I'm posting this message in hopes that someone can give me advice as to
what we need to do in order to help our new puppy adjust to living in
our home.

My husband and I just brought home two new puppies - a male Shitzu
(named Mac) and a female Lhasa Alpsa (named Lacey) - both around 12
weeks old. They are both incredibly cute and play very well together.

We are crate training them and are very methodical as to take them out
to go potty whenever we let them out of the crate and after eating
their meals. We also take them out when we hear them begin to cry to
see if they are crying because they need to alleviate themselves. They
are put back in the crate when ample time has been given for them to
produce something or not. We give them more than enough opportunity to
'do their business'.

They are housed in our 'open' (essentially no doors) tiled bathroom. We
bought a low room divider that is placed between the bedroom and the
bathroom - it has holes so we can all see each other. Their crate is
just inside this bathroom. The problem is whenever I or my husband
leave, he proceeds to cry and pees. This happens after he has just done
his 'business' (both poop and pee) as we do not let him free roam in
the confined area when they have not gone potty - otherwise they are in
the crate. It's not like we leave him and he can't see us. He can see
us through the divider and he cries\pees. Does he feel like we will not
come back? A sort of separation anxiety pee?

When we leave them in their crate for a few hours (1-3 hours), the
towel in their crate appears to be okay - however I am switching to a
white colored towel as I was using a yellow one which makes identifying
accidents very difficult. Their water bottle leaks so I don't know when
the towel is damp, if it's from water or pee.

I am just curious if this is something normal... and if Mac will grow
out of it. If not for these ocassional accidents everything would be
great. He pees and poops successfully when asked to 'do his business'.

Please please help me. I just need someone to say, it's normal and/or
it happened to them and this is how to remedy the situation.

Thanks for any advice!

P.S. What should I do if I see that the towel in the crate is wet from
pee even if Mac pee-ed before being placed there. What do I do if he's
exhibiting the same behavior when he cries and pees in the crate and
outside of the crate as well????

I would remove any absorbent material from the crate altogether. He will do
that as long as he doesn't have to wear it, if you know what I mean.

Also, what exactly are you doing to let him know this is not ok? The most
successful way to housetrain a puppy is to catch them in the act. When you
catch him going in the house, you immediately scoop him up and use a key
phrase such as NO or whatever you choose, but in a firm and disapproving
tone of voice. Then soak up the pee with paper towels and take both the dog
and the towel out to where you want him to go, place the towel down and put
the dog down by it making sure he sniffs the towel. This gives him the idea
that it stays there and only there. Do this with the poop also.

And while in the house, try keeping him attached to you on a leash. This
also helps him understand you are the leader and can help make training
easier. This also makes it much easier for you to catch him in the act.

These puppy phases don't last long, so timing is everything at this age. By
doing this, I housetrained my older female in 2 weeks, and I got her at 6
weeks. I call her the miracle dog as I have never in my life seen such a
young puppy get it so quickly. LOL My younger girl was 8 weeks when we got
her and she got it down by about 14 weeks. Patience and persistence pays
off.

~J

"Spengie" wrote in message
ups.com...
I'm posting this message in hopes that someone can give me advice as to
what we need to do in order to help our new puppy adjust to living in
our home.

My husband and I just brought home two new puppies - a male Shitzu
(named Mac) and a female Lhasa Alpsa (named Lacey) - both around 12
weeks old. They are both incredibly cute and play very well together.

We are crate training them and are very methodical as to take them out
to go potty whenever we let them out of the crate and after eating
their meals. We also take them out when we hear them begin to cry to
see if they are crying because they need to alleviate themselves. They
are put back in the crate when ample time has been given for them to
produce something or not. We give them more than enough opportunity to
'do their business'.

They are housed in our 'open' (essentially no doors) tiled bathroom. We
bought a low room divider that is placed between the bedroom and the
bathroom - it has holes so we can all see each other. Their crate is
just inside this bathroom. The problem is whenever I or my husband
leave, he proceeds to cry and pees. This happens after he has just done
his 'business' (both poop and pee) as we do not let him free roam in
the confined area when they have not gone potty - otherwise they are in
the crate. It's not like we leave him and he can't see us. He can see
us through the divider and he cries\pees. Does he feel like we will not
come back? A sort of separation anxiety pee?

When we leave them in their crate for a few hours (1-3 hours), the
towel in their crate appears to be okay - however I am switching to a
white colored towel as I was using a yellow one which makes identifying
accidents very difficult. Their water bottle leaks so I don't know when
the towel is damp, if it's from water or pee.

I am just curious if this is something normal... and if Mac will grow
out of it. If not for these ocassional accidents everything would be
great. He pees and poops successfully when asked to 'do his business'.

Please please help me. I just need someone to say, it's normal and/or
it happened to them and this is how to remedy the situation.

Thanks for any advice!

P.S. What should I do if I see that the towel in the crate is wet from
pee even if Mac pee-ed before being placed there. What do I do if he's
exhibiting the same behavior when he cries and pees in the crate and
outside of the crate as well????

"Jessica Benko" wrote:
Also, what exactly are you doing to let him know this is not ok? The most
successful way to housetrain a puppy is to catch them in the act. When you
catch him going in the house, you immediately scoop him up and use a key
phrase such as NO or whatever you choose, but in a firm and disapproving
tone of voice.

