Doggy potty training question?

Question

We just got a dog that was found. She's half chihuahua, half terrier. It's 5 months old, and not potty trained.

The question i hope someone can answer for me is, how often should we take the dog outside to go to the bathroom? We live in a 2nd story apartment and it gets bothersome going up and down all day. It's 4PM, and we've taken her out at least 9 times already. Out of all those times, she only gone once. She went another time, but that was inside!

Also, any other potty training tips will be greatly appreciated!

Answer 1

Take her out every 45 minutes or so to see if she has to go so you can establish a schedule for her so you know she needs to go ouside.

While inside if she's sneaking off to go potty inside when you aren't looking. Try tying a dog leash to your belt so the dog is attached to you at all times and you can correct her when she goes inside.

When correcting her for something bad just say "No," firmly but NEVER use her name. It's a psychological thing she'll get confused.

When she does what you want or something good PRAISE her a lot so she gets the hint that 'outside good, inside bad' faster.

You won't always have to let her out every 45 minutes as time goes on she gets where she's supposed to go and you will know what time she will need to go out.

(Most common times when dogs go potty: After waking up, 15-30 minutes after eating/drinking, and right after some good excersize.)

Answer 2

Potty training is one of the harder things in owning and training a puppy or dog. This can be done with patience and consistency.
Crate training is the easiest way to work on potty training. The crate is not a bad place for your dog or is it mean. Dogs are naturally dening animals and they like to have their own secure place. Immediately after getting up the dog has to be taken out and fifteen to thirty minutes after eating the same thing. I do not advise leaving food down all day long because you never know when your dog needs to eliminate. After a nap or a vigorous game of play, your dog is going to want to eliminate. If you cannot keep your eye on your dog, than put it in a safe room like the kitchen or bathroom where it is easier to clean up. When you take your dog out to go potty bring some really great treats with you. When your dog does potty, praise and reward with a tasty treat, she will soon get the idea . This is nothing but patience on your part so hang in there and in no time she will know where she is suppose to go.

Answer 3

A puppy is a baby, and babies need time to master acceptable potty procedures. Young puppies don't have complete control of their bladders or bowels, and sometimes by the time they realize they have to go, they simply can't hold it any longer. It's your job to keep your puppy off your carpets until he's reliably trained, to teach him where he should go, and to be patient when he has an accident. At least your puppy doesn't wear diapers!
Take your puppy to potty after every meal as well as the first thing in the morning, the last thing at night, every time he wakes up from a nap, after an active play session, and in the wee hours of the morning if you hear him moving around. Take him on a leash to the place you want him to use—that will teach him to use that spot, and also teach him that he can go even on leash with you standing right there. That can be important if you're away from home.

Answer 4

Since the dog is about 5 months, then it should be able to not go to the bathroom very often. Probably every four or so hours. Here is a link giving all types of information depending on the dog's age and more:
http://www.dogtrainingbasics.com/Potty%20Training%20Basics.htm
Hope this helps!: )

Answer 5

Being a puppy it's not going to hold it very long. Make sure you stay on a feeding schedule. As soon as the puppy eats, take it to the door and use a key word like "let's go potty". When it goes outside praise and give a treat. Make sure to to take it out right after eating and throughout the day especially at night.

Answer 6

Reward them with a treat when she goes potty correctly. Do not get over excited and cheer as dogs do not interpret this as happiness but sole excitement (there is a difference). All it does is make them excited.

Calmly say good girl and give her a treat. If you catch her in the act doing her business inside the house grab her as fast as you can and take her outside and praise her as she finishes.

Puppies can generally hold their pee for as many months as they are. If shes 6 months she should be able to hold it for 6 hours (if properly trained to do so)

Good Luck!

Answer 7

You need only to take the dog out about 3 times a day. The rule of thumb is the dog can hold it for one hour for every month of age. So you dog should be able to hold it for 5 hours. The trick is to be consistent with a schedule. Take the dog out first thing in the morning, then after every feeding and once before bed time.

Answer 8

Crate training is absolutely the quickest and most efficient way to house train. The crate should only be large enough for your dog to lay down and turn around in. ANY time you can’t watch her, even if it’s only for 2 minutes, put her in her crate. Crate her at night (preferably next to your bed so she doesn’t feel abandoned). In the day take her out every hour, use a key word or phrase, something like “do your business”. Repeat this phrase over and over while she is peeing or pooping. She will relate this phrase to doing her business and in the future she should poop or pee on command. As soon as she finishes praise her like she just did the best thing in the world and bring her back inside immediately. Take up any water source (this includes toilets!) 3 hours before bed time, and measure out her water intake during the day (about the same amount as food). Paper training and pad training does work in some cases, but it takes longer as it teaches the dog that it’s still okay to go inside and some dogs end up thinking anything on the floor is okay to go on (say you leave a magazine on the floor or even on a rug). You want to really press that it’s NOT okay to go inside no matter where. As far as correction goes, you can only correct her if you catch her in the act. If you don’t there is nothing you can do but clean it up, she won’t understand why you’re yelling at her, and as far as the old school methods of rubbing her nose in it, that will just make her sneaky about it when she does go. If you catch her in the act firmly say “No!” and clap your hands loudly, this should startle her and make her stop. Then pick her up and hold her tail underneath her, she should hold it until you put her down outside if you do this. When she finishes praise her profusely. I know it’s tough, and there will be times where she seems to be getting it and then pee in the house for no reason at all, it’s frustrating but it doesn’t mean she’ll never get it. As a general rule, toys are harder to housetrain because their bladders are smaller. Using this method should start to work in a couple weeks but from what I understand you can’t really trust a dog to be fully housetrained until they’re at least 6 months of age. If all else fails, you could try having a professional trainer come in as we did. Our guy managed to train a 5 year old german shepherd rescue who had never been inside a house before (he was tied in the backyard his whole life – poor thing).

Answer 9

you have a puppy in an apartment, get used to trecking up and down the stairs. get a crate, put her on a feeding, playing and potty schedule. that way you are more likely to know when she'll need to potty. you may need to wait 20-30 mins at first to get her to go outside. keep telling her to go potty. do not play or offer other distractions until she goes potty. once she does praise her like no other dog has ever figured out how to potty outside before. do not buy pee pads unless you want her to pee inside. those confuse dogs, because you are telling them i want you to potty inside on this, and now i want you to do outside. if you catch her going potty inside tell her no and rush her outside and wait for her to finish and then praise her. be consistant and be patient. she's young and will learn if you are.

Answer 10

When we potty trained ours, we took her out about 3 - 4 times a day. Make sure you reward the positive behavior!!