8 replies to this topic

[Kiko]

OK, so Kiko has been doing everything right for a week or so. Peeing in the pee pad in the bathroom, to where we had no accidents. Poop in the bathroom too, on the pee pad with very little issue of missing it. Everything was well until last wednesday.

When we got him, he already know what the pee pad was for and it wasn't hard to get him broken in. I was on top of him when I was potty training him into the bathroom too. That also did very well. Everything was really good for a 14wk old pup. Btw, during all this time I had his crate parked in my bedroom so i can keep an eye on him or when he needs to let me know he needs to go. He really made potty training easy. Intact, Kiko was so good that i test keeping him loose throughout the 3 night and see if he do any accidents, in which he did not. I was very proud of him. So i thought its times to graduate and got him a cushioned bed to sleep on in my room and moved his crate to the bathroom and keep him loose throughout the night. Well, that didn't last. Wednesday came, I came home from work, kids watching TV when my daughter screamed, ewww!!! kiko pooping in our bedroom! did that again the following day and i had complains from wifey and kids about wet spots on the carpet for the pass 3 days. I also noticed when he poops in the bathroom, he leaves me a trail of poop. completely missing the pad. Today, i kept an eye on him and he seems to be peeing on the pad but, he still walks his poop off the pad.

I wish I can understand him, find out if his upset about me moving the crate out the bedroom or something...
anyway, he almost made me feel my job with him was going to be easy...

Heres a pic of him on my lap today getting comfortable, while i browse youtube.
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His passed out, his so cute...

[Tuesday]

First of all, the pictures are SOOOOO sweet! Love sleeping babies!

As for the potty training....14 weeks is still really young. While these little dogs are extremely intelligent, they do take a little longer to mature in some ways. Keep encouraging good potty habits, taking outside frequently, positive reinforcement each time he goes potty or poop outside. Wean him off the pads may help also/

Murphy was able to indicate that he needed to go outside by 4 - 5 months, but I still didn't trust him.

[pindrop]

I also have to agree - how cute is that little belly and he looks sooooo relaxed. However, he is still very young and things taught can be quickly undone (as you are finding out.) They also don't like change (as previous threads have already pointed out.) He may have gone backwards as you moved his crate AND introducted him to a new bed. Too many changes for a young pup to absorb. Best to keep the crate in the bedroom and if the new bed will fit inside - that would be a good start as an introduction to the bed. They need structure at this age (just as a child does) and consistency. Best to go back to the basics and only introduce one new thing at a time. Hopefully that will resolve his inconsistency.

[Idaho Cairns]

Fourteen weeks is old enough that your little cutie needs to be trained to go outside--once they mark spots in the house and if those spots aren't throughly cleaned and deodorized, the pups will return to them. The really nice part about outside training is that the odors remain on the grass and the dogs just automatically want to relieve themselves in those spots. It doesn't take long once the dog starts going outside, with lots of praise from you and your family to convert the pup from an indoor dog to a dependable outside dog. It is a little harder in the winter but you need to let the pup gravitate from the pee pads to the yard.
Love those pictures--nothing is sweeter than a Cairn stretched out on its back sleeping--I often wonder how their worlds look upside down--must be pretty because our Cairns have always spent a ton of time stretched out on their backs.

[lindasue]

Welcome to cairn puppyhood! As stated above, 14 weeks is way too early for these changes. Our Pegi slept in her crate (in daughter's room) until she was about 8 months old. During the day she would go to the door when she needed to go out,but was about 18 months before she figured that my dog telepathy didn't extend to knowing when she was there. She started whining then, and that worked fine. Also remember that schedule is very important to them; take him out at short intervals so he gets it, and it helps if you use one word for bathroom breaks (we use "sniff").

[Lynn in TN]

Kelly was the easiest dog to train that I have ever had. With that being said she would take spells of accidents in the house and that would last from 1 day to 4 days, and that happened about 3 or 4 times. It has been a good while since an accident and I hope it remains that way. She will be a year old the middle of April. I have no idea why the accidents happened but after 1 to 4 days it was like it never happened. I believe it is changes in the body that causes it. Good luck and keep at it.

[Hawkeye]

I agree with Idaho, you have to start training Kiko to do his business outside and get rid of the pee pads. it's a lot of work to train them to go outside but will be well worth it once they get the hang of it. At 14 months he is still very young, don't worry you will have set backs - we all did. You will have to be a mind reader for at least 6 - 12 months then he will figure it out and start asking to go out. We kept our two in their crate in our bedroom for close to a year and then switched to baby gates to make sure they didn't wonder. Hate to say it, but you can't trust these little puppies during their first year.

[pkcrossley]

i think something that is generally true of cairns probably also applies to potty training. they learn what they are supposed to do amazingly quickly, whether it is commands or potty. but that is often followed by a refusal to do something they know perfectly well they are supposed to do. i don't think it is entirely attitude, i think it may have to do with the fact that they are very intelligent and they get bored with the predictability of responding correctly to instructions or expectations. they are also curious about how serious you are about any command or expectation --like, can they get you to forget about it if they just kind of blow it off?

with this aspect of their behavior in mind, i wonder if it is possible to be too regular and predictable with potty training, as with anything else. if you are taking kiko out on a very regular schedule, vary it a bit. but don't let your dog get confused about the difference between predictability and consistency. make things a bit unpredictable for him, but be very consistent in your expectations. make it clear, verbally and with the crate if that is your practice, that the rules are the rules.

and by the way, many cairns need a refresher course in potty training at some points in life. 14 weeks is not exactly a collapse of discipline. but things can happen to cairns in maturity that cause them to need some refreshing (often after medication or surgery). that is just something to be taken in stride.

get some good enzyme treatments for the spots already existing. as idaho says, kiko will definitely keep returning if you don't eradicate the spot.

[Kiko]

thanks for all the advices really helped a lot. it seems like his just a little confused with the changes i did. you guys are right, 2 major changes with his sleeping arrangement threw him off. a couple more accidents with the poo in the kids bedroom but he seems to have gotten to know where the pee pad is now. ill get him started outside but its just that i feel for him when i see him shiver to the cold..