Question:I have 2 16 week old pups and housebreaking is NOT going well. They are crate trained and clean in the crate. They will go outside and have even learned to come get a treat after. BUT they still go in the house. I take them out every hour or if they start snifiing. If I catch them I say No NO to startle and rush them out. But STILL given the chance they will dirty in the house. I am so frustrated!
Answers:
A puppy is like a baby. He will relieve himself anywhere, anytime. Because a newly adopted adult dog is unfamiliar with your home, he may not understand where he should "go"! Housetraining, or teaching your dog to go outside to relieve himself, is an important lesson your dog must learn.
It is up to you, the new parent, to housetrain your new puppy or dog with patience, love and understanding.
CRATE TRAINING
In the wild, wolves live in a den or cave. It is important the entire wolf pack keep this area clean. The same idea works with your family pet. Your dog’s crate is his home, his bedroom. It is likely that your dog will not like to soil his bed. Therefore, he will wait until he is let out to do his business.
HOUSETRAINING WITH YOUR CRATE
On average, puppies can hold their bladders one hour for every month they have been alive, plus one hour. For example, if you have a three month old puppy, he can wait 3 + 1 = 4 hours. If you work longer than this, the best solution is to have someone (a neighbour, a relative, a dog walker) come in at an appropriate time to let your dog out.
100 PER CENT SUPERVISION
Supervision is the key to housetraining! While you are at home, your dog must be supervised. Whether you are watching television, making dinner, on the phone or on the computer, your puppy must be watched. While it sounds like an impossible task, it isn’t. Keeping the crate in a social part of the house makes it easier. Using a house lead – a small, thin lead with a little clip on it – also helps immensely. Outside, you put a lead on your dog so you can control him. If the lead is removed after returning home, control is lost. For example, when watching television, have the lead tied to a couch leg. Your dog can have his blanket and toys with him. He’ll feel safe and comfortable. The majority of accidents happen when your pup wanders off and you haven’t noticed. You don’t want him to sneak off into the kitchen and find a puddle a short time later. If your pup is kept from wandering, the possibility of an accident is diminished because he will not eliminate where he is sitting. 100 per cent supervision means ensuring your dog is playing with you, in his crate, outside or on his house lead.
SCHEDULING
In the morning, take your dog outside. He should urinate and possibly have a bowel movement. Spend about five to seven minutes with him and then bring him in. Do not play with him yet. Feed him breakfast, either in the crate or with the lead, and supervise it. If your pup did not have a bowel movement earlier, take him back outside about 15 minutes after he has eaten. Use the lead to keep your pup moving along while outside. Otherwise, he may start sniffing, stopping and playing to avoid the job at hand. You can say “hurry up” and your dog will begin to associate these words with the task at hand. Praise him excessively when he has eliminated. Bring him back in the house and place him in his crate if you are going to work. Continue to supervise him with the crate or the lead if you are home. When returning after being out, go directly to the crate, let him out, praise him and put him back in. Feed him his meal, take him outside 15 minutes after he has eaten, praise him after he eliminates, and bring him back in. Continue to follow the same steps consistently.
While you are home, you should take your pup outside on a regular basis. Even if your pup is in a crate or on a house lead, he still needs the opportunity to eliminate. Also, be careful what you wish for! A pup who barks to go outside may be cute and clever now. However, you must try not to fall into the habit of leaping up every time your dog wants in or out. It is a very submissive gesture on your part. Have your pup wait a moment or two.
Setting up a schedule is also a good idea. If your pup is under four months of age, take him out for five minutes every hour on the hour. If your pup is over four months old, take him out every second hour on the hour. The schedule will help you remember when to take him out. Go out for five minutes only. It provides the opportunity to eliminate even if your pup may not need to go. Take your dog out after active play and also after napping. If an accident occurs, you may have forgotten to take him out .
FEEDING TIME
Having a puppy drink a lot of water and then placing him in his crate is much more unkind than letting him be a bit thirsty for an hour or two. Adult dogs should have access to drinking water at all times. However, this is not the case for untrained pups. Most parents will not allow their children to drink a big glass of water before going to bed. Avoid setting your pup up for failure. Restrict his water intake to three or four drinks daily and make sure you remove the water dish about three hours before bedtime. This will help your dog sleep more comfortably.
If it is a hot evening, supply your pup with a few ice cubes. They will enter your dog’s system at a slower pace. When feeding your pup, provide a high-quality food that is a good source of protein. The food must be concentrated so your puppy’s body doesn’t require much of it. If you feed less, your puppy eliminates less. Food is directly related to how well puppies do in their housetraining.
EXERCISE
It is important that your pup gets a lot of exercise, especially while crate training. You can play fetch, chase or hide and seek in your home. You can call ‘come’ at the same time to provide further training. Anyway you do it, your pup needs to be able to run and play.
you have to continue with the crate until the pups are at least 12 months old. also you HAVE to get the smell out of your carpet or they will continue to pee there. use white vinegar mixed with water...2 parts vinegar to 1 part water
Other Answers:
Get the book " Ceasars Way" ..it is excellent..and it will tell you everything you need to know.... Promise.
Grab some dynamite, place it next to the puppies, and KABOOM! Problem solved. :D
I tried this once before, my husband thought I would enjoy the gift of 2 small puppies, boy was he wrong! I am a neat freak, and withoin an hour my house was absolutely disgusting! I gave one away to my brother, and tried to raise the other one. The other one broke into my shoes and off he went to a new home!
God bless you for your patience, I now hate dogs!
Yes, either reserve a room at the closest mental facility or take as much caffeine as you can because you are going to have your hands full. It would help to know the type of puppies you have. I have always kept my puppies in a baby’s playpen until they were trained. I put their toys, food, and blanket on one end and potty paper on the other end. I use the bed pads that they use in hospitals which can be bought at the drug stores or you can pay more and get the same type potty papers from pet stores. As soon as they have an accident, when you have them out playing with them then you put then right in the play pen with a gentle scolding. You CAN NOT housebreak a puppy until they are three months old because they can’t control themselves until then. Once they are showing signs of using the paper all the time then let them live among the humans and put the paper by the door that you want them to go out. If you have a doggie door they will start going through that almost right away. They actually enjoy going potty outside a lot more then inside on the paper. But above all they need watching 24/7 and taught all the rules right from the beginning. Good luck and enjoy those little ones. They are all precious. This is really a very short answer to a question that could take up a whole book.
Dang, I have trained dogs since I was 12 and I'm 50. I have 2 Yorkie litter mates I'm training right now. One is my daughters but we are training them for the first year together.
I just called her to say how dad-gum easy it was to train 2 instead of one. We have a crate in the kitchen. They haven't been locked in there in almost 3 months. They were born Jan. 20. I have a gate up in the kitchen.
They go out when I get up. I leave the gate open til I am doing something where I can't watch them or they go to sleep. Then, I close the gate and drop them in the kitchen. The crate door is open and they go inside to nap.
They haven't gone in the kitchen in months. I haven't locked them in the crate that is in the kitchen for months.
Sorry you are having trouble. I'm not going to housebreak dogs alone again. This has just been too easy. Their energy levels are equal and they exhaust each other out running around playing.
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