Hi, we've had our english bulldog puppy for nearly 5 wks and we are no further on with house training him than we were when we got him! I've been using the puppy pads and at 1st he was using them ok! We then decided to get him a kennel outside because I hated putting him outside in the cold for half hour to do wot he needs to do. He occasionally does his business out there but the majority of the time he lies in his kennel and does what he needs to do as soon as I let him in the house my hubby says we should block the entrance of his kennel off but he's still got kennel cough and I feel really bad about him lying outside on the cold slabs. Any tips or ideas would be greatly appreciated
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12 Wk English Bulldog Pup, Help Needed With House Training!!
- Thread starter Moonstone
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House training pups needs to be done gradually. I think you should go right back to basics, that is straight outside after eating and waking up and every hour on the hour, plus take him out in the middle of the night. If he is ill with KC, plus when he starts teething. these can all have an impact on house training. Always wait until they have been before letting them in. It's not fair on them being chucked outside while you wait inside in the warm, besides it makes them at a greater risk of theft if left unattended. Patience and consistency are the key.
Becky
Becky
Thanx for your reply Becky, I am gonna go back to the 1st day we got him and start afresh! We do go out with him more times than not and he is in a secured caged area 5ft x 20ft that is only accessible from our back door so there's no worries of him getting stolen! Thanx again, moonstone x
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He won't know he's doing the right thing unless you are there with him, encouraging him with whatever word you have chosen to use when you want him to go (we use "quickly"), and rewarding him with heaps of praise and maybe a titbit the second he has performed. I'm sure he will catch on very quickly if he knows he is coming straight back into the warm house!
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He has Kennel cough?
Poor little man - how do they treat that?
Poor little man - how do they treat that?
Hi banana, it's been awful listening and seeing him cough and wretch he's been on anti- biotics and as just finished his medicine that helps the irritation in his throat ! He's loads beta but coughs wen he goes out and again wen he comes in. I give him honey to help soothe his throat. X
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I wonder if that isn't helping - as you said, I wouldn't keep him outside if he is unwell.
I think you should take him out as often as possible and when he drops for a wee or poos, you say something like 'be quick' and praise him sooo much when he has finished..
he then knows thats what he is supposed to do....
I think you should take him out as often as possible and when he drops for a wee or poos, you say something like 'be quick' and praise him sooo much when he has finished..
he then knows thats what he is supposed to do....
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The going out with him and rewarding with praise and treats as soon as he attempts to go, and doing it lots of times a day (every hour plus before and after eating, playing and sleeping) is the cornerstone of training so if you have to go back to the beginning to reinforce that then that's what you have to do. Most of us regress when we aren't feeling very well, so it's not a huge surprise that he's not getting on well with it if he's got kennel cough.
One thing for you to bear in mind though, is that puppy pads have a chemical in them that attracts them to go to the loo on them, so if you have those in your house then you're basically telling him that you want him to go to the loo in the house. I really don't get on well with puppy pads, so I'd go with lots of going out with him, standing with him (in a coat and under an umbrella if necessary so you're not rushing him) at least once an hour as an alternative to having puppy pads.
The other thing to watch for is the signs that he gives out when he's going to go to the loo. Can you predict when he's getting ready to go? If not then you're probably not reading his body language very effectively and could do with observing him better and then picking that moment to pre-empt his squat and call him to go outside at just the right moment. That usually pays dividends because if they're ready to go out as soon as you take them out then it's all that much easier to reinforce and reward and should make for really short trips out into the garden.
Good luck
One thing for you to bear in mind though, is that puppy pads have a chemical in them that attracts them to go to the loo on them, so if you have those in your house then you're basically telling him that you want him to go to the loo in the house. I really don't get on well with puppy pads, so I'd go with lots of going out with him, standing with him (in a coat and under an umbrella if necessary so you're not rushing him) at least once an hour as an alternative to having puppy pads.
The other thing to watch for is the signs that he gives out when he's going to go to the loo. Can you predict when he's getting ready to go? If not then you're probably not reading his body language very effectively and could do with observing him better and then picking that moment to pre-empt his squat and call him to go outside at just the right moment. That usually pays dividends because if they're ready to go out as soon as you take them out then it's all that much easier to reinforce and reward and should make for really short trips out into the garden.
Good luck
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Puppy pads are for us to be lazy with, they are ok in a crate for over night use but as said already they tell the dog inside is ok, if you have a pad that has been used take it out side show your dog the pad, let him sniff it and wait with him, wait, wait wait and wait a bit more, urging him to go wont improve things either as he has no clue what your saying until you can reinforce an action with a command so he wees you go high pitched and give your chosen command, we use "do wee wee", also think about where you want him to go, if you have a run or yard which is paved then not so bad as it can be cleaned down, if you have lawn think about him being older and peeing more and the concisenesses on your grass, we have a toilet area at the bottom of our garden which is slabbed that they use 99% of the time which isnt bad going for 4 dogs.
Bull dogs are quite lazy by training standards and you will need to be consistant or the dog becomes confused and stops wanting to learn, clear commands ,not to complicated , maybe try clicker training with him, as its food based and positive , loads of training tip video's on you tube etc to get you started.
Bull dogs are quite lazy by training standards and you will need to be consistant or the dog becomes confused and stops wanting to learn, clear commands ,not to complicated , maybe try clicker training with him, as its food based and positive , loads of training tip video's on you tube etc to get you started.
