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Incomplete housetraining is a common complaint amongst people living with dogs.  And luckily it is one of the most straight-forward problems to solve in healthy dogs.

Before starting to housetrain, you'll need to consider whether your dog was ever reliable in eliminating in the correct location(s).  If your dog was housetrained in the past and is having accidents, the first thing you should do is speak with your vet.  From your description, it does not sound as though your dog was ever 100% housetrained and that no sudden change in behavior has occured, thus making a medical cause very unlikely.

Housetraining is accomplished via a combination of

•  environmental cleanliness
• 100% supervision (as you would with an infant crawling around your home)
• appropriate confinement to prevent accidents and
• providing frequent opportunities to eliminate in the correct location(s) accompanied by a human companion who gives treats and affection right after the elimination is accomplished. 

Timing matters: you must be right there to give your dog a tasty treat either after the muscles for elimination are relaxed or immediately after elimination.  Some dogs won't eat while eliminating, so just wait until the dog is finished.

Assuming you have a healthy dog who, for whatever reason, is eliminating where you'd rather she'd not, the first step is to ensure that your home is clean of any evidence of past errors.  This may mean replacing carpets, using enzymatic cleansers to clean soiled areas, etc.  A black light can help you find traces of urine where humans can't detect them (but dogs can).  Dogs will soil where they or other dogs have in the past, so this is a very important part of any housetraining plan.

Next, establish whether you will need to use short term confinement (crate for 1 hour or less) or long term confinement (a pen with bathroom area available, usually a wee wee pad). Long term confinement is appropriate for dogs who need to be confined for longer than one hour at a time.  If your dog is not trained to be relaxed when confined, you'll need to start this process.  Visit the video lesson on www.theculturedcanine.net to see the first few steps in this process.  A professional trainer can teach you the correct way to acclimate your dog to confinement.

Be sure to balance confinement with exercise and play.  I am NOT suggesting that you confine your dog without ample opportunities for exercise, play and mental stimulation.  Always provide a safe chew toy or stuffed Kong (see Video Lessons at www.theculturedcanine.net) to keep him busy when confined.  An empty dog (one who has just eliminated) can play with you indoors for 20 minutes after each elimination.

How often your dog will need to "go" is very individual.  I suggest starting on a weekend and offering opportunities every two hours.  Then gradually build up to adult dog daytime holding of 4-5 hours.

Keep a log of your dog's eliminations, both correct and incorrect, to help you learn his natural schedule and track your progress.

To achieve outdoor eliminations, stop taking your puppy out for long potty breaks. Go out for 5-10 minutes when you know your pup is "full."  If she eliminates, you can enjoy a neighborhood walk or playtime together.  If she does not eliminate, go inside and confine (carry, leash, crate) her for 5-10 minutes.  Repeat until elimination occurs!  Potty first, play or walk afterward so your dog is motivated to eliminate within a few minutes of going outside.  Should you find that your pup is distracted outdoors, find a quiet place for potty breaks, away from busy areas at first until outdoor elimination is occuring regularly.

Winter is coming, so be sure to ask your vet about your dog's tolerance for cold (this is size and coat dependent).  Also purchase winter clothing for your dog now so you can practice dressing, undressing, etc. without the pressure of really needing to use it immediately.

For pups who chew their papers, you can address the problem several ways.

- Purchase a plastic frame designed to hold the pads in place. This hides tempting edges from the pup and weighs the pad down a bit.

- Always provide a rotation of interesting chew toys for your pup so she has better options than chewing the paper.

- Double check whether your dog is getting enough mental and physical stimulation.  Frustrated, bored dogs tend to chew papers more than well-exercised, relaxed dogs.

If you're not sure how to proceed with any of the above, contact a professional trainer for help.  A group class won't do the trick for this type of long-standing problem - you really need to work one on one with a trainer to help you get to the bottom of what is going on with your individual dog.

The Cultured Canine provides private, in-home training for clients in Westchester and the surrounding area.  We also provide housetraining boarding school for little, friendly dogs.  Dogs and puppies check in for a minimum two week housetraining stay and go home after intensive housetraining.  Call us at 914-288-0020 for details.

Best of luck to you and your Morkie!

Diane Podolsky, CPDT, CTC
The Cultured Canine
www.theculturedcanine.net
914-288-0020
info@theculturedcanine.net
Professional Member APDT
 

Don't worry - your puppy can be re-housetrained!  Basically, what you have is a dog who's learned really well that it's okay to go inside, not outside, so you're going to have to train her as though you're starting from the beginning.  What you need to do is this:

1.  Take away the wee wee pads - go cold turkey!  She has to start to see that from this moment on, she's going to have NO chance to go inside.

2. If you don't have one already, get a crate.  It should be the size of the dog: big enough for her to stand up, turn around and lie down in, but NOT big enough for her to sleep at one end and pee/poop at the other.   The crate should be more like a bed and less like a studio apartment.

3.  Get her on a schedule.  You should take her out, to a spot you've chosen as her "bathroom spot," at the same times every day: first thing in the morning, about an hour after breakfast, every four-five hours throughout the day, an hour after dinner and before bed is a good schedule to start her on.  A couple of important tips when taking her out: always go to the same spot, DON'T take her on a long walk, and only keep her out for 5-10 minutes.  You want her to learn to go right away, not to take forever about it.

4. Absolutely supervise every moment she spends out of the crate.  You should be able to see her at all times.  That way, if she does start to have an accident in the house, you'll be there to see it happen, tell her "no - outside!" and rush her right out to her spot.  She needs to start to learn that going inside is wrong and going outside is right.  ***Toward that end, be careful not to yell at her when she has an accident.  You're teaching, not punishing!

5. ANYTIME you can't totally supervise her, she should be in her crate.  This is both to prevent accidents and to teach her to "hold it" for more extended periods of time. Remember: the more often she gets away with having an accident uncaught, the more she'll continue to have accidents, because she'll be learning that sometimes it's okay.

Also, regulate her feeding.  That means, don't leave food & water down all the time.  You want it to be the case that what goes in on schedule comes out on schedule.  Feed her at the same times in the morning and evening. Food & water should go down for about 10-15 minutes, then take the bowls away.  As for water throughout the day, you can give her a bowl of water one hour before any scheduled walk.  It's a good idea to crate her after she eats/drinks, because that's a time when many young dogs have accidents, and crating her then is a good opportunity to teach her to hold it.

Getting your dog re-housetrained could easily take 3-6 months, so BE PATIENT.  Remember, it's not at all about the dog, it's about what you teach her - housetraining is something that doesn't come naturally to dogs (as far as they're concerned, when you gotta go, you go, and you go wherever you are!).  Every dog learns at their own pace, and the more clear and concise you can be about what it is you want her to do, the faster she'll get it. 

Please don't hesitate to email or call me if you have any other questions or want more clarification about anything I've written.  I'm more than happy to help you in any way I can.  You can reach me at 914-844-8680 or joanne@westchesterk-9.com.

Good luck!

Joanne Willard, Senior Trainer & Behaviorist, Westchester K-9