Hi My Boycie is 8 weeks and he's clean and dry over night and being crate trained. Question, on average how long does it take for him to wee and poo independently during the day without me having to take him outside every half hour to initiate it for him?
Re: House training When he can open the door himself ;D Seriously though, I think you have to be aware and let them out regularly and can lengthen the time gradually. With luck the summer will be here and your door will be open and he can take himself out.
Re: House training They all vary widely , at eight weeks , he wont have good control of his bladder so it may be some time before he asks to be let out, just keep doing what you`re doing , its all about repetition and eventually, he will ask to be let out, but be prepared for it to be a couple of months or so .
Re: House training It makes sense that a dog won't ask to go out until after he is house trained (until that point, he won't have a strong enough desire to ask). Then they have to figure out how to ask. I reckon this was about 5 months for Charlie. Reliably (rather than more or less) housetrained from about 4 months.
Re: House training Hi there, My 15 week old girl, Lily, is doing ok with house training, but sometimes I will take her out into the garden for toilet time and she will do her business BUT then when we come back in and I leave her for a while (about 15 mins) in the kitchen to pop upstairs, for example, she will occasionally do a wee or even a poo while I am gone. It is as if she is telling me off for not being constantly with her (her way of doing the 'I told you so!' dance, but that could just be my paranoia). I let her out often and on the whole things are fine as she goes to the back door and sits and looks back at me when she wants to go out, but she did the poo thing twice for my hubby last week and he had to crate her while he worked as a result (he works from home). I am just worried that now that she is getting bigger and has more and more energy she will become frustrated at being crated. I have read a lot of posts about crating and think it is an absolute lifesaver for many reasons but do not want to do it unnecessarily. Also, overnight Lily will still (though not always) wake me up in the night to be let out. She barks about 3am for a poo and 5am for the wee she didn't do at 3 (!) or at least, that is how it feels. I used to let her out both times but tried the other night to tell her NO and use the water spray to stop her barking (as per Pippa's advice about barking in the night) on the first occasion; she then quietened down straight away. She then awoke again barking 3 hours later (around 6am) and then I got up and let her out as usual for the loo. She seemed just fine. She does still wake twice in the night often, even though I let her out only once. My problem is: how do you tell if she is just getting into the habit of waking me up for a toilet and the accompanying reward treat twice in a night or does she really need to go to the toilet? I feel a bit wicked using the water spray but it seems to be working. I do not want to jeopardise any other aspect of her house training by getting it wrong. I am sure this will all work itself out and I am heartened that others have not been house trained until 5 months or more - it gives me hope! Does everyone's lab pup sleep through the night? Many thanks, Amanda
Re: House training [quote author=amandamumma link=topic=5004.msg62790#msg62790 date=1395493026] but sometimes I will take her out into the garden for toilet time and she will do her business BUT then when we come back in and I leave her for a while (about 15 mins) in the kitchen to pop upstairs, for example, she will occasionally do a wee or even a poo while I am gone. It is as if she is telling me off for not being constantly with her (her way of doing the 'I told you so!' dance, but that could just be my paranoia). I let her out often and on the whole things are fine as she goes to the back door and sits and looks back at me when she wants to go out, but she did the poo thing twice for my hubby last week and he had to crate her while he worked as a result (he works from home). I am just worried that now that she is getting bigger and has more and more energy she will become frustrated at being crated. I have read a lot of posts about crating and think it is an absolute lifesaver for many reasons but do not want to do it unnecessarily. [/quote] If she has just had a wee or a poo, and then has another one...well, have you got her used to being on her own? I do think it is necessary for pups to be able to settle alone. If you work on this, and make sure she is ok, then you have at least got the comfort that she is ok if you leave her (and this isn't the reason she is pooing and weeing). It seems to me that the crate is exactly for this kind of situation. If she is getting into the habit of pooing when she comes back in, then she should go into her crate if you can't watch her. I don't think she needs stay in it though, if there are certain triggers (eg you leaving her) then use the crate to avoid these. No need for her to stay in the crate continuously. [quote author=amandamumma link=topic=5004.msg62790#msg62790 date=1395493026] My problem is: how do you tell if she is just getting into the habit of waking me up for a toilet and the accompanying reward treat twice in a night or does she really need to go to the toilet? I feel a bit wicked using the water spray but it seems to be working. I do not want to jeopardise any other aspect of her house training by getting it wrong. [/quote] I think it might be a bit risky using the water spray before you are absolutely confident she doesn't need to go out. That said, I never, ever, went down to Charlie over night from day one. But he was in an open crate, inside a pen, so not going down didn't mean he had to wee or poo in his pen. We had a few nights at first when he had a wee or a poo overnight on newspapers but that was pretty much it. ( I kept the nights very short, and got up super early though). And he has never made so much as a squeek at nighttime or in the morning. So I think the "never getting up" method does have its advantages. He was good at 3 months, pretty much there at 4 months, and completely reliable at 5 months (we had a couple of accidents between the age of 4 and 5 months, but nothing since he turned 5 months).
