Potty training a puppy

[Molly Murphy]

To all my doodle friends and experts out there-

 

Any suggestions or helpful hints or articles on potty training a puppy?  Lucy, or Bissy, as you may know her name to be, has been going potty on my carpet in my main room.

 

The facts:

 

She has only been home only since Friday and she is now 12.5 weeks old

She is let out every hour and sometimes more often

I bought the bells and have been working with her on those.  See doesn't seem to want anything to do with them and isn't taking to them.

She will go potty on demand but will still come in and potty again a few minutes later on the carpet

 

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thank you,

 

Molly

 

 

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

Are you using a product such as Natures Miracle to really clean the spot in the carpet where she has gone potty?  This is really important and you really need to saturate the area so as it get it down in the padding as well.  If the smell does not get removed from the carpet she will continue to go on the carpet forever.  Otherwise, if she is going too frequently have you had her checked for a UTI?    The only other thing I can think of is to give her a few extra mins outside to see if she needs to go again.  My Sophie potties like 3 times within the 1st hour of being up in the morning.  Then she is good until probably late afternoon.  Although given the chance she will always pee.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

just went an looked at her pics.  She is adorable.  Love the pics of her on the floor in the car.  That is just like my Sophie.  She is always on the floor.  Looks like you son is pretty much in love with her. 

[Molly Murphy]

She does seem to go a lot.  A little bit each time but it's pretty frequent.  She can hold it all night long though and when she is in her crate for even up to four hours she doesn't accidents.  I have been cleaning it up using a resolve type solution and my Bissell Little Green.  This way I am sucking it up right away in hopes of avoiding the long term smell.  The carpet is only a year old so I am not quit ready to replace it.  I will get some of Natures Miracle when I am out today.  I have a call into the vet so I will run this one by her too in case she thinks their might be a UTI. 

She is a doll and so very well behaved.  Just need to get this one nipped quickly!

 

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

To train with bells teach the touch command first. There are a few YouTube videos that may help with little lessons. Hold treats in one hand but have her touch her nose to your other hand. For example, hold out your hand, palm down and say touch. If she touchscreen her nose to the back of your hand, reward with treat from other hand. This one is fairly easy and in just a day or two she should be getting the idea.
Onto the bells- go to the door, ask her to touch your hand. Next time, hold out the bells gently, then say touch. If you get a little ring- out she goes. Keep in mind, this helps her later down the road when you are busy and she needs to get your attention but really is not so much of an initial Traing method.
Use a crate at the door. Once you open that door to the crate out she goes right away.
As for mistakes she has already made, I would soak up the urine into old socks or clean rags and throw them out in the yard to establish the scent. Yes, for a few weeks my yard looked pretty bad but anything helped. I am positive she will be getting the idea in no time.
As for one hour intervals, when she is out of the crate up the amount of time she goes out to 15 mins to a half hour instead. Her little bladder is the size of a quarter right now.
Do you just let her out to wander in the yard? You may want to use a leash for these events so the distractions for both of you are not there. Oh, and when she does go outside- treat here. We had outdoor potty parties- a lot

[Adina P]

Ruling out a UTI, I would say she just needs more time and more frequent potty breaks.  The bells are there for you to train her to associate going out with ringing the bells.  In the meantime--do NOT count on them until she's gone WEEKS without a potty accident.  Just take her out frequently.  If every 45 min is not enough, make it 30.  Potty break, a little play outside, then back to the crate.  Then potty break, play, crate.  That will help her learn to hold it longer.  Sometimes dogs get distracted and kind of 'forget' to finish emptying their bladder so they don't finish and end up going indoors. 

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

The only advice I can give is that they need to go out after every time they : Play, Eat, Chew or Sleep. Sometimes that is less than 30 min and sometimes and hour between potty breaks, but it worked for my two. There are still going to accidents for many weeks. But that rule of thumb really helped me.

[Moe]

We literally brought our puppy out every 20 minutes for the first few weeks when we got her. I had a kitchen timer and would set if for 20 min, otherwise we would get distracted. It took our puppy a few weeks to get used to the bell. At first we rang it every time and said 'out'. After a while I took her paw and made her ring the bell while saying 'out'. A few days later I would say out and just look at her, eventually she would ring the bell herself. It was only a day or so before she began to ring the bell on her own.

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

Yes, i would agree with others here.  a) make sure there is absolutely no scent left on the carpet b) take her out more frequently and eliminate the possibility of an accident c) do not leave her unattended even for a minute, if she is not in the crate then she is being watched, if she starts to 'go' then immediately lift her and let her complete outside with huge praise.

If you look at any mistakes as your error rather than hers then you are on the right path... .  It will click with her if you continue with this and are vigilant.   

Congratulations she is a doll, you will look back and wonder how she grew up so fast in a flash!

[Barbara B., Sasha & Oliver]

She is still a very young puppy.  I crate trained my doodles but they still had accidents.  Oliver would go outside, pee and then come back in the house only to pee again.  I found that limiting water before bed and feeding food at certain times of the day helpled - what goes in must come out - LOL.  I would pick up the water about 1.5 hours before I went to bed and in the morning I would do the same before I left for work.  Both my doodles did extremely well with the crate training and never went in the crate.

 

It takes time and persistance.

[Molly Murphy]

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to respond.  I greatly appreciate your input and have read and re-read your recommendations.  Now that Lucy has been home for one week, I am being to learn more about her and her behaviors.  They say you learn from your mistakes and I couldn't agree more.  As accidents occur, I am learning more about her and what I need to do and when.  She has had few accidents in the house compared to the many of times she goes outside and goes potty on demand.  I have incorporated all of your suggestions and I can't thank you enough for your support.