Puppy housebreaking question?

Question

I have a 3 month old puppy, we are having a hard time teaching him to tell us when he needs to go out. I pretty much just take him out every 2-3 hours so he doesnt have an accident. And he pees in his crate even when its small. Any ideas? Ive tried teaching him to scratch the door everytime I take him, but he isnt picking that up either.

when I take him out, everytime he pees outside, I give him a treat, so yes, Ive already tried that.

Answer 1

My husband and I had the same problem with our puppies. We got them when they were 9 weeks old and he would let them out every hour. So they never got used to holding it longer than an hour they would pee in the house. What I did .. after my husband had gone to visit his parents for a week .. was let them tell me when they needed to pee. I wasn't about to let them out every hour that's ridiculous. In fact I wouldn't even pay attention to them, I walked around or over them, patted their heads when I walked by but didn't make any move for the leash or the door. And when I was folding laundry one of them came up behind me, sat down and whined a little. He had just told me that he needed to go out. You might just have to put up with the pee for a little bit longer but you need to let your dog know that he has to pee on your schedule and you are not going to drop everything regularly to let him out to pee. That will teach him to hold it. Hope it works, it did for me.

Answer 2

Teaching the puppy to let you know when he needs to go out comes with time and usually when you have successfully house broke him. Do you have a small or large breed puppy? If your puppy is peeing in the crate, crate training is not going to work at the moment. You need to block off an area for the puppy and use newspaper or the pee pads( newspaper is way cheaper) start by covering almost the entire area and gradually reduce the amount of floor that is covered, if you take away the paper and he misses then you took away too much.If you have a small breed of dog it will take a little longer to housebreak only because their tiny bladders can not hold it as long as a med to large breed. Also you should limit his water intake, offer the pup water 3 to 4 times a day. If you know when food and water go in you know about when it needs to come out. A schedule is very important in housebreaking and once he is doing well on the paper you can go back to the crate. It is unusual for a dog to soil where they sleep because they pretty clean, but sometimes when people raise litters of puppies they allow the puppies to sleep and play in their soiled boxes so the puppies learn that this is normal and it makes housebreaking difficult. Don't give up your puppy will get it if you are consistent and patient and this will become a distant memory. Good luck!!!

Answer 3

You’re on the right start by rewarding the positive behavior. Make sure the SECOND he starts to go you give him a "good boy go potty" or similar. He has to know the act of potty was the why he got the treat. Not that he gets a treat every time he goes outside.

You may actually not want to take the dog out every 2 hours. Keep a close eye on him, watch is body language. Rarely will a dog randomly squat or hike a leg. He will sniff and look for a place to potty. If you see the body language rush him outside, tell him to go potty and when he does praise him.

Lastly, you can also correct the negative behavior. The dog should understand "No" by now. When you catch him in the act give him a firm No. You may actually let him start to pee when you see the body language just so you can give him the "NO".

Don't worry about teaching a signal yet. Make sure that when you go potty you use the same door everytime. Once he figures out that going inside is bad and outside is good, trust me...he'll let you know in his personal way. AFTER he is potty trained you can ad a cute way for him to tell you if you would like.

Answer 4

At 3 months his bladder is still immature. it's still going to be possibly another month or so for the ability to hold it kicks in. How long is the dog in the crate? A puppy, even crated, at 3 months can't hold it for 6-8 hours.Try letting the dog out and leaving hm out,secured of course, for about an hour or more while you are home, so that lots of the piddling gets done outside. the other thing is to restrict all water after say 6:00pm and take him out 1 last time as late as possible before bed, try 10:00 or 11:00PM. Fed him early in the AM so that you can't get him regulated to go before you leave for the day, and fed early evening, again so he will go again before betime. Eventually the bladder matures and one day he 'll give you his sign that he wants to go outside.

Answer 5

You should be using a crate. The fastest way to housebreaking puppies is to start by confining the puppy to a small area. The crate serves this purpose because it brings out your puppy's "den instinct" and provides for a sense of security and well-being. It also acts similar to the way a crib or playpen would for a human baby-- it keeps the pup out of trouble when you are not around to supervise. Click the source link to continue with tips.

Answer 6

Remember your puppy is like a human baby - they cant control their needs to urinate and defecate properly. Usually the times to watch out for are when your puppy wakes up, after eating and before bed. My puppy doesnt tell me when he needs to go to the toilet, so its a matter of watching the behaviour that may indicate (eg sniffing around in one spot). I used a plastic mat (or you can use puppy pads or newspaper) so if your pup needs to go and you cant take him out, you can train on the mat. I found this worked pretty well and my pup learnt fairly quickly to go on the mat rather than the floor. As you continue with the training you can slowly move the mat outside, and eventually remove it altogether. When your pup goes to the toilet you should give a command (eg toilet or wee or something) so your pup associates in future to toileting with the command and also give your pup praise for doing the right thing.
You may need to wash the crate and blankets with an enzyme cleaner (or non-ammonia cleaner), as this may also contribute - the pup can smell where he has urinated before and they usually continue to go in the same spot. Vinegar also works on carpet to remove the smell and stain.
The key with toilet training is consistency. Your pup won't understand otherwise (he's just a baby remember) and will get confused, so make sure that everyone in the household gives the same commands, takes the same action and rewards the pup for doing the proper thing (food rewards are good at this age!). I'm lucky in that my breed is mainly outdoors and comes in for small periods so I havent had to deal with this as much as some other people with smaller breeds that live inside (plus I have 3 cats!).
Some other options are that you can get a pheromone spray (in Australia at least) that you spray on the region you want your pup to urinate on. You can also get sprays that deter them from toileting in certain spots. Additionally, you can try getting a doggy door then your dog, as he learns, can let himself out when he needs to go to the toilet, but you would need to train your pup to go in and out!
I hope that helps a little! Just remember that you have to be consistent and patient and it will eventually pay off!

Answer 7

From what I understand allow for one hour of bladder control for every month that they are old. What has worked for me is take her out after waking immediately and just a little after they have eaten. Feed them on a schedule and take them out on a schedule. This really helps. I gave my puppy "bites" of people food (which she adores). So now she waits at the door and after the business I can say bites and she zooms to the door to get her treat. I hope this helps. Good luck!!!!

Answer 8

he's too young to be able to tell you when he needs to go out
you'll have to wait until he's a little older for that, keep taking him outside as often as possible, I've always had good luck asking
my dog if they wanted to go outside? they seem to get that pretty quick

Answer 9

I would encourage you to implement a specific reward system for when your puppy does 'his business' outside. This will encourage him in this area and can work very quickly.