Is my dog housetrained?

[Lysette85]

Claussen (5months) hasn't had an accident in the house in weeks. We also have a 12 week old so doing individual housetraining is a little too time consuming for us...waiting for each dog to tell us when they have to go. We have bells on our door (they're being used more and more each day) but they'll also be used for other reasons. If they're hungry, they ring them, etc. What is the proper way to housetrain really? I was waiting for them to get uncomfortable or squat in the house and then startle them, making going in the house an unpleasant experience. But, is instilling the fear really necessary or should we just continue taking them out regularly for them to go? We never have accidents with our 12 week old, either, because they are learning from each other. But are they really learning to only go outside or is it just because they're smell is out there and they're going where they happened to be at the time?

We've discovered that giving treats for going potty outside was maybe a bad idea because they won't empty themselves, they'll hold it in so they can get more food out of it, and if we need to leave them for several hours they'll be uncomfortable.

 

[Justicemom]

NO instilling fear should never be an option when training a dog. Why set your puppy up for failure and correct it.

I take my puppies out everytime they awake up, after they eat, after they stop playing, when they are chewing and stop, when I see them sniff about looking like they may go and them every couple hours when I 'm home with the whether they ask or out. I ask them "do you have to go outside?" Go to the door with them and tap the door and then I leash them up and I take them out and praise the heck out of them when they do the right thing.

It will become a habit. When I have had no accidents for 6 months I consider them trained. If they do start to go, I give them a "wrong", pick them up and take them out and then praise when they do the right thing. The 6 month period starts over at that point.

Justice had 3 accidents(2 of them when he was 7 months old), Ember 1 , Diva 2 and Porter 1. With this method.

 

[Lysette85]

Yes I wouldn't ever want my dogs to be afraid of me. I don't make a sound that they associate with me, though, I've been using the popcan with coins in it and I throw it across the room to make a loud sound. I have never yelled at them. This is why they don't go behind a couch or something and do it out of sight of me. I never really thought about it as setting him up for failure, I just wanted him to see going outside as being a much better thing than going outside. If he starts to go potty indoors, it becomes a not-so-pleasant thing. I take him out and he goes potty and he gets a party every time. As soon as he finishes going he runs up to me for his party haha.

My only concern was if you always take them out after meals, playing, etc (which is why we never have accidents) do they ever learn that going in the house isn't okay? I don't really wait until they squat to take them out...they usually would let me know they had to go. The only time they'd actually squat is when they were very young and didn't know they'd have to go until they already were going. (Even my 12 week old is past that). They give me signals now. I've been trying to wait for the signals or ringing the bells before I take them out....even if I know they have to go. Just so that I can go upstairs and do things I need to do, but still know they will tell me they have to go instead of just assuming I'm a psychic and just know they have to go. How long did it take you to housetrain your dogs?

 

[Justicemom]

Yes they do learn if you take they out that they can't go it the house. It becomes a habit and dogs are really creatures of habit. My dogs would rather die then go in the house.

With baby puppies and I consider a 12 wks old and 5.5 month babies. I would put them in a crate or ex pen if I couldn't watch them with atleast one eye. It takes time from them to learn to give signals thats why you pair taking them out with a signal of your own , ring the bell, tap the door, use a word like "outside" They will learn.

I don't consider any dog housetrained until they have had 6 months of no mistakes. With that being said:

Justice was pretty much trained when I got him from his breeder at 11wks. He had 1 accident the first week and then none until 7 months when his hormones started kicking in.

Ember had 1 at 10 wks and no others her whole life.

Diva had 2 accidents at 8 and 9 wks and none so far.

Porter, we started training at 4 wks(he is Diva's son). He had 1 accident at 5 months that's it. His 2 sister's went to their new homes at 11wks -their new owners report no accidents ever. They were thrilled.

I took on a JRT mix rescue at 1yr who people claimed could not be house trained so that's why she lived her first 1 yr outdoors. I trained her in 2 days.

The key is never give them a oppotunity to go in the house ever. Waiting gives them that oppotunity if you miss the signals.

 

[Lysette85]

True true true. Right now Claussen my 5 month old is allowed a bit more freedom than the 12 week old Little Bear. I have more trust in him considering he let himself out of his crate somehow this morning and didn't go! This may have been because I let him out at 4am when I woke up for a minute. So he made it till 8am without going potty for however long he was out of his crate. I was so happy to see that. Other than that, if my dogs had just gone potty I am okay with running upstairs to grab something without my eye on them. But Little Bear is never left to his own devices for more than 3 mins. They usually follow me everywhere anyways so it's not an issue too much. Little Bear is in his crate much more than out of it at this stage, since he's doing most of his growing and needs a lot more sleep than Claussen. So he's learning to hold it that way as well.

My vet last month said of Claussen: "How's housetraining going? You've got to be getting close". And Claussen was not close at all! I began to worry if he was going to take forever to train. But I just remembered that we got him at 11 weeks old from a breeder that used a "pottybox", that only was used 50% of the time so maybe that's why he was more difficult to housetrain. But he's really come along lately. And Little Bear is picking up on this very fast as well. I've never heard of puppies 8 weeks old being housetrained completely that young! That's amazing! Do you leave them out while you're not home?

 

[Sumac3890]

I like Dr. Shelli took mine out after meals, playtime, naps. It has been 14 plus years for Maggie but I do think she was done in 2 weeks. Katie only had 3 accidents and Zak was super easy, he was done in a few weeks time. He would start to wander and I knew he had to pee. He really does not go to the door but I know his movements.

Praise the heck of them when they do their business outside and rush them out the door if you catch them doing it inside.

 

[Lysette85]

Hey Sumac, yes as I said a little further up I have a little party every time they go outside. They've actually become excited about going outside because of that now. They'll jump around and wag their tails if I say the word "potty". They're so cute. I just can't give them treats for going outside anymore because they'll only go just a little bit in order to get their treats. So I took that away but still praise them and they are back to emptying themselves entirely now.