Re: House training Ohhhh I have just been in the kitchen with her and whilst I was retuning the radio with the back door open and... she pooed in the kitchen :'( needless to say, she is now in her crate. I think I need to leave her more often, it is an attention thing - you are right! It feels like back to square one, but onwards and upwards :
Re: House training Hi folks, just one more question on this: when and how will my puppy learn she is not to wee/poo in the kitchen/house if I am confining her when I can't be with her? Is it something she will just get the hang of someday? I hope my question makes sense... what I mean is, I take her out for toileting opportunities often and then crate her when I can't watch her, but how will she learn not to toilet in the house at all? She only knows not to toilet in her crate and that we go outside and she does it there; but how does she learn that her room (i.e. the kitchen, then eventually the house) is her den... I am a little confused. She is 16 weeks on Saturday. Will she ever learn? Sorry - I think I have over-thought this one Many thanks, Amanda
Re: House training I'm too much of a newbie to offer advice, but I can share our experience with our new (first time!) puppy.... Our boy Pongo is fifteen weeks now. Usually one of us is at home, although not always paying attention to him :! He is now pretty well house trained - he knows he should go outside - and good bladder control. His problem is telling us when he wants to go out. He walks over to the door and looks at it....and if it doesn't magically open he just goes on the floor. So we have just got him one of those 'doggy doorbells' that hang from the handle. He learned very quickly that when he rings the bell, one of us will get up and open the door for him. The only problem now is that we are spending all our day jumping up to open the door (he is doing it for attention, not because he really wants to go out). So now we only hang the bell up when we think he really might need to go out - after a sleep for example - which sort of defeats the purpose but will perhaps work. He gets put in his crate at night (about 10.30pm) and generally sleeps through til about 5.30am. Then he whines to be let out. I think increasingly he is just waking up with the light, rather than bladder pressure! So we need to sort that out before mid-summer when it is light at 4am. Not sure what to do about that one.... We didn't find a problem with him learning not to go in the house. We just rewarded him every time he went in the right place (anywhere outside!) and completely ignored it when he made a mistake inside - no fuss, no attention, no drama. He seemed to get the idea by himself - so I wouldn't worry too much. Good luck, tell us how you get on!
Re: House training Thank you for the posts JulieT and Rosie, I think we should just continue to reward her when she toilets outside and then carry on with the crate training to prevent accidents when necessary... I liked the look of those poochie bells but it sounds like Pongo has got the measure of them ;D it would be just like Lily to do the same thing! They are so clever aren't they? It must be a perseverance thing with the housetraining (like most worthwhile things are!), I will let you know how I get on... I am looking longingly towards the 5 month mark as JulieT mentioned when her pup was housetrained, hopefully this will be the magic number (I know dogs do these things at their own pace, but I need hope today ). As regards the early morning light thing, I cover Lily's crate with a blanket so she is warm and it stays a bit darker than it is outside; she snuggles down straight away at bedtime. Perhaps in summer I will use a sheet or something when it is hotter outside (if it ever comes!).
Re: House training [quote author=amandamumma link=topic=5004.msg64094#msg64094 date=1395939481] Hi folks, just one more question on this: when and how will my puppy learn she is not to wee/poo in the kitchen/house if I am confining her when I can't be with her? Is it something she will just get the hang of someday? I hope my question makes sense... what I mean is, I take her out for toileting opportunities often and then crate her when I can't watch her, but how will she learn not to toilet in the house at all? She only knows not to toilet in her crate and that we go outside and she does it there; but how does she learn that her room (i.e. the kitchen, then eventually the house) is her den... I am a little confused. She is 16 weeks on Saturday. Will she ever learn? Sorry - I think I have over-thought this one Many thanks, Amanda [/quote] The dog has to adopt the idea that your house is her den. At first, it's obvious the crate is a den, so they don't wee and poo there. Then, between toilet breaks, get used to her having access to a room (but don't allow any accidents), perhaps feed her and play with her in that room. Once reliable in that room, then 2 rooms - and so on. She shouldn't be completely in her crate between toilet breaks. She should only be in her crate at "danger points". It's normally safe to allow access to the room directly after a toilet break, then pop her in her crate for a bit, then out to toilet. But if you are using a crate to avoid a danger point when she comes back in and you can't supervise her, I think you still need to take her out of her crate when you can supervise her (and any signs she is going to "go" scoop her up to outside). Hope that makes sense.
Re: House training Ok I understand, this is what I am doing so will just continue with it; she will get the hang of it eventually Many many thanks for your help JulieT.
