# I thought I had this peeing outside thing worked out



## hedygs (May 23, 2007)

but Gitter is proving me wrong. He keeps peeing in my house. He holds it all night but he keeps me hopping all day long. In the morning I take him out at least three times in a three hour period and he'll still hold enough in to pee on the carpet. 

I've tried keeping him near me on the leash when he doesn't go and I think he needs to. Then we'll go out, he'll do what he needs to and we'll come in and I'll find a pee spot an hour later.

I'm at my wits end. I love this little guy but sheesh it sure seems harder to train him then I remember it should.

Oh and he's the "I can't pee or poop unless I find the perfect spot and that might take me 20 minutes or more" boy.

:Cry:


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## HavaneseSoon (Nov 4, 2008)

How old is Glitter?


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## hedygs (May 23, 2007)

HavaneseSoon said:


> How old is Glitter?


He turned 4 in March. We got him in August when he was 3 1/2. I know Havs take longer and I assumed he would take even longer as he was never trained to go outside to pee or poop. I'm just pretty frustrated because it seems as if we take one step forward and two steps back all the time.


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## Thumbelleina (Apr 2, 2009)

I feel your pain. I trained Buster on pee pads and outside, but lately no matter how many times or how long I take him out for he'll only pee on the puppy pads. This would be ok, except he wont poop on the pad, or outside. So we go outside and he does nothing. He comes inside, pees on the pad and poops right next to it. He didn't used to do this. This just started like a week and half ago for reasons unknown to me. I don't know what I'm going to do, but I'm thinking giving him treats whenever he does anything outside will be my first step.


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## ama0722 (Nov 28, 2006)

Could he be marking? Is it in the same area.

While I haven't had that problem. I got one of these- Belle is a morning vomitter when she forgets or refuses to eat and this little machine cleans like magic and best of all I don't have to scrub!

Amazon.com: Bissell 1200A SpotBot Pet Hands-Free Compact Deep Cleaner, Blue Illusion: Health & Personal Care


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## hedygs (May 23, 2007)

Looks like a machine I might be investing in. I don't believe it is marking. He just loves to seek out area rugs. We have to keep DSs door closed and the guest room because those are fair game. The front door area rug is a fav. Have to send it out for cleaning. 

Maybe pee pads (and the carpet cleaner) are the answer? He really is a sweet boy and it really is so distracting that I cannot trust him.


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## ama0722 (Nov 28, 2006)

Well some dogs seem to have issues with some things. For my Isabelle it is doormats. I can't have a welcome mat where the dogs have access to it. I think it goes back to her pad training days. But to this day if I threw a welcome mat outside the dog door or right when you walked in, that will become Isabelle's potty station. I have to watch her at family member's homes who have one of those little ones! I had a bit of an issue with Dash and the kitchen trash can. I swear I couldn't catch the dog but he was marking against it. I cleaned it with the white vinegar and water and that made the occurrences go down as well but it would happen probably every other wek. But the new house has a trash compacter so I eventually won that way 

I would suggest you take the problem rug up for awhile until you get it all under control. For Belle there was a period where she couldn't have access to the bathroom cause she would pee on the bath mat. Luckily she got over that cause it is dangerous to get out of the shower without a mat!


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## HavaBaloo (Mar 24, 2009)

Perhaps if you tried training with ringing the bell to go out, that way he can tell you when it is time. I am not sure how hard bell training is, but I think we might try it. 

Good luck!


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## Jill in Mich (Feb 24, 2008)

Hedy, I feel your pain! I have pee pads since I'm gone all day....within the past few weeks Tess prefers to pee next to the pads, on the carpet. She never tells me when she needs to go out (she relies on Cody) and even Cody isn't 100% reliable. We now go weeks without a mistake and then he pees on a piece of furniture. I tried the bells - they spook Tess so much that she won't walk past them to go outside (which sort of defeats the purpose) and Cody, who's more than happy to "target" on anything I show him just refuses to do the bell.:frusty:


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## maryam187 (Jul 18, 2007)

Hedy, that is frustrating indeed. Since Pablo was pad trained as a puppy, I had to remove all small area rugs that to him must have looked like colorful pee pads. I then slowly introduced them back one by one and fed him his kibble directly off the rug (morning and evening, the entire amount). I even rubbed some kibble into it. I did that maybe for a week per rug and now he would never ever think of doing anything but rolling and sleeping on my area rugs. 

