Is Your Puppy House Trained??

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

I've read that it takes at least 28 days of no indoor potty accidents before you can truly say your puppy/dog is potty trained. I'm really curious where everyone is with their doods on this front and how old your puppy is, as well. For Oscar (16-1/2 wks old), we've gone as long as 12 days accident free, and then out of the blue we'll find a puddle. I really try to keep Oscar close when he's out of his crate, but with another doodle in the house (Lucy, 3 yrs old) its really hard to keep them both close (where Lucy goes, Oscar follows). We really are quite diligent and one of the accidents happened right under our noses (DH was playing with both doods on the nook floor and minutes later he found a puddle a few feet away). So, anyway, we can't call Oscar 'house trained'. He does, however, go to the back patio door every day, several times a day and sometimes even rings the potty bells to let us know he has to go potty. There's just that occasional accident when he's too busy to bother.

So, how old is your puppy, and where are YOU with potty training?

[Vivian & Mojo]

Mojo is 9 months old and was almost potty trained at 6 months going for 35 days with no accident. He was neutered at 6 and a half months and started having a few accidents in the week after. Than he went about 21 days and I thought him trained but he got sick and was vomiting and had diarrhea. The vet put him on meds. One week later he pooped out a Italian spicy sausage whole ( He must have stole it frozen from the freezer when I was looking for something with out me knowing so during this escapade he had a few accidents. He went another 22 days no accidents and than peed and it was my fault :( naughty DM was busy making Christmas cookies. Now its 26 days and I'm being real careful and hope finally he is trained.

[Sharae & Winston]

I feel your pain...we are going through the exact same thing with Winston right now. He just turned 16 weeks. He will do the same thing, go about 9 or 10 days with no accidents and then boom- will randomly be playing and squat right in front of us, or come in RIGHT after being outside and decide he needs to go about 30 minutes later (inside). It's funny that this was posted today because I just started getting really down on myself after a little escapade we had last night. We took him out like we normally do, he peed, and then we tied him up by his crate. Well about an hour and a half later he starts barking and going crazy and here my boyfriend and I just think he wants to be down with us so we ignored him (per our trainer). He finally started literally scratching at the inside of his crate so we got up and right as we get up there he pees IN HIS CRATE!! Mind you, he wasn't even locked in there he had every ability to walk right out his crate and go on the kitchen floor! We were appalled by this as he's NEVER went in his crate and we never thought he would.This seems like a major setback. I can't imagine why he would pee in his "den" when he had the choice not to. At the end of the day, it was our fault for not giving him the benefit of the doubt and taking him out when he started hollering; but it had only been and hour and a 1/2! From everything I read they say they should be able to hold it in hours however many months they are old, so our guys should be able to go 4 hours!

How often are you letting your your little guy out? We do about every 2 hours during the day, but after what's been going on it seems like even that's not enough... I read about people housetraining their dog in a week and I just don't understand what we're doing different then anyone else. I mean these are 2 of the smartest breeds, you would think they would learn it quick! How long should it realistically take for the majority of doodles?

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

Well, we go out a LOT with Oscar. After every meal, immediately after coming out of his crate (no matter how long he's been in there), and I always ask him if he has to go potty after he's been playing with his big sis for a while. If he does, he'll run to the back door. I've never gone 1-1/2 hrs without giving him the opportunity to go. I'd say 40 minutes is his max, although I've never timed it. It really depends on how much he's had to drink.I believe they can hold it an hour for every month of age, but I've always took that to mean when they're in their crate and confined. While they're out they're usually active, and that in itself can be a reason to take them out.

Its funny, but Lucy (3 yrs old) was house trained within weeks (we brought her home at 7-1/2 weeks old). I thought, wow, I must be GOOD! But, after having Oscar, and it taking him considerably longer to house train, I've come to learn that it all depends on the dog, and that they're all different in how long it takes. So, it wasn't me after all :(. All you can really do is stick with it and be better about watching for signals and get them out frequently. Good luck!

[Jill & Tugboat]

Tugboat just turned 21 weeks old.  He's not had an accident in the house since Thanksgiving (so he was about 15-16 weeks old on his last accident).  He does use his potty bells consistently.  Sometimes it seems like he just wants to go outside to play, especially on days like today where it's snowing heavily and he LOVES to play in the snow.  But, he'll always do an obligatory quick pee just to prove he's not trying to game the potty bell system.   He'll go out every couple hours when up during the day, but he can also take very long naps where he'll not go out for 4 or 5 hours, even with all the daytime commotion around the house.

He was neutered at 4 months and had no problems with that - we barely knew he had the surgery.  

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

Way to go, Tugboat! Sounds like he's well on his way (if not there already) to being house trained.

[Doug, Micki, Dawson & Mya]

Our first doodle Dawson, was ringing the potty bells probably at 11 weeks, and has not had an accident since. Mya, however, is another story. We got her at about 11 weeks, and she had been paper trained. Unfortunately, every carpet and rug in the house looks like newspaper to her. We can relate to the difficulty of potty training with another doodle in the house, they are inseparable! They will be rolling around the floor together, and the next thing you know, she sneaks off around a corner, and "does her duty"! The layout of our house provides dozens of blind spots, and she is a wanderer, so we are constantly getting up and sneaking around, following her. She is improving, however. She does go to the back door many times now, but you have to be there to see her to let her out, because she doesn't ring the bells or bark to get your attention.....

[Vivian & Mojo]

Mojo wont ring the bells, I will ring them before we go out and he totally ignored it. Lately he looks when I ring and sniffs them but wont ring them to alert me he needs to go out to potty. He is very smart so it upsets me he is just not getting it or perhaps just doesn't want to.

[Doug, Micki, Dawson & Mya]

When you take him to the door, try taking his paw and smacking the bells with it. It worked with Dawson. He now either bats them with his paw, or sticks his nose behind them and swings them

[Vivian & Mojo]

I've been trying to smack the bells with his paw since I put them up and he pulls back, when I first got the bells I worried he would want to play with them and tear them down but he totally ignores them, the only thing in the entire house he doesn't have interest in. I'll keep on ringing them and hope he will figure it out!

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

Mya sounds a lot like Oscar (although he was never paper trained and we got him at 7-1/2 weeks... and we have all the carpeted area cordoned off so he only goes on the hardwood floors). He really has no interest in the bells, but if we ask him to ring the bells (when we're certain he has to go potty), he'll make the effort to at least touch them with his nose. There have been several occasions when he's rung them spontaneously when he has to go, which gives us hope, but he's by no means consistent at this stage. He is sneaky too. One minute he's there with you (or playing with his big sis) and the next he's out of sight. Most times he's not doing anything he shouldn't, but when you least expect it, he strikes! Good luck with Mya. She'll get it soon, I'm sure.

[Julie and Charlie]

Charlie is 7.5 months, and we're almost there! He hasn't gone in the house in a month or two, but I worry that if my schedule changes or if he was left to his own devices unsupervised we'd have an issue. But day-to-day, me being home, he's great!

[Jungmin Yoo]

Noodle is 5 months old and he is very good at going in one particular spot. So we live in an apartment and there is no direct outdoor space. The problem is that Noodle does not like to go potty or doody outdoors on the grass. He will hold it in until he gets a chance to go indoors on his potty pad that is placed in the living room. I have no idea how to undo this behavior but Noodle will not relieve himself outdoors. Other than that, he is great at going in one spot.