I am having some problems house breaking our puppy, what are some successful ways of doing so?

Question

HE WILL GO TO THE BATHROOM OUTSIDE, NO PROBLEM MOST OF THE TIME. THEN THERE ARE DAYS WHERE WE WILL TAKE HIM OUTSIDE AND HE WILL DO NOTHING, AND THEN NOT EVEN FIVE MINUTES AFTER COMING BACK IN, HE WILL USE THE BATHROOM ON THE CARPET. HE HAS BEEN DOING THIS WAY TOO OFTEN OF LATE AND IT IS GETTING OLD. WHAT AM I DOING WRONG? WHEN HE DOES GO TO THE BATHROOM IN SIDE WE PUT HIM IN HIS KENNEL FOR A WHILE AND THEN LET HIM BACK OUT. SOMETIMES WHEN WE LEAVE WE WILL PUT HIM IN HIS KENNEL AND NOT EVEN BE GONE FOR A LONG TIME AND WHEN WE GET BACK HE HAS TAKEN CARE OF HIS BUSINESS IN THE KENNEL, AND WE TOOK HIM OUT BEFORE WE LEFT. WHAT ARE WE DOING WRONG? ANY ADVICE?

Answer 1

I agree with Esperanza. Your dog's crate should only be big enough for him to lay down in, turn around and stand up. Anything bigger gives him room to go potty and lot lay in it it. If it's bigger than, you can purchase or make a divider to make less room.

Secondly, NEVER push your dog's nose in his mess or swat him with a newspaper. You wouldn't do that to child that you were trying to potty train and there' s no reason to do it to a dog either. It's cruel and unnecessary. For all the dog knows, you're showing him that he did a good job by going on the floor.

You're going to have to go to a pet store and buy something like Nature's Miracle. After cleaning up where your dog went, pour it on he rug and let it soak in. Regular household cleaners will eliminate the smell to you, but your dog will still be able to smell where he eliminated, making it more likely to go there again.

Your dog may need longer than 5 minutes outside. When he goes, praise him and make a big deal out of it out of as if he's the only dog in the world that went went to the bathroom outside. You can also reward him with treat if you want., but don't come back in the house with him until he has done something.

You didn't mention how the pup is. Some dogs take a little longer to train than others, so just be patient. I know that it's often not easy :-)

I'm adding a couple of links that might help you with housebreaking. Good luck and don't give up hope.

Answer 2

I dont know what kind of dog you have, but I have a pomeranian. We house trained her the old fashion way I guess you could say! Your not really punishing the dog, its like putting a kid in time out for 5 mins, it doesn't work! When the dog uses the restroom in the carpet and rub its nose in it, then take a newspaper/magazine whatever and whoop it once, not really hurt just the let it know its in trouble then say no, take it to the door you are going to let it out to use the bathroom and let it stay out there for about 10 mins or so. Keep doing this.. every time! After a while you'll find that the dog will go to the door and bark to use the restroom! (Don't give up!) Good Luck!

Answer 3

House breaking a puupy takes a lot of time and patience. First of all when he goes on the floor I wouldn't put him in his crate I would take him outside. If you catch him in the act tell him no and simply pick him up, take him out and tell him to go potty is he does them praise him. If you don't catch him in the act there is no sense in punishing him because he won't know what he did wrong. Putting him in the crate after he goes and you catch him is teaching him that this is where he should go. When I take my puppy out and he doesn't go right away, I stay out with him and keep telling him to go potty until he does and I them make a big deal out of it and praise him. Never punish a puppy by hitting him or rubbing his nose in it. This teaches him to be afraid of you. You need to use positive methods to train him. I take my puppy out every time he wakes up, after he plays and about 10 minutes after he eats. Sometimes I take him out just because. You have to be consistant and watch him at all times. I put his food up at 6 every night and make sure he goes poop before he goes to bed. Training a puppy is hard work and you have to be devoted. I take my dog out more than most people do. Bad weather, late at night and even during dinner if I have to. It has paid off my puppy is 11 weeks old. I have had him for 2 weeks. He has never pooped in my house and now if he starts to have a accident it is by the front door on the rug. I just tell him no and take him out. He is doing real good with it because I devote a lot of time, patience and consistency to him. I know it sounds like a lot of trouble but in the long run it will pay off and you will have a happy, house trained puupy. Good luck...

