House training

[Teddy560]

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How long did it take to house train ypur pups? Teddy is 14 weeks and has consistently been taken out very regularly and praised/treats. He's still nowhere near to being done though. We've had him for 7 weeks. Do you think I'm doing something wrong?

 

[leashedForLife]

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How much of the house is he allowed in?
Often puppies who lag in housetraining have not one, but 2 issues: 1, they're not being taken out when THEY need to go, & 2, they're unsupervised too much of the time, with too much space, & given privileges they haven't earned, yet.

At 14-WO, he can wait a max of 3 + 1 = 4-hrs between potty-trips, NOT COUNTING triggered trips - only scheduled ones. // The rule is [Age in mos] + 1 = max-hrs between potty-trips, of course, this assumes that the pup is taken out ON LEASH every time, by an adult who will wait patiently, monitor the pup, observe how much they void if any & of what, & make notes of the quantity, & any comments.

Triggered trips are in addition to scheduled trips - triggers include:
- wake from sleep, including naps
- a meal or a large drink
- an active play session
- an exciting event.

After any trigger, an unhousetrained pup or dog needs to go out immediately on-leash to potty, with a grown-up to watch & wait, & note the amount & type of waste voided [if any], & any worthwhile details. // If more than ONE person is taking the pup out, U really need a simple log, with columns listing day/ date, time, liquid / solid, how much [estimated volume], & any comments - straining to defecate, pink in the urine [blood], nonfoods in the feces [plastic, paper, ___ ].
Post the log someplace easy to use, & attach a pen on a string to the log so it won't wander away. The 'frig door, the inside of the main entry / exit door or the back-door to the yard, etc.

Unhousetrained dogs can only be loose in the house immediately-after a successful potty-trip, for 20- to 30-mins max, IN THE SAME ROOM & under the direct gaze of a grown-up... who's not staring at the telly, while the puppy wanders out of the tiled lounge, & into the wall-to-wall carpeted bedroom.
If U can't keep sufficient attention on the pup, "wear" her or him on a waist-leash; any 6-ft leash can be made into a waist-leash by sliding the wrist-loop over a belt onto the side of the belt, then feed the belt thru the rest of the belt-loops & buckle it. Voila! - the dog goes everywhere U go, & s/he cannot get more than 6-ft away.

When the pup is unsupervised, they need, preferably & IME, an airline-approved shipping crate that will fit them as an adult dog [which becomes a safe way to travel by car, plane, train, etc, for life], or a safe puppy-proofed area with an easy-clean floor... which is preferably to be avoided, as it gives the pup plenty of extra space to pee or poop over ======> there, & lie down somewhere else --- not in the least inconvenienced by their own waste. Yuck! - pups in confined spaces instinctually do not want to soil their sleeping area, & this helps enormously to encourage self-control ASAP.
[Puppies reared in industrial-scale breeding farms will lose their inhibitions about sleeping in their own sh!t or peeing wherever they happen to be, in sheer self-defense - they're often kept in very small cages as a litter, with their dams, & mom & her pups have no choice but to go where they are. They're trapped.
Pups sold from cube-cages in mall pet-shops will similarly lose their instinct for cleanliness. // So do former puppy-mill dams & sires. Housetraining these dogs takes phenomenal patience, & many need belly-bands for Ms or diapers for Fs, for life, whenever they're unsupervised & out of a crate.]

Taking a pup or dog to a place where they've voided B4 also helps - & don't play with them, chatter at them, stroll around, etc; STAND STILL & wait. Have yer pea-sized or half-pea sized tidbits in a bag in yer pocket, ready to deliver.
Even overnight, have them in the pocket of the coat or robe U'll wear, or grab the bag from the 'frig on the way out, if it's something that needs to be kept chilled.
YOUNG PUPS need to be carried from the crate outdoors, then leashed & set down; carrying them temporarily shuts off the waterworks. If U let them out of the crate, a 9 to 10-WO pup is likely to toddle 3 to 4 steps, squat, & pee - so pick 'em up.

When the pup goes out for a potty-trip, s/he is always on leash, & an adult stays with them the entire time; they are not "let out" solo, as then U have no idea if they voided, let alone how much! - U need to KNOW they're empty, & WHEN they're empty.
Also, U need to take along the tidbits U will use to reward every stool & each pee - the pup should be praised warmly & quietly as soon as they *begin* to void, & as they get up from squatting, have that goody right under their nose!
It needs to be delivered on the spot, not later in the house - they'll never make the connection, that way.

When i'm housetraining a pup [or dog], they sleep in their crate in my bedroom, within arm's reach of the bed; that way, if they fuss or don't feel well, i'm right there. I also set my alarm for 3-AM every night until the pup is 15 to 16-WO, assuming i started housetraining when they were 8-WO; for pups 5 to 6-MO, or adult dogs, whether i set the alarm depends on the individual dog - some need it, some don't.

For pups & dogs alike, "clean & dry overnight" comes B4 clean & dry daytimes, as days are when all those triggers occur - meals, play, drinks, visitors, & so on. // Most pups at 6-MO are able to wait 6 to 7-hrs during the day, but they can't wait for a full 8-hrs PLUS commute time; that's an unfair expectation, & can cause UTIs & other medical problems for the dog.
If U can't get home at a reasonable time to get the pup out [or the dog], hire someone to do it, or ask a neighbor or family member who's nearby to help - swap dog-minding tasks with someone, they let Ur dog out weekdays, U take their dog out for bike-jogs on the weekend, or something similar.