Fun story: when we went to see my mom in Germany, Pablo was still young and using pee pads occasionally. She had a white area rug that goes in the bathroom. I told her to remove it and she said it'll be fine. I told her I pray he will pee on it, because it looks SO much like a pee pad and I would be proud if he used it instead of any other place inside if he needed to go while we're gone. Guess who made his momma proud eace:


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## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

Remove the targets. Take up the area rugs. Maybe it will confuse him long enough that when he looks for one and doesn't see it, he will look back at you and you can quickly take him out. 

These dogs are very much creatures of habit. So much so that anything when done once can become a habit. When potty training you can't expect to change their reasoning. You have to change any bad habit and develop a new one and make every effort to not start any bad habit.


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## Scooter's Family (May 23, 2008)

I'd give treats for going outside as well, food is a great motivator for my guys. I still don't let Murphy anywhere we aren't in the house even though he's pretty good. My guys use bells and they're great, we can hear them even if we're not in the same room.

Good luck, potty training is the most frustrating thing for me!


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## iluvhavs (Jul 21, 2008)

Tom is right! Remove the offending rug or rigs.

Lucy used to poop behind the dining room table (she thought we weren't using it so it was OK) I had to start bringing her back there to play and eat treats so she quickly learned that was not a good place to go. To this day, if she has to poop and the weather is bad, she'll go in the bedroom, near the french door leading outside and poop there. So we have to keep that door closed. If she can't get to her "spot" she'll let us know she has to go.


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## MaddiesMom (Apr 1, 2007)

Hedy, when I got Maddie around 8 to 9 months of age, she was used to going on pee pads. I wanted her to go outside for that. I looked around my house and realized that my few area rugs would look like pee pads to her. So I took them up for about 2 months and took her exclusively outside. She has never had a peeing accident in our house, and I think that's because she couldn't find "pee pad looking" areas to go. I put the area rugs back after a couple of months, watched her like a hawk, but she was well trained by then. I would also deep clean your peed on rugs when you put them back so they don't have any smells. 

Bell training to go outside has worked well for us. But then again, you do go through the ringing the bell for everything. Maddie will ring the bells when she is hungry or bored and wants attention.:biggrin1:


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## hedygs (May 23, 2007)

Well you guys I have to tell you that I'm not sure any of your suggestions will work but each and every one of you (except you Tom because your post was very serious) have me absolutely rolling on the floor laughing my tushie off. Interesting how you can make pee or poop accidents totally amusing. 

You guys are a hoot! 

Thanks for the ideas. 

Oh and as far as rolling up the area rugs. I did in the bedroom and hallway. In the bedroom I left the rolled up rug in the corner. Somehow and I'm not sure how, he managed to prop himself up on it and pee. He's a squatter so I know he didn't lift his leg....argh....

In the front hall, he peed on the floor where the area rug should have been. Darn those wood floors... 

I wish he would tell me when he needs to go but right now he is attached to me with his leash and looking at me with those "what I do wrong Mom" eyes. I'm such a sucker for him.


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## Scooter's Family (May 23, 2008)

For a few days last summer we thought it was so cute that Scooter would go behind a chair in the family room to lie on the AC vent to cool off. Really NOT cute when we began to notice an awful smell, he was going back there to poo! uke: So much for us thinking he was such a cutie.


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## murphymoesmamma (Apr 1, 2009)

*Holy Cow!*

Holy cow! I am starting to think that Havanese have to be the hardest dogs in the world to train. Every time I think Murphy may be reliable we have a set back. He has now learned how to slide a puppy gate back so he has access to our library and pees right on the chair leg and all over my Karastan carpet. I would have gladly paid double for a cutie patootie that was housebroken for me. Murphy is trained to use a litter pan but he will take any opportunity to pee on a table or chair leg! :Cry:


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## Sheri (Oct 11, 2008)

How old is Murphy? He's so tiny in your avatar, I'm thinking it is an old picture?


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## iluvhavs (Jul 21, 2008)

Hedy, I'm curious....do you spray the spots he has gone on with Nature's Miracle or the like to remove the urine scent? If he smells where he has gone before, he'l go there again.

