# HALP! Why doesn't she "get it"



## Mini Pearls Mom (Mar 4, 2011)

Hi, I'm Sheil, Mother of Pearl

Pearl's in the process of being trained to wee wee pads indoors. She's a rescue fluff with a background of massive neglect and has been with us for 3 mos. She does get the concept of the pads and I guess I'd say she's going on them about 90% of the time.

Every so often she apparently loses her mind:wacko1:. Once she lost it (pooped) on the guest room carpet - THREE times she peed on our king sized comforter and she has had numerous other plain old pooping/peeing "lapses".

Yesterday was the worst. I was in our sunroom where I don't go all that often and I see she had pooped ON THE SOFA!!! (She's also a poop eater and tried to clean it up.) I feel so frustrated by all this:smilie_tischkante:. She has a really bad background of neglect in her pre-rescued days so although she is just one yr. old the dog trainer (in obedience class) told me that she's really at square one with zero maturity and to be verrry patient with Pearl. She can get zonko wildly puppy hyperactivity (just cuz she's no longer being locked in a crate 18 hrs./day!) and I'm thinking that during that extreme wildness just might be when she forgets herself?

She's confined (gated in kitchen) often but when not confined, she's on a leash by my side (_not_ tethered to me, just reachable (as she terrorizes her 2 cat siblings). She gets over the top praise and treats when she goes on the pad and understands what we expect of her. She's smart as a whip with learning commands and spends the night in her "room" (aka crate). Because she was so crate-confined previously she can "hold" her bathroom visits FOREVER if need be. Does she need to be constantly tethered to me? She would hate hate hate that.

If anyone at all has any suggestions at all about how to get this under control I would so appreciate it!!


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## Snowbody (Jan 3, 2009)

Hi Sheil -- you're doing a great job and you need the patience of a saint. I think that Pearl really does need to be in an xpen or restricted area whenever she isn't right under your nose. You said she's at your side when not in the blocked off room but obviously she isn't if she's sneaking into these rooms and leaving her packages and pees. I know it's hard to think of confining her again after her background but you aren't confining her in that small a space, you're giving her lots of treats and love and you're there with her so that's so much more then she ever had. She basically has to earn the freedom of more space. So I would keep her in a large xpen with her crate and pee pads, toys, food etc but when she's out you probably do need to tether her to you if you can't keep an eye on her every second. It's for her own good and she'll gradually get more room as she earns it. You're doing great but because of her past it's really like starting at Point A, new pup rules.


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## Mini Pearls Mom (Mar 4, 2011)

Thank you so much for the encouragement and help. Yes, the gated kitchen (we call them the "Pearly Gates" I:biggrin has all the X-Pen accoutrements (water, pads, tons of toys, special treats when she goes in there. Yup, she snuck when my back was turned. Total tethering I guess for a while.

So....the more she's confined, then, the more she will become ingrained?


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

No, the more you prevent mistakes and reward good behavior the better your dog will be trained. 

Your dog only has mistakes because you have allowed it. Your dog has a long history of unwanted behavior in the previous home I'm willing to bet...you must be consistent in order to change this effectively. Step it up!


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## Lacie's Mom (Oct 11, 2006)

Be patient and continue positive re-enforcement. Pearl is starting at the very beginning of knowing how to be a dog and what is expected of her. She needs to take baby steps.

Secret, who is 9, came to live with me in September. She was already potty pad trained, but it took her until January to truly "get" what was expected of her at her new home. She's doing great now, so just be patient. It will come.


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## Mini Pearls Mom (Mar 4, 2011)

Pearl has actually on some occasions just squatted and peed right in front of me while tethered. Just now she walked ALMOST to the pad (well, into the right room), got about FOUR feet away and pooped! 

I feel very bad about confining her all the time, she is so full of life and energy. She seems to have something similar to temper tantrums just from abundance of energy sometimes that make me think she's just beyond her own control/excitement. 

All your words are very helpful - I need all the encouragement I can get...she is just precious to me but I'm seeing her as neurotic already. I can now change that word to "confused".


