Housebreaking advice

[Cheryl]

We brought our adorable puppy Molly home a week ago. This is our first experience with a dog so I know we have a lot to learn. I read a lot about house breaking and how often they need to go. The first thing is that we are bringing Molly out a lot and she simply doesn't seem to need to go. Every book I read says a puppy her age (9 weeks) should need to go every couple hours. But she will seem to go 4 or 5? It is confusing and I think she gets annoyed with us bringing her out after she eats or naps, she ends up just laying on the spot we want her to go and trying to nap or just chew on grass,etc. She has had a few inside accidents though but weirdly were a few minutes after she had gone and we brought her back in. Are we bringing her out too much. Should we be looking for signs (I don't see any, we just bring her when she wakes, and 10 min after meals).

Second question is we built a spot for her to go in, a wood framed area with pebbles as opposed to the yard grass. She doesn't seem to get idea this is spot we want. Sometimes she goes and we reward her but other times after I wait 20 min at spot with no luck I let her walk around and she walks across yard and pees.. Is it too much to ask a young pup to go in a certain spot?Thanks

[Breanna]

I think it takes 30 minutes after eating before they are ready to go potty. Maybe this is why she goes right after you bring her in. Does she know "go potty"? If not, say "go potty go potty go potty, good girl" when she goes so she knows that is what is means. Mine already knew it when I got her and she almost always goes when I tell her to. I got this information from my training video. Hope it helps!

[Sarah Grace Gates]

Hi Cheryl,

Our doodle is just over a year old so I am pretty familiar with the Go Potty training. Here is what my trainer taught us to do when we first brought Chester home at 9 weeks.

Take your dog out on a leash-even in the backyard- to ensure that you are able to reinforce him for going potty within 2 seconds. Take your dog to the same area every time to limit potty to one area of your yard. Keep the leash and treats near the door to help with consistency.

Do this for the first 2 weeks of bringing him home. When you see her start to pee or poop say " Go Potty" then as soon as they are done give her a little treat and praise her. Make it super positive and give her lots of praise. We actually used cheerios in the beginning as his treats because the little meaty ones were too heavy on Chester's stomach.

Then after 2 weeks of you doing this consistently- when your dog poops or pees in the house you immediately say " Time Out" once again within 2 seconds of your dog having the accident. Use a neutral place (not his crate or gated area). We used a bathroom by our kitchen for the Time Out zone. You pop her in there for 10-30 seconds MAX. Do not release her until she is calm and quiet for at least 2 seconds. Then open the door and ignore your dog for 30 seconds to 1 minute after the Time Out. Side note: The Time Out is something that I still use today with Chester. It works!!

As far as how many times to take her out. I took Chester out a lot too. Every 20-30 minutes or so when he was 9-11 weeks. The key is giving her the opportunity to do it and then you say " Go Potty" with lots of praise and treats. You will soon learn her schedule but early on its about giving her the chance to have a success over and over again.

I'm here to help with anything puppy related since I just went through it last year. If you have any other questions, please let me know.

Good Luck!

Sarah

[Bob Johnston]

Dogs do take a while before they signal in any noticeable way. It's why a lot of people add the bell training method into the mix so they don't need to wait for the of to bark or cry. You may be in for a long haul with the pebble area most puppies take some time to get used to walking on grass before the novelty wears off and pebbles have a Cool distracting crunchy noise. Using the leash will help a lot. If they don't go a min or so after taking them out bring them back in wait a min or so and try again. 4 or 5 hours does seem like a long time between potty breaks but some dogs just hold it really well. How much water are they drinking a day.

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

I remember those first couple weeks home with our latest pup, Oscar (now almost 1 yr old!). Seems we were outside in the cold and rain standing for what seemed like hours without any results. Oscar would do the same, lie down, play with leaves, anything other than do his business. It was a frustrating time, and it took a while before we got into a routine that worked. Potty training is hard work, and it just takes time... sometimes months. Patience and consistency is key. Puppies rarely give good signals in the early stages, and when they do, they can be very subtle. Potty bells by the door are a good idea, and every time you go out with your puppy, ring the bells and say something like, "Ring the bells, go potty." Your pup may pick up quickly on this and surprise you. Our older doodle, Lucy, had the bells down in 2 weeks. Oscar, sadly, never did get it and to this day does not ring the bells. He stands near the door and stares. That's his only cue.

Cue words help too. We use, 'busy-busy' for poo, and 'hurry-hurry' for pee. When they're distracted, sometimes that's all we have to say to get the focus back on the business at hand.

We also have a 'designated' potty area which is covered in pea gravel. I don't think that made any difference in Oscar's training, though. If you're going to have a 'potty spot', then its best to start teaching it early. The biggest thing here, though, is to go out with your puppy each and every time on leash and take her to the spot, and then give word cues.

Good luck!

