Doesn't anyone have Mutts? hehe

[Guest Anonymous]

My dog is a mutt, everyone else seems to have purebreeds, nothing wrong with mutts. Might turn out to be the smartest strongest biggets dog ever :P
My muttpup is 4 months old and 41 lbs. Mix of rot, dalmation, lab, and a whole buncha other stuff i dont even know :P He is a smart puppy but is being a pain to potty train, any suggestions? :o

[kendalyn]

Quite a few people here have mutts! I have an awesome lab/mix named Buck :-) They do make great pets.

Patience and consistency is the way to go with housetraining. Are you crate training? This is a good way but it's certainly not the only way. What have you tried so far?

[Guest Anonymous]

I just try to take him out periodically, he pretty much has the whole house to roam. I close off all the rooms when not in use so he has less space. I don't own a crate so I just take him out after feedings. It's rare that i actually catch him in the act of going to the bathroom so it's hard to tell him its wrong. I do get on him afterwards but i read that it doesnt help. I'm hoping he'll get the message tho that poop and pee on the floor regardless of where its from is his fault and its wrong. which would be alright because then he wouldn't want it on the floor for fear of retribution. We don't have any other animals that could get him in trouble so he's the only one leaving messes.

[kendalyn]

Yeah, it really won't help to yell at him when you find the mess. It's too many connections to make. He may understand that poop on the floor is bad thing, but he probably won't make the connection that he shouldn't put it there. It sounds logical to us, but that's not how dogs think.

Try and keep him in your eyeline all the time. You need to catch him doing it. You can buy a 10 or 20 foot leash and just keep him leashed to you whenever you're home. It'll make it a lot easier to look for signs that he's going to go. Sniffing around, circling and stuff like that. Take him out when you see those signs.

When you do catch him going inside say no or whatever negative word you're going to use and take him outside right then. If you can pick him up do it, but it sounds like he may be too big to pick up. And of course praise him like crazy when he goes outside.

[Guest Anonymous]

hehe i still pick him up, but hes getting heavy, takes two hands now :P
i'm hoping he gets large to protect my house :P

[Nookie]

i have a german shepherd (gsd)/akita mix.we actually thought she was a purebreed because she had alot of similarities of a gsd,but she also had a few similarities of an akita too.i also have a purebreed rat terrier.the only issue i have with my mix is that she's going through that puppy fase,biting,pulling on leashes,its just the matter of getting trained.my purebreed also has a couple of issues like having everything her way,if she doesn't want to walk no more,yep you gotta pick her up,buts thats because she's spoiled and alittle older then the pup so she's more experience and I've been working with any behavoiral problems she had since I had her.So it isn't because your dog's a mix,just a puppy and needs to be handle. :P

[Guest Anonymous]

40lbs of dogfood is alot bigger than 40 lbs of dog :P
hes so small but so heavy lol.

[courtnek]

I have owned a series of mixed breeds, including the Lab mix I have now.

Irish Wolfhound Mix
Malamute/BC mix
Golden Retriever/Lab mix
Lab/ GSP mix (current knucklehead)

owned 2 purebreds, A Golden Retriever, and the current Foxhound
fostered a purebred Tibetan Mastiff

All except the original Golden have been rescues, or fosters.

Now for your housetraining...it is right that you cant correct them effectively if you dont catch them in the act...but you CAN (and should) take the mess outside when you find it, and put it in the place outside you want the dog to go. Encourage the dog to sniff it, and dont clean it up. Then when you take him outside, take him to that spot, and encourage him to go there. Praise him greatly when he does. He will eventually learn that this is where his droppings belong.

[Horsefeathers!]