Also, he should be on a leash with you at all times for a few weeks so you can catch him in the act and yell like hell at him!! He needs to learn that his act of peeing is NOT ACCEPTABLE. Pick him up and run him outside. Even if it's only a dime spot. When you see him smelling and circling....yell NO, No, NO!


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## murphymoesmamma (Apr 1, 2009)

Sheri said:


> How old is Murphy? He's so tiny in your avatar, I'm thinking it is an old picture?


Yes Murphy is quite a bit older now. He will be nine months old on June 14th!


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## Sheri (Oct 11, 2008)

I've read on the Forum that Havs often temporarily revert to non-housebroken status when they become older puppies, when they've seemed to be quite reliable. The ones that have been through it say you have to go back to square one, on leash, crate, etc. as if they were brand new, and after some period of time they regain their manners. Hopefully, that happens much faster the second time around.



Good luck!


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## hedygs (May 23, 2007)

iluvhavs said:


> Hedy, I'm curious....do you spray the spots he has gone on with Nature's Miracle or the like to remove the urine scent? If he smells where he has gone before, he'l go there again.
> 
> Also, he should be on a leash with you at all times for a few weeks so you can catch him in the act and yell like hell at him!! He needs to learn that his act of peeing is NOT ACCEPTABLE. Pick him up and run him outside. Even if it's only a dime spot. When you see him smelling and circling....yell NO, No, NO!


Yup we use Nature's Miracle...alot. 

I only caught him peeing once and I did exactly what you said to do.

This forum is the best.


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## Chere (May 22, 2009)

While our guys are housebroken they still like to pee on the occasional area rug. We have hardwood floors in nearly all of our home except for the basement and two guest rooms. Other than one area rug, I made sure they were all washable; I'd love to get a large area rug for our living room but I know what will happen...pee! They hate rain and that will sometimes result in peeing in the house but mostly I think they just like to use the area rugs for a change. Maybe they think it is some sort of new, modern grass I imported just for them.

Jesse has started doing a strange thing. After months we finally took down the gate to the finished basement, thinking we were safe. Recently we had days of hard and heavy rain. DH went down to the finished basement only to find that Jesse had been going down there to do his poopies! Shadow doesn't do stairs so we were safe with him. I think Jesse knew he was doing something wrong as he seemed to sneak downstairs, we have never caught him going down when we could see him!

We are lucky that we have the house we have as we redid it when we bought it last year with the idea that we wanted to "grandchild" proof it; as it turned out it is also just about dog proof! 

Personally, I think these little dogs just get ideas into their heads and until you can distract them or they have another idea, you just have to put up with it. I do think the kibble idea is really worth trying; wonder if I can put kibble all over the carpet in the basement (that would be about 1600 square feet of carpet to cover


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## HavaneseSoon (Nov 4, 2008)

I know it is very frustrating, but hang in there, your pup will understand as long as you keep up the scheduling with the pees/poos. 

You would not believe how much I watched Dexter until he was trained! Dexter was poop trained first...which was easy, as soon as Dexter starts smelling close his favorite spot in the living room...out Dexter went...quickly. 

Pee was harder to train....because...all of a sudden, Dexter would squat and pee, I caught Dexter in the act lots of times and I would yell "No! No!" and quickly take him outside and say "Go Potty!" Of course, Dexter is not going to pee since he just did a pee, so anytime Dexter did go pee/poo outside is was always "Good Boy!" 

Every time we did go outside, I would say "Go Potty and Hurry Up!" I kept Dexter on a schedule of going outside every 45 minutes to begin with then it slowly turned into every 2 hours. 

Oh! Remove your area rugs.


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## hedygs (May 23, 2007)

Just caught him circling a throw rug that I even forgot we had. Yelled No No No and we went outside and boy did he have to pee. Lots of praise but I always praise him when he pees outside. At least I caught him in the attempted act this time. Yeah!


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## Sheri (Oct 11, 2008)

Good catch!


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## mimismom (Feb 15, 2009)

Hello!! After I thought Mimi was potty trained, she would go in the unused dining room and guest bedroom. For some reason, I was immune to the smell until it got stronger or I was in the room for a period of time. DH did smell it however and that is how we would catch Mimi in the act or soon after. We also kept the guest bedroom door closed at all times. 

