New Cairn Mom -- Need Help!!

[Anniebugg]

I just joined because I am having the same problems with housebreaking my little Peanut (she's almost 5 months old), plus she's also a nervous/excitable little pee-pot, but she is getting better.  One thing she did recently was to pee on my husband's sweatpants that were on the bed.  She also poops near his shoes or near any clothing he may have on the floor.  We also have a 2-year-old male Black Lab who was very easy to housebreak, and they are the best of friends.  I am going to try the advice I've been reading to see if that helps with housebreaking.  Thanks!

[Min D]

Another suggestion - Look up Dr.Ian Dunbar he is a vet and animal behaviourlist, he has lots of good advise on lots of topics and I believe he has some on "potty training" , there are also some of him on YouTube.

[Anniebugg]

Thank you!  Peanut and I are both so glad we found this site 😍 

 

[hheldorfer]

Welcome, Anniebugg!  Peanut is a handsome little guy.

[Hillscreek]

Hello there! My Angus was very slow to be completely reliable compared to my retrievers. He was almost six months before I felt he was 100% reliable

There's quite a few threads  on this site re house training. You might find suggestions there. Some cairns seem to get there fairly quickly - others take longer. Whether this is due to temperament and o/r strength of bladder muscles it is hard to tell.

Edited October 13, 2017 by Hillscreek

[Min D]

They're all different our first cairn was 6-8 months, Tewcsby was pretty much trained at 4 months- we were home everyday with the second one, that probably helped.

[Pepper Bug's Mom]

Ha! Brodie can hold it all night in his crate, but during the day it is another story!  Our yellow lab peed once in the house and that was the last time he ever did!  Cairns are a totally different creature!  Brodie will go outside when we take him...my husband totally misses the "cues" that Brodie going to pee so that doesn't help either.  Brodie is getting  MUCH better however and is such a pleasure to take him to our dog park and meet and greet the other dogs.  Our dog park is usually empty so no threat to Brodie.

[JoJo]

Peanut is such a cute name and what a cute puppy!  My advice is, don’t give up, he will eventually get it, at least most of the time.  Pepper is finally pretty reliable and will even bark or scratch at the door now if she wants out, but it took 9 months to get here!  Of course that doesn’t stop her from an occasional accident for old times sake! 😬. I was despairing after the first 6-7 months, but just kept taking her out regularly and watching her all the time.  Whew!  I even got the carpet professionally cleaned a few weeks ago, she’s been doing so well!

[Anniebugg]

13 hours ago, JoJo said:

Peanut is such a cute name and what a cute puppy!  My advice is, don’t give up, he will eventually get it, at least most of the time.  Pepper is finally pretty reliable and will even bark or scratch at the door now if she wants out, but it took 9 months to get here!  Of course that doesn’t stop her from an occasional accident for old times sake! 😬. I was despairing after the first 6-7 months, but just kept taking her out regularly and watching her all the time.  Whew!  I even got the carpet professionally cleaned a few weeks ago, she’s been doing so well!

Pepper is adorable!  And thanks for all the great advice - everyone here has been absolutely wonderful and so very helpful.  Peanut is doing very well with not going in the house (knock on wood), and it seems like she does her "excited" or "nervous" peeing only if she hasn't recently gone potty.  More than any other dog I've ever had, Peanut likes to be on a schedule, and seems to be just fine as long as we stick to her schedule.  Here's a pic of her on Halloween dressed as a pumpkin!

[bradl]

24 minutes ago, Anniebugg said:

More than any other dog I've ever had, Peanut likes to be on a schedule

Schedules and routines  

I marvel at these dogs … they are usually up for any new adventure, very adaptable, but if a thing happens twice = NEW RULE! They seem to really like routines. 

One exception: feed from the table or drop something from the counter. One time of either of those and they are stationed at the ready for eternity.  

[Dempsy's Mom]

Peanut is a cute little pumpkin!  Welcome! 

[Anniebugg]

2 hours ago, Dempsy's Mom said:

Peanut is a cute little pumpkin!  Welcome! 

