desperate for help with puppy potty training issues!!!!?

Question

my beagle puppy is 10 weeks old. i've had her for 2 1/2 weeks. She understands that when she goes outside shes there to go potty and she goes right away and understands the comand. she still has accidents in the house quite often though. I don't know how to teach her to go to the door or to tell me that she needs to go. sometimes i will have her in a confined area where she can't get to the door anyways and I don't know when she needs to go. any advice?? also do you have any advice on the best way to punish or to get her to acknowledge that she has done something wrong when she goes in the house? help!! please! thanks

i give her a treat everytime and she does fine with going outside. but she still goes inside a lot. my vet said that she should be trained by 7-10 days and i've had her for 17 days.... i just don't understand how to get her to tell me when she needs to go..any ideas... i've heard of using a bell or wind chimes at the door but what about when shes in a different part of the house or can't get to the door???

i mostly need to know how to teach her to go to the door or tell me when she needs to go.. thats my biggest problem.

Answer 1

Firstly, at 10 weeks old you're doing great to have her to the point that she recognizes potty outside = good girl. Potty training can be a long process, and it's not always the same for every dog.

The most important advice I can give you is please, do not punish her for having accidents. A couple reasons for this: 1). Reward based training systems are far more effective, reason being punishment based systems only work when the "enforcer" is present 2). Punishing your dog for an accident can cause them to hide their "bad behavior" leading you to discover unpleasant surprises in unlikely places. No fun for either of you.

I've had many dogs over the course of my life, each one took different amounts of time to potty train reliably. My current dog (a 3 1/2 year old lab) trained exceptionally quickly, but he still doesn't bark, whine or sit by the door or anything when he has to go, he just stares at me and looks worried, I'll then ask "do you need to go potty?" and if he does he'll run to the door. It really just amounts to learning your dog's signals.

When she does have accidents, obviously you do need to acknowledge them, but dogs are sort of like two year olds, they really don't remember what they may or may not have done five minutes ago. It's best if you can catch her in the act, or right before the act, tell her no (firmly, but don't scream or frighten her), pick her up, take her outside, give her what ever your "go potty" command is, praise her when she does her business and then go inside and clean up if needed.

A well trained dog isn't going to happen over night, it's going to take a lot of effort on your part, but it's so worth it.

Edit: In response to your additional information, if your vet told you your dog would be potty trained in seven to ten days RUN, don't walk to a new vet. That's a terribly uninformed thing to say, a puppy's bladder is simply not physiologically developed enough to be able to control their urges 100% of the time. There is some great advice offered in this thread, I'd encourage you to try some of the ideas offered and above all, be patient with your dog.

Answer 2

The general rule of thumb with puppies and bladder control is that they can hold their bladder for about one hour for every month of their age, up until about one year, when they should be good to go. That means your little pup can hold it for about 2 and 1/2 hours, max.

Another poster suggested taking your dog out more frequently--an excellent suggestion, and right on the mark. Potty training does not come naturally to dogs--you must teach her this lesson over and over and over again, all day every day, until she gets the message. She's only 10 weeks, old, you've got a little work ahead of you.

Start from scratch--begin taking your puppy out as soon as she wakes in the morning. Feed, then back outside for another potty trip. Make sure that potty trips are all business--don't confuse her by playing with her or with toys when you take her out for potty time.

After the post-breakfast potty trip, you'll need to take her out minimally every two hours. If you are away from home, consider beginning crate training her while she's young and you can shape her daily routine. Crating is a great aide for potty training, although she should still come out every couple of hours for pottying (a neighbor, friend or dog-sitter might do this for you while you're out if need be).

Being consistent and frequent with your potty trips will do the trick. If she does have an accident in the house, don't punish her, particularly if you don't catch her in the act. She won't understand the connection between the pottying and your reaction, and you'll only teach her to fear you. If you do happen to catch her squatting, make a noise that will startle her and get her attention (a loud "NO!"), followed by a direct trip outdoors will help her make the connection that outside is where pottying belongs.

Stick with it--good luck!

Answer 3

She is just a baby. First you need to make sure that you are taking her out frequently enough. And it doesn't sound like you are, or she would not have accidents inside. Potty training takes time, sometimes a long time. be patient and when there are accidents, just tell her in a stern calm voice that that is bad, don't be mean just firm. And keep taking her out like every two hours while she is little (she has a little bladder) until she understands that she is supposed to go outside, and when she gets bigger so will her bladder and she will be able to go longer between trips outside. Good luck

Answer 4

ok... i started being sucessful at potty training my dog . This was my meathod. Does your dog pee or poop on her bed?
If she doesn't, your in luck. You buy her a cage that you can put her bed and her insid of. For at least 1/2 and hour, you leave her in the cage. If she barks or something, you take her out RIGHT AWAY !!!!!!!!!!! if she barks within the first few seconds that you put her in there, ignore it.. oh oh oh ... i forgot one important detail. Take her out b4 u put her in the cage!!!!! She will learn eventually. If she does good when she is in the cage, you can stop. When she is around the house, keep a close eye on her! She might still make a mistake when your not looking. If she does, scold her. Not really loud, but scare her a little, it might make her stop so she wont get scared again... do you know what i mean?

