[NJPITLOVER]

heres the problem. im working at housebreaking my 2 apbt. the male does pretty good, he goes out and goes to the bathroom with no problem. comes back in and hes normally good. my female on the other hand will go to the bathroom outside when she wants to, than goes in and deficates or urinates on the title floor in the kitchen. At night, they are gated off from the house and only have access to our bedroom and the kitchen. for a while they were doing good not going to the bathroom till the morning when i take them out, but recently they have just been going whereever they want basically. i woke up this morning with about 4 piles of dog sh*t on the kitchen floor, and they even add a pile while i was taking a shower.

what are some of the methods you guys used to house train your dogs? my girlfriends idea is to correct them and put them in their crates, but i dont want them to look at the crate in a negative manor since they are crated when i leave for work. and they are used to running right in a getting a treat when i say the command "in". im lost and need some help!

 

[bella_blue]

what are some of the methods you guys used to house train your dogs?

Crate training, crate training, crate training!! (And not in the negative manner your girlfriend is suggesting.) Constant supervision is an absolute must in housebreaking a dog. Don't give your dogs any opportunity to mess up. Keep them attached to you with a leash if you have to. Set them up to succeed so that you can reward them for doing the right thing; that's the key. Also, learn their potty habits. Most puppies have to relieve themselves first thing in the morning, shortly after a meal, after any naps, and after any vigorous play time. So, pretty much all the time!

 

[Cmoazz]

Yea I was having some problems too, crate is the best. They dont want to go where they stay, so they will bark, and !!ALWAYS!! have a treat ready after they go outside. Having them on a leash inside is also helpful, showed him to heel next to me, as well as where not to go (on the couch, jump on counters, etc) and he would go stand next to the sliding glass door and bark if he had to go.

My only problem is that my sisters Yorkie pees in the house, and Boomer sometimes pees over her pees to be dominate I guess. Anyway to stop that?

 

[Chynasmom]

CRATE!!

You don't mention your dogs' ages. If they're puppies, I assume that you're not asking them to go through the whole day without a potty break - the general rule is # of months = # of hours between potties, assuming normal activity. If they're playing a lot, they'll need to go sooner; if they're sleeping, they can go longer (which is why they can go through the night LONG before they can go through the day).

I would crate them at night, or gate them in a MUCH smaller area (like a powder room) - as Cmoazz said, they don't like to "go" where they sleep. We have a small bedtime crate in our bedroom - that way Ozy (9mths) gets the benefit of sleeping with his "pack" (Chyna has a bed in our room) but we have the security that he's not off making a mess. As he gets older, we'll gate the bedroom door and get him a regular bed to sleep on.

When you can't be actively supervising them, they need to be crated. The flip side of this is that you'll need to spend a decent amount of time actively supervising and giving them time to be loose. This may mean getting up an extra 1/2 hour early so you can take them out first (walk or yard) to potty (give lots of praise & treats for pottying on the nice grass!), then feed them & pop them in their crates while you shower & dress. Then take them out again for play and potty (with treats) so they're "empty" and at least a little tired before you have to leave for work. In the evenings and other times when you're not on as tight a schedule, play with them in the house and about an hour after dinner say something like "let's go potty!" and head outside. Treats all round for pottying outside, then play, then back in (repeat if possible over the next hour or so).

This got a little long-winded. Hope it's helpful!
Lisa