Hello. We are the proud owners of a lovely new puppy, born on 16 Nov. 2017 so about 8-9 weeks old. He has been with us since Fri 12 Jan 2018. So, we are diligently House Training our little boy and on most occasions we have success. We have been reading up on House & Crate training and wonder if we are doing it wrong. So far we have been taking him outside regularly to have a wee & a poo, and he has been doing well, naturally we have had the odd accident indoors. We seem to be unable to tell when he needs to go, there are no signs from him, i.e. sniffing the floor, circling etc, although we had one major breakthrough, just the one, when he went & sat by the back door on Thursday 18 Jan asking to go out. We are just confused by the crate House Training. If we use the crate for this purpose, is he not just spending all day in his crate, given that he never wets or soils his bed at night, and we have read that this is a good thing. Wonder if we are not doing it right in the day time or should we just carry on as we are, taking him out at regular intervals? Anyone have any suggestions or help regarding crate House Training? Many thanks,
Hello and welcome to the forum. It sounds like you're doing everything right. When the crate is used in toilet training, it's just to pop your pup into if you bring him back into the house after a wee trip where he hasn't performed - that is, you suspect he needs to go, but he has been distracted maybe and just hasn't done it. So, you'd pop him in his crate for five minutes and then try again. The reason being he probably won't go while in his crate and it stops the whole "puppy goes out, then comes in and immediately pees on your floor" scenario. But it sounds like your boy is getting on well without this.
Hi Fiona and thank you. You may be able to tell that we have never had a puppy before, this is so very new to us. Thank you so much for your reply and for the advice on the crate training, I think I understand it a bit better now. I think we shall try this as there are occasions where we take him into the garden and he just lies on the floor, or chases leaves around & not managing to do anything, maybe because he has nothing to give at that precise moment & we are ahead of him on whether he needs to or should need to go. Many thanks again. The advice is appreciated.
Something I found with my latest highly-distracted puppy was that using an outdoor pen focussed her mind on the job in hand. Once she had gone to the loo, I would let her out for a play.
Hi, Three weeks ago we got a lab female puppy. She was 10 weeks old at that time. We started potty training her right away - taking her outside to pee and poop very often and during the night she sleeps in a crate. We had the same problems like you in the beginning - she was having accidents even we just taken her out. The things, which worked for us are special training bells on the doors which we use to take her out. We touch the bells every time when we call her to take her out. She learned what that sound means and now (not always) she touches the bells when she wants to go out. In the beginning we had a lot of accidents, but because we didn’t realize that the puppy is like a baby. Now we take her out VERY often and mandatory right away after a nap, after a meal, after a 15 min play with the kids, etc. Also when we take her out we urge her to potty at least 2 times, because usually puppies don’t know how to empty their bladders with only one pee. She usually poops 10-15 min after she has eaten, so we go out at that time and urge her to potty and don’t come in until she is done. I can proudly say that we had a couple of days without an accident! We keep her in the crate only during the night and when she needs to go, she will whine and we let her out. In the begging she wanted to go during the night every 2 hours, but now she holds for 6 hours. It sounds like you are doing everything right, just be patient! It will get better!
Sounds like you are a lot like us. We have a white board at the door so we can remember the last time he went out, and when he ate. We maker it pee or poo or pee/poo and the time. Now that he is 12 weeks only he can go longer between pees like maybe even three hours. But we still take him out: after any nap, during any play, and after a play, after any big drink of water, after eating, and every 2.5 hours otherwise. His only mistakes are when we forget to look at the whiteboard. Good Luck to you. Soon you will look back and wonder what all the fuss was.
Thank you so much for all the advice & info, very helpful indeed. Am pleased to say that our Chester is doing much better at the toilet training and just the odd minor accident indoors, as mentioned, when we forget when we have taken him outside last, so our fault, not Chesters. He does manage to hold from about 11.00 pm until 4.30 am, then he wakes us for a pee, and generally goes back to sleep. We find this odd as when we first got him home, he was going all night (miraculously) without needing to pee, and on a couple of occasions we had to wake him in the morning at 7.00 am - this seems to have fallen by the wayside. I guess as he gets bigger and older, he will be able to go back to going all night without a pee stop. This a fabulous site, thanks again.
Yes he will, as his bladder matures he will naturally sleep longer. Lots of accidents is totally normal imo. I resign myself to at least three weeks of widdles, however well I do the training.
Ah, thank you for the reassurance. So good to hear similar stories from puppy parents & parents who have been through it too. Thanks again.
I’m on number six puppy in four years and it’s been true for all of them. (glutton for punishment, moi?)
Oh wow! This is our first ever puppy, well first ever dog - my husband was desparate for a dog & now that he is retired, we can pursue his dream of being dog owners and giving a 'home for life' to a puppy.
I’m a puppy walker for Guide Dogs. In 2013 I got my own pet Lab Tatze, she’s 4 years old now, five in April. I had Gypsy for 13 months, she qualified as a Guide Dog. I then had Twiglet for 13 months, she was withdrawn in training for bird distraction and is now a very happy pet. Then I had Bruce for 5 months, he came to me late when his puppy walker became ill. He’s a happy working dog guiding a young woman every day. At the same time as Bruce I had baby Kara - only for five weeks but I miss her as much as the others. Next I had Mollie for 13 months, she’s still at Big School and doing brilliantly. Soon to go into Advanced Training. Now I’ve got Keir, 8 months old and simply adorable. Tatze is a super ‘Mum’ to all of them.
Congrats on your new baby! I am also a Guide Dog Puppy Raiser, in Joburg South Africa, and we use crate training for our pups (raising #4 now, 1 year old Riggs). I go as far as setting an alarm on my phone to go off every hour for the first couple of weeks at home, to remind me to take pup outside, and then we also go outside immediately after food, napping, a training session, and playing. We always go to the same spot outside for a "busy", and I try to keep any toys out of sight of that spot until pup has done his busy and then there's lots of praise and excitement. We put pup in the crate overnight, and in the day we feed and play in the crate to encourage them using it as a kennel. Best of luck! Some pups take longer than others.
Dogs are not prone to going to the potty in their crate because that is where they sleep. If he sits by the door, starts sniffing around alot, whining by the door those are probably signs. Rule of thumb just take him out every 1.5-2 hours based on how old his is, shortly after he eats, after a nap...Just have to watch them like a child. Sounds like you are doing well. We are doing the same thing now to. have an 8wk old we brought home Saturday. we have had the normal accidents but nothing major. we have a Minautre Schnauzer that rings a bell hanging on the door when she needs to go out so we are trying to teach Oliver our lab to do the same thing. Each time we take him out we touch his nose to the bell and say Potty.
when you take them out to potty that should just be potty time bring back in when finished. later on take out to play. do not mix play time and potty time or they will get confused as to what they are supposed to be going out for. I also keep a try erase board right now and write down times he goes and whether it is 1 or 2. Helpful for everyone in the house that might take him out other times.
Not mine, our potty area is fenced off and play in the garden is a great reward for speedy pottying on cue. So say all seven I’ve done this with .
