feet and he not had his breakfast yet lol.
When he poops on the floor/crate in the night do i tell him off when i come down or do i ignore him? I am not to sure what to do when this happens.
As for the chicken and rice diet…….i have had Bear nearly 3wks now and he has been on this diet twice(due to having diarhea) so i tend to agree with you that it must be his dry food cause that when it starts, so we will try another….I’ll have that muck dry food i’ll be able to open a shop lol ha.
How often did you take Shania out in the night when she was a pup? If i took Bear out everytime he made a noise i would be constantly outside.
Bear has two Kongs and another on it’s way. I did put treats in them but because of the diarhea i stopped doing it but i still freeze one of them for him, to help sooth his gums, he gets bored with them very quick if i am not in the room with him and this is one of the habbits i am trying to break…. with no luck at the mo.
Thanks for all your advice….some of the brand of food you have listed i haven’t heard off, are they American? I am in England…..
Thanks again
Hi Shibashake, Thankyou for your reply i really do appreciate it, oh and my puppies name is Bear, we named him this as he looks like a little fluffy teddy bear…….small ball of fluff lol.
With regards to his food…….i am not sure of it’s name as i buy it loose but it was recommended by my vet, it’s dry food and contains everything a growing puppy needs, all his vitamins,minerals etc(not a cheap one). I feed him 3 times a day…7am…12noon…5pm and give him 70grammes each time(as recommended by vets), for the past couple of days i have been putting half boiled rice/half dry food as he has some diarrhea. He been poos 3 times today and went bout 5 times yesterday as the diarrhea was worst yesterday than today. I was thinking about trying him on another brand something like Bakers for puppies as this is a well known brand of dry food.
I do try to give Bear lots of excercise but he just lays down after 5 mins, he a bit of a lazy pup, i have tried encouraging him to run and play with his toys which works for bout 5 mins then he lays down eating grass.
When i put Bear in his crate at night he starts crying/howling as soon as i leave the room and continues for about half hour then he’ll quieten down for a little while then it starts again, at this time i take him out to go potty but 8/10 times he just wants to play and does nothing. So when he’s howling/crying i never know whether he wants to go toilet or he just wants me to give in to him. I have tried the pad at one end, his bed at the other and yes he uses the pad to toilet on but because i have left him in there on his own he shreds it and what a mess that is lol.
He hates being anywhere i am not, if i go to the bathroom he cry’s he doesn’t like me leaving him for even a short period of time which i have to do sometimes as i have hospital appointments etc so can not take him with me, what else can i do?
Bear sends you a big sloppy kiss hello……..
Thanks for your help Shibashake…..
……..Sorry he is 12.5wks old………..
From first time Husky owner…….
Hi, Hope you can help. I have a 11.5 week old Siberian Husky who i love to bits and am crate training him. He is potty trained outside during the day, he lets me know by sitting at the back door, when he goes outside i give him lots of praise and a treat for being a good boy, so i have no probs there but night time is a different matter all together. Before i put him to bed at 11pm i take him outside to go potty which he does, first couple of nights he was clean through the night but for the last 2 nights he has been pooing in his crate even though i take him out every 1.5 hrs, when i take him out he does go for wees but not poos hence he doing it in his crate. His crate is large but has been sectioned off so his space is limited(enough for him to be able to lie down and turn around which i was told by the vets). The thing is he doesn’t lay in his mess he fold his blanket over the lays on the tray so he is not near his mess, i really don’t know what else to try, will he stop doing this the more i keep taking him out during the night? or am i doing something wrong. I would be very grateful for any advice you can give me please. Thanks for your time.
From first time Husky owner.
Re dog food:
Yeah, the brands are American brands. Unfortunately, I am not familiar with the brands in the U.K. But you want to look for:
1. Grain-free kibble (they will usually have potatoes instead)
2. Good source of proteins (named meat source)
3. No chemical additives
The Dog Food Project is a great site to get more information on what to look for on the dry food labels and ingredient list.
http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=label
Hope this helps.
Hi Sarah,
Yikes! Sorry the pads didn’t work out. He may have gotten really stressed from being away from you. For now, it is probably best to keep him in the bedroom with you at night. Is there space in the bedroom to set up the enclosure and puppy pads? That way you can stop him from shredding the pads, and clean up quickly if he has to poop. Sibes are really strong chewers so I would leave something for him to chew on as well. With Shania, I used puppy pads that have an attractor scent on them, so that she is more likely to go on them. I also rewarded her for going on the pads, and put the pads in one of her favorite pee corners.
