So, not only am I potty training my 2 and 3 year old humans, we also adopted a non-potty trained golden retriever. She is adorable and sweet, and will be 2 in November. However, she has never been in the house until we brought her home; she was in a kennel outside. Thus, she had a lot of socialization to work on. My problem is how to housetrain her without using a crate. She is pseudo-trained in that she won't "go" in our bedroom or upstairs but she always goes downstairs.
She is a little shy and is a bit afraid of going outside (no, really). Especially in the dark. I have to basically drag her out to even make her go play in the yard, never mind send her out to pee, never mind at night. She cowers, she cries, she hides behind me when we're at the door.
I've tried being gentle telling her no when it happens inside (she is so sensitive that she was cowering just from me saying that, not yelling and certainly not hitting her) and praising her when she did her business outside. I've tried to be a little more forceful in the last day or two. Maybe forceful is the wrong word. More... alpha? about it? But it doesn't seem to be sinking in too well.
I try to keep my eyes on her when I can but I just can't seem to catch her. I couldn't even catch her "going" outside for the first three days - she hides to do her business. It's crazy, I've never had a dog like this before. She is sweet and patient and wonderful and beautiful, but I'm having a hard time with the potty training. I'm not TOO stressed as we're going to be replacing our flooring soon anyway when everyone is housetrained (kids inclusive) because our formerly white carpets are, well, umm... Not too awesome right now.
Also, does anyone have any tips on natural cleaners to remove the pee stains/smells? I'm not big on chemicals here but I have a feeling our house is seriously developing a pee stink after 2-3 pees and 1-2 poops a day. And that's just the dog...
She is a little shy and is a bit afraid of going outside (no, really). Especially in the dark. I have to basically drag her out to even make her go play in the yard, never mind send her out to pee, never mind at night. She cowers, she cries, she hides behind me when we're at the door.
I've tried being gentle telling her no when it happens inside (she is so sensitive that she was cowering just from me saying that, not yelling and certainly not hitting her) and praising her when she did her business outside. I've tried to be a little more forceful in the last day or two. Maybe forceful is the wrong word. More... alpha? about it? But it doesn't seem to be sinking in too well.
I try to keep my eyes on her when I can but I just can't seem to catch her. I couldn't even catch her "going" outside for the first three days - she hides to do her business. It's crazy, I've never had a dog like this before. She is sweet and patient and wonderful and beautiful, but I'm having a hard time with the potty training. I'm not TOO stressed as we're going to be replacing our flooring soon anyway when everyone is housetrained (kids inclusive) because our formerly white carpets are, well, umm... Not too awesome right now.
Also, does anyone have any tips on natural cleaners to remove the pee stains/smells? I'm not big on chemicals here but I have a feeling our house is seriously developing a pee stink after 2-3 pees and 1-2 poops a day. And that's just the dog...
