I have a 10 month old dog. He is a healthy, and energetic puppy that have no problems with anything, until it comes to potty training. It has been 6 months since I have gotten him, and he seems to have no progress towards potty training. I praise him ALOT when I see him pottying outdoors, except that he has not effect towards praise. I try providing him with a treat everytime he potties outdoors, but then he begins to expect the treat afterwards. Whenever I come home, he seems to always have an accident inside. I have tried holding his head to the accident and firmly stating NO. It works for a few days, but then he goes back to his in-door massacre of wastes. The problems seems to be that I never catch him in the act. When I am home, he has full ability to go in and out, and he enjoys staying outside most of the time. I have heard of isolating him to one area of the house, but I feel great pity whenever I see him locked up in a small area. My puppy has also already learned to ring a bell whenever he wants to go outside. Holding his head to his waste seems to be the most effective solution so far, and he seems to learn from this gruesome lesson. Is there anything that I can do to ensure that he is fully potty trained? Also, how will I ever be sure that he is compltely potty trained?
Thanks so much.
Also, I do not want to use a crate for specific reasons.
Welcome to dogs, I am sorry you got so many rude answers. I do not use the command "no" it confuses puppies. "Know, no" come up in conversations and it just confuses them, try "shame" instead. Don’t punish the puppy and then take them outside. In your mind you are teaching potty training, in the puppies mind, they got punished and put outside, so in the puppies mind, outside becomes the place the puppy never wants to go again. If you don’t want to use a crate, use a child gate or x-pen, the crate is the fastest method and the puppy can see you, but there are other ways. You can limit the space the puppy has in the house, always supervise, and when the puppy can behave in that space, then it can graduate to more space, supervised still. You must supervise the puppy until it is fully potty trained, so there should be no reason the puppy can go potty if you are not looking, because you are supposed to be watching, not just for potty, but to house train the puppy too. Each puppy is different and they all train at their own pace, so this puppy might kill a pillow that 4 other dogs loved, or this puppy might decide you really do want your house decorated in toilet paper. I think your issue is that you are putting the puppy in charge of potty training too soon, and that you need to supervise the puppy until it is potty trained. Not forever, just until it is potty trained. Stick with the bell method, but still supervise the puppy. 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 poop until 10 minutes later, so wait for the poop. 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 poop, 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 using commands, the puppy won’t get confused when you are visiting someone, on vacation with you, or when you get to a new home. The command will tell them what you want them to do in an unfamiliar place. You might also want to use a leash method, so the puppy doesn’t sneak off, or for strange places.
*YELLING. It is not a good idea to "yell" or "spank" your puppy and then take them outside when they have an accident. They may get confused and think that going outside is punishment. While you want to correct them, if you are extreme, they may not want to go outside again. Shake it off, and resume your schedule. You have to keep it real. Puppies train at their own pace, but a puppy can only hold their potty for a few hours. A guide would be 1 hour for each month of age, plus 1 hour, so a three-month-old puppy should only be expected to hold their potty for 4 hours at most.
SOURCE: These tips, tricks, and ideas were contributed from many brilliant minds. Thanks for your help!
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