[Tina2329]

I need HELP!! My husband and I have a 5 1/2 month old male Vizsla who was adopted from a breeder at 8 weeks. He is very sweet with lots of energy of course. We exercise him at least 3X a day with a 30-45 minute walk. We have had a very difficult time getting him potty trained and we are becoming very frustrated. We have been crate training him since he came home. My husband who works from home is with him all day and had him on a schedule since the day he arrived home. He gets up in the morning around 7:30, immediately takes him to pee, feeds Riley, walks him and then he is back in the crate until 11:00. Around 11:30 he gets up takes him to pee, feeds him lunch takes him for another walk and play time for about 2-3 hours and then back in the crate. By the time I get home which is around 5pm we get him out of the crate, take him to pee and then we play until 7pm. At 7:30 we feed him dinner and then take him for a 45-1 hour walk. Once we get back home he plays until about 9pm and then he is back in the crate. The problem is between the crating times he will not give us any clue that he has to use the bathroom and will squat anywhere. We watch him very closely and he is only allowed to be in our main living area with us and no where else in the house. He will even sometimes lift his leg and pee on my curtains. Unless we take him every 30 minutes voluntarily, he will not initiate any attempt at going to the door. We use the same door every time he goes out to pee and we constantly praise him once he has gone outside. We have even started using the bell method which has not worked. I don't know what else to do, I have spoken with my breeder and she told me that we need to leave him in the crate at 3-4 hour increments with only 1 hour out of the crate. We have started doing this, but it has not helped (maybe we haven't given it enough time). I know that he is still a "puppy", but shouldn't he at least start going to the door by now to let us know he has to pee? He will only use the bathroom outside if we voluntarily take him outside, not by his initiation. When he does "go" inside, I tell him "NO" and immediately take him outside and give him praise and a treat and tell him "good potty". My husband feels that he has to yell at him, which I have explained that is only going to hinder the process and make Riley fear my husband or even not trust him as a leader. We really do love our Vizsla and want him to do well we are just very frustrated and not really sure what else to do. Any suggestions would be great and appreciated.

 

[countrycruiser]

Tina,

I know exactly how you feel. Miles is 5 months and he is finally making progress! It is very frustrating. Miles is our first Vizsla and boy he had me second guessing my self for time to time. But he is truly a huge part of the family, I am a firm believer that they are so darn loving and cute because we wouldn't make it through the puppy stage still sane. The antics he does makes me quickly forget whatever he is up to.

The only advice I can give is to stick with it. Riley will get it!
Miles was just like Riley showed no signs by going to the door, I think he just thought "score I got a family that goes outside a lot" It has only been a few weeks that I can finally sit down on the couch. I used to sit in the kitchen with him, so we would be closer to the door and easier to clean. By no means would I believe that he is ready to be in a room alone yet, and I still initiate a potty break if it has been awhile, but I do feel we are on the right track now. Now if I could get him to stop jumping on everyone he sees ;D

Sorry no advice to give you - sounds like you are doing everything you can.

Hang in There!

 

[cooper]

We had a lots of problems with training.
Cooper would never really squat or lift a leg as a young pup.
He went as he walked across the floor which made clean up real fun.
He seemed to busy to take the time. Like a child who is having so much fun they end up wetting their pants.
He would even go as he walked across our feet.
I set a timer for every 15 min. and he still would go on the floor. He even went pee in his kennel several times a day.
They say a dog does not urinate where he sleeps and eats. Cooper would pee in his food dish.
I was sure there was something wrong with him, bladder infection something. We went
to our vet and ran all the test and nothing. Then they put him on antibiotics just in case but that did not help.
He is now a little over a year and he still has an accidents once in a while.
We also use the bell method and he does ring the bell. Some days he rings the bell every 5 minutes to go outside.
I am not sure if he rings the bell because he has to go or if he rings the bell just to go outside to see what is going on.
Because he does still have accidents, usually all the way down the stairs.
I have trained many dogs but have never encounter any issues potty issues like coopers.
I do agree that maybe all the hard work of puppy hood with the vizsla is worth the adult vizsla you end up with (starting to get a glimpse any way) .
Puppy hood was **** and I not sure if I will ever do it again with a vizsla puppy but we are very happy with cooper now or at least most days :0)

 

[Tina2329]

Thanks for the comments. I am glad to know that Riley is "normal" and that maybe I am not giving it enough time. It sounds like Miles is just like Riley in that all they are interested is playing and not being potty trained. Of course, I would like the potty training phase over with, but in the end I am sure that I won't even remember this phase once we are done with it....hopefully! It's hard when this is actually my first Vizsla as well and even though I have read the books on what to expect it is still good to hear from actual V dog owners and how they handle situations. Riley is also starting to jump up on everyone as well. I am sure that will be my next hurdle.

Cooper also sounds like Riley as well. Riley will start to pee and leave a wonderful trail which makes clean up very interesting! He has even started to pee on my leg when I was sitting in a chair. I thought "Oh my goodness, he is trying to dominate me", but in all actuality he probably just needed to pee. At least Cooper will ring the bell and know that it will lead to the "outside", hopefully Riley will figure it out someday. I feel sure that he will. I agree with you as well, not sure if I will ever do puppy hood again. I may change my mind someday, but for now that's what I am sticking with!