Your husband needs to understand that the puppy cannot relate what he's doing to him/her to what he/she did wrong so he's not helping to house train him/her. I have dachshunds which are notorious for being difficult to house train (they're incredibly stubborn). But I found by taking them out often and giving them a treat every time they actually pottied outside, it got them started on the right track. Then we moved to giving them a treat when he/she let us know that they needed to go out and then pottied outside. In a matter of a couple of months, they were completely house trained.

He's teaching her, go and you will get hit and get put out in the cold. This is animal abuse and not the way to train an animal. Telling her "NO" in a stern way is one thing, slapping her and forcing her to be in the cold is really inhumane. You can look up on line how to train your dog> (and I'm sorry but today I am impulsive)Also look up how to train your husband to be compassionate towards other sentient beings.

It all started when we got the puppy at 3 mo. old. Its a smaller breed and we live in a condo, so we thought we could litter train it, since we have 2 cats too. But that didnt work. We moved onto pee-pads and for the most part, she used the pee pads but still had accidents. Even when we took her on walks, she wouldn't go, because she knew the pee pads were the place to go. The pee pads were just gross, and since she kept peeing on our bathroom rugs, we put the rugs on the patio (on top of this doggy litter box grid thing i bought online) and now she goes out through the doggy door, to the rugs and does her business there (we clean up the poo daily and wash the rugs a couple times a week). The dog is 1 1/2 years old now. We are also now trying to get her to go pee on our walks, but we dont get her out as often as we like. But, at least she is going outside. We use the term "go potty" and she knows to go potty, either on the walk, or to walk through the doggy door and use the rug on the patio. She KNOWS where to pee. But she still has accidents (1 a week or so). She used to sleep in bed with us, and actually wake me up to take her downstairs to the patio to pee, sometimes she would go on her own. It was all working out. But my husband is annoyed by this dog, and wont let her sleep in the bed anymore. So we got a dog bed and put it next to our bed but she kept sneaking in our bed in the middle of the night. So now, we shut our door, and she sleeps in her bed in the living room. Everything was ok until this morning, i wake up to hear him slapping the dogs butt, over and over, saying bad dog, and then i hear the dog yelp downstairs, and the dog has been on the patio ever since.... oh and it doesnt help that one of the cats likes to pee on the doggy bed outside, out of spite! So she is essentially sleeping in a pee soaked bed on a cold patio alone. and it breaks my heart. We are in need of some serious help, and we cant afford training classes..... i know what needs to be done... and i am willing to do it (taking her potty outside on a walk before bed and many times throughout the day) but he wants her outside all the time, or stuck in the garage... and i want her in the house as part of the family. its really the only thing we have ever argued about and he is now saying i always get my way, and the dog will be inside by the end of the day because i dont respect his wishes for a pee-free home... or something... what do we do???

I just recently "potty" trained my first, after about 10 others. I am so happy! But, here's how I did it. We called it "potty", also. We took her out EVERY hour on the hour. The last one in bed took her out, and the first one up, took her out. We praised her non-stop, when she did right, and, we took her to the accident spot, put her face close to it, (no, not IN it), and said "no" when she messed up. We also told her "potty, outside" as we did this. We watched her like a hawk. If she started looking around or "acting" like she needed to, we asked "potty, outside?", and took her out. I think I paddled her with a newspaper (on the butt) maybe twice. But, miracle of all miracles, she started asking to go out within 1 month. Yes, I know I was VERY fortunate. I am also partially disabled, so I could take her out EVERY hour. I know most people can't. So, give that a try. With her being a little older, it may be even harder, but just stick with it. Good luck! I know what you are going thru.

After reading your question and your full answer, I think you need to find another home for this dog. Your husband obviously does not like this dog and if he will hit her enough to make her cry she does not belong with him. What your husband wants to do with this dog is ABUSE. If I knew where you lived I would report it to authorities and have the dog taken away. She was not trained properly to begin with and in the environment she is in, she never will. She is so confused from all the different ways you are trying to train her in, she may never get it right. Please give her to someone who can give her a loving home.

It will break your heart but those answers are really the only solution. Give her to a family who will all love her.

Unless he catches her in the act (squatting and MAKING the puddle), he's just teaching her he's a mean SOB. If he caught her in the act, spanked her once with a loud "NO", and immediately took her to where she SHOULD go (not to leave her, but to finish her business), that would be one thing. Even after the fact, if he takes her, puts her nose in it and says "NO", she's going to be confused. Dog's don't have the cognitive abilities of humans. A smart dog might understand some of it, but most dogs will just think, when their nose is put in it, "yeah... that's my pee... what's the problem?" (ok... something like that.) She has NO IDEA why she's being punished, and is going to associate being put outside with punishment, rather than fun, walks, and going to the bathroom. She has to be thought of as a toddler... How do you potty train one? With a dog, you pay attention ... If you see her start looking (sniffing around, obviously NOT for crumbs), you take her outside immediately. Soon she will recognize, that when she has to go, she needs to go outside. When you're bith away, if she's not a cage-dog, it might be worth it to give her a little bed in the bathroom, and be prepared to clean up messes when you return. (This would be a good time and place for the pee-pads.) Make sure she has a rug or something specific for her to lay on, if you do this. Another thing, is when you have multiple animals, you can have a dominance issue. This is probably why the cat is peeing on the dog's stuff outside - Showing the dog that he/she is dominant. There's not much you can do about this. As long as the pissy fight is outdoors... (I would also be surprised if other animals from the neighborhood don't use the outside things...) Watch Cesar Millan(sp) on the Dog Whisperer, National Geographic. He doesn't so much train the dogs, as train the people how to handle the dogs. And, according to him, it's NEVER too late to train a dog. He may have a website, forum or blog you can ask. Meanwhile, tell you husband that animal abuse, in most states if not all, is a crime. If ANYONE ELSE saw what he did to that pup, he might be tossed in jail and/or have a hefty fine to pay. Good luck. ;-)

