Help With Housetraining....

[Denise & Hunter!!!]

Hi, my little sweetie Hunter is 10 1/2 weeks old. The problem I am having is she is not "asking" to go outside to potty. I have her blocked off in the kitchen and in her crate at night and she has never had an accident in either. If we let her out of the kitchen she tends to have accidents. I have always taken her out the same door saying, Hunter go outside to potty, and when she goes outside I praise her "potty". Any suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated!! Thank you!

[Doodle Kisses]

Do you make sure she has a potty BEFORE allowing her in the other parts of the house?

How often, while she is in the house, does she get taken out for potty?

Rosco would pee every 15-20 min at that age and for long after. He just would stop, pee, and continue playing. I HAD to take him out A LOT to prevent accidents. I would not expect Hunter to let you know YET...at least assume she can't/doesnt know how to so you aren't dissapointed. Just take her out more often.

In the meantime teach her to ring bells to go outside. Do a search for the word 'bells' in our forum and you'll find lots of past discussions on 'how-to' teach it.

Also since she spends time in one part of the house where she does NOT potty she probably considers that area 'home' more. Keep her leashed to you when she is in the rest of the house so she gets used to it and can't run off to potty there.

[Debbie and Thomas]

When our pup was 10 1/2 weeks old, it was mid December here-and sooo cold with lots of snow. To train him-we took him out every 15 minutes when we were home. We also put puppy training pads over near the door to go outside. We took him out so much for two weeks that he got the idea that this is where he wanted to do his business. He had maybe one accident a day in the house and it was on or 1/2 on when he missed the training pad. We told him to do "good boys" outside and when he did praised him alot. If he had an accident in the house-we simply cleaned it up and ignored it-in othere words, we did not make any type of commotion over this or he would think that was fun. Two weeks of standing outside every 15 minutes in the coldest winter in history here was NOT fun-but we did it and it was over. After two weeks he would walk over to the door by himself. What a break through!! Good luck and Hunter(who is a cutie) will learn quickly.

[Ali]

You can also try startling them in a nice way to stop them in mid-pee, but don't yell at him, that may confuse him. Then take him out. Also, don't let him see you pick up after him. After Lola would finish her business, I would put her in her crate and put a towel on part of the crate so she wouldn't watch me pick up after her, because that would give her approval of peeing there.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Every 15 minutes I agree I also cut up old towels, used them to wipe up the accidents and then threw them outside in the yard. The dog gets curious and smell the towels each time he/she goes out. They eventually associate the smell with what to do outside. Just watch that they only go smell them and not try to play with the towel or think they are toys only because of choking hazard.

We had a crate in our room to sleep in at night, but during the day we used the crate kept by the door. Every time we opened the door we went outside first and then we could play.

The bells work GREAT but these can also take a few weeks to learn so be patient. At first Spud would pee on the floor and then go ring the bell. Right idea, but wrong order. They learn quick but it isn't perfected for awhile. We still had accidents at 4 months.

[Teresa]

I have to agree with everyone else on this topic. I have had many dogs in my life and Hudson is the only one that really didn't (and still doesn't) ask to go out. Of course he know just holds it until he does go out but in general he will go to the door and just wait. Yup, I have the bells - but he never really uses them. He does however, bark once to come back in. That's a fluke - I didn't train him to do that!

But here is my perspective. As already stated, when you first let him out of the crate, take him outside and stay out there until he does his business - peeing or pooping or both. Do NOT play, do not give hugs and kisses and whatever else you might do, until you have taken him outside and his has completed his duties. Where I may differ from others is this. I don't get too upset about accidents in the house. I clean them up and do not make a fuss. I find that by 12 weeks the accidents become less frequent and then after that they really disappear - as long as you aren't ignoring puppy and making sure they get their excercise. They don't want to pee or poop in the house and will naturally get it that outside is the place and the only place. I would only correct if they look at me and relieve themselves. If they are running around and playing and I don't see the oopsy - I can't blame them and I ignore it and clean up. With this action, I have never had a problem past 4 months and between 12 weeks and 16 weeks it was very rare.

Please dont' stress - it will only stress them. Its usually us that is screwing up :-)

[Kyoko]

I did the pretty much the samething Amanda did.
I kept Charlie on the drag leash for a long time. ( She is now 4 1/2 months)
We bought a cheap leash for her to drag around, and to be connected to one of us while she is "out of the area". This way, we were able to keep a close eye on her.
She is just now starting to ask to go outside IF she was in her crate.
She still have very few accident, but that's our fault for expecting more than she can do developmentally, and starting to lack on supervision.....
And when we catch her, we also pick her up and take her outside in the middle of pee...

[Deena Womack]

Cali still doesn't tell us when she needs to go potty. We have her on a schedule and she will dance around when we ask her if she needs to go outside. But if we waited for her to tell us I don't think she would. No accidents in the house, (knock on wood in a couple of months or more) but I really think it is because we are very diligent in taking her out the same times every day. We have the bells and she doesn't have any interest in them what so ever. Are we just lucky or what I am not sure...

[nonnie browne]

I agree with everyone else but would add one, maybe unexpected thing. At 10 1/2 weeks I would not expect a puppy to have any more access than what you have been giving - the kitchen and crate, unless he is tethered to you. Introduce him to the rest of the house on tether and as he gets older. Accident risk avoidance I think, is the best remedy. I also used poochie bells which worked like a charm and there are lots of posts here about how to do that. Good Luck!