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## revakb2 (Sep 8, 2006)

Snowbody said:


> Hi Sheil -- you're doing a great job and you need the patience of a saint. I think that Pearl really does need to be in an xpen or restricted area whenever she isn't right under your nose. You said she's at your side when not in the blocked off room but obviously she isn't if she's sneaking into these rooms and leaving her packages and pees. I know it's hard to think of confining her again after her background but you aren't confining her in that small a space, you're giving her lots of treats and love and you're there with her so that's so much more then she ever had. She basically has to earn the freedom of more space. So I would keep her in a large xpen with her crate and pee pads, toys, food etc but when she's out you probably do need to tether her to you if you can't keep an eye on her every second. It's for her own good and she'll gradually get more room as she earns it. You're doing great but because of her past it's really like starting at Point A, new pup rules.



Great advise. You need to treat Pearl like you would a young puppy, which means confinement if you don't have both eyes on her. You're doing a great job, and Pearl is very lucky to have found such a good home. Hang in there.


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

What exactly is your plan? 

You should know when your dog needs to go because they should be fed, played with, walked, pottied, etc. on a schedule. Same time, same stuff, every day. If you are confining your dog with access to potty pads you are potentially missing out on opportunities to reward AND you are not teaching her to hold it - which sounds like a skill she is missing. Your dog should not be out with you if they have not pottied. And they should not have free access to life if they have not pottied. 

It sounds like you need a more precise plan. Much of her trouble is probably you not being clear. 

House Training Puppies & Dogs. Easy Steps to Potty Training


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## Mini Pearls Mom (Mar 4, 2011)

jmm said:


> What exactly is your plan?
> 
> You should know when your dog needs to go because they should be fed, played with, walked, pottied, etc. on a schedule. Same time, same stuff, every day. If you are confining your dog with access to potty pads you are potentially missing out on opportunities to reward AND you are not teaching her to hold it - which sounds like a skill she is missing. Your dog should not be out with you if they have not pottied. And they should not have free access to life if they have not pottied.
> 
> ...


Wow...lots for me to digest. When Pearl came to us 3 mos. ago as a rescue I have no idea if she just "did her bathrooming" in the crate she spent 18 hrs. a day in or what. I guess I assumed she was amazing at "holding it", mostly because she holds it for about 12 hrs. overnight in her crate now. 
****The plan is for her to ONLY use those pads and to walk over to them when she's not confined. *

I am home with her (usually) and when she's confined she does have pads because we will not be walking her for bathroom...this is it (she also seems to go outside when on long walks). When I SEE her go on the pad, of course, she gets treats/praise. When I walk into a room and see the pad used, she also gets the same rewards. There have been a few times that she's called me in to the pad from the other room to see what she's done and to get her treat. I do believe that if I didn't have pads down for her when confined she'd just go wherever without a care.

She knows how to hold it for sure. She seems to get so overexcited so easily and my take is that she forgets herself. She's really immature as a neglected rescue, after all. We are on a schedule that she can count on, btw. But there doesn't seem to be a pattern to her "going" except for after eating - sometimes she goes as much as an hour later.


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

If I were you, I'd stop giving free access to the pads. Put her on a leash and take her to them on a set schedule OR cover the bottom of a small pen with pads and take her to it on a set schedule. YOU MUST be standing there to IMMEDIATELY reward to make a dent in her behaviors. Every time you are not and you just let her on her own, you a losing opportunities and making it harder on yourself.


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## Mini Pearls Mom (Mar 4, 2011)

jmm said:


> If I were you, I'd stop giving free access to the pads. Put her on a leash and take her to them on a set schedule OR cover the bottom of a small pen with pads and take her to it on a set schedule. YOU MUST be standing there to IMMEDIATELY reward to make a dent in her behaviors. Every time you are not and you just let her on her own, you a losing opportunities and making it harder on yourself.


Thank you!! Great idea! I am going to handle it just that way because it makes a lot of sense to me. Well, at least for when I am home with her. 

It will definitely help with her poop-gobbling as well:yucky:


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