I need help house training my puppy.?
11 Feb 2010
I have a puppy that is just over four months old. She weighs about 4 pounds. When we first brought her home about a month ago, she always went on the pee pads. Now she goes just about anywhere. I have a crate for her and she even goes in there. She doesn’t whine or cry to get out when she’s in there at night. I take her for walks constantly at all the times everyone says you should. I’ve read a lot of the questions and answers that people have posted about house training puppies and we’ve pretty much tried it all. Any suggestions? Thanks for helping me out.
I think your first mistake was getting her to use pee pads instead of housetraining her right from the word ‘go’ .
You will have to go back to basics with her. That means treating her like a new puppy. As soon as she wakes up in the morning you need to take her out to a designated place in your garden and tell her to ‘go potty’ or whatever phrase you wish to use. Keep her on a long leash and let her sniff around for a bit. Once she performs tell her what a good girl she is, maybe give her a little treat, and take her straight indoors. She must learn that she is not out there to play around and you must stay with her to teach her why she is out there.
If you do this after sleep, meals and play time she will soon get the message and will start going towards the door every time she needs to relieve herself. You have to be vigilant and be patient but it should not take too long to get her housetrained.
Just remember that puppies have no real control over their bodily functions until they are about 4/5 months so you are bound to get the odd ‘accident’. Don’t scold the puppy for this.
It is usually not the pup’s fault but because you have either left her alone too long or haven’t noticed her going towards the door when she needs to go outside.
Put some time in with her now and you will be rewarded with a clean puppy in no time.
Good luck with her.
2 Responses
2010 Feb 11
I think your first mistake was getting her to use pee pads instead of housetraining her right from the word ‘go’ .
You will have to go back to basics with her. That means treating her like a new puppy. As soon as she wakes up in the morning you need to take her out to a designated place in your garden and tell her to ‘go potty’ or whatever phrase you wish to use. Keep her on a long leash and let her sniff around for a bit. Once she performs tell her what a good girl she is, maybe give her a little treat, and take her straight indoors. She must learn that she is not out there to play around and you must stay with her to teach her why she is out there.
If you do this after sleep, meals and play time she will soon get the message and will start going towards the door every time she needs to relieve herself. You have to be vigilant and be patient but it should not take too long to get her housetrained.
Just remember that puppies have no real control over their bodily functions until they are about 4/5 months so you are bound to get the odd ‘accident’. Don’t scold the puppy for this.
It is usually not the pup’s fault but because you have either left her alone too long or haven’t noticed her going towards the door when she needs to go outside.
Put some time in with her now and you will be rewarded with a clean puppy in no time.
Good luck with her.
References :
Golden Retriever Breeder
Had dogs all my life
Own 8 Goldens
2010 Feb 11
Consistency is the key. One month is not very long, especially if you’ve been switching between methods.
Is she peeing more than usual? Or is she just not going on the pee pads anymore? If she’s peeing more than usual, you’ll need to have her checked out by a vet, she might have a urinary tract infection.
I’m not keen on pee pads, as some dogs will gets confused and think it’s okay to go inside the house.
Otherwise, my suggestion would be to clean all the places she’s peed inside with a cleaner that removes organic smell, get rid of the pee pads and stick to the regular house-breaking training - that is:
- Watch her like a hawk.
- Take her out everytime she’s slept, played or eaten.
- Take her out when she starts sniffing around.
- Stay outside with her until she’s done her business. Praise her like silly when she goes outside.
- Never punish her for going inside. If you catch her in the act, take her outside. If you’re too late, simply clean up the mess with a cleaner that removes organic smell.
The important thing is consistency and patience. It can take anywhere between 10 days - 4 months to housebreak a pup (assuming you start when the pup is 8 weeks old), and that’s when you’re not switching between methods. If she’s not housebroken by the time she’s 6 months old, she needs to go for a check-up to make sure that she doesn’t have a physical problem.
References :
My first dog was house-broken within 14 days by using the above method.