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Shepherds => German Shepherd Discussions => : ting1sf April 25, 2005, 12:55:12 PM

: Potty Training
: ting1sf April 25, 2005, 12:55:12 PM
Hi! I am new at this so bare with me hehe. I just got a German Shepherd puppy and she is just sosoos cute. ;D Few questions though... !) Her body color is all black but has tan feet. Will that color change any or what she is now stays? Because they say the tan will get wider...  SHe is 11 weeks today. Been house training her and things are well if I watch her. BUt even when I walk her at 12am, I still wake up with "accidents" all over at 6 am.   ??? If it is just that then okay. But she just steps and sits and sometimes lay on it  :'(.... So every morning I have to bathe her. I know I shouldn't bathe her so much but she's full of pee all over. I even try not to crate her at night and put her on a leash so she has more room to avoid the poo and pee but for some? For some reason when I wake up in the morning she still full of it. Does anyone have the same problem I do. She is a mostly indoors dog. She free roams  most of the house in the morning but I need to confine her at night time. Can anyone give me advise or expirence? Who has gone through the same thing?  :)
: Re: Potty Training
: Carolyn April 25, 2005, 02:26:16 PM
Hi! Good luck with your puppy. I have 1 GSD & 2 Shiloh Shepards. Kiya is 11months now & she was the easiest to house break until...My old girl Chazzy has accidents she's 10. Needless to say my girls are gated off by my bed at night now. When Apache was a baby we had a difficult time, he'd pee the second we'd get back in the house. MY husband thought I was nuts (I am) we would go out so many times. I never crated a pup before & Im glad we decided to. I'd use the crate at night & pen off the kitchen during the day. I tried not to get in a habit of letting them out in the middle of the night but it seems all my puppys were on a 4am schedule.  It's tuff when you work full time. They go thru so many different stages, like right now Kiya's testing me she knows not to potty on the rug (we have linolium & pergo floors but somehow the rug is the only place they go on) Patience!!
Carolyn
: Re: Potty Training
: vonissk April 25, 2005, 04:06:09 PM
You will be amazed at how much her color will lighten up and all over not just her legs.  I see color on her jaws and even though I think she will have a dark face she will still lighten up and be typically black and tan.  Minta
: Re: Potty Training
: vonissk April 26, 2005, 12:56:45 AM
Sorry I forgot to put this in my other post regarding potty training.  Are you feeding her at certain times or freefeeding her.  If you are free feeding and access to water all the time then it has no other place to go but out.  I would advise to feed her no later than say 6 pm and make sure she has ample opportunities to go out.  With water I wouldn't give it to her later than say 8 pm.  Also I would not let her just be loose at night--crate or fence off a place for her.  Since GSDs are naturally very clean dogs if this doesn't help then I would take her to my vet and explain the problem to them.  My puppy just turned 4 months on the 19th and he is totally housebroken.  Even though he can hold it longer I still keep him on a feeding/watering schedule. Not only because of the housebreaking but he also plays in water and I have cleaned up several messes where he has played and emptied water bowls.  Hope this helps.  Enjoy your puppy.  Minta
: Re: Potty Training
: lins_saving_grace April 26, 2005, 07:28:29 AM
There's something to be said about crating.  They won't poo where the snooze.  :)  it's tough but sometimes necessary.   My little Rott is still having issues with potty training...but she won't do it in her crate.
But yes...patience ...patience... patience.  It's hard and this stage seems to go on and on and on...but you'll get through it.
: Re: Potty Training
: mastiffmommy April 26, 2005, 12:24:39 PM
The previous posters have already said it, patience and more patience. And if you do free feed, it will help to get her over to feeding a couple of times a day. Also the drinking, quite a few puppies are social drinkers, they run to the water and "sip" ever so often, even if they really dont need it, just something to do. Stepping in it lol...... That is just the typical puppy, if you take them out on a big lawn, there is one single pile of poop. It never fails they end up stepping in it. So good luck and keep us posted with how it goes.

Marit
: Re: Potty Training
: ting1sf April 27, 2005, 01:10:12 PM
Wow. Thanks for all the replies. the potty training part is still slow. I walk her and then the next thing i know she pees in the house. I don;t mind the peeing in the house. As much as the fact she jsut steps in it and get it all over. SO then its shower time again. The odd thing is she does pee in her crate. She has done it so many times already. The worse part is the part where she just lies down in it. But like I said its only at night when i wake in the morning. During daytime its not that bad at all. :)
: Re: Potty Training
: mastiffmommy April 27, 2005, 01:13:16 PM
Hang in there!!!!! It will get better, we just got a 10 week old puppy home so I am doing the potty training too.

