Potty training!

[Christina Casper]

Hi, so our puppy is just about 9 weeks old. I am wondering at about what age will a puppy start telling me she has to go out? I pretty much watch her like a hawk and take her out a lot! We have established her "spot" outside and she knows what to do. Any suggestions on how I can help her to tell me when she has to go?

Also, how much do puppies sleep during the day? She sleeps from 10pm-6am typically with no potty breaks!

Thankful for the wonderful advice!

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

Sounds like she is doing great!
Many of us have incorporated " potty bells" into pitty training. They are a string of bells one hangs on the door used to go out when taking your pup out. Each time have your pup paw or nose the bells when going out. It took Enzo 2-3 days to get the idea. She actually does both: nose and paw, depending how she feels. She is just over a year now and uses the bells daily.

Sleeping through the night awesome! No doubt, some of us are/were luckier than others when it comes to sleeping through the night. Like babies, pups will crash frequently during the day. The naps grow less frequent as they age.

[Christina Casper]

Rosemary:thank you! Is 9 weeks too young to expect her to "bell" train? When did you start Enzo?

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

Oh my goodness..,absolutely not! Training should start the day they walk in the door. For Enzo, 8 weeks. Now...this is not to say she was house trained. Completely housebroken was around the 5 1/2 month for Enzo.

[Laura and Angus]

I agree! You can start any training the second you get home! Especially since the more repetition and consistency you give with training the more likely they are to learn. And these pups are smaaaart, so she should learn pretty quickly that way! 

We brought our puppy Angus home at around 11 weeks and he almost immediately learned to sit by the door to go out to potty. They are pretty quick to understand!!

[Chris & Abby]

Christina, I also used the potty bells and we started at 10 weeks. Abby learned in about 10 days. Good luck!

[Deb's Yarrow and Schatzi]

At this stage, you have to become the expert at reading her body language. Better yet, be proactive and get her outside when she's due to go, before she is even aware of it. The more she goes outside, in time, she will get more 'upset' at the thought she may not get outside in time. The signals will get stronger. But really it's up to you at this point. The more consistent you are, the more successful she will be and this phase will be over sooner. Don't give her the run of the house until she is completely trained, and don't leave her unsupervised unless she's just gone or she's asleep. It may seem like it's taking a long time but it's really just a little blip in your lives together. They grow up so darn fast.

[Linda, Charlie Brown and Beau]

Both of my doodles use the potty bells and I really prefer it to barking at the door.  We have our over the sliding glass door handle which is the door they generally use.  Charlie never played with the bells only when he had to go out, but be forewarned, some do!  Beau loved the bells and by 4 months was ringing them no matter whether he had to go potty or not.  I one point he was actually grabbing them and swinging like a little monkey!  He trashed that set of bells and I made a set from the left over bells and an old leash.  When it was bedtime, the bells came off the door because I did not want him waking everyone up.  At about a year, he stop wanting to play with them.  They are 4 and 2 now and we have had a very nice set made from leather that I bought on Amazon over a year ago and they still look like new.  It is very easy to teach them to ring the bells. Good luck with potty training - I always went out with the puppy and had a party when they did there business giving lots of praises.  It goes quicker with some puppies than others - Charlie was 4 months old, but Beau was about 6 months old. I have heard it said, that when they go 30 days without an accident you can considered them potty trained. 

[Laura and Angus]

I'm so glad you said this! Angus totally played with the bells when we first put them up!! We have not been consistent using them lately, but if we don't notice that he sits by the door, he'll hit the bells with his nose to get our attention to let him out. I think we're going to go back to being very consistent again, so he uses them more frequently. The only trouble we have is that now Angus will use the bells/sit by the door just to go outside. Not always to "potty." Sneaky little guy...

[Dexter Doodle]

Dexter has been abusing the bell system too! I think he rang the bells 15-20 times yesterday because it was raining and I wasn't giving him as much outside time. We were playing indoor games like hide and seek but I guess they weren't fun enough for him.

I wonder if they continue to abuse the bells or if it just a phase.

[Dexter Doodle]

We did the potty bells I would say around 11 -12 weeks. I put them on the door and just rang them on our way out a few times. I don't think I even did it consistently. Within about two days he started ringing them on his own. Prior to that, he barely communicated the need to go out. He had 1 accident since we started using the bells and that was within the first week. He is now 18 weeks and well over a month accident free.

As for sleeping, that has gotten less and less during the day. Dexter sleeps from 10:15-7:45 at night on weekdays. It is now 2:30 and he has taken 2 naps today for an hour each. That may be it until around 8 when he is really zonked and may only get up to potty before being crated. Of course this schedule gets all thrown off if I go out and he is crated. He will always sleep for crate time and then be awake more of the time he is out.

[Nikki & Charlie]

We never trained Charlie to tell us when he had to go, but he learned on his own to scratch at the door and if he really needs go he will bark or whine. I would like to bell train him though so when I go to other peoples homes he will have accidents on their floors, but never ours anymore. Eventually she will get the hint that she needs to get your attention in order to be let out to get the her "spot" outside. These pups are super smart :) they catch on quickly.

As for the sleeping - from the first night on Charlie slept through the night until I went to take him out of the cage! He would just lay there, awake but quiet and I was SO impressed!! He never made a sound and held his bladder all night. I was so blessed with him being such a good puppy and sounds like you're in the same boat :) During the day he would sleep A LOT as well! It's normal for them to sleep up to 18 hours or so. They're like growing babies!

[Judith and Addie]

About the sleeping: your puppy is doing really great overnight!

During the day, she may get wound up and over-excited, possibly getting a case of the zoomies later in the day. She may need you to crate her and have her nap during the day. A trainer told me that puppies are like human babies and they need their rest, even if they don't know it. She told me that I should set a nap time for my pup to keep her from getting over-tired.