Answer 4

You have to crate train him PROPERLY. The crate should not be much bigger than the dog so that he can't mess in the crate. The dog should be kept in the crate when you are sleeping, when you are not home and when you are not able to watch him. Take the dog out immediately after removing the dog from the crate. Take the dog out immediately after eating or playing. When the dog goes outside praise, praise, praise. If you see him start to go inside tell him "no potty outside" as you are taking him outside. If he has an accident inside and you don't witness it unfortunately there is nothing you can do about it. Don't yell at the dog, make reprimands firm and direct. Don't put his nose in his mess. Good luck.

Answer 5

Puppies don't normally have complete control over their bladders until they are five months old. I play safe with my puppies, especially smaller spices, that I don't walk them outside until they are at least 4 months old. Even if your backyard is fenced there are little things that he could pick up and all kinds of problem could arise. Theoretically he couldn't possibly have been given all vaccination and booster shots so you might want to note this too. When I did with my puppies was that I have a confined area in the kitchen with clean newspapers laid in the same place. Under the papers I put something with the puppies pee so that the smell would tell them that they should do it there. I let them out after they have done something and of course praising them on the spot helps. They need praises for doing right things and NO NO for making mistakes. All they need to know is what to do and what not to do, don't need to know why so don't tell them too much! Then you need to note the time they need to go. Puppies have the urge after sleeping, eating and running around. That's when their intestines move and the motion would give them the urge. If you put them near the newspapers or even confine him until he relieves himself he'll soon learn that you praise him for doing it there and it is his interest to please you. It took me only a couple of days to confine puppies. Of course you'll have the occasional accident. When you do so you need to clean up properly with diluted vinegar to kill the smell. Good luck!

Answer 6

What we did was two things basically: the first one is pretty easy, you get a pet enzyme cleaner from a pet store like Nature's Miracle (the one we got) but they have a dozen different brands available at different stores, and the enzymes keep your puppy from smelling his previous smells and revisiting them in the house and they can smell very well! This is very important!

The second step is you have to walk them a lot at first. Good times to walk them as puppies: as soon as they wake up, after they wake up from a nap, a few minutes after drinking, a few minutes after eating, and right before going to sleep at night. We started walking our puppy almost every hour plus the times I mentioned above and then gradually increased the times we walked him to every 2 hours then 3 then 4 then 5 then every 6 hours etc. If he revisited the scene of a former crime, haha, I just ran him outside asap to continue his business outside so he got the picture that I wanted that done outside....(We did this during a holiday break and I had the help of other family members so I didn't do this all by myself. My son was a big helper on this.)

Plus, don't know if this was just my luck or what but he was doing really good after a few weeks or so after we adopted my puppy and then he backslid and started peeing frequently all over the carpets. Yikes! I thought that was strange! And like every hour sometimes! Sure enough we took him to the vet and he had a bladder infection. When it is really, really frequent, like they can't even wait an hour or barely an hour, or they regress like that, I would take the pup to a vet just to make sure they don't have a bladder infection. After a week or so of medication, he was almost housebroken again. Whew!

I wanted to add one additional thing I forgot the first time. I don't know if this is just my dog or not, but he has a telltale thing he does every time he wants to go out, he likes to shake his head every time he needs to go out to let me know and has done this since he was a puppy (shakes like his head is wet but he isn't). So you may also want to watch your dog and see if he has a sign like that, shaking his head or whatever, to let you know he wants to go out. I used to have a dog that would bring me her leash. Dogs are very smart! Sometimes it's the people that just have to figure it out...

