We have a 9 mo. old miniature poodle, we also have a toy and a
standard. For some reason we can not house break the miniature, we have
never had this problem, and she goes outside with the other two dogs so
she sees them going potty outside and will go potty outside or inside.
We let her out every hour and there is someone home with her 98% of the
time. She doesn't seem to care, she just goes wherever she is. She will
not, however go to the bathroom in the same room we are in, she just
hides it. She knows its bad to go to the bathroom inside, but doesnt
seem to care. We punish her for it now and it still does not phase her.
Please help, we dont know what to do, if you have any tips or any
questions about the situation, feel free to ask. Thank you for your
time.

On 19 May 2005 17:07:11 -0700 hightonedarts whittled these words:
We have a 9 mo. old miniature poodle, we also have a toy and a
standard. For some reason we can not house break the miniature, we have
never had this problem, and she goes outside with the other two dogs so
she sees them going potty outside and will go potty outside or inside.
We let her out every hour and there is someone home with her 98% of the

Try going out with her. ANd stay out with her until she relieves herself.
Then bring her in and keep her tethered to you, or crated until it is time
to go out again.

time. She doesn't seem to care, she just goes wherever she is. She will
not, however go to the bathroom in the same room we are in, she just

So arragne it so that she can't do that. Becaue you have been allowing
the situation go go on for so long that will take some time, but itappears
that if you are around 98% of the time it is possible for you to
accomplish.

hides it. She knows its bad to go to the bathroom inside, but doesnt
seem to care.

I believe you are mistaken. I believe she knows you get upset in the
presence of her doing a natural and necessary bodily event. That does not
mean she understands that the solution is to go only outside. She thinks
the solution is to hide the act from you. To resolve this issue you need
to convince her that you think peeing and pooping is wonderful, terrific
etc and then you arrange it so that she can do this wondeful and terrific
think only outside. Once you have succeeded in getting her to see your
pleasure at this natural act, and while ensuring she has no oppportunity
to do it anywhere BUT outside, she will be eager to go outside and perform
for you. Evnetually you will establish the right behavior as a habit.

We punish her for it now and it still does not phase her.

That is pretty common. The dog knows it cannot stop doing this act. Thus
it has no hope of being punished into stopping. THe miscommunication is
the issue of WHERE the act is happening. And you have not learned how to
straighten out those communicaiton lines. First, prevent the wrong
behavior from occurring by managing her freedom inside the house. Second,
start going outside with her so you can praise the correct behavior. Do
not let her outside without you present. If you have not engaged in a
formal training program with her I recommend it as, if you have a comptent
instructor, you will become a little more aware of how dogs learn.

--
Diane Blackman
http://dog-play.com/
http://dogplay.com/Shop/

We have a 9 mo. old miniature poodle, we also have a toy and a
standard. For some reason we can not house break the miniature, we have
never had this problem, and she goes outside with the other two dogs so
she sees them going potty outside and will go potty outside or inside.
We let her out every hour and there is someone home with her 98% of the

Try going out with her. ANd stay out with her until she relieves herself.
Then bring her in and keep her tethered to you, or crated until it is time
to go out again.


I found that tethering is a great way to re-enforce any good behaviors as
well as deter the bad ones. I often tether Maui to me when he is not
feeling well (to prevent accidents in the house) or when we have a lot of
company and he is often overlooked sitting by the door to go outside. We
are often home a lot together so on the especially long days when I am not
constantly concentrated on him, I often tether him to me for part of the day
too. It works well and he doesn't seem to mind. I think it helps
strengthen our bond as he is more aware of what I am doing and I am never
more than 8 feet from him.