Advice needed on potty training/housebreaking for Boxer/Shepherd?

Question

We have adopted from a rescue a little ways from us. He's really big, and they say he's about 10 weeks old, Im thinking he's probaly 4 months or so.

Anyway, anyone own this type and have some advice on potty training/housebreaking this strong-headed, free-willed, intelligent mix of breed??? lol
I have looked up the sites, I want advice please, not links to things I have seen.
We dont have him yet, we get him in the morning:))

Answer 1

I have 2 boxers, father and son. when we got the father 10 years ago this is what we did. we set up a schedule of about four hours and took him out at those intervals. when he did his duty we had a treat for him and praised him. Boxers are very smart dogs and he was trained within 2 weeks. You also have to pay attention .After they eat or drink water take them out immediately.When they are sniffing around, take them out. You have to watch them and learn their habits to know. To this day after the boys go out after their meals they come in looking for the treat. The harder part you will have will be the chewing up of the house.lol. Good luck.
P.S.if you own another dog-the younger of the 2 will learn and do as the other.

Answer 2

well first go to these sites. this is the one i reccomend and i can quote it directly and you can take my quoted advice or you can read it yourself. it's the best crate training site i have found if that helps any.........

http://www.puppychow.com/Training/Crate_Training.aspx


now to add i've had and raised sheps and shep mixes my whole life. you need a no nonsense approach to them. the consequences of bad behavior is the same today as it was yesterday and then the day after. be consistant. show love and affection when the dog is calm. do not encourage hyper or any sort of mouthing or biting behavoir. keep the dog healthy by listening to your vet. take the dog to training classes and work with the dog daily to keep them mentally stimulated. exercise the dog by taking on walks at least twice a day. and most of all make the dog a part of your family. this is a social being, but must be taught proper ways of being in your family. make a schedule and stick to it as close as possible for the first few months. feed premuim food. and research and train. and read the site i listed and do what they reccomend and go to other links on training and vet care. once again i can either quote it or you can click on it and read it yourself. personally they put it better. good luck.

Answer 3

This is a weird method but works well. Most dogs can hold their pee 1 hour for every month of age. Kenneling the dog has a lot of benefits at the right age. Get an adult male man to pee in a paper cup and pour this in the area you want the dog to relieve itself. The dog will find it and mark it with urine also. Praise the dog. Refresh the pee every three days or so. Adult female human urine doesn't work. It must be the testosterone that dogs can detect. Have a great year.

Answer 4

A dog should be trained on how to eat, walk with you, not to bark, potty training and sleep on its place etc. You can teach anything to your puppy, dogs get trained easily with some good instructions. If you want some good training tips visit https://tr.im/aIpsV

If properly trained, they should also understand whistle and gesture equivalents for all the relevant commands, e.g. short whistle or finger raised sit, long whistle or flat hand lay down, and so on.

It's important that they also get gestures and whistles as voice may not be sufficient over long distances and under certain circumstances.

Answer 5

Congratulations!

Routine is the most important aspect of training. From the beginning, feed 4 times per day, at the same times, and put the bowl up in 5 minutes, or when finished.

A puppy will need to go just minutes after eating, so whisk him outside, and stay with him until he 'goes'..Give him lots of praise when he does his job, play a few minutes, and come back in..

If you can spread down a bag of sand, from a garden center, it will give him a good place to go, so you can kind of aim him there, and not just all over your yard..

He should only need to go poop after eating, and perhaps at bedtime..

However, he will need water down at all times, and need to pee frequently..so, outside every other hour for that..and keep a close eye on him..He will need to go during active play, and every time he wakes from a nap..If you watch him, you will see him acting restless, and sniffing the floor, etc when he needs to go..at first, peeing may be just a matter of pausing, and uh-oh, there it is..He won't even be aware...So its important to never scold him for peeing...this is what makes traumatized pups that refuse to pee outside, or try to hide it in the house..as they get scolded for it, and it becomes a traumatic event..
Keep the product, Nature's Miracle, on hand, for instant cleaning of pee spots...or ask your pet supply which enzyme cleaner they recommend..

Puppies physiology only allows them to hold their pee for about 1 hour per month of age...so expecting any more is unrealistic..a good reason for a playpen or crate at night.. He may hold it through the night, but is likely to need to pee at least once during the night..You can remove the water a couple of hours before bedtime..

By following a routine, and being ever watchful for the first few days, you can have him petty well trained in just a couple of weeks..or less

I house-train all of my pups before they ever leave my home, and I do it an entire litter at a time..it normally takes about 4-5 days, with very few accidents, before they are asking to be let out..
But, if you hang a little bell on the door, or a desk bell on the floor, and show him you are ringing the bell each time you take him out, he is likely to begin ringing the bell when he needs to go..Just be very vigilant, and yet stay relaxed..an accident doesn't mean failure..
Remember, it takes forever to potty train a human baby, and it is so nice that puppies can learn it so much faster, but they are still allowed to be babies, and don't deserve to be stressed about the training...
If you have important areas to keep clean, just keep him away from those areas until he is a bit older..

I recommend using a soft step-in type harness for the walking and leash training, as it is less frightening and stressful..eventually, as trust is developed, you can switch to a collar..but a soft harness takes the fear away from the beginning...Walking stimulates the bowels to move, more so than just putting the dog out

Note:..
It is easy to tell when a pup is four months old, as that is when they get their adult incisor teeth..if his insizors are still small, then he is likely the age they claim.
The incisors turn over from deciduous to permanent from two to four months of age. The canines usually convert around five to six months of age.

Answer 6

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Answer 7

I'm not going to retype what the best site has to say - Ed Frawley specializes in GSD's so I think his advice is well suited to your inquiry. I have no idea if this is one of the sites you've visited, but IMHO it's the best one out there:

http://www.leerburg.com/housebrk.htm

Answer 8

CRATE TRAIN!!!! I didn't like the sound of it either but I got my 6 month old Walker hound trained in a week. Believe me, she is stubborn :o) But I love her :o)

Answer 9

someone told me that if you spray vinagre or vinager at the dogs popo or pepe, that he wont want to do it there again, cause they dont stand the smell, but i havent really tried it yet... you should, and if you do let me know.