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further puppy house training questions


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So I took all the advice I got here and now when puppy is inside, she is either in her crate or within a leash length from one of us. However, all this doesn't seem to have made her realize that she can't pee in the house - she just thinks that if we're not looking she can pee. She did it last night sitting within one foot of my dh, but he had looked away from her. Honestly, we cannot look at her all the time!!!!

 

Are we doing something wrong?

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How old is your puppy?

 

When we were housebreaking ours this summer, we all learned that it isn't enough to just have them on a leash. You had to make sure someone was paying attention to them and take them out as soon as they get restless. We also took numerous trips outside even when they weren't restless - just so they would know that going "out" was where they did their business.

 

Our rule was that the person holding the leash had to clean up any messes. This helped train everyone to pay attention when they had the puppies on leash and make sure the pups got outside when they needed to go.

 

Our pups are pretty big dogs and they were 4 months old before they were reliable in the house off-leash.

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It also helps to anticipate when they have to go and take them out. My puppy goes out as soon as she wakes up in the morning, after she eats, after she wakes up from a nap, before bed, or if it's been more than 2 hours since she last went. While outside, I do not take my eyes off of her. When she pees or poops I say, "Go potty", and I give her a treat and lots of praise immediately after she goes. This is how I trained our older dog to pee or poop on command (very helpful when it's raining or you are in a hurry!).

 

We have also trained her to ring a bell at the front door to let us know she has to go out. The amazing thing is that although we were only putting the time into training the puppy for this, our very old and completely DEAF dog learned to do it now. How? I do not know!

 

If she has an accident in the house and we see it as it's happening (not often), I shout "No!" loudly to startle her to stop mid stream (It's just one sharp, loud "No!"). I then take her outside immediately to finish and when she does, she gets a treat and immediate praise.

 

As she has gotten better, she is allowed to be gated into one room with us, but not allowed to wander the house.

 

Our puppy is 14 weeks old now.

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Are you doing scheduled feedings or free feeding? Scheduled feedings are best for potty training. You put their food down for just a short amount of time and then take their bowl away. This helps you predict when they will need to potty. How often are you taking the pup out? At this point I would take it out every 30 min or so. I think a trip to the vet is warranted. If the puppy is going often then I would suspect a UTI

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Our puppies are six months old now and we still pay very close attention to be sure we get them outside when they get restless. The number of times they need to go out has gotten to be fewer and further apart but when they've got to go... they've got to go.

 

That might be part of it.

Are you doing scheduled feedings or free feeding? Scheduled feedings are best for potty training. You put their food down for just a short amount of time and then take their bowl away. This helps you predict when they will need to potty. How often are you taking the pup out? At this point I would take it out every 30 min or so. I think a trip to the vet is warranted. If the puppy is going often then I would suspect a UTI

 

Scheduled. Breakfast and dinner, around when we eat. She eats all her food very quickly. We're probably averaging around an hour or so. I don't think she's going too often...it just seems like it hasn't clicked that you never do that in the house.

 

I would suggest that you find an irresistible treat that you only give to the puppy after she has eliminated outside. That was what made the lightbulb go on for my puppy. Cheese or liverwurst are good choices for an extra special reward.

 

Good idea!

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