“When he poops on the floor/crate in the night do i tell him off when i come down or do i ignore him? I am not to sure what to do when this happens”
You definitely do not want to tell him off after the fact because he will not know what behavior was the wrong behavior. If you catch him in the act though, then you want to non-mark him (ack-ack), take him right out of the crate, and outside. Give him the “go potty” command. Remember to always praise and give him attention *if* he goes. If he does not, then just ignore him and bring him back with as little fuss as possible. No playing and no attention if he doesn’t go potty.
“How often did you take Shania out in the night when she was a pup? If i took Bear out everytime he made a noise i would be constantly outside.”
Shania wasn’t too bad. I took her out maybe 3-4 times in the beginning, but once she understood that she didn’t get play or attention on those short trips, she stopped making a fuss. You don’t want to give them play, scratches, or attention during those times or they will just keep doing it.
Bear sounds like he is extremely attached to you. This is going to be really tough, but you may want to slowly cut down on the attention you give him during the day. It is fine to let him follow you around, etc. that is actually a very good thing, but just cut down on the attention that you give him.
I would also make Bear work for all of his food – either through training or through interactive toys. Interactive toys are great because it will give Bear something to do by himself. Here are some possibilities:
http://www.shibashake.com/dog/best-dog-toys
Also, playing with puppy friends is also a good way to get a Sibe to drain some of their energy. Just make sure the puppies are up to date on shots.
Re: exercise and crating:
Hi Sarah, it really sounds like you have done a lot of research and provide an exceptional environment for Bear. He is a very lucky pup.
With the exercise in the evening, I was hoping that it would get him to poop before sleep time. However, if he is having diarrhea, then the exercise is probably not the issue.
When Shania was a pup, she would sometimes complain in her crate as well. What helped some was to leave a frozen Kong and some safe chew toys in there for her to work on.
Also, I tended to err on the safe side and took her out every time she made noise. I took her right out (on a lead), led her to her favorite spot, and gave her the go potty command. Then I would wait for a few minutes. If she didn’t want to go, I brought her right back in and put her in her crate without any special playing, attention, or cuddling time. If she actually had to go, then I would praise her, treat her, and play with her for a bit before putting her back into her crate. This way she understands that making noise will only get her a boring potty trip with no playing time and no special attention or cuddling.
I really think that the poop thing is more a dietary issue though, so I think that fixing that will hopefully fix the crate pooping.
Once you have the pooping under control, then I would ignore all the whining.
Also, sometimes Shania whines at night because it is too hot for her. To keep her cool in the summer, I give her a water bed, an ice plastic bottle in a sock, and have a fan blowing at her crate.
Hope this helps. Please let me know how it goes.
Hi Sarah and Bear,
Re food: Hmmm, I would definitely try another brand. What worked best for my pup ultimately was putting her on a grain-free kibble. The only thing you have to look out for there, is the protein content. Initially, you don’t want to give them too much protein, but once they are adult, you can switch them to a high-protein kibble. For puppies, my breeder uses Natural Balance with potatoes and duck. It is a special allergy formula. I started out with Solid Gold for puppies which has slightly higher protein, but it also has some grains. Once Shania got older I switched her to Innova EVO (high protein and grain free). Both my dogs are on chicken EVO. Some other good brands I have tried: Orijen, Nature’s Variety Instinct, and Wellness CORE.
For more on dog diets:
http://www.shibashake.com/dog/feeding-your-dog-a-healthy-diet
If Bear is having bad diarrhea, you can try switching him onto a boiled chicken and boiled rice only diet. Do this for several days until the diarrhea clears up (may take 3-4 days) then you can reintroduce a new kibble into his diet. Start with 1/4 for 3-4 days, 1/2 for 3-4 days, 3/4 for 3-4 days before going all full.
Shania also had some really bad diarrhea initially, and the boiled chicken diet worked out for us. We finally discovered that it was the oats in her kibble that she was allergic to.
Hi Sarah, Congratulations on getting a Sibe puppy. They really are very sweet and amazing dogs. Here are some things that may help:
1. What type of dog food are you using? And how many times does your puppy poop? And is the poop normal, or more like diarrhea? It could be that the puppy is having some digestive/allergy issues with his food. Sibes have very sensitive stomachs and tend to be allergic to many things, especially any kind of grains. My Sibe is allergic to wheat, oat, and any kind of fish products.
