Potty training

[Cassie Keel]

Canyon is almost 10 weeks now. We've had him for 3 weeks. Since day 1 we've been working with him tirelessly on potty training using treats, praise, and play time as rewards. In the last week we've started understanding each other more, and he's been letting us know when he needs to go out. Other times he just goes in the house. He has been confined to his play pin, and I feel like he knows he is supposed to go outside. It's not that we are leaving him for long periods of time either. We are very diligent about taking him out very often. Is this just normal and it will continue to take time to get him house broke, or do we need to be changing something? Any help would be great!

[Malenie Piscetelli]

You are doing fine so far. He is just a puppy. It won't happen over night . Most average between 3 to 6 mos old will be potty train. Good luck!!! :)

[Kate, Mel, Tenley & Harper]

If he is starting to signal to you that is a good thing. I think it will work itself out over time. I always say I am glad I got a puppy in the winter because even if it was cold out when I had to take him outside, they drink a lot less water in the winter so don't need to go out as frequently :) Tenley (Dec 14 "gotcha" date) was so much easier than Mel (Jul 24 "gotcha" date) to house train and I think that is one (of the many) reasons!

[Toni Clayton]

One of the things our breeder suggested was everytime they wake up from a nap, after eating and drinking, or anytime they come out of crate (we used a crate) take them out to potty. We also only gave water with meals (but it was early spring, and when it started to get warm I gave it to him more) and took it away at 8pm. It helped. Of course we had a few accidents, but not excessive.  George is almost 5 months now, and is doing mostly well. Your pup is young, so I think you're doing a great job. Just hang in there. Also, as a rule of thumb, puppies should be able to hold their urine 1 hour longer than their age (2 months old can wait 3 hours) so we also wouldn't go more than 2.5hours for him to go out when he was that age.

[Amy N]

I think it's just a matter of time. Keep on the treats and the routine/repetition, and he'll pick it up.

Archie (now 5 months) just turned a corner one day--something just clicked. He doesn't signal when he needs to go out, but I'm diligent about letting him out 30 minutes after he drinks, then an hour after that. Then he can go up to two hours until he drinks again. He hasn't had an accident in his crate (ever) or in the house in 5 weeks. I think he's nearly there.

Good luck! It will get better.

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

Everything sounds about right! Out every 45 min to an hr...after he wakes up, each and every time. Potty training doesn't happen in a week or even a month. Patience and consistency ...as frustrating as it may seem. Anyone who tells you they potty trained their dog in 10 days to a few weeks..just means that they were very good at getting the pup out on time. Rule of thumb is 30 days without an accident. Figure around the 5-6 month mark.