Dogs can get themselves outside to toilet; being there to get them out, or having a proxy get them out, is part of our responsibility as owners. // Pet-flaps won't work with puppies, they need the reassurance of a grown-up, esp'ly after dark or in the early morning, AND --we humans need to see that they've voided, & what they've voided -- there's simply no way to avoid consistently-leashed potty-trips for puppies.
ALL ERRORS during housetraining are human failures; the dog is never to blame. // Pups or dogs must never be punished or scolded for voiding indoors when we fail... to supervise, confine, restrict access, get them out in a timely fashion, provide them with apropos substrate, etc.

Error-free housetraining is possible; it takes planning & may require outside help, but it can be done.
- terry

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[Violet Turner]

About 3 months

 

[Mad Murphy]

Murphy came fully house trained at 8 weeks... I know he was 1 in a million. But his breeder had done a really good job and had the pups in a utility room with a pen added at the back door so she could train them to go outside to toilet.
By the time he came to us he would just go to the garden door if he needed to go out.

 

[JoanneF]

Some dogs do take longer than others but essentially toilet training comes tohether when 2 things happen - the ABILITY to hold the toilet, along with the DESIRE to hold it in order to earn the lovely reward he will get for doing so.

Ideally you want him to not be in a position where he needs to toilet before you have him outdoors, so that every toilet is outside. So set him up to succeed by taking him out even more than he needs and be with him as delivering the reward has to be instantaneous. There is no point rewarding as he comes back in as the association 'outside toilet = lovely reward' isn't formed.

Some people find having a special reward, only used for outside toilets, is helpful. And a different one for pees and poos.

Indoors, clean the area he has used with an enzymatic cleaner to remove any trace of smell that might attract him back to the spot. And enzymatic cleaners need to be left for about 10 minutes before being wiped up to properly work.

The bad weather over the winter may have been a factor too, making him less keen to go outdoors. Spring is coming, so hopefully things will get easier!

 

[Teddy560]

I'd say he was 70% dry in the house. He doesn't have free roam and I'm at home with him all day. He sometimes goes to work with my husband and is clean there too. He's just started being dry at night. Weather may well play a part - he hates getting wet. Hopefully he won't be too long now.

 

[Teddy560]

My childhood family dog is a sheltie (now 12) who lives with my mum and she was soooo easy to train. I think she was done by about 10 weeks.

 

[JoanneF]

There is a saying - whenever you think you have had the last accident, there is always one more! But he will learn, hang in there.

 

[Biker John]

My childhood family dog is a sheltie (now 12) who lives with my mum and she was soooo easy to train. I think she was done by about 10 weeks.

Teddy560. In my experience different breeds, and of course cross breeds vary in how easy they are. Shelties are brilliant, virtually training themselves. (and yes we have had quite a few).

 

[Teddy560]

Shelties are amazing dogs. One of the reasons we got a cocker this time is because when I researched them theu were apparently easy to house train he's a good boy and think he's gettig there slowly.

 

[JudyN]

It just occurred to me that children differ enormously in the time it takes to housetrain - I mean toilet train - them so it's to be expected that dogs should be similar.

 

[Teddy560]

Definitely I have a 3.5 and 1.5 yr old who sometimes like to forget they're trained

 

[leashedForLife]

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to complicate things, puppies lack operating sphincter muscles on their bladder & bowel until they're 12-WO... so while they can WANT to "hold it" before 3-MO, they lack the physical equipment, at that age.

Sphincters are ring-shaped muscles like purse-strings, that draw up to close - in humans, each eye & our mouth also has a sphincter muscle; puckering yer lips to give a kiss is the oral sphincter in action.

Even after pups have working sphincters at 12-WO, they must learn what a "full bladder" or "full bowel" feel like, & build the needed muscle-tone to retain urine or feces - but until they are 12-WO & a bit beyond, 99.9% of pups need scheduled potty-trips, at 1st every 2 hours PLUS unscheduled immediate triggered trips, & then, as they get older, the scheduled potty-trips can become less frequent.

By 15-WO, most pups are dry overnight, when there are few triggers to prompt their bladder or bowel [meals usually prompt immediate pee & then about 45-mins to an hour later, a BM - but most folks don't feed their pups in the middle of the night, nor do we usually get out of bed to engage a puppy in active play, LOL].
Feeding a pup early-enuf in the morning that there's an hour between their meal & our departure gives them time to get that BM out, if that's their bowel schedule - most dogs have at least one BM daily, some have 2 daily, & they typically have a pattern of BM timing, it might be early-evenings when U walk them after getting home, it might be after breakfast; it might be 45-mins after their dinner, the 2nd meal of the day.
By 6-MO, most pups can "hold it" for 6 to 7-hrs during the day, assuming that they are empty when they're confined & we leave for work. // Having someone stop by to get the pup out for a potty trip 4 to 5 hours into their long day on working days is a Good Idea - it breaks up the boredom, lets them empty their bladders, & prevents a loss of housetraining should their sphincters give up the struggle.

- terry

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[Teddy560]

Thanks for that info Terry. I think he's getting there now.