[Kris and Sawyer]

I'm going to put my thumbs up for bell training. We hung them on the door and rang them every time we took Sawyer out. Didn't take him long to ring them whenever he wanted out. Also, I kept Sawyer tied to me (leash) in the house until I was sure he was trained. Less chance for accidents! I'm not sure if it is different with boys as far as how often they go... He seems to go a lot during the day. But will sleep 8 hours at night in his crate with no problem. Maybe marking during the day? Not sure.

[Vicky loves Chachi]

I agree with the bell recommendation. My Chachi got it down quick but beware, she may just ring it to go outside. We started with treating her every time we had him touch it to go out and continued treating when he did it on his own. After we were sure he got the idea that it means to go out to potty we only gave him treats when he rang and actually peed or pood. This way he got the idea that he will only get a treat if he rings and actually goes. He still sometimes rings it frequently, like 5 min after having just rung it and peed but he still manages to either pee a tiny bit or poo. He makes sure he does something to get a treat. Keep leash on her and really watch her like a hawk. The instant she starts to "go" anywhere besides her designated area u quickly pick her up which stops them in their tracks and put her on the correct spot. Tell her the key words as she is going. We say, "go potty", for pee and "get busy" for poo. He's 5 months now and we still say it every time. Good luck

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

Our Enzo is 3 months, so we are right in the mist of housebreaking. We also are using the bells on the door. Right now, we take Enzo out every hour or so. Puppies are like toddlers...they always wait until the very last minute before letting you know they have to go. So we are out every hr...having her hit the bells each and every time we go out. Once she goes, we praise, praise and praise some more. We also get her out as soon as she wakes up from a nap. And always about 30 minutes after eating. Yes, we are out ALOT with her, but she has learned to hit the bells on her own, letting us know she wants out. On another note...she is always leashed, to help cut down the chasing of rabbits, butterflies, leaves, or whatever else catches her eye. Once in awhile she hits the bells, and has just come in....we still get her out....it does become a game with her. For the most part, it works. I'd say we are about 95% there to be considered housebroken.

[Cheryl]

thanks everyone for all the great ideas. We do have the poochie bells. We ring each time and say potty and she has started to ring them herself if we ask her to before we go out. She drinks a lot of water so I think maybe she can just hold it for a bit longer than we had guessed for her age. I like the time out idea ,had never considered that for a puppy (familiar with it with the kids though!). I had been cleaning up her accidents and not making a big deal like the books said but a neutral tone time out makes sense. I am going to try that if she does have an accident today.  She went on gravel couple times yesterday and a couple times in the yard but we couldnt get her there in time. Thanks again.

[KLN]

I think you'll be pleased with the bell system. They seem to really work. I just got some grosgrain ribbon, three bells, (medium size) string them to the middle and then knot at the top in a bow.

[Gail & Bogey]

This my first dog so I'm no expert but have to chime in (pun intended) for the bells. I was just amazed at how easily Bogey potty trained. In the beginning I was manic about taking him out, rang the bell each time, then i hit the bell with his paw before going out and eventually he did it. Not sure how old he was but he's 7 months now and he is totally bell trained. One thing I did was put the bell on a hook next to the door, I didn't want it ringing every time someone went in and out the door. Only problem I have now is that he rings it just to go out and play. Sometimes at night I just have to take it down once I'm sure he's done his business before bed. Also wanted to mention he could also hold it much longer than they say for puppies. He has slept through the night since the first night we had him at 2 months. We have never had a poop accident and I think maybe only 4-5 pee accidents. Of course like I said I was pretty manic about taking him out in the beginning. Good luck.

[Debbie and Belle]

My goldendoodle is 14 weeks old and I am still having difficulties with the housebreaking.  I take her outside on a leash after all the triggers (after nap, after play, every 45 minutes, after food, after water).  She is great about going outside, but still also has accidents in the house, pretty much daily.  She can hold it in the crate for 3 hours during the day and 8 or 9 at night.  But for some reason still goes on the floor even after she has recently been outside.  I'm also having trouble with the bells - I began having her ring them with her paw while saying outside and walking out the door.  I have been doing this since she was 8 weeks old.  Instead of ringing them on her own when she needs to go outside, she just chews on them.

[Sarah Grace Gates]

Hi Debbie,

I would suggest doing the Time Out that I described earlier.

when your dog poops or pees in the house you immediately say " Time Out" once again within 2 seconds of your dog having the accident. Use a neutral place (not his crate or gated area). We used a bathroom by our kitchen for the Time Out zone. You just pop her in there for 10-30 seconds MAX. Do not release her until she is calm and quiet for at least 2 seconds. Then open the door and ignore your dog for 30 seconds to 1 minute after the Time Out.

This is a GREAT method to train her NOT to make accidents in the house. They HATE being put in a room by themselves. I still use this today if Chester is doing some obnoxious with a guest dog like biting on his the other dogs ears and that dog has barked at him asking for him to stop and he continues after I've said "enough". I can just say the words Time Out and he STOPS! Try it and let me know how it goes...here to help.

Sarah