We had to steam clean the carpet to get rid of the smell and to see how well she would do after the spots were cleaned. 

So far, in the last month, I have only caught her once and that was in our bedroom, on my DH shorts he had left near the laundry basket.. (just don't tell him) I quickly put them in the wash. 
I also got spot carpet cleaner from the store in case of emergency and have it handy. But (knock on wood) she has been really good about potty training and eagerily lets me know, by licking my hand repeatedly, to take her out. 

Have you steam cleaned the carpets?


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## Chere (May 22, 2009)

Well, there is such excellent advice here. I never used pee pads or even knew much about them so I never thought of area rugs just being larger and more colorful pee pads. I am going to try taking up mine and see what happens. My only problem is the one just inside the sliding doors that lead to the pool. That area is tile and I have to have something there to prevent nasty falls. I'll have to give that rug some thought. I don't have a lot of area rugs as I have a balance problem myself and want to avoid tripping so this won't be hard for me to do at all. We put the gate back up on the stairs that lead to the finished basement. Thanks so much for the good suggestions. Perhaps I can avoid carpeting with kibble!


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## littlebuddy (May 30, 2007)

every time we would take django out,i'd ring the bell by the door and say potty. i'd take him out and if he peed he'd get a treat. worked like a charm! maybe you need to treat your 4 year old like a new puppy and take himout every 2 hours, then 3 etc. etc. if he was never trained, well, it's all new to him. back to basics i think. i'd keep him tethered for a bit. if he starts to pee, say no pick him up and take him outside. stick with it, it will get easier


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## marjrc (Jan 13, 2007)

Hedy, I can feel your pain! It is honestly very aggravating to have to always watch the dogs because today might be the day he/she decides to pee inside. ARGGHH ! Like many have said, if it's raining, we have Sammy who will be even more likely to pee/poop indoors. Ricky doesn't even blink when it rains. lol

I never thought we'd be discussing this with 1, 2 and 4 yr. old dogs! Why is this? Why is it so common with toy breeds? 

We have doors closed in all the bedrooms and the basement and havent' had any area rugs down in the past year, year and a half because yes, they were free game. Just the other day, I found that one of the boys had peed in the hallway upstairs. They never did that before! And we're talking velcro dogs here, so they are never far from me.

Tom, what do you suggest for dogs that, in theory, were totally housetrained before and aren't puppies anymore? We still have a gate in the stairs and close all the doors. I am home a lot so let the dogs out often, praising when I see them pee or poop. I just don't know what's broken so I can fix it!


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## Subie14 (Jun 4, 2009)

HavaBaloo said:


> Perhaps if you tried training with ringing the bell to go out, that way he can tell you when it is time. I am not sure how hard bell training is, but I think we might try it.
> 
> Good luck!


Once Havannah first came to our home we began the bell at the door training. My mother had had great sucess with this with her doxie. Everytime we took her out for POTTY ONLY! We took her paw and rang the bell, told her "Let's go potty good girl!", and brought her to her potty spot on leash. When she voided we praised her again and brought her right back into the house.

Now at 5 monthes, if she has to go, 75% of the time she will go ring her bell to let us know when she has to go out. If she hasn't gone in about 2-3 hours we take her to the door, tell her to ring her bell-she will nudge her bell with her nose. Then we will open the door and she walks herself down the 3 flights of stairs over to her potty spot-with no leash-while we keep an eye on her. When she finishes, she comes right back inside.

I recomend highly the bell training. Especially with the hav's high trainability, it really works out well.


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## SMARTY (Apr 19, 2007)

I wish you were alone in this but you are not. Smarty was a breeze to train. Galen, 6 months, is another story, she went too many months of her life going when the mood hits. She has no special rugs, places or times. Galen will squat right in front of you, and wag her tail when you correct her. She knows she gets a treat when she goes outside, but she has not put 2 & 2 together and we have had her six weeks. I’ll have to replace rugs and den carpet when this is over.

If a dog hides they know they are not supposed to be going in the house I’ll be glad when I find a hidden poop or pee.


