When can I start potty training my dog?

Question

I have a 7 week old puggle (pug, beagle mix). She gives no warning before she goes to the bathroom. Is she too young to potty train? If not, how should I potty train?

Answer 1

There is a warning in her body language..you just have to notice and read it...It is not too earlay to begin, as the longer you wait, the more comfortable she will be doing it in the house..
Take her outside after every feeding. She will go about 5-10 minutes after being fed, at this age age. It will take awhile for her to learn/develop bladder control, but potty should be easier. Feed on a strict schedule, so that she isn't fed just before bedtime, as she will need to go shortly after being fed..Young pups should be fed and then walked 4 times per day, until they poop...She will need more frequent outings for peeing...Walk her just before bedtime, to make certain she is empty..
Never scold for mistakes, but give lavish praise every time she goes outside, like she won the lottery.....Pups can only hold their pee for 1 hour, per month of age..So, its important to empty them just before bedtime..
Use the same word every time. Soon she will be 'going' when you ask her to...
The most important thing is to watch her closely, and scoop her up and outside when she begins to act restless, turn circles, etc. soon she will whine and look at you when she needs to go.
Be patient...If your patience wears then, talk to your mom, and ask her how long it took to potty train you...How many times she changed your diaper, and bedding....lol

Answer 2

When they're that young they don't usually know they have to go until they start going. You should be taking the dog out as soon as it wakes up from sleeping (naps or overnight), after eating, after drinking, and especially after playing. If the play sessions are too long the puppy will just stop and immediately pee, so you'll have to make sure to take breaks for it to go potty. You should keep the dog in a crate when you can't watch it so it learns outside is the place to go to the bathroom. But 7 weeks isn't too young to start. And don't do the puppy pads or newspapers. Then the dog thinks any newspaper can be peed on and it will learn it's okay to go potty inside, and believe me you don't want that.

Answer 3

You can start today! Just take your puggle out every 2 hours, and when she does pee outside, make a big deal out of it. Just verbal praise and pets though, no food for housebreaking. Crating her at night will help, too. Make sure the crate isn't too big to give her a "far away" place to pee, but make sure it's not too small. She should be able to stand up and turn around in it.
Housebreaking takes time and dedication. You have to do it EVERY 2 HOURS! And you won't be 100% effective for a few weeks, if not a couple months.
We just finally got our 2 pugs housebroken...one of them is 21 months, and the other is 11 months....what a pain that was!

Answer 4

Start teaching the dog as of now. It might not understand you since the puppy is very young but now is a good time to start letting her out. Also if you have a contained yard that is best since your puppy is very very young and should really not be "exposed" to the outside dirt etc etc due to other dog diseases until she has most of her shots. Try paper training first until about 12 weeks or 16 weeks where she will have all the shots and every once in a while let her out. When my puppy ( a maltipoo ) was 8 weeks old she did not know what to do on a leash but now that she is 9 months old she walks just fine but still a bit intimidated. Remember its all about patience and persistance.

Good luck and enjoy your puppy

Answer 5

No shes not too young to potty train. The earlier you begin, the better. :) Is she consistently peeing in the same place, over and over? Or is it just random? If she is peeing in the same place over and over, she is smelling out where she peed the last time. Go get some newspaper, or doggy pee pads. Place them where she seems to be peeing all the time, or frequently. You may find it easier to train her to pee on the pads first. (Paper trained) Then you can start taking the pads outside with her, so she makes the transition that she is supposed to go outside. It really is all about a method you find easier to work with, especially one that works with your schedule. Puppies that small and young need to go outside every 30-45 minutes and especially after they eat or drink. If you work a full time job and are not home all the time, paper training may be easier for both you and the dog at first. If you have the time, just start taking the dog outside ever 30-45 minutes and then praise the dog ALOT when it goes outside. If it pees in the house, tell her NO, in a stern voice, say OUTSIDE, also stern and take her outside. You must have patience:) Good Luck :)

Answer 6

You should be starting right now but you need to keep in mind that a puppy this young has no control - they're like babies, when they need to go, they go.

Keep the puppy in the same room you're in while you're training so you can keep an eye on her. Take her out right after a nap, after hard playing, after a drink or if she just hasn't been out for a while. Teach her to follow you to the door (if you're in a hurry, carry her). You need to go out with her and the split second she pees you give her lots and lots of praise, then come back in. This way she learns to differentiate between play time outside and potty time.

Dogs learn quickly with this method because they learn best with positive reinforcement. You're praising for correct behaviour and not giving them a chance to make a mistake. Young puppies will always have accidents, however, so just quietly clean it up. If you catch her in the act, tell her no and take her outside, then praise if she finished outside.

You're also building a relationship of trust between you and your puppy which will carry over into future training you do with her. Good luck!

Answer 7

Now is a great time to start. Start by putting puppy pads or newspaper on the floor, assuming she is an inside dog and you can't bring her out during the day due to work. After she eats, place her on the pads and wait. She should go fairly soon. It really requires patience and diligence.
If she doesn't go with in 10 minutes on the pad, let her leave but keep a close eye on her. Bring her back to the pads periodically. If she does start to go somewhere else in the house, and you catch her, bring her to the pads to finish. If you are not able to catch her going potty else where, and you catch her later, bring her to the spot she eliminated and give her a firm no.

She may not give signals that she needs to go, or she may, and you just don't recognize them. A dog will usually start to circle or sniff before having to go.

You could also find some of her poop and put it on her pads or paper so she will smell it there and associate elimination where the smell is.

Good Luck.

Answer 8

No she is not too young to potty train, however don't expect her to be accident free until she is at least 6 months old.
Start by taking her outside on a regular basis..every hour to hour & a half.Take her out after eating, before and after play time, after naps.Don't allow her unsupervised to run around the house.If she has an accident don't call her attention to it, simply clean it up using a cleaner such as Nature's Miracle, OUT or simple Solutions.

Don't use pee pads or newspapers to train her on..doing so can lead to potty problems and make it harder to retrain her to go outside.

Answer 9

NOW!!!! I actually trained by Jack Russell to go in a litter box....worked out awesome. I had a job where I was gone most of the day and so she went there. While I was home she learned to go outside....

Answer 10

I read the first 5 answers and have nothing to add, but I think yours is a great question and rated it a thumbs up. I wish more people would ask questions like this if they don't know.