I'd add that, as a dog psychology book might tell you, this is not the way a female dog says "no" to a puppy. She takes it by the skin of the neck, shakes it and growls. So to say no to a dog, you take it by the skin of the neck, shake it a little and growl "No!" I did that and our dog learned rapidly and well. She was a wonderful dog. If your husband is at all interested in having a dog (Does he want a dog, or does he want a burglar alarm?) he should read a book or three. The only thing our dog did that I didn't like was that when the doorbell rang she barked up a storm with everybody yelling at her to shut up. I thought of dog psychology and told everyone that the next time the doorbell rang they shouldn't try to shush the dog, to leave it to me. The bell rang, she started barking, I said "Thank you, Nipper!" and she stopped. Sometimes dogs are smarter than people. "Shut up," you see, sounds like human barking, and dogs are pack animals. If everyone else is barking, she will too.

I got some emails that there were new comments on this question, so i thought i would come here and give an update. The dog is doing great, there have not been any other incidents like the one i described. I started taking her outside to pee every 2 hours at first, and now its only 3x a day, and she pees outside, no problem! She has had a few accidents, here and there, but we don't get mad at her. She loves sleeping in her own bed in the living room now, and my husband now lets her in our bed when he leaves for work, so i still get some under the covers cuddle time with her in the morning, which she just LOVES and it doesn't bother him since he is gone at the time. I don't want you guys to think my husband hated the dog, even though it sounded like that when i wrote it (i was just upset and frustrated at the time). He loves the dog, he just hated that our house was soaked in piss and didn't know how to handle it correctly. Sure, he favors our other pets, but he truly loves our doggie and lets her lick his ears and plays with her, all that good stuff. So, i am so proud to say our dog is officially potty trained! Man, i just have too many pee problems in my family.

Tell your husband to try a different method that does not involve the unnecessery violence. Tell him that it is a fact that if you hit and punish your dog for doing something bad, he will not learn to do it the right way. Eventually he will only be scared of your husband and will wee anyway but when you lot are absent. What you have to do is watch your dog and see when it is sniffing around, doing circles (Young puppies need to wee after playing, after food, after their sleep. Thats when their bladder is most full)immediately then take him outside. . When she does it in the right spot reward her like it was the best thing you have ever seen. Puppy treats worked with my puppy. Shell learn herself from a good experience that doing her business outside = reward and doing it inside = nothing she will be tought to think and choose without being abused

I was wondering how things are going with your dog. Can you give us an update?

Since this is an "old post" I'll just add that when you have a puppy, it's important that you NEVER allow the puppy to be loose in your house WITHOUT someone watching the puppy. Since puppies have NO CLUE that a particular behavior is expected of them, regarding potty activities...they have accidents. If you are not using a crate and/or baby gates to safely contain the puppy when you can't watch him or her, then TETHER the puppy to an ADULT, who can quickly and happily respond to an accident at the moment the puppy is seen to be sniffing about or getting ready to cop a squat! The Tether allows you to take your eyes off of the puppy or adult (untrained) dog and DO OTHER STUFF, cook, be on the computer, do your bills, fold clothes, read a book or watch TV...but still KNOW where the puppy is and be able to keep the pup IN YOUR LINE OF SIGHT! The Tether should be long enough for the pup to stand, walk a bit, lay or sit down...but not so long as to be able to move to where you cannot SEE him or her! I'm glad to read that this story had a happy endings...I was considering a road trip to invite you and others here to give "hubby" a blanket party....I'm thrilled he was willing to reconsider his bad behavior and create a positive training opportunity.

How can you allow your husband to do this to your dog?? He's the one who needs to be hit and thrown outside. For the poor dog's sake, find it a new home. This is horrible and not the way she should be treated AT ALL.

Hallo petco has a good class for puppies and training its only $100 dollars. Eve

first thing your husband should not hit the dog as the dog will not understand but putting her outside and telling her she is a bad dog is the right thing to do. when she does go potty outside give her lots of praise and maybe a treat this will incorage the dog to go potty in the garden as she will like the attension. what breed is your dog? most dogs will be fine in the garden when it is cold, they have a fur coat to keep them warm but smaller breeds with fine coats may need a jumper to keep them warm, you can find hoodies on ebay.