Answer 5

first of all she is pretty young,it will take some time. but to me, the best way is to put her in her dog carrier by the door dogs do not want to go potty,lets say in their domain, if you work that would be the best place for her.even when you are home take her out to play and go to the door and get excited and say "you want to go potty".i watch 7 dogs five days a week. they are all grown,but left alone some have accidents,don't know which ones,not there,point is this, before i leave everyday i say who wants to potty and they all charge. so in the do use any punishment because they dont even know english.so the more you discipline the more they have no clue of what your talking about.good luck,she sounds like shes a keeper.let me know what happens

Answer 6

Hi, I understand that you are looking for some advice or resources to help fully train your dog or fix behavior problems. If a professional dog trainer is not an option at this time, or if you want to trt training your dog on your own (a great way to bond), I'd suggest you https://bitly.im/aL39J

A friend recommened it to me a few years ago, and I was amazed how quickly it worked, which is why I recommend it to others. The dog training academy also has as an excellent home training course.

Answer 7

Congratulations on getting your new best friend. No matter what the type of dog, if you want a companion that will hang out with you in the house, you're on the right track understanding the need to potty train her.

Your puppy is still a little young to be expected to completely understand the concept of potty training. She's just getting to the age where she can be expected to hold her urine for 4-6 hours or so. It appears that you're doing a great job though and keep it up. Here's a few pointers that may help.

Dogs are trained in a series of steps and you've done a good job teaching your pet the idea of where to go potty. You now want to teach her to go to the door. This is done by adding another step to the training.

When you take her out, take her just to the door. Put her down, give her loads of praise, then open the door and your both go outside. She should walk herself out the door and go to the bathroom area. If she doesn't yet, it's ok and carry her out to the area. The goal is to praise her AT THE DOOR, then AGAIN outside when she goes. It won't be long and your puppy will associate going to the door and bathroom breaks.

Now about those accidents in the house…Believe it or not, accidents in the house are NOT REALLY HER PROBLEM but yours!

Puppies need to urinate shortly after they eat, drink water, play, get excited or wake up from a nap. Pups under 10 weeks can only be expected to hold their urine about 2 hours max. At about 12 weeks or so, 4-6 hours can start to be reasonable. This means, lots of trips to the backyard because your goal is NO ACCIDENTS!

Very close supervision is needed for successful house training. This is required whenever your puppy is not in her crate or outside. It takes about 5 seconds for a puppy to locate a place to go and squat down. This means that you shouldn't take your eyes off of her for even 5 seconds at one time. Watch for signs she may need to relieve herself like sniffing the floor, circling, or running out of sight, then it's out to the backyard for a bathroom break.

You also asked about punishment. The simple answer is DON'T! You have a dog that is doing well in house training and is bonding with you. If she has an accident in the house and you DON"T see her actually doing it, clean it up and keep your mouth shut! If you catch her in the act, immediately pick her up and firmly say NO, take her to the door, put her down, praise her, (for being at the door) then continue going outside to finish her business. BTW, cleaning up means using an enzyme based cleaner especially made to remove all odor and residue from pet accidents. Get it at the pet supply store and use it everywhere there has been an accident.

Lastly, here are a few DON'T Tips that May Help

When your puppy has an accident in the house, you may want to use a rolled up newspaper. Roll up a section of newspaper then hit yourself until you understand that you need to watch your puppy better. Once you understand the 5 second rule above, the accidents will stop. Oh and don't ever hit your dog….ever!

Don't Confuse her by using different words for the same thing. Outside -- isn't potty --- isn't bathroom- isn't any other words you might use interchangeably. Pick 1 word and use it consistently.

Don't yell, shout or otherwise show your puppy you're upset because it will not help. This is especially true of dealing with accidents.


Don't Rub her nose in accidents. If you MUST rub someone's nose in the mess, use yours! After all, you WERE supposed to be watching her right?

Don't limit praise to your pup. Look for reasons and opportunities to show your approval for proper behavior.

You seem to be doing a good job. Keep it up and soon you will have a reliably trained pet that will be years of fun, enjoyment and companionship.

BTW: The vet that said house training must be mistaken. If he/she holds to that, I'm with the others....find a new vet tha knows dogs

Answer 8

Puppies cannot go long without going - you have to take them out often...
I caged my dog when she was a puppy at night. She seldom wet in her bed and I took her out the first thing in the morning.
We just moped up the water until she learned.
You can try the pads to teach her to go on them. I didn't have much luck with them. Newspapers everywhere are probably better. Don't punish - reward every time she goes when you are outside.

Answer 9

Take her out side more often. Take a newspaper, dab it in the mess you are cleaning up, put a piece of plastic underneath it, and set it by the door. Put a bell on a string near (over the newspaper) small tape on the door frame
low enough that she'll bump it. It should take about 10 days for her to bark at the door to go out, till then run when you hear
that bell to take her out even if she has already urinated.

Answer 10

Im not gonna answer this one cause you really got some good answers above and yah potty training for any animal can take time. Good luck.