I have spent a few hours reading previous posts but i can not find a question like the one i have. I have an 11 week old Siberian Husky. Every time i take her outside to potty, she goes pee or poo, but she also pees and poos in the house as well. its as though she has no concept of only going pee or poo outside. I have not tried to crate her but i am starting to consider the idea. I watch her as close as I can when she is in the house but she is a sneaky little thing and i constantly find tiny little puddles everywhere. Am i gonna have to take her out every 30 minutes until it finally sinks in that she is not allowed to do her business in the house? Is it unrealistic to expect and 11 week old puppy to be trainable at her age? Any help would be appreciated.
yet another potty training question
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An 11 week old puppy has NO control over their bladder or bowel. A very general/loose rule to follow is a puppy can hold its waste for ONE hour for every month that it is old(it varies per dog and depends on size).
You can also try tethering her to you (tying her leash to your belt or ankle or something) that way you 100% always know where she is and can catch her in the act and take her outside to finish and then praise and treat her for doing something you like (basically throw a party for her for going potty outside). NEVER punish her for going in the house.
If you want her to learn not to go in the you'll have to take her out every half hour to an hour for now.
11 week old puppies are very trainable - but expecting an 11 week old puppy to be house trained is unrealistic. She won't be fully house trained until probably 4 (at the absolute earliest) months on up (with constant training and through your commitment/perseverance you can look at the average puppy being house trained at 6 months since they have the ability to control when they eliminate).
Well, I am on the same boat as you. My pug has 8 weeks of age. However I have been adamant about potty training using positive reinforcement. What my method is is giving it controlled food and water. Making a schedule when your pup will be having food and water.
Now I don't know about your daily routine but I will tell you mine: wake up and take the pup to potty using a leash. I found the leash was a helpful tool to make the pup do where I need him/her to go. Second it introduces a very important part of dog owning, leash and collar at a very early stage. He eats at 7:00, then at 2:00 and last at 8:00. I make sure he gets a lot of water and food before 9:00PM so he can sleep through the night. He gets a daily 2 hours of exercise and 1 hour of mental training (sit, down, etc.)
I guess my second tip is get a crate. It doesn't has to be anything fancy, I have a laundry bin for my little guy and he's happy in it. On the long term you might wanna get something a bit more "secure" to avoid her from jumping out of it. Now one of my early mistakes is leaving him in the crate almost all the time so he would tell me when he needed to go potty. At first it's highly effective and I did got him out to do some exercise (2 hours daily). But in the end he was restless inside so I decided to have him outside the crate after 2 weeks of him telling me he wanted to go potty. Now he kinda gets it because he goes for the door when he needs to go potty, but you have to be quite vigilant still. I would hardly say he's housetrained but I am making progress.
Dog training can start as early as 8 weeks but don't expect fully trained dogs as Niraya states. Early training is highly recommendable. Since I started my training Toby has yet to pee or poop in my home.
Now I don't know about your daily routine but I will tell you mine: wake up and take the pup to potty using a leash. I found the leash was a helpful tool to make the pup do where I need him/her to go. Second it introduces a very important part of dog owning, leash and collar at a very early stage. He eats at 7:00, then at 2:00 and last at 8:00. I make sure he gets a lot of water and food before 9:00PM so he can sleep through the night. He gets a daily 2 hours of exercise and 1 hour of mental training (sit, down, etc.)
I guess my second tip is get a crate. It doesn't has to be anything fancy, I have a laundry bin for my little guy and he's happy in it. On the long term you might wanna get something a bit more "secure" to avoid her from jumping out of it. Now one of my early mistakes is leaving him in the crate almost all the time so he would tell me when he needed to go potty. At first it's highly effective and I did got him out to do some exercise (2 hours daily). But in the end he was restless inside so I decided to have him outside the crate after 2 weeks of him telling me he wanted to go potty. Now he kinda gets it because he goes for the door when he needs to go potty, but you have to be quite vigilant still. I would hardly say he's housetrained but I am making progress.
Dog training can start as early as 8 weeks but don't expect fully trained dogs as Niraya states. Early training is highly recommendable. Since I started my training Toby has yet to pee or poop in my home.
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An 11 week old puppy just doesn't have the muscle control to hold it reliably, so yeah, it's unrealistic to expect her to be potty trained right now. As to her being "sneaky", that's your fault. A puppy that age should not be free roaming the house. She should be tethered to you by a short leash, in a crate, or in a small, penned off area.
Just remember, this too shall pass. She won't be a baby forever and soon enough, she'll be old enough to hold it for a while.
Just remember, this too shall pass. She won't be a baby forever and soon enough, she'll be old enough to hold it for a while.
