Dog Health Questions: Dog training?

I have a Boxer pup.. She is only 9 weeks old.. We have had her for 1 week... This is my first time training a dog to use the bathroom in the house in her designated area.. And i am having a real problem with her, one time she will use the piddle pad and the next she won't.. We take her out side when we can... I guess my real question is do you all have any tips? Could us taking her outside to use the bathroom then turning around and bringing her inside be causing her to have a conflict ? Please help? I have tried to reward her when she does use the pad.. But then 5 minutes later she's using it on the floor...?!

Dog Training - 4 Quick Steps to Good Doggie Manners

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I hate puppy pads. If you want your dog to learn to go OUTSIDE then take her outside. I would research crate training, it's the best method of potty training as well as giving the dog a safe place to go when shes tired or scared. It can help you keep the dog from destroying your house, and a boxer puppy WILL destroy your house if left out. Go get a crate, it needs to be large enough for her to stand up, turn around and lie down in comfortable but no bigger, if there is room for her to potty and still lie down, she will. Keep her in the crate when your not watching her. Take her out when you wake up, after she eats, after she drinks, after she plays, before bed and every hour or two in between. When you take her outside, don't let her play before she goes potty, if she gets distracted, pick her up set her back down and tell her to go. When she goes, make a HUGE deal about it let her know she's a good girl. If she's outside for 10mins and doesn't go, take her back inside and put her back in the crate for 20 mins. If you can stick to this for a few days or a week, she will eventually get it. If she's 9 wks old she can hold it for about 2 hours. If she has an accident, don't scold her, rub her nose in it or punish her in any way. If you CATCH her doing it, pick her up, tell her NO firmly and carry her outside. Even if you get peed on. Another word on training. There is nothing wrong with telling a dog no. Punishment is after the dog has done something wrong. When a dog does something they forget it almost immediately, so punishing her (after she's done something) will confuse her and scare her, she won't connect the action with your reaction. Correction is when you catch them in the act and CORRECT the behavior, if you catch her chewing, you say NO and take the shoe away, replacing it with one of HER toys. Correction works better than punishment because the dog was interrupted during the behavior. Interruption sends the dog the message that what they're doing at that moment is not allowed. Girl, I would get her into some training classes, not all boxers are that calm dignified dog in the dog shows and pictures, shes gonna be a handfull so I would start early!

Even if you live in an apartment you can let her out onto the porch or out into the lawn with the same effects. If your not going to do SOMETHING your not going to have any luck training her.

The Importance of Dog Training

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• She's not going to have it all figured out at 9 weeks, but you are making things harder on her by not having a schedule and just taking her out when you can. You should probably do one or the other.


• You take her out when you can? Are you allowed in the bathroom when your parents can allow you there? Dogs need consistency. That's all I have to say. It does not sound like you are offering this dog a routine, at all.


• put more than one piddle pad, and take her outside more


• Piddle pads and litter boxes often teach to dog to pee inside the house. I would recommend letting her out every couple of hours to pee outside and crate training her. Out door training is the best, even if you have to get up @ 3 AM to let your doggy out! (Think about a doggy door!)


• there should definitly be a schedule, that way your dog's body gets used to relieving itself at certain times.
  
  also, when your dog is done with her business outside, make sure when you enter the house again right away she gets a treat and/or praise for going to the bathroom in the right place. soon she will begin to understand that when she goes to the bathroom outside is a good thing, and it will become a natural behavior.


• Get rid of the puppy pad! They rarely work because all they teach the puppy to do is to use the restroom inside. Purchase a crate and crate train your puppy. You and your puppy will be much happier!


• I second the crate training. Get rid of the pad, it just teaches them to use the bathroom inside. Crate train instead, puppies won't usually want to use the bathroom in their crate because it's their safe place. This doesn't mean you should leave her in her crate for extended periods though, start with short sessions. Definately try and give her a routine to adapt to though, that will make it much easier!


• dont punish her if she goes on the floor yet, just reward her wih a treat when she goes in the right place. right when she squats to pee, run her outside or wherever she's soposed to pee. after about 2 months she's still goin on the floor, punish her. she'l get the hang of it!