The only way I was able to get a large adult dog house trained was to leash him to me virtually 24/7. He had to stay with me night and day. If I was moving about the house, naturally he had to, too, and when I sat down, he was at my feet. When I went to bed at night, he was tied to the bed. It was virtually impossible for him to sneak off and potty. I was able to catch him at the first sign he was even looking for a spot to go. Then I could rush him to the door and have a virtual party every time he did his business OUTSIDE. This was a dog who had been in a kennel his entire life and had never even seen the inside of a house. It worked like a charm. It's kind of a pain in the butt at first, but it usually doesn't take long and it's still much easier than cleaning up messes. It's the same theory as Kendalyn offered, but I really prefer a much shorter leash... only 4 ft. The more control, the better. Besides, mine is a big klutz who would wipe out tables and furniture with a much longer leash.

When you aren't home to monitor him, you might want to make his "space" a bit smaller by confining him some instead of giving him free range. He doesn't have to be crated, but perhaps confining him to the kitchen, or a bathroom might help. He needs a space that he considers his own and he's not quite as likely to soil it once he takes a notion that a certain space is his where he has to live. Once he's learned to hold it for longer periods in his own space, he should become more reliable in more open areas. For a dog with housetraining issues, I don't think allowing free range of the house is a good idea.

[bk_blue]

I have a blue heeler X border collie/other stuff. He's the best dog I've ever had. :)
With toilet training- what we did with the dachshunds was take them to "go" often (after a nap, after meals, and in between) on some newspaper we had ready. Every time they used the paper they were effusively praised, until they got the idea the paper was for pooing on and we could take it outside, and they would go outside instead. I don't think we had many accidents at all. It just takes patience and persistence and consistency. Don't give up, you'll get there and everyone here is good at giving advice. :)

[mouseatthebusstop]

There is nothing wrong with mixes or 57 varietes provided they where produced by accident and not just putting 2 dogs together as an experament to see what comes out........ the shelters are full of mixes

[Holz_Boomer]

yepperz! ive got a cute Irish Wolfhound Mix..the vet doesnt know what hes mixed with cuz well..when we saved him..he didnt have a chip to tell us anything..!
but hes mainly IW

[Guest Mutts4Me]

Mutts Rock :)

(I don't have time to type full messages, but I just had to say that)

[KookieSista18]

My first ever childhood dog was a Blue Cattle cross Border Collie,im sure it had a bit of Kelpie and Dobe in it as well.
Beautilful black shaggy beast who ran the roost of our property,played soccer with us,joined us horseriding,motorbike riding,fishing,camping,anything really..Couldnt have found a better dog for our family!

Now Im in the process of my Nan (hopefully!) adopting a Poodle cross,with 3 legs.Beautiful little dog with personality plus.

I have 2 purebred Staffies but that doesnt mean I dont love mutts,too :D The Staffie just suits my lifestyle better!

[imported_Cassie]

Where do you think our purebred dogs came from???? the orginal dogs where mutts/mongrels. There is also a big difference between a crossbreed/mixed breed and mongrels and mutts. I can create a purebred from a mutt, or by having 2 different races of dogs and artifically create a purebred.
Purebreds are artifically created by man, Mongrels are the orginal dogs created by mother nature...crossbreds are created by breeding together 2 artifically created purebreds etc. :wink:
I have had many mixed breeds in my life and when I was young it was rare to see any purebreds. We seemed not to have half the problems we have today...aggression, genetic diseases...etc.

Enjoy your mixed breed...and never ever think of your dog as a degenerated form of a purebred. We should be thinking of our purebreds as a degenerated form of the mongrel. :wink:

[Guest Anonymous]

Personally, with all the homeless dogs out there, I can't see why anyone would intentionally breed dogs to sell them. I'm not criticizing anyone who does it, I just don't understand it.

Thank-you bk_blue (see below). You're totally right. Thanks for the insight.

[bk_blue]

I know where you are coming from, pi's ma... but people who want a certain type of dog should be entitled to one which is of a high standard- predictable in size, coat type, weight, feeding requirements, and temperament. These considerations are very important to some people when thinking of buying a dog, and so they should be. :) If you got rid of all the crap breeders out there and every non-breeding dog was desexed, then there wouldn't be a problem.