potty training

[Guest Bruno's mom]

Hello everyone...

I have a Jack Russel Terrier (Mayla - 3 years old) and now I bought a Cairn Terrier (Bruno - 4 months old). We potty trained Mayla in a couple of weeks (she was the same age as Bruno when we got her) now it looks like Bruno is potty trained but I thinks he go to the bathroom inside the house on purpose. Today he pi on Mayla's bed.

Would it be possible that he is marking his territory since he is a male dog?

Or is he traying to get it right but doesn't know where right is?

Or maybe he is just calling for attention???

Any comments or suggestions are welcome...

Thanks,

Mama Dog

[wags]

Welcome to the club. I caught Wes peeing on my fan last week. I yelled at him and threw him out of my room. "This is my room, not yours!" Then I made him go outside to pee. He is banned from my room. No repeat performance either!

Now when I see him chewing MY furniture, I take away HIS toys! It's sort of funny, because he isn't interested in his toys before I take them away.

[kayharley]

Sally, you are just too funny....

Yes, I think they do it sometimes for spite. Madison got mad this morning because I leisurely got up a little late to let her out instead of jumping at her first whine. So she proceeded to pee all down the hallway. The problem is that they are just so cute that it's impossible to get really mad at them.

[mOmOfaBe]

Those stories gave me a chuckle this morning!

We definately have a little revenge seeker, IF he feels we have left him home along for too long!

His favorite ways to do so are to:

A) rip his potty pads to shreds

rip the ends of shoelaces into ribbons

or C) .......lord help the poor tissue or piece of paper that we leave withing Abe distance!

I swear he can make a huge pile of mess out of one little tissue, how do they do it??

[Rob D.]

When I got my little bundle of....JOY, the vet said I have to get him toilet trained

quickly. So I took Murphy to obedience class and asked the trainer what I should

do. I got up EVERY night at 2:00a.m. for two weeks, then 2:30a. m. for one week.

then 3:00a.m. for one week. Then after three months I would only wake up if he did. He uses his front paw nails to rake the front of his cage if he has to go out at night.(He doesn't bark) After four months he was trained and so was I. My wife takes him out in the morning before she goes to work at 6:15a.m., then I take him out before I go to work at 8:30a.m. We haven't had an accident for 1 1/2

years now, Murphy is 2 years old. Now when he has to go outside he comes up and lightly scratches my leg with his front paw. I'll have to teach him how to shake a paw!!!!!!!!!

[Guest Sabra and Simon]

Amazing! I did a google search on marking and male Cairn Terriers, and saw your fun banter about your little boys --- JOYS!

We had 2 female Cairn Terriers, Katie and Shelly. After we were married, my husband said that he did not like dogs. I asked him what he did not like about dogs. He said that he did not like big, stupid dogs that drooled and yapped...that shed..., etc. I went to the local library and answered the questions in a dog book to find that THE PERFECT DOG for us was a Cairn Terrier. I had not even heard of Cairns before. At the local pet store, we saw a Cairn and soon after brought Katie home. Two weeks later my husband saw Shelly, a very small Wheaten, at the same pet store. He loved Katie so much that he wanted ANOTHER Cairn. This was the man who did not like dogs. Eventually, I gave in and we had 2 Cairns. I picked Katie, but she picked her dad. Simon picked Shelly, and she picked me.

After ~12 years, Katie died suddenly, and Shelly was devastated. We needed to get another Cairn. The only ones available at the time in Houston were male, and Gordie won our hearts. Unfortunately, he marks, even though he has been neutered. I don't know if he is not really house trained, since he gets to go outside quite often, and could just "go along with the flow". Matters are further complicated by the fact that Shelly has developed incontinence problems. She turned 17 last Valentine's day. Her meds help, and she now has fewer accidents.

Gordie seems to go after the trash can in the kitchen, and the trash can in my hiusband's bathroom. We keep our bedroom door shut, but if left open for a minute, the trash can is marked. It must be a game.

Matters are now even more complicated, since last weekend. My son has 2 new hamsters (which my husband refers to as "house squirrels"), which Gordie would love to get after... He is always on "squirrel patrol" at our picture window. He has lots of "squirrel friends" that tease him and play with him. Fortunately, he has never caught a squirrel, but sure has a lot of fun trying!

Last night, we found a mark on our beloved velvet sofa. I am about ready to banish Gordie outside, which would not be fun in the Texas summer heat. An air-conditioned dog house? Good advice would be appreciated!

[bradl]

Pretend he is a puppy and do not let him out of your sight for one single second. Leash him to your belt if need be. You have to catch him in the act (and 'the act' includes thinking of marking) in order to teach him it is not acceptable. Otherwise he has no clue what you are talking about. You'd have to do this enough times that he makes the connection. Dogs supposedly don't generalize well so you might have to teach him NO on EACH of his favorite trash cans, plus the sofa.

Making him wear a belly band (a sort of cummerbund with absorbent liner) while in the house can also reduce the damage while you're training him in case he's faster on the draw than you are.

[wags]

When Wes visited his girlfriend who was not yet housetrained, he kept peeing in her house. I don't know if her "scent" spurred him on, or if he was trying to act "macho" in front of her.