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Potty Training

1K views 5 replies 5 participants last post by  graficoartista31 
#1 ·
Ok, So far my 11 week old puppy is able to hold it while in the cage and goes potty outside on comand. He knows what to do when he is outside, but still doesnt know what to do inside. I will feed him and 15 mins later take him out. He plays and tends to hold it longer then the normal potty 15 min rule after play with my other dog. I try to time the pup to see how long he can hold it before needing to go out, and it is normally an hour. When he plays (which is ALOT when he is out of the cage - We have an adult dog that he plays with) he drinks alot of water...and tends to need to pee right after play. But can hold it throughout the play time (which could last an hour)

My question is this...

How do i get my dog to learn to go to the door or tell me he needs to go potty? Thats been my biggest hurdle. Like I said.. once he is outside, he knows what to do, but its trying to get him to link the door to going potty. Any suggestions? Or will this just happen in time?

Also, how will i know when to ween back the puppy's "HOLD IT" duriation? Should I test it and see how long it takes him to pee in the house?

On another note, I can sence sometimes when he is about to go and I hesitate to grab him so I can correct him when he mistakes so he knows potty inside is bad. Is this ok to do or is ANY potty in the house a negitive thing?
 
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#2 ·
Most puppies can hold it for a few hours at a time. I suggest every hour or so. Also, take him out when he wakes up after he eats and drinks.

If you know when he is going to "go" inside the house, then take him outside. I wouldn't wait till he messes in the house and then scold him.
 
#3 ·
The dogs I've had that "alerted" at the door were not trained to do that. All dogs will give you some little sign that they have to go once they get it in their heads that outside is the place to do it. But not all dogs do the same things. One of my dogs comes over and paws at my knee. The other one circles on the rug by the door and barks.

Until your puppy is more focused (much like kids they have so much stimulus when they are young, need to learn to focus on the important stuff-like potty-but that takes time, think about -or ask omeone with kids-how long it takes to fully potty train a child) maybe when he's a year or two old, depending on the dog, you will "see" his sign for being let out. It may help, or not (some do, some don't) that you have an older dog in the house who presumably lets you know when he needs to go out.

My theory is that I have my dogs on a regular schedule so they go out at about the same time every day. They get fed and sleep at the same time every day as well. So the structure builds a routine for them. On the occasion when the dog has to go out in between regular potty breaks, they have their ways of letting you know, when they're older. You're expecting a puppy to be a baby Einstein. He's not. You just took away his mother, his mother keeping his bottom end clean, nursing, playing with his littermates, and mother's milk. Now you tell him he has to eat off the floor from a bowl, eat whatever you put down (and it isn't mom's milk!), and he sleeps without his littermates, no one his size to play with, puppy games are a thing of the past. That is huge for an animal. Give it some time with all this training stuff.
 
#4 ·
It seems to work better if you enable your puppy to be "successful" outside as often as possible so that there are NO accidents in the house. This means taking him out often enough and at the "trigger" times you have already identified. Most housetraining literature seems to indicate that you should NOT chastise your pup if he goes indoors anyway, so it's useless as a training aid. If you do happen to catch him just starting to squat you can say NO firmly whilst picking him up to go to his outside potty spot, but if he's already gone it's best to ignore and clean up.
 
#6 · (Edited)
Wow,

Thank you for all your wonderful advise! I have also decided to attempt to schedule water. Normally I leave the water down all day since my older dog won't drink when we are absent (so he can hold it). I place the pup in his cage during the day so the only time i have an issue with the water is between 6-10pm. My pup plays alot and am not sure how to handle a water schedule if i was to try to set one up. When I get home at 6pm, I let my pup out, he pees, we then eat and he tends to need to go (or shows signs of needing to) about 15 mins after food intake. I feed him at 6am and at 6pm and have only one poop mistake on record. Otherwise he poops outside! Im so happy with this. So i assume scheduleing the water will help too. How should I schedule water? He doesnt seem to want to drink when he eats but runs to the bowl while he plays with my older pup. And if i was to have him drink after play, or at 8pm (if he was just chillin and had eaten at 6pm -a decent middle time and before bed) should he go out IMMEDIATELY after the drink or wait a certain amount of time? Lastly...He eats at 6am, is let out to play at 12pm and eats at 6pm. Those are the opportunities during the day to drink. Is that enough water? (That is if i can get him to drink it!) also... Should he have a water bottle in his cage? I used to use a bottle in fear he would be deprived of water and he hasnt had an accident, but feared he might so i removed it. Should I put it back?

Questions:
1. Water bottle in the cage during the day?
2. How do I schedule water?

Thanks!
I always appreciate everyones help! This new puppy always posses a new challenge! :)

Ashley
 
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