Thank you! 😁

[gd4]

Hello, I am facing the same issues with Trina Joy. She is six months old. When we got her from the breeder, she was paper trained and almost housebroken. She is crate-trained and goes into her crate at night. During the night or when we are away, no potty mess in the crate. When we get up AM, after about 7 hours, she will go outside and do both. She comes inside and eats. If she eats in the crate, no potty. However, instead of locking her up in the crate (I work from home a lot), she is put inside a big playpen which originally had newspapers. It seems, no matter the timing, she still poos sporadically unless she is crated. I have taken the newspapers away but if I turn my back and she is in the large playpen (or, anywhere else in the house loose), she will poo. I take her outside frequently, stand around for a while and all she just plays with sticks, etc.  She is distracted outside but in the AM, after being in the crate all night, she still goes no problem. I know she can hold it. However, if she is left at her own will during the day and night, she will just drop a little turd anywhere! I am so frustrated! Help! She must be confused but I don't know why. I thought it was the playpen and left her in the kitchen with baby gates up but she still pooed on the floor. I hate to keep her locked in the crate when I am at home but it seems I will need to do this until she learns to go outside. The playpen idea has seemed to work against housebreaking And, I get what Carl's mom said about once I bring her inside, she will potty! She should have done it while I was outside with her!

Edited December 5, 2017 by gd4

[Min D]

Look up “After you get your puppy” by  Ian Dunbar. It’s a little booklet with good info about potty training, that you can download , as well as other good tips about training a puppy in general. We applied his basic principles and I really think they worked pretty much for a lot of behaviors.

if you can’t find it let me know via message and I could send it as an attachment- I tried doing it here but it’s abiT too big, so I may need your personal email.

if I can help let me know.

Melinda

 

[Anniebugg]

Your baby is so cute!  I bought a couple of Dr. Ian Dunbar's training books cheap on eBay (which are wonderful books, by the way) and they helped tremendously.  I thought I had Peanut house-trained, and all of a sudden when she reached 6 months of age, she started peeing in the house again  My husband has a hunting dog training book that says all puppies will forget all their training at 6 months and again at one year and then they should be good for the rest of their lives, so we're just re-training using the positive training advice from Dr. Ian Dunbar.  We are still dealing with the excitable peeing problem that I hope she grows out of   I wish you the best of luck!

[gd4]

Hi Min D and Anniebugg,

Sorry, I just read your posts! I appreciate your resources! I found an article by Ian Dunbar but will look up the other information, Min. The article sounds similar to what we are now doing; hopefully, it will be a success. I will keep her crated if she does not do her business and then, keep taking her out until she does at intervals. I will review the other info my Mr. Dunbar. Thank you, both!

Min: I just found the download. I will look at it

Edited December 6, 2017 by gd4

[Anniebugg]

On 10/13/2017 at 5:33 AM, Min D said:

Another suggestion - Look up Dr.Ian Dunbar he is a vet and animal behaviourlist, he has lots of good advise on lots of topics and I believe he has some on "potty training" , there are also some of him on YouTube.

I bought two of Dr. Ian Dunbar's books on eBay, the "Good Little Dog Book" and "Before & After Getting You Puppy" and they are both great training and information books.  Thanks for your great suggestion!

[Anniebugg]

14 hours ago, gd4 said:

Hi Min D and Anniebugg,

Sorry, I just read your posts! I appreciate your resources! I found an article by Ian Dunbar but will look up the other information, Min. The article sounds similar to what we are now doing; hopefully, it will be a success. I will keep her crated if she does not do her business and then, keep taking her out until she does at intervals. I will review the other info my Mr. Dunbar. Thank you, both!

Min: I just found the download. I will look at it

I bought two of Dr. Ian Dunbar's books on eBay, the "Good Little Dog Book" and "Before & After Getting You Puppy" for less than $10 for both of them.  Lots of good training and information in both books.  Good luck!

[kjwarnold]

What cute new pups we have joining the group!  Welcome to all!

We’re on our fourth Cairn with Phinney, now at age 1 year 5 months.  And we have Kirby at 9 years old.  First, Phinney still has happy pees when family comes to visit.  Our solution is to have him meet them outside and for them to greet us first and not get all excited over him right away.  It’s hard because Cairns are just so darn cute, everyone wants to talk in high pitched voices and rough-house right away.  Second, no way should you expect a Cairn puppy to be fully house trained at 4 months.  They’re all different.  And third, when you take them out to go potty, it’s potty first, playing second.  Go to a favorite potty spot (I call them guaranteed potty spots, like a bush they always go on), keep saying your potty command (I just use Go Potty over and over), and don’t let them play until they go.