What is the average amount of time to potty train a doodle??

[Jill Holder]

Hello!!
We have a 12 week old puppy that we got about a week ago.  I am just wondering about how long it took most of you to get your dog potty trained - for them to tell you they have to go outside?  I know it varies greatly depending on each dog.  We have not gotten a bell for the door but wondering if it has been successful for most of you??
We have only had Max for a little over a week now.  He is doing better each day with fewer accidents but I have to admit that its exhausting following him around the house to make sure he doesn't go.  I kept hearing that doodles are so smart and so easy to train so I guess I had my expectations pretty high.
Thanks for any advice you can give me!!

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

It took a couple of weeks to get the potty training down (although there were occasional accidents after that). We kept Guinness confined in the room where we were so we could watch him. For the most part we used movable baby gates, or else I tethered him to me. We did use the bells, but it took a little longer for him to actually make the connection to ring the bells to tell us he had to go out. Before that we just had to take him our often. Good luck...you're well on your way.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

I think that it is different for every dog and every owner. A few things you can do to help is confine to a small area or teather him to you -- that way you know where he is. Our Sophie would whine in her crate from day one. Now that doesn't mean when she wasn't in her crate she whined, but she was pretty good. Did we have accidents, you bet we did. The accidents will get further and further apart. Then you will go a couple weeks without one and think you are all set, then it will happen again. Part of that is as they get further and further apart, you will probably slack off a little in watching for signals .... then it will happen and you will start watching closely again. Just hang in there, if it has only been a week you are doing well. My favorite accident story is after Lucy and Sophie were fairly potty trained, meaning we had not had an accident in quite a while, one afternoon I heard them barking like crazy (which was unusual at the time). I walk into the Living Room, where we have wood laminate flooring, and one of them had peed and the puddle was running across the floor and they were barking at it! It was so funny ..... that was our last pee accident! I think it is important to teach them to give you some sort of signal other than just go sit at the door. My Sophie whines, Lucy barks, some dogs are taught the potty bells. I currently have a foster that just goes and sits by the door. If I don't happen to be in that room, I don't even know he is at the door .... I've gotta come up with a way to teach him to bark at the door so I know he wants out! Just hang in there .....

[Noble Vestal Labradoodles]

There are 2 answers: Soon and Never.

It will depend on you! Sorry I know you probably thought that your pup would magically get it since his breed is smart but he wont unless you teach him.

You say you are following your puppy around to clean up his messes.... He should be contained to one room or tethered to you until he is potty trained and if you can not actively supervise him he should be in his crate.

I know this may sound harsh but it really isnt.

I too am raising a puppy who is currently 14 weeks old. We had made just great progress in the past 2 weeks so I gave her 2 rooms of freedom. Well, guess what? She pooped 4 times yesterday in the other room. Not one time did she do it in the room I was in or alert me... so today we are back to being confined to the room I am in.

Good luck!

[Adina P]

I'm a bad example for you....Rosco didn't stop having accidents until about 10 months. But it was always my fault. When I realized he NEEDED access to the bells to ring (rather than being blocked by a baby gate). Not all dogs need bells. He did/does. He also had a 'drinking problem' and would drink large amounts and then need to potty often. So even at 2 years old if I left the water out and then we went to a movie, I'd often find a large puddle when I got back. THAT wasn't about not being housebroken...that was merely having a too full bladder and needing to pee BAD without a way to go outside.

You mentioned having to follow him around the house -- if you are able to block off only part of the house (that you're in) then you won't have to do much following. Baby gates help a lot! Or maybe an exercise pen to keep him in a smaller area, but larger than a crate. Also, anytime you are truly busy and don't/can't follow him around, it's OK to put him in his crate--he won't potty there except in dire circumstances.

[Eileen Ross and Cody]

It took Cody about 3 weeks. You can train Doodles to pee and poop on command if you say the words and reward when they go. But he does need to be contained to one room and NOT have the run of the house.