No no no, I disagree vehemently! You do NOT want to let him know you are
upset. Dogs don't generalize well. He will not understand "You don't want me
to go HERE." He will think, "You don't want me to GO."

I've seen too many dogs trained to sneak into other rooms or behind furniture
this way, or to refuse to eliminate in front of the owner outside.

---
Family Dog Trainer
"It's A Dog's Life"
http://hometown.aol.com/dfrntdrums/m...age/index.html
Get Healthy, Build Your Immune System, Lose Weight
http://www.re-vita.net/dfrntdrums

Leah said in rec.pets.dogs.behavior:

When you catch him going in the
house, you immediately scoop him up and use a key phrase
such as NO or whatever you choose, but in a firm and
disapproving tone of voice.

No no no, I disagree vehemently! You do NOT want to let
him know you are upset.

Jessica wrote "firm and disapproving", not upset.

Dogs don't generalize well.

No, but they associate well. I see absolutely nothing wrong
(dog-wise) with carrying him out while in midstream. I give an
abusively neutral "uh-uh" when I catch a dog doing this.

He
will not understand "You don't want me to go HERE." He
will think, "You don't want me to GO."

Nope. Not if you "catch them in the act" as Jessica wrote.

--
--Matt. Rocky's a Dog.

No no no, I disagree vehemently! You do NOT want to let him know you are
upset.

You don't freak out, if that's what you're thinking. Definitely not. But if
you simply say "no" or whatever key word you want to use, in a firm (not
loud and scary) voice, and IMMEDIATELY take him to where you want him to go,
and praise him highly when he goes there, he WILL quickly get the hint that
he cannot go THERE but he CAN go HERE.

~J


"Leah" wrote in message
...
"Jessica Benko" wrote:
Also, what exactly are you doing to let him know this is not ok? The most
successful way to housetrain a puppy is to catch them in the act. When you
catch him going in the house, you immediately scoop him up and use a key
phrase such as NO or whatever you choose, but in a firm and disapproving
tone of voice.

No no no, I disagree vehemently! You do NOT want to let him know you are
upset. Dogs don't generalize well. He will not understand "You don't
want me
to go HERE." He will think, "You don't want me to GO."

I've seen too many dogs trained to sneak into other rooms or behind
furniture
this way, or to refuse to eliminate in front of the owner outside.

---
Family Dog Trainer
"It's A Dog's Life"
http://hometown.aol.com/dfrntdrums/m...age/index.html
Get Healthy, Build Your Immune System, Lose Weight
http://www.re-vita.net/dfrntdrums

"Jessica Benko"
wrote:
You don't freak out, if that's what you're thinking. Definitely not. But if
you simply say "no" or whatever key word you want to use, in a firm (not
loud and scary) voice, and IMMEDIATELY take him to where you want him to go,
and praise him highly when he goes there, he WILL quickly get the hint that
he cannot go THERE but he CAN go HERE.

Some dogs will. Others will respond just as I described. Oops, she doesn't
want me to pee. Have to hide to do it.

---
Family Dog Trainer
"It's A Dog's Life"
http://hometown.aol.com/dfrntdrums/m...age/index.html
Get Healthy, Build Your Immune System, Lose Weight
http://www.re-vita.net/dfrntdrums

...
"Jessica Benko" wrote:
Also, what exactly are you doing to let him know this is not ok?
The most
successful way to housetrain a puppy is to catch them in the act.
When you
catch him going in the house, you immediately scoop him up and use
a key
phrase such as NO or whatever you choose, but in a firm and
disapproving
tone of voice. .

The most successful way to house train a puppy is to make sure
he's not in a position *to* be caught in the act in the first place.
Alison

"Rocky" wrote in message
...

Jessica wrote "firm and disapproving", not upset.

That's even worse. You don't want the pup or dog to associate *any*
disapproval with weeing or pooing.

No, but they associate well. I see absolutely nothing wrong
(dog-wise) with carrying him out while in midstream. I give an
abusively neutral "uh-uh" when I catch a dog doing this.

I understand the theory but I think that when it comes to toileting
and house training, dogs can be highly sensitive and it doesn't take
much for things to go wrong. Once it goes wrong , it can be a heck of
a job to put the dog back on course.
If you adopt a dog that has housetraining problems, giving any sort
of correction when it has an accident inside is one of the worse
things you can do.
Alison

"Jessica Benko" wrote in message
news:s_lEd.11211$7b.1912@trndny04...
No no no, I disagree vehemently! You do NOT want to let him know
you are
upset.

You don't freak out, if that's what you're thinking. Definitely not.
But if
you simply say "no" or whatever key word you want to use, in a firm
(not
loud and scary) voice, and IMMEDIATELY take him to where you want
him to go,
and praise him highly when he goes there, he WILL quickly get the
hint that
he cannot go THERE but he CAN go HERE.

But firm can be loud and scary to a pup. (You also said disapproving
in the other post.) By the time you have put him in the place where
you want him to go , I should think the pup would have finished weeing
so he won't make the connection and be confused. Once he's confused
he's going to become uncertain about the whole thing and he'll sneak
away to wee or won't perform while you are watching.
Alison

Alison said in rec.pets.dogs.behavior:

If you adopt a dog that has housetraining problems, giving
any sort of correction when it has an accident inside is
one of the worse things you can do.

I wrote neutral. Where did I mention correction?

--
--Matt. Rocky's a Dog.