Good Luck

Marit
: Re: Potty Training
: catutexas May 03, 2005, 05:00:13 PM
When we got our german shepherd my husband was totally against crate training and thought it was cruel.  I however had 2 dogs and crate trained them both.  He went along with the crate and our dog was potty trained in just a few days.  We took her out about every 2 hrs for the first 2 weeks or so then slowly backed off until it was only about once every 4-6 hrs.  We did take her out at least once in the middle of the night in the beginning for the first week or so.  I know it's exhasuting to keep taking them out especially since we both work but they have small bladders and need to go out often as puppies.  Using the crate we never had any accidents while we were gone and  we made sure someone was always home at lunch to take her out.  If you have a routine on what time you feed them, you can start to see a pattern of when they need to go out which helps a lot.  Good luck.
: Re: Potty Training
: mamadog May 03, 2005, 06:30:30 PM
My IW Finn is doing much better with house breaking (thank goodness). He's 6 months old but wasn't trained when we got him. He sleeps in our room at night and has never gone in there, but would in the livingroom for a whiole. He's finallt stopped that, unless we leave him home for more than an hour or so. But then I think it's out of seperation more than a need to go. BUT he still steps in it in the yard!! My other 2 dogs won't go near poop in the yard. Finn walks in it, sits in it...doesn't care a bit. I'm hoping he grows out of that, YUCK!  He poops out piles as big as my other two dogs and I have to hose his feet off before I can let him in!
Do you guys PROMISE he'll grow out of that??!!

Vicki

: Re: Potty Training
: k9rotehexe May 10, 2005, 06:51:03 PM
Where did you get her from?  Was it a breeder or a pet store?  If the pup was kept in a small area that she slept in and pottied in then that is the problem.  Puppies from pet stores are usually from puppy mills, the dogs are all kept in small containers.  In pet stores they are also kept in a small area.  There may be other problems.  Are you free feeding her which means she can eat anytime she wants to.  Same with water.  She should get water (about 1/2 cup) right before she goes outside.  She should go out about every three hours.  Cut the water off in the evening around 9.  She should eat three times a day morning, noon, and evening at around 6-7pm.  Her color...well that is a different story.  German shepherds are like suprise packages.  They can look one way as a pup and completely different as a grown up.  She might have more brown as an adult then now, she might not.  Also what are you feeding her, and how much.  She should be able to eat her food within about 15-20 minutes are you pick it up and try again later.  (at her next feeding time)  Also put a spoon of cottage cheese in one of her meals that will help her ears pirk up.  If you have any more questions feel free to email me at any time.
Most of all Have fun!!!
Marion
: Re: Potty Training
: k9rotehexe May 10, 2005, 06:54:15 PM
Also if she is pottying in her crate maybe it is to big?  You should also only give her a small part of the house to roam in preferably a room with no carpet...lol.  The more area she has to roam around the more space she has that she thinks is her sleeping and potty area.  One room of the house, when she is housebroken you can open up a second room and so on.
: Re: Potty Training
: annfil May 11, 2005, 06:57:29 AM
For everyone with potty training concerns, the best way to house break any dog is to PRAISE them HIGHLY when they do either outside.  Yes, you look foolish making a big fuss over your dog for peeing or pooping, but it works!
Ann
: Re: Potty Training
: ting1sf May 11, 2005, 02:09:00 PM
THanks everyone for all the advice. Let me give everything another try. Today was bad though. On our way to the vet she decided to puke and poo all over the back seat (this was her third time) then if that was not bad enough she  lay right on it ... Sigh. I love her but she is driving me up the walll...Grrrr
: Re: Potty Training
: lins_saving_grace May 11, 2005, 02:10:50 PM
The praise definately works.  I always tell Gracey "I'm so proud of you!" and I carry little bones.  She is at the point where she will dance at the door and demand to go out and FAKE PEE to get a bone.  It's really nuts.
: Re: Potty Training
: lins_saving_grace May 11, 2005, 02:12:12 PM
Definately talk to your vet!!!!!!!!
I had a problem with Grace needing to go out all the time and it was driving me nuts too.  I thought she was just having potty training issues but turns out she had her first "woman infection". 
: Re: Potty Training
: ting1sf May 13, 2005, 02:36:05 PM
Thanks again for all your replies. Here is a small update.... Two nights of accident free nights... Yay!!!! I am soso happy. this is an  happiness (and relief) that is so hard to explain. Hehe. This is the change. My boyfriend before refused and still refused to let the doggies sleep on the bed. So in the end I decieded to sleep on the floor with them and then I section out the living room so they could only be around there. When they start to move a lot I would wake up and take them out to pee. First night was 3 times throughout the night but yesterday was only 2 and in the morning there is no poo or pee found. I give up on crate training cause its just too hard for her. And now for times I can't watch them,  I would put them in the kitchen. So far there are only one mistake this morning and I think it wasn't even puppy hehe. Anyway. I am so proud of them. Thank you all for all your support and help! :). Hope this good behavior will late :)