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Crates make potty training really easy. Though, at the same time, she should not be in the crate ALL OF THE TIME (one school of thought is that during potty training the puppy should be in it's crate at all times unless it's out to potty, I think this is wrong). Still, it does help. However, if she's never been in a crate before be prepared for some crying. It's painful and something you'll have to wait out but it's worth it.
Yes, maybe even 25 minutes. This is what I did with my dog. I only had two accidents and those were my fault, I forgot to set the timer.
Yes it is. She is a BABY and will be for quite a while. Expecting too much from her will only lead to frustration.
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I potty trained all 3 of mine without using a crate. Well, I used a crate, but not for potty training. I only had them in the crate when I couldn't physically supervise them, like when I needed to do laundry, or shower, or cook, or if I needed to run to the store.
Otherwise, I had the puppies out and about with me, in my sight, with my eyes glued on them. YES, it's a bit boring at times, and a hassle, because your time really isn't your own. BUT, it does get the potty training done and it's not forever.
If you have your eyes on her 100% of the time she is awake, you will see the signs she starts to give when she needs to pee/poop, like excessive sniffing, circling, being a bit agitated, etc. And, then you can rush her out. Also, if she starts to squat and pee/poop, you can interrupt her, and rush her out.
So, it's really all about preventing accidents. I am a teacher, and we have a term, "teachable moments", which is when a kid asks a question that spurs discussion and gives you a perfect opportunity to teach something you needed to teach anyway. So, my reason for NOT using crates for potty training is, if a puppy is out and about with you at all times, it gives you lots of "teachable moments" when you can redirect your puppy to going OUTSIDE to pee/poop!
Otherwise, I had the puppies out and about with me, in my sight, with my eyes glued on them. YES, it's a bit boring at times, and a hassle, because your time really isn't your own. BUT, it does get the potty training done and it's not forever.
If you have your eyes on her 100% of the time she is awake, you will see the signs she starts to give when she needs to pee/poop, like excessive sniffing, circling, being a bit agitated, etc. And, then you can rush her out. Also, if she starts to squat and pee/poop, you can interrupt her, and rush her out.
So, it's really all about preventing accidents. I am a teacher, and we have a term, "teachable moments", which is when a kid asks a question that spurs discussion and gives you a perfect opportunity to teach something you needed to teach anyway. So, my reason for NOT using crates for potty training is, if a puppy is out and about with you at all times, it gives you lots of "teachable moments" when you can redirect your puppy to going OUTSIDE to pee/poop!
Well, we bought a crate today for "Diva". It seems to be going ok so far. Diva will go into the crate with no issue and will stay in it easily as long as my wife or I stay there with the door open and play with her. As soon as i close the door she starts to bite on the door and bark and growl at it. I am afraid that if we move to quickly with closing her in it she will start to hate it and not want to go into it at all. On the upside, she has not had an "accident" in the house for about 6 hours now! What kind of time frame should I work with on shutting her in the crate? I really appreciate all the responses that i have gotten so far.
"Diva"
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"Diva"
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Here's the deal (well, really just my own opinion!), if you are worried about making her hate the crate, and want to go about it slowly (I agree with you on this) then by the time you get her accustomed to her crate, she may not really need it anymore as far as potty training goes!
But, using a crate is good for other reasons, like if you need to crate her for a procedure or surgery someday at the vets. Or, if you need to board her and she will spend time in the crate/kennel at the boarding facility. Or, if you need to use it during traveling.
Anyway, back to your question: I would start by putting a yummy treat, like a frozen, stuffed kong, in the crate, and putting her in the crate, shutting the door for 5 minutes, and leaving the room. See how that goes. Having a yummy treat that will take awhile to devour may keep her occupied. Try doing this 5 minute routine as many times throughout the day as you can, so it seems normal to her. If 5 minutes is no problem for her, try 10 minutes or 15. She might do better than you think, if she has the kong.
As for using the crate for potty training, a good compromise is to either have her under your direct supervision or in the crate, so she has no freedom and have an accident without you seeing it.
But, using a crate is good for other reasons, like if you need to crate her for a procedure or surgery someday at the vets. Or, if you need to board her and she will spend time in the crate/kennel at the boarding facility. Or, if you need to use it during traveling.
Anyway, back to your question: I would start by putting a yummy treat, like a frozen, stuffed kong, in the crate, and putting her in the crate, shutting the door for 5 minutes, and leaving the room. See how that goes. Having a yummy treat that will take awhile to devour may keep her occupied. Try doing this 5 minute routine as many times throughout the day as you can, so it seems normal to her. If 5 minutes is no problem for her, try 10 minutes or 15. She might do better than you think, if she has the kong.
As for using the crate for potty training, a good compromise is to either have her under your direct supervision or in the crate, so she has no freedom and have an accident without you seeing it.
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