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## iluvhavs (Jul 21, 2008)

It took Lucy almost a full year to get the whole potty training thing. We'd think that she was all set and she would just squat and pee (if she was tired, not feeling well, etc). That correction has to be a strong one. You need to say "NO!" loudly enough to stop her in mid-pee and scoop her up and take her out to finish. Even if she has finished, scoop her up and carry her out saying no,no,no......Then when you get outside start saying "potty outside", "hurry up" or whatever words you use.

We started loudly complaining at the poops we would find so Lucy would know we don;t like them. We wouldn't yell at her if the poop had already been done, but I'd look at the poop and say "bad poop, grrrr, bad poop". Silly but gets the point across.


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## furfan (Nov 24, 2008)

We had never had a puppy before (all of our previous dogs were rescues) and were so clueless when we brought Ruben home. However, after seven months (he is now almost a year old), we're starting to feel like he might be housetrained. As so many have suggested, we have been giving him treats EVERY time he potties outside, and keeping him on the leash inside. For the last couple of months, he asks to go outside when he has to go (I think). My problem is that I'm not sure when I don't need to stop being so vigilant. I'm afraid he is going to become neurotic if I keep dogging (ha!) him all the the time.


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## heatherkurt (Sep 1, 2009)

I am fairly new to the forum, and can't figure out how to start my own thread, so am tagging on to this one. I have 2 boys, brothers from the same litter, who are now just over 7 months. We've had them for nearly 3 months now, and I'm banging my head against the wall with potty training. I have tried to be very consistent, but must be doing something wrong . . . neither one tells me when they want out, and if I'm not watching close enough, I'll find a spot on the rug. They are both crated at night and can hold it for a good 7-8 hours until morning. I take them out at regular intervals during the day (after eating, after playing, after napping) and they will pretty much pee / poop on command once they are outside. I give them treats and lots of praise for going in the right place. Inside, I generally have them both on a leash, but have started giving a bit more freedom this past week. Today, for example, I had them both here in my office while I was working on the computer. I was 2 feet away, but not directly supervising. Sure enough, Hudson pooped on the rug. Unfortunately, I didn't actually see him do it and therefore lost the chance to correct him. How do I teach them to tell me when they want out??? I've had doggie doorbells on the kitchen door since day one, but they look at me like I'm crazy, and always take them outside through the same door. What am I missing???


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## LuvCicero (Mar 31, 2008)

What I learned during many years and pets: If you can't directly supervise...they need to be in a crate or x-pen until they learn the 'only' place to potty. They will nap or play with a toy in the crate while you clean or work on the PC -- then take them outside to potty, treat, have a short play party. Play and train commands in the floor and get them tired ~ then back to the crate while you do your thing without having to worry about them sneaking off. Do this until you notice they are giving you a signal by going to the door. I use to hate to crate my pets...and spent time cleaning up and feeling fustruated. "I" finally got it....I was only giving them space and time to fail. It's so much better to teach them to do the right thing in the right place...we are all happier!


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## LuckyOne (Sep 3, 2009)

Chere said:


> Well, there is such excellent advice here. I never used pee pads or even knew much about them so I never thought of area rugs just being larger and more colorful pee pads. I am going to try taking up mine and see what happens. My only problem is the one just inside the sliding doors that lead to the pool. That area is tile and I have to have something there to prevent nasty falls. I'll have to give that rug some thought. I don't have a lot of area rugs as I have a balance problem myself and want to avoid tripping so this won't be hard for me to do at all. We put the gate back up on the stairs that lead to the finished basement. Thanks so much for the good suggestions. Perhaps I can avoid carpeting with kibble!


Yes Chere, 1600 square feet is A LOT of kibble! LMAO


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## LuckyOne (Sep 3, 2009)

I wanted to finish all the replies before I jumped in. I thought that my two were really slow learners. This post lets me know that I'm not that crazy after all. LOL Einstein and Watson are just under 6 months and we no longer have any accidents. Last one was about two weeks ago. That being said I still keep them in the kitchen/dining/living room area that I spend most of the day. I leave them to use the restroom myself but no longer than that. They go in their crate if I need to do laundry or anything that takes more than 5 minutes. I was just considering giving them more freedom but after reading all of your posts, I think I will wait. Thanks for the info ladies! I love this forum! You guys rock!!!


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