POTTY TRAINING 101

[Dustin and Loni Valentine]

We are new parents of a 10 week old Goldendoodle (We got him 2 weeks ago) and need advice on potty training. We have a crate but we were told to block it off so that he only has enough room to stand up, turn around and lay down. We were also told to give him the whole thing and block a part off with newspaper. (He was paper trained when we got him but I don't think he is now) He is such a sweetie and loves to sprawl out and sleep on cuddly soft blankets. He hates his crate and I hate having him in there. I am seeking the BEST way to potty train a dog and know when you can trust them to stay out at night. We have a 7 year old German Shepherd but for the life of me I cannot remember how we got him to that point. I know there was a crate involved...and that's about it. LOL. Any help would be much appreciated! Thank You

[Tracy L Boring]

We bought a Poochie bell. They are a dog doorbell potty training tool. They fit over any doorknob. We started at ten weeks. I took him out frequently, and I took him out the same door each time. I held a treat near the bell, and the pup would touch his nose on the bell, and ring it. I then said my marker word for potty. In no time at all, he was ringing the bell on his own to let me know he had to go. Good luck. I just love that age.

[Julie, Boomer, Milo & Casey]

We have a 9.5 week old puppy so I'm potty training too.   We have a couple of crates in the house (bedroom and family room).  They are large crates but both came with dividers so his space is limited to standing up, turning around and laying down.   He is doing so well (no accidents in the nighttime crate) and I think he "may have" P'd in the daytime crate but I never saw it...his blanket smelled but wasn't wet so he must have gone a little bit.   This puppy likes his crate.  When he's tired, he'll walk right in (that doesn't help you, I know) but treat him when he goes in and praise him.   We also have a 2yo doodle that never liked his crate so I know how you are feeling but trust me when I say, get him use to the crate.   It was a struggle to keep our 2yo doodle in there...he fought us every step of the way (nighttime wasn't as bad) but the daytime was horrible.   He knew that he was going in the crate because we were leaving.   With the new puppy, I crate him even when I'm home because I really wanted him to like it and not associate the crate with us leaving the house.    That was our mistake with doodle #1....I hated to hear him cry so kept him out when I was home and only crated him when I was leaving...he quickly learned to hate the crate because of that.   

 

My advice is to crate him for short intervals while you are home.

 

My 2yo doodle was out of the nighttime crate at 6 months.  The crate was in our master bedroom and I assumed he considered the entire room as his 'den' and wouldn't have any accidents in there.  He never has had any accidents in the bedroom and did just fine not being crated at night. 

 

I have potty bells (made my own...they are so cute (I'd be happy to make you some...I love doing crafty things)....my 2yo doodle learned very quickly to ring the bell to go out.  I don't recall how old he was but remember being surprised to hear it the first time he did it on his own.

 

My puppy is going out alot because I'm trying to save the carpet.   He has had very few accidents in the house but thats because he's going out ALL THE TIME....I'm not sure if he knows not to go in the house because I only caught him once and quickly said NO and rushed him outside.   That was my question to my husband...how does Milo "know" to go potty outside since I haven't had the opportunity to correct him in the house .. other than the one time.   I guess they just learn the right place to go without being shown the wrong place...I don't know how that all works.  LOL!

 

Good luck.

[Judi, David & Maddie Irishdoodle]

We used bells hanging on the patio door for Maddie when she was a puppy - each time I would take her outside I would ring the bell, take her out to one spot in the garden mulch, say "do your business" and when she piddled I would do the happy dance, tell her she was a good girl and give her a treat.

We also used the timer on the microwave set for ever 1/2 hour to begin with or every time she woke up from a nap or after each feeding we would take her out to that one spot. Even now she will only do her business on the mulch areas and not on the grass.

I also made her crate more like a den by draping it with a large beach towel. Even now that she is 1 yr old it has a towel hanging over it and she still goes in her crate to be by herself throughout the day. I gave her a clean little blanket to lay on every day in her crate just in case she had a little dribble. The dollar store type.

At night she sleeps on her pillow in our room.  I believe she was about 5 or 6 months old when we took her from her crate to sleep in our bedroom at night. 

We still crate Maddie if we are going out to shop or we will be away for a few hours. When we come home we make sure we just say hi Maddie - take our shoes off, take the groceries to the kitchen and then take our coats off before we open her crate.  She never ever whines or barks to be let out - she just waits patiently.

Good luck on your potty training.

[Trina L Lavoie]

We have Bruno, 10 weeks old too and he hates the crate at night so we have a short leash which we tie to our bed. He lays in his bed and is quiet almost all night, every now and again we have to let him out around 3am, We try to take his food and water away before 6pm. During the day I am home so it makes it easier to take him out. He usually goes out about a half hour after eating, when he wakes etc.. but if we need to leave we use the crate and he will make it about 3 hrs or so. His crate is large but we filled it with his blanket and so far no accidents. He has been doing pretty well but yesterday for some reason had a few house accidents while a sitter was here with the kids. Good luck!!

[Dustin and Loni Valentine]

Thank you EVERYONE for your suggestions.....I'm really hoping this stage goes fast!