pottying in the house help!!!

Hello my fellow pug friends. I hope someone can give me some advice here about what to do with my little Diva. I will start from the beginning with her being a puppy. WHen I first got Phoebe it took me maybe 6 months to get her trained to potty outside. We (she and I) moved into a temporary home for about another 6 months. Now this temporary home they didnt want her there but it was kind of an emergency situation so they allowed her. I had a 6 month lease with these people and within those 6 months Phoebe rarely had an accident on the floor, mainly only if I wasnt listening to her or if she was sick. Most of that 6 months she and I stayed in my bedroom so she didnt really have the run of the house. Well in the beginning of July I found the perfect living arrangement for both Phoebe and I. A friend from my pug meetup group was looking for a roommate, her pug and mine have been the best of buddies since they met almost a year ago. Well not the problem is Phoebe is starting to poop on the floor. She doesnt do it just anywhere she will do it upstairs (we have 2 floors, down stairs is living room, kitchen, dining etc...upstairs is bedrooms and a den) anyway she usually does it in the office/den. Right now we have the den blocked off with all kinds of different things that she cant get over, but we dont want to always have it blocked. we cant really use a baby gate at the stairs because my roommate also has a cat and she came from a bad situation so she cant jump the gates due to all of her little toes being broken as a kitten. so I just need some help on how to deter her from doing this. She didnt potty on the floor in months, i dont know if its the new environment and the fact she has a lot more freedom than she ever had. The fact that she is doing it in the office/den makes me know she knows that its not the right thing to do. She has access to a doggy door and she comes and goes in and out of that all the time but still sometimes manages to get upstairs and goes in the den. any help would be appreciated. Sorry this got a little long for me to make one little point...i tend to babble a lot.

If you haven't already, I'd thoroughly clean the den floor and make sure that there isn't any thing left that smells--I'd use a strong vinegar solution.
Second, don't be too sure that she knows she's doing wrong. I don't think the location necessarily tells you that. Since it's a new home and alot more freedom then it's quite possible she either smells something there that tells her it's okay or possibly it is a safe place for her for whatever reason.
If the only place she's excreted is the den, then I'd block that off (I'm assuming the cat doesn't need to get in the den). And it might be worth seeing if you can't tailor a gate for the stairs that has a small enough hole in it for the cat to slip through but not a big enough one for Phoebe (I have no clue how big she is).
For the time being, you're likely going to have to leave the den gated off until you're confident that Phoebe isn't excreting in there. Does she do this only when no one is around or only when no one is watching her? Some dogs will poop in anxiety when left alone.

And you might consider crate training her or gating her into a room that is safe in case she does have an accident.

I'd take a good look at the "the only housetraining article you'll ever need" post. And I'd shut the doggie door until she's is reliably letting you know she needs to go outside. One of the important parts of housetraining is making sure the dog gets amply rewarded for pooping and peeing outside and she's not going to get that if she is going outside when she wants.

It sounds like she's not quite got it yet and she's got too much freedom to rehearse this behavior so Blanche's suggestion of a crate is also a good one. Read up on the housetraining article and we'll answer any questions you might have after that!

pugasaurus wrote:I'd take a good look at the "the only housetraining article you'll ever need" post. And I'd shut the doggie door until she's is reliably letting you know she needs to go outside. One of the important parts of housetraining is making sure the dog gets amply rewarded for pooping and peeing outside and she's not going to get that if she is going outside when she wants.

It sounds like she's not quite got it yet and she's got too much freedom to rehearse this behavior so Blanche's suggestion of a crate is also a good one. Read up on the housetraining article and we'll answer any questions you might have after that!

Oh! Good point, Karen. I totally missed the doggy door. Which I'm not a fan of in any case.

Well she is crated during the day while everyone is at work. They dont have access to the doggy door while no one is home (it makes me nervous in case something were to happen) As well as Raja (roomies pug) he goes in his crate during the day. When I leave for work (which i do earlier than my roommate) i put Phoebe in her xpen til the roommate wakes up and she lets her out then she puts both in their crates and goes to work herself. The only problem with locking the doggy door is that Raja knows how to use it and the cat is actually doggy door trained as well. Phoebe is pretty small and can fit through the little doors on the baby gates that have the cat door, we have one to block off the pantry (where the cats food is) and we have it set up with zip ties so its big enough for the cat. Right now when she attempts to go up the stairs i call her back down. She usually likes to be near me (as any normal pug) but some where along the line when im not watching her 100% she manages to slip away. Thanks for the advice and I will read up on the potty training article.

The other thing I have done is umbilical train dogs. they are leashed to me if they aren't gated or crated away. I then can control their access and they can't sneak away. Also means I go out with them everytime they go out and I can reward appropriate excreting.

northernwitch wrote:The other thing I have done is umbilical train dogs. they are leashed to me if they aren't gated or crated away. I then can control their access and they can't sneak away. Also means I go out with them everytime they go out and I can reward appropriate excreting.

oh i will have to train that. she doesnt mind being on a leash at all. She thinks its time to go somewhere if shes leashed up so she may drive me nuts bouncing around me...but its worth a try!

Are pugs ever 100% potty trained? Just asking...

I don't trust my pugs. If I can't see them, then I assume they are doing something that they shouldn't i.e. peeing on the rug, pooping on the floor, chewing something, eating toilet paper, etc. During the day, my pugs stay in xpens. When we get home, they are either next to me or behind a baby gate. There are no other options in my house because I have already had many a wool rug cleaned and repaired, paid for ER vet visits from pugs eating something, you get the idea.

I am also very strict on a schedule-6:30am outside (Baby Girl does a double pee in the AM so she goes back outside after she eats breakfast). Someone lets the pugs out during lunch between 1-2 pm. Pugs go back outside between 5-6pm. And then one last time at 11pm. Even when I am traveling or staying with my parents, it is even more important to keep them on their schedule so that we don't have any accidents.

Good luck!

papaspugs wrote:Are pugs ever 100% potty trained? Just asking...

I don't trust my pugs. If I can't see them, then I assume they are doing something that they shouldn't i.e. peeing on the rug, pooping on the floor, chewing something, eating toilet paper, etc. During the day, my pugs stay in xpens. When we get home, they are either next to me or behind a baby gate. There are no other options in my house because I have already had many a wool rug cleaned and repaired, paid for ER vet visits from pugs eating something, you get the idea.

I am also very strict on a schedule-6:30am outside (Baby Girl does a double pee in the AM so she goes back outside after she eats breakfast). Someone lets the pugs out during lunch between 1-2 pm. Pugs go back outside between 5-6pm. And then one last time at 11pm. Even when I am traveling or staying with my parents, it is even more important to keep them on their schedule so that we don't have any accidents.

Good luck!

you may be right some of them are never trained. Until I moved into this house she was on a schedule. She would go for walks to potty and it was the same time every day. Now she has use of the doggy door. So I know some of this is partially my fault. Yes I have to agree with you when they are out of sight more than likely they are up to no good. its just their personality. they think they are too cute and rules dont apply to them at least i know thats what mine thinks. I will have to get her on more of a schedule and keep her attached to my hip at all times.