[Natasha]

Rather than follow him around the house, try setting a schedule and taking him out? We did:

-Out immediately after eating or drinking
-Out immediately after waking
-Out every 45 minutes otherwise for the two weeks or so until we knew he understood that he needed to tell us that he needed to go out
-water was picked up at 8:30 each night

When we went outside, we said, "go potty" and took treats. He got a treat immediately after going. We made it clear that this was potty time and not play time. After he would go and got his treat, we took him back inside for 5 minutes or so and then went back outside for playtime. We always made sure there was a barrier between potty and play time so he didn't get confused.

In all, it took us a few days. We didn't do a bell, after two or three days, Rouser just went to the door and scratched lightly and we gave him a ton of praise and that was it.

One trick that others have discussed that I wish we would have done (for other reasons) is to tie a 6 foot leash around your belt buckle and walk around with your pup all day. Stick to the potty schedule above (if he's tied to you, he won't try to go potty). The added benefit is that it reinforces that you are the pack leader (and a source of security) and it will make your walks MUCH easier. He will learn to heel naturally. Heeling was a bit issue for us (still is, we have to practice and reinforce daily) so I really do wish I would have tried this the first week or so that we had him.

Good luck!

[Zoe, Benny and Tyler]

Until they are 5 months puppies don't have the full control over their bladder, so accidents can happen every now and then.
If you watch the puppy really well you can tell from the behaviour that it is time to go out for a potty break. Furthermore follow the golden rules everybody mentioned already. Go outside after eating, sleeping and playing (so basically 24/7 lol) and praise extensively afterwards.
Tyler gave us signs that he wants to go outside already after a week, with Benny it took until he was 7 or 8 months old. I just followed a schedule for him to avoid accidents.
I do have a doggie bell but neither Benny nor Tyler are using it. Their sign that they want to go outside is staring at me and making a noisy yawn. :)
Don't give up, it is exhausting but it will pay out very soon.

[Debbie and Thomas]

Our F1 golendoodle was trained in 14 days. I took him out every 15 minutes(daytime only) for a week and a half and suddenly he started going to the door and gave a little bark to let me know he had to go out. I don't remember any accidents in the house after that. People don't believe me when I tell them this. but I made it my full time job to potty train him and it worked!

[Kristen]

We got our doodle at 9 weeks and he was trained by 12 weeks - with only a few accidents in between. We used a similar method to Natasha - basically just make sure our doodle was out as soon as he was let out of the crate, after eating or water and pretty much at least once per hour while he was awake - and praising wildly when he did something (he didn't always do something when we took him out). We also always took him to the same spot so he would know what he was supposed to do. Within a couple days he was sitting at the door when he had to go - as long as we were paying attention there were no accidents. I was amazed by how fast it was and he is now 6 months and has not had any accidents in 3 months. Good luck - they are smart pups as long as you're consistant they will figure it out!

[Kathy]

Hi Jill,I got my doodle .about a year ago.I took him home at 8 weeks .From day 1, I took him outside every 3 hours.Ev en in the middle of the nite,but after 3 weeks he was housebroken.I did that with all my dogs thru the years.Yes thet are smart and catch on real fast! I think cause we got him in January and it was so cold he peed feal fast to go back in! And the bells he rings fews times ,.. also he steal rings them sometimes just for fun!!! Always after his nap or playing always take him out......he willcatch on good luck to you!!!You will be fine!!!

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

We used bells in the beginning and Peri got it down very quickly - probably only a handful of accidents at home after 16 weeks. She has not had one accident in our home since 5 months of age. BUT she has had accidents at my parents (after being spayed), at AstroDood's house (due to excitement), and at a neighbor's house (revenge poo for her dog pooping in our place - LOL). But really, those are the accidents since 5 months. I would consider her trained at her current age of 11 months old. Bells work great - but we stopped using them after 5 months because Peri drove us NUTS by ringing them for attention, to go out, etc...she now just barks and leaps to the door when she is serious about going out!
Good luck and try the bells. Also, we used a baby gate to keep her confined for the first few months. She was never far from my side and therefore, couldn't "sneak" off to potty.