Housebreaking, what's going wrong here?

Question

Hi Everybody,

So, I know things have been topsy turvy. Last time I posted, I'd only had my little dude for about 2 weeks from the shelter before family showed up with 3 kids. He was great with the kids, had very few 'accidents' after day one. He then spent 4 days with a goof friend while I was out of town, she only had two incidents which she felt were entirely predictable. So, we've had him for about a month now. I took him out of his crate last night after I came back home, he was in it for about an hour and a half. Took him outside to do his business, he took a LONG wee. Brought him back in. 25 minutes later, I'm in bed and he's in the room with me, squats down and pees, right in front of me. A small wee but a wee none the less. I jumped up, said NO and took him immediately outside.... what's wrong with this picture? He's about 5.5 months old... marking? Or something else? I'm totally confused by this and it's not the first time. Any ideas? Thanks!

Answer 1

Well your problem is he is just a puppy.  His bladder isn't grown yet, and he is probably dealing with the stresses of children and your friend.  He will not be fully potty trained until 1-year-old, so you have a ways to go yet.  Here are some tips, use what helps.

I use a crate* to potty train with, but only for potty training and then I break it down and store it.  I put blankets and a small food and water dish in the crate.  Dogs don't potty where they eat and sleep.  When they are first little, I only expect them to hold their potty for 4 hours, and then 6 hours, then 8 hours and so on.  So when they are first little, I set a timer or alarm clock to wake myself up at night to take them *out.  I only allow my puppy in the bedroom* or the living room, only one room at a time.  They have to graduate to more space.  If I allow them to have full run of the house, it will overwhelm them.  I take them out the same door each time.  I tie a dinner bell to the door handle.  Do not use a jingle bell as they could get their toe caught in it.  So when they are little, I ring the bell for them, and then open the door to go *outside to potty.  When they get bigger, I take their paw and whack the bell and open the door to go potty.  Eventually getting to the place where the puppy will ring the bell and let me know when they need to go potty.  Dogs want to please you, so it is your job to let them know what behaviors please you and what doesn't.  So when my puppy goes potty, I give her a treat*, and clap, and make a fuss and praise her.  So she learns that going potty outside makes me happy.  If she has an accident, make a disgust sound like “tsst”  and take her out right away.  I never yell* or spank* my puppies.  Take them out when they first wake up, after they eat or drink, before nap, finish romping, when their activities change, or when they are sniffing around. Some puppies go pee right away, but may not go p**p until 10 minutes later, so wait for the p**p.  I have a little play time here, because sometimes I think they are done, and they are not.  Puppies train at their own pace.  While I may have a puppy that hasn't had an accident in several weeks, I don't let my guard down.  I don't expect my puppies to be "fully potty trained" until one-year-old.  If they have a setback, shake it off, and start over.  I only have my puppies in the crate when I am not watching them.  When I am sleeping, cooking, ironing, doing chores, basically when I am not watching her.  All other times, she is out of the crate practicing being a "big girl."  This is the time I train her how to behave in the house.  So we are practicing "no barking", 'no biting", "no jumping", and "don't eat the furniture."  I also have to practice "playing inside" so she doesn't knock over things.  You must keep the puppy in sight when they are little because they don’t know the difference between newspaper and carpet, and you don’t want them sneaking off and getting into trouble.   Some puppies can sleep through the night around 3-months-old, but their bladder is grown around 6-months-old.



REVISIONS:



*I use a crate to train with.  It is the method I prefer, compared to other methods I have tried.  I noticed that if they are in the crate, while I am doing chores, they are o.k., because the crate allows them to see me and be re-assured.  The crate can also be a comfort when stored in the basement for dogs who live in areas where thunderstorms and tornados are an issue. .  However, use the method that works best for you.....a laundry basket, a cardboard box, a woof-woof house, x-pen, child gates, whatever works for you.



*Outside, pee pad, litter box, whichever method you are using.   When the puppy is first little, keep the pee pad, litter box near the food and water dish, so the puppy can eat and drink, and then go potty.  You can move it away as they get older.  The pee pad has a scent that smells and initiates potty.  Sometimes a pee pad makes a sound that scares some puppies, so you might want to use a litter box if that happens.  The pee pad allows a puppy to walk around, but a litter box keeps the puppy in one place.

*Bedrooms, I use the bedroom and living room for training, because it works for me.  Choose rooms that work for you, but watch for rooms that are damp, or drafty.  While my puppies sleep in the bedroom during training, once they are trained, I let them sleep where they want to.  They don't have to sleep in the bedroom forever.

