How long did it take to house-break your dog/puppy?

Question

In this book I was reading it said that it takes roughly 7 MONTHS to house train a puppy not to do its mess inside. Is this just a rough answer, as of course all puppies learn at different speeds, or is this really how long it takes? How long did it take you to housebreak your pup?

Answer 1

As you say - puppies learn at different speeds so it can vary considerably.

BUT the most important aspect of house-training is the OWNER.

I've raised many puppies and I trained my last three puppies within two weeks (10 days in one case). By 'trained' I mean there were no more pees or poos in the house and they let me know when they needed to go out.

Each of them has a different way of letting me know - one barks; one skips to the door and back; one rattles the door handle.

The secret is that through experience and studying dog behaviour I learned to anticipate their needs, recognise their body signals and understand their individual ways of communicating with me.

All of this increased the number of times they got praised and rewarded for going outside and reduced the number of times they got ignored for doing it in the house.

I don't believe in scolding puppies during house-training because they don't understand what we are trying to teach them until they link the fact that going outside ALWAYS gets them praise, attention and reward just as going inside gets them nothing.

If the owner is inconsistent, impatient and aggressive the pups just get confused and anxious and don't know what is required.

A lot of pups get smacked and yelled out for carrying out a perfectly normal bodily function (they don't know that we have rules about going outside).

I think of someone having a leisurely stroll in the country - suddenly someone yelling in a foreign language punches them right in the face! Would that teach them any lesson? What rule had they just broken? What opinion would they have of their attacker? Unfortunately that is how pups have been 'taught' for years. No wonder it takes them so long to understand what we want.

Answer 2

Many factors influence how long it takes a puppy to housebreak. The single greatest setback to potty training is for the owner to punish or lose his temper as that reaction will likely cause the accidents to actually increase in frequency. High on the list is your consistency in getting the message across and also use of confinement (crate training followed by confinement in a safe room like a kitchen after a few months) during the training period. But other influences that can effect the amount of time needed include:

1. larger breed dogs, while often messy during house training, actually are able to exert self-control much younger than toy dogs. Toy dogs tend to urinate more frequently as youngsters--but urine spots the size of a quarter rather than the larger spot of a bigger breed. These small spots will likely go unnoticed by owners who give the toy puppy access to the house--and months later they realize the puppy is not house trained.

2. A consistent feeding and elimination schedule that does not vary at all for the earliest stages of training. Last feeding should be 4 hours before last potty for the night.

3. Early risers win out. If you sleep in on the weekends, you must give up that pleasure when potty training. 6 am potty is 6 am potty every day--unless you want to clean a mess and start training all over.

4,. Take your puppy for daily 10 minute walks twice each day. Late afternoon and before bedtime is good. Other potty times can be in the yard for a few minutes.

5. Thunderstorms, loud noises, or strangers who scare a puppy can all cause it to break potty training.

6. Sick puppies will likely not be able to control their elimination. Particularly be sensitive to deworming requirements .

Answer 3

I can't remember for sure, with the oldest, it has been 9 years. I know it was months and did not seem like it was ever going to happen. Then I put a doggy door in back door. I was only a few days after that. The other 2 was a week or so. They learned to go from the older one.

Answer 4

my puppy is nearly four months old, and i asked a queestion similar to this a while ago. By the looks of things if you are training them well they'll get there as quick as they can. At 4 months my dog isn't quite there, but hes gettin there slowwwly!! Most people seem to tell me that he should be fully house trained by now though so i think your book is a bit far out.

Answer 5

This is a tough one.

Puppies go through the whole range of normal 'human' childhood in a very short space of time.

So while you may suceed in getting puppy clean in the 'infancy' stage, a couple of weeks later they may regress during the 'adolescent' stage, when they're testing your authority.

A couple of good tips are:

*go very heavy on the praise when they get it right
*Never clean up the mess when they can see you do so, this indicates acceptance, and they'll think it's ok to levae the mess there for you again
*If you catch them soiling somewhere inappropriate just interrupt them and walk them to the right place, without shouting

Answer 6

Like you said, all puppys learn at different speeds. Our oldest APBT (1 year old now), Brooklyn, learned to go potty outside within a few weeks! : ) Our newest/ youngest APBT (4 months now), Destiny, is still working on it! lol.. We have been working with her since we got her (about two months ago)... I have never heard that it takes a set amount of time to house-break your puppy/ dog. Some puppys/ dogs can be house-broken within a metter of weeks and for some it takes a little longer. lol.. You just have to remember that your puppy is a puppy and you need to be patient! lol... Good luck! : )

Answer 7

It only took me about 2 weeks. It really does depend on the breed. See my German Shepherd took only 2 weeks but my golden retiriever took about 3-4 weeks. It really depends on the dog and what remedy you use. Heres the one i used if you are interested:

The most important tip for successful puppy housebreaking is “Persistence is the key”.

1– First, you need to teach your puppy where you want him to go to the bathroom. Your puppy will not know where to go if you don’t show him. Therefore, he won’t know if he went in the wrong spot. We suggest starting the housebreaking process outside. Many people tend to paper train and in essence you are making the training process harder for you and may end having to retrain him.

2- Praise is essential in the puppy housebreaking process. It will make him feel more confident when you praise him with a treat or pat on the back for a job well done – not messing in the house! While mistakes can and will happen and you may get frustrated – it is very important to not punish your dog, yell or swat him if he has an accident in the house.

3- Be aware of your puppies eating and bathroom habits this will help you get him out side in time to prevent any accidents in the home. Puppies usually have to urinate upon waking up; don’t delay taking him outside upon starting his day. Puppies also defecate regularly after each meal – usually within twenty minutes from eating. Pay attention to your puppy, he will give you signals he has to go out but you have to be in tune with them. These signs include restless circling, squatting and sniffing.

Never carry your puppy outside! You should choose a command to signal him it is time to go outside and that should be the command you always use – puppies like and need a routine that they will become familiar with. When he makes it out the door and does finish his business, praise him – puppies also love attention and affection, let him know he did a good job for his master!

4- Some days will be harder than others but if he makes a mistake in the house, try to ignore it the first time. Yelling at him or swatting him will only make the training process harder for you and your dog scared! Avoid negativity at all cost. Again, we know this might be hard after a day at the office and dealing with the kids but you will be thankful later!

5 – If you will be leaving your puppy alone for a couple of hours, barricade off a corner of the house or use a dog crate but don’t just leave him free to roam the house! Puppies usually will not toilet the area in which they sleep.

Take your puppy outside right before putting him in the crate and then take him outside again immediately upon returning home. Don’t leave any water down on the floor while in this housebreaking process, if you are gone too long he may not be able to help it and have to go. Do make sure to leave him plenty of toys to keep him busy.

A crate can be a very helpful training tool for your dog while in the training process and not wanting to give him full reign of the house just yet. This will happen over time. But remember along with bathroom accidents, puppies like to chew and they will chew anything in their path if they are able to reach it and you aren’t there to tell him “No!”

In closing, Praise your puppy and set him up on a routine, the end result will be a happy dog and a happy dog lover!

Answer 8

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Answer 9

It took us about that amount of time to be SURE there would be no accidents... we have a 10 lb mini dachshund/beagle mix. I hear that the smaller dogs can be more difficult to train. Still, my Mom's dog was trained in a matter of days... (jack russel mix of some sort).

Answer 10

The move is stressful and will cause them to "revert" so expect the potty trouble! It can take 2-3 months or so for them to get comfortable in their new surroundings. Click below for house training info, and you can link to the crate training page from there, if you would like more info on crate training.