Answer 7

Just for some background, I am a former AKC kennel owner (until I got a divorce :P), professional obedience, tracking, and area/personal protection trainer. I have also been a show handler with multiple AKC obedience titles to my dogs' credit. I am a founding member, former Chairman of the National Association of Professional Canine Trainers and Handlers (NAPCaTH) and certified Canine Behaviorist. I have also trained Search and Rescue dogs which have worked around the world. I'm not just spouting something I heard from Uncle Jake, saw posted in a forum on the internet, or saw on "The Dog Whisperer". (shudder)

A puppy can be successfully housebroken starting at the age of 6 weeks, but it is a serious responsibility and requires constant attention. The time it takes to housebreak a puppy in my home is 2-5 days. If it's taking longer than that then YOU are doing something wrong.

I'm going to use the term "poo" to cover both urine and feces.

Here is the recipe for successful housebreaking:

#1 Get on a schedule. – Bring him outside often (about every 2-4 hours) for the first week or so. Stay outside until he does his business. If you can't dedicate yourself to going outside with your puppy for 15 minutes every 4 hours for a few days then please take the puppy to a shelter and get a cat. Also, he should make a potty run every time he wakes up from a nap and about 5-15 minutes after he eats. NEVER withhold water from any animal without specific directions to do so from a veterinarian. Dehydration can happen _very_ quickly in a puppy and it’s known in most states as “animal abuse”, “cruelty to animals”, or “criminal neglect” (usually a FELONY) if an animal suffers because its owner is too lazy to get off their butt and take them outside.

#2 Praise early, praise often. - Make a BIG pleasant deal about what a wonderful thing it is that he has done his business outside **as soon** as he has done so. If you wait until a puppy wanders up to you to praise him, then he thinks you are praising him for coming to you and has forgotten all about the big stinky load he dropped a few minutes before. Your praise to correction ratio should be about 20:1. That means that you should be telling him that he is good for doing all kinds of little things about 20 times more often than you are scolding him for doing something wrong. This will teach him very quickly the boundaries of what acceptable behavior is and what is not.

#3 DO NOT RUB THE DOG'S NOSE IN POO! A dog has no way of getting the poo off of his nose except by licking it off. If he does this then before you know it, you have a poo eating dog on your hands b/c he has developed a taste for it! Instead, remember that a dog's nose is at least 150 times more powerful than your own (depending upon the breed) and use that to your advantage. Make the dog down-stay (lay down and stay there) in position for 1 minute per month of age very near but not in the poo. If your dog is 3 months old, then he stays with his nose next to the poo for 3 minutes while you clean it up. He will very soon associate pooing in the house with having to lay still for (what seems like to a puppy) a VERY long time and will instead wait for his next regularly scheduled potty break.

#4 Be consistent. The pup needs to know that if he poos in the house that there are consequences and, more importantly, that if he does it outside that there will be praise.

#5 NEVER call a dog to you for punishment. When you find the dog has dropped a load, go get him, pull him carefully but firmly to the site of the poo, and then scold him. If you call a dog to you for punishment then you are, in the dog's mind, punishing him for coming to you when you call him b/c that's the last thing he did before you lit into him with your loud, scolding mommy (or daddy) voice. If the dog's nose is filled with the aroma of his own poo, then it's pretty clear to him what you are bent out of shape about. If I had a dollar for every time someone has called me up and can't figure out why their dog doesn't come when he's called but yet they call the dog before they punish him, I'd be a VERY rich man. :D

The most important thing to remember with canine behavior:
Dogs LOVE praise. They LIVE for praise. If your pup knows that he will be praised for good behavior then he will do absolutely ANYTHING that will earn him "good luvins".

Answer 8

He smells the urine smell in the rug is why he go's there on occasion.
I have been lucky with this method.You don't mention if he has a crate,if not get one.He stay's there when you are not around,or not home.When arriving home,take him straight out.After meals the same,or if he is nosing the floor in a studious manner .
Hope this helps!

Answer 9

Go and buy his favorite treat and every time he goes outside give him one. Make sure that he gets no other treats, only his dog food. You be surprised how fast he will learn that the only time he gets his treat is when he does his business outside. Hope this helps.

Answer 10

first of all close the bathroom door and do NOT crate him for a long time - he thinks you are punishing him.
Just keep taking him him out as often as you can and especially after he eats