*Treats.  While I use treats for training, you don't have to.  I like Charlee Bears for training (a little cracker for a little mouth,) I use them for training, but once they are trained, I cut back on them.



*Some puppies will go potty in the same spot each time.  Some puppies have to be told to go potty.  A command like "go out" for pee, or "go finish" for p**p, might work for you, keep saying “go finish” until the puppy poops.  This is a good thing to train if you travel with your dogs.  By

Answer 2

Piddle Pads!!  I swear by them and this is best trick I've ever used to potty train dogs it's very simple

First I don't know if you have two story house if you do don't have him upstairs if you don't have a two story house (or place you live in) then it's easier.

Keep piddle pads in the rooms you are in like living room bedroom etc...most are scented to attract them to pee on that pad if not get a spray that scents it.

Once he is in the habit of peeing on the pad then start moving them towards the door you want him to use to go outside.  Don't move it too far at a time.

Once you have that pad by the door then watch him closely every time he goes to the door to use the pad open the door and have him go out.

What this is doing is training your dog to go to the door to go outside and pee.

Once you have him always going outside remove the pad.  Bingo now he knows to go to the door and outside to pee.

Pads protect your carpets make sure you completely remove all accidents and their scent otherwise he'll use the same spots if needed and he has a favorite spot put a pad over that spot then move it towards the door.

Good luck

Answer 3

He may have just been mad because you locked him in the cage..  

Answer 4

my pup also understands that she should do it outside, but also have accidents.they are just not in the stage of life when they consider their peeing serious.i mean, they will do it outside for most of the times, but if they feel lazy enough, they will not bother to walk outside. but they will soon come to the stage when they will more likely hold their bladder till it burst then pee inside. my neighbor dog scratches on door when wants outside, my other neighbors dog hold as much as she can, and if she pissed inside once in this year it was coz she REALLY had no other choice, and dog mostly feel bad for doing that and dont need extra yelling in that stage of life.

Answer 5

Some dogs are easier to train than others. But nonetheless he's still a puppy. Training takes time and consistency.

Did you notice if he drank water during that 25 minutes and how much? He could have drank too much water and had to go again.

Looks like you are doing all the right things so just keep it up. It'll get easier as those bladder muscles develop.

Answer 6

First and foremost, never rub the dog's nose in its mess! It is negative reinforcement that they will not understand. Secondly, it takes time and consistency. There are going to be messes.

The best advice that I can give for house breaking a puppy has several steps. First of all, when you take them out to p**p and pee, have a command for them to "do their dooty" (This is what I use, many trainers use "outside", but you can really use any command so long as you are absolutely consistent). When you take them out to go, always walk them on a leash and give them the command. Once they go, you say "GOOD, Outside!"

Obviously when they go inside the house, if you catch them in the act say "Bad Dog!" and take them out right away. If you come across the mess later, just clean it up and don't get angry with the dog. They wouldn't understand why you were mad anyway. I highly recommend using some sort of odor neutralizing spray cleaner because smelling their prior accidents will only encourage more.

The next step is to get your dogs on a fairly strict routine. Feedings at 6AM and 6PM. Water dish up at 7PM. Walks at 5:30AM, 12PM, 5:30PM, and 9PM. Keeping this sort of routine will greatly help the dog to understand when and where it is appropriate to p**p and pee. Picking the water dish up at a set time is also beneficial because they won't have much liquid to expel during the night.

Another very important thing to do, is to only give your puppy limited access to your house. Puppies sleep about 16 hours a day since they are growing so fast. This means that keeping them in a crate, even when you are home, isn't a bad idea. If you want them to be out and able to romp and play, put up baby gates so they can't leave your sight. I also keep a leash on my puppies inside. This 1) keeps them in my sight, 2) gets them used to being on a leash, and 3) makes me the center of their world. It does wonders for house breaking, building a communicative bond between you and your dog, and keeping them out of trouble.

Another very important thing to remember is that when a puppy gets excited from play or exercise it causes them to use the bathroom! So if you play a little tug, fetch, or do a little clicker training with your pup, take them right out to go potty.  

Answer 7

Just takes time. Training always does, if you catch him in the act, then good. Otherwise he won't know what he's doing. You may have to put his nose close to it till he smells it then tell him: 'No no! Bad bad!' Eventually it will learn that if it goes pee or p**p in the house it is no no bad bad, lol. Took a lot of time with my last three pups too.