Potty training problems

Ripley509 · Sep 1, 2017

So little Ripley is coming up on 16 weeks and we are still really struggling with potty training. She seems to give no indication she has to go, she just goes. She goes when she gets taken outside which is pretty frequently, but then she might come in and just pee on the floor like twenty minutes later. Also, she has two crates - a nighttime crate in our bedroom and a daytime crate. She's been good overnight only needing to go out once. During the day though she has peed in her crate. Not always been it's not uncommon. Until now on most days someone has been home so she hasn't been crates for that long. Today she was in for 2.5 and peed. She'll be in again for another three after lunch. Medically there's nothing wrong with her as the vet gave her a checkup just last week. She has a quirk of doing multiple pres when she is outside though that's settled down.

She is deaf, so I don't know if that's playing a part, but we try and give lots of praise when she goes outside to reinforce that's good, but it's not seeming to help.

Any suggestions? Anyone have experience with this?

Cbrugs · Sep 1, 2017

16 weeks is still pretty young. I think Jax was about 5 months or so before he got it. Same with my 6 month old bulldog. He still has accidents but will indicate more than before when he has to go.

I have no input as to whether it's more difficult to potty train a deaf dog but just keep doing what you're doing with frequently taking her out and giving lots of praise when she goes outside.

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Frenchie Fanatic · Sep 1, 2017

Ripley509 said:
So little Ripley is coming up on 16 weeks and we are still really struggling with potty training. She seems to give no indication she has to go, she just goes. She goes when she gets taken outside which is pretty frequently, but then she might come in and just pee on the floor like twenty minutes later. Also, she has two crates - a nighttime crate in our bedroom and a daytime crate. She's been good overnight only needing to go out once. During the day though she has peed in her crate. Not always been it's not uncommon. Until now on most days someone has been home so she hasn't been crates for that long. Today she was in for 2.5 and peed. She'll be in again for another three after lunch. Medically there's nothing wrong with her as the vet gave her a checkup just last week. She has a quirk of doing multiple pres when she is outside though that's settled down.

She is deaf, so I don't know if that's playing a part, but we try and give lots of praise when she goes outside to reinforce that's good, but it's not seeming to help.

Any suggestions? Anyone have experience with this?

Hi,
I don't have any experience with a deaf puppy, but as previously mentioned, 16 weeks is still young and consistency is important.
Their bladders are tiny and they can't hold it as long as an adult dog can.
Frenchies can be "strong willed" (stubborn) All puppies are different. Patience is key.

Go to Google and type in "How to potty train my deaf puppy".
There is some good info there..

Below is an excerpt from that page. Seems to make sense!!
Hope this helps!
Good luck and please keep us posted!! :yes:

"How do you get the attention of a deaf dog?
Use the same amount pressure you would use to tap someone on the shoulder to get his or her attention. Flash and treat as the dog's head comes around to face you. Repeat the exercise a number of times over several sessions. Test your dog's understanding of the tap cue by tapping him when he is not looking".

Alice Kable · Sep 1, 2017

I have heard that Frenchies are slow to potty train and that females are harder than males to train. I don't know how much deafness factors in but i would think getting some pets and a treat after pottying outside would reinforce the positive. We have a pet door and an older dog who successfully trains our pups!

Frenchie Grrrl · Sep 1, 2017

Dogs can learn signals/signs just as easily as verbal commands, if you have their attention. My last dog lost most of her hearing as she aged, and I switched to hand signals; she picked them up very quickly. I would use the ASL sign for potty, in your position, but that's just my personal preference.

Also, even though she can't hear the bells, there is no reason that you can't teach her to use them as a signal to you that she needs to go out. Every time before you take her out just give her the potty sign, take her paw and have her ring the bell, and take her to her potty spot outside. When you get to the spot, give her the sign again, and give her a treat and lots of attention when she's successful.

If you catch her in the act, I would stomp on the floor once, to get her attention and maybe startle her just a bit, and give her a no signal (I'd use the ASL sign for that too), look mad/stern while you are doing it, and take her immediately to the bells and give her the potty sign and go through the routine.

Is Ripley's daytime crate too large? Maybe you need to make her area smaller or remove the bedding for a while. This might discourage her from peeing in her crate. At 16 wks she should certainly be able to hold it for the short periods. Some people also suggest feeding the puppy in the crate, as well.

It really felt like it took Gus ages to consistently indicate that he had to go potty. I think it was right around 16 weeks when I felt pretty confident that he would let me know, so I bet if you really focus on potty training for a couple weeks, Ripley will be fine.

lisamarie · Sep 1, 2017

We are potty training a 16 week old too and though she's not deaf we have luck with treats, even just a piece of her food. Our 10 month old male responded very well to food rewards when he would pee/poop outside and quickly realized that he didn't get them inside! She's catching on quickly and will turn and look for a treat when she's done. Our male would go as far as "fake pee" and turn to get a treat (lol) but he was fully trained by 5 months. She definitely still has accidents and that's to be expected at her age, we watch her like a hawk and often just take her out within 15 min of drinking. Poops we have more time with, maybe 30-45 min and she spins to find her spot so that helps. Frenchie's really are smart dogs and I have found ours are very food motivated

[emoji190]

stay patient

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Ripley509 · Sep 1, 2017

We will definitely work on using food more. We have been signing but admittedly during the day my inlaws watch her and may not be as consistent. I will give the bell a try. We definitely do the stomp when we catch her and then immediately bring her out. It's not that she can't hold it, she'll lay on the couch next to me snoozing off and on and not have to go, same with sometimes being fine in the crate. It's just sometimes I wonder if she didn't finish peeing outside? I'm just not sure. &#55358;&#56596;. We have a divider in it so I don't think it's too big. It's a cage so pretty open whereas her nighttime one is plastic. I wonder if that could play into it? Thank you for the advice I will work on it!