Puppy training frustrations
Okay, I’m really starting to feel like I’m not doing something right in this whole house breaking thing. Plinko is now 9 weeks old and we’ve had her at home with us for 2 1/2 weeks. It seems I’m cleaning up more potty messes now than I was 2 weeks ago, very frustrating.
This morning is a perfect example. I let Plinko out of her crate this morning where she’d made it through the night with no accidents (thus, I know she’s capable of holding it). I took her straight outside where she peed and then had 2 poops. This is her usual morning ritual, the one time when we are successful. We came back inside where I gave her her breakfast and I put on a pot of coffee. I then sat down on the family room floor with her to play, she’s only eaten a few bites of her breakfast. After a total elapsed time of 10 minutes, I got up to get a cup of coffee in the kitchen and found, to my dismay, 2 piles by the kitchen table. Mind you, the table is next to the back door, so I am assuming she at least went to the door. She doesn’t bark or whine or anything, so if I don’t actually see her go to the door than I guess I’m doomed.
I cleaned up the messes and then, she was acting like she needed to go, so I put her on her leash (which she thinks is something to hold in her mouth) and took her out. We spent about 10 minutes outside and nothing. So here we sit, on the family room floor, I’m typing out my frustrations and she’s laying at my feet chewing on her leash.
My goal today is to go buy a couple of gates, one to block of the hallway to the front door/dining room and the other to block off the stairs. It seems that the more area she gains in her explorations, the worse the training goes so I am going to minimize where she can get to. My family room & kitchen are basically one big open area so that’s where we spend our days hanging out.
If anyone has any suggestions please let me know! I’ve heard of putting a bell on the doorknob and training the dog to tap the bell when she needs to go out. Has anyone done this and did it work?
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