2. Try only feeding puppy at fixed times during the day and do not give him any food after about 5 pm.
3. Exercise will frequently encourage dogs to poop, so you could have a play session or walk with him in the evening. He is still rather young, and has not had all of his shots yet, so only take him to very clean areas (free of other dog’s poop).
4. At night when he has to go, does he make any noise to let you know?
5. A short term solution would be to put him in an enclosure (instead of a crate) at night, and to put his bed and some puppy pads (as far away from the bed as possible) in the enclosure. In this way, he can poop on the pads if he needs to and he is not forming a habit of pooping in his crate. Puppies have very small bowels, and so have a much harder time holding it in. Once he matures, you can try the crate again.
Let me know how it goes and if I can be of further help. Hugs and kisses to your puppy! What is his name btw?
Hi Antoinette,
Some of the things my Siberian taught me that may help:
1. She usually had to potty when she woke up and after about 10-15 minutes of heavy activity with my other dog. So take your girl out every time right after she wakes up, and soon after she has had heavy activity. This may be pretty frequent initially. I usually erred on the side of greater frequency. In the first few weeks I would take my girl out between 5-10 times per day.
2. She was happy to potty on command if she got rewarded well for it. So get some really good treats that she only gets for pottying, take her out when she is most likely to pee, take her to her favourite pee spot, and when you see her start to show signs of wanting to pee, say “go potty”. When she does, mark her “Good girl”, and treat her very well with many good treats and affection. Also play some fun games with her before bringing her in. In this way you associate treats and playing with pottying outside which will make her prefer to do it outside because she gets good stuff for it.
3. When you take her outside, give her a few minutes to do her business. If she doesn’t need to, bring her back inside.
4. If she looks like she is going to potty inside (e.g. starts circling), or if she has already started to potty, you want to non-mark her to let her know that it is an undesired behavior (No, or ack-ack). Then just take her outside. If she continues to potty outside, then mark her (Yes, or good girl) and reward her as you would usually. Play with her briefly, then leave her outside, while you come back in to clean up the stuff.
5. When you are not around to supervise, it is best to put her in a crate so that she will not make any mistakes while on her own. Puppies, however, have very small bladders and cannot physically hold it in for more than 2-3 hours so it is important to let her out every 2-3 hours (other than night-time).
With consistency, she will quickly learn that potty outside = desirable behavior with good stuff and happy play time. Nowadays, my girl will go wait by the door when she needs to go, and come running back to me to claim her reward. 🙂
Good luck. Hope this helps.
HI. I Have a new yorshire terrier. She is 16 weeks old. I have a male who is One year and one month. The girl is new. She pretty much potties wherever she wants. My boy does not. I take her outside for a stretch of time and when we come back inside she pees. i dont understand what im doing wrong. Please help
Hmmm, based on what you described, it sounds like he may be marking. My male Shiba Inu is a very clean dog, and was very easy to potty train. However, he has pee-ed inside the house 2-3 times after he was potty trained. All those times was on bedding.
Here are some things to try:
1. Try to take him out for walks frequently. It can just be 20 minute short neighborhood walks. Frequency is important so he can do his marking outside and be less likely to do it inside the house.
2. He is getting older and may be trying to assert his dominance wrt. your other dogs and to you as well. Make sure you show him that you are in charge by doing obedience exercises and following the NILIF program. I.e. he has to do something for you first before he gets anything in return, including food, walks, opening the door, etc.
3. Watch out for signs that he is about to mark, e.g. intense smelling, smelling furniture, etc. When he does that, non-mark him (No), and make him move away from the furniture by using body blocking. It is important to catch him before he marks.
4. Don’t allow him to get on beds or any other furniture. This will make him more likely to want to own that piece of furniture.
5. If he does mark, non-mark him (No), and put him on a time-out. Make sure there is nothing in the timeout room that he can mark. Make sure to clean out the mark areas with a non-ammonia based pet cleaner solution.
Good luck. Let me know how it goes.
Marcia says
I HAVE A 10 MONTH OLD SILKY TERRIER. HE WAS VERY HARD TO POTTY TRAIN BUT WE FINALLY GOT THERE RECENTLY. NOW ALL OF A SUDDEN HE IS WETTING ON THE CORNERS OF FURNITURE AROUND THE HOUSE. HE DID NOT DO THIS BEFORE. HE EVEN WET ON MY BED. I WONDER WHY THIS IS HAPPENING ALL OF A SUDDEN? I HAVE TWO OTHER DOGS IN THE HOUSE WHO ONLY POTTY OUTSIDE.ANY COMMENTS WOULD BE APPRECIATED. THANK YOU