# How long did it take your new pup to be potty trained?



## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

Defintely buy a few cheap, clear shower-curtains and put them over the landlord's rugs for a month! It just makes everything so much easer not to have a panicky feeling about potty accidents.


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## New Golden Mom (Dec 17, 2008)

It took Rufus about a week and he'd go to the door but still have an accident here and there. By the end of the first month we were pretty well accident free. I think the idea of shower curtains is great...you won't be as stressed knowing the carpets are somewhat protected. Also get Nature's Miracle if you don't have it already...it's great at getting rid of the smell so the puppy won't go back to the same spot plus it takes stains right out. It's awesome stuff!!


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## Noey (Feb 26, 2009)

Noah was pretty much a "no way let me outside" guy when we got him. You might go to Home Depot and buy a sample piece of roll out flooring, I forget what they call that, not only will it help keep the carpet clean but you can size it to an area, clean it with a mop...and it's cool to the touch so they tend to like it. They normally have returns and miscut samples available at a low cost.

When Noah was really little and we were gone for a longer period of time we built a little box with 2x4s and put paper in it, at first hey becuase that is what they had for his potty box at the breeder...he would only go in that box if 100% needed to go.


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## Doodle (Apr 6, 2009)

Both of my dogs were quick with the potty training. Within one week we had the accidents to a minimum, and within 3-4 weeks they were accident free. If you're really diligient about watching your pup (warning signs are sniffing the floor and walking in circles) and taking them out every hour, you'll prevent a lot of the accidents and that helps them to catch on faster.


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

My dog Gus peed in the house only a couple of times before grasping the concept. He pooped in the house for weeks because of giardia, but we can't fault him for that. Comet took a little longer, I think because his bladder was slow to develop. He was still having accidents until about 12 weeks.

Jax came housebroken, since we got him at 16 weeks. He had maybe two accidents in the house as he got adjusted, and now at 6 months, he'll leak a little if he gets too excited and his bladder is full.

Watch your little guy like a hawk and crate him when you can't. Interrupt him with a loud noise right as he begins his accident and he'll stop. Carry him right to the spot he's supposed to use as his bathroom and put him down right there. He'll still have plenty in the tanks, so he should pee right away. Gently praise in a mid/high toned voice as he pees and throw him a little petting and treats party when he's done. Always bring him to the same spot outside, since the smell of his old urine will tell him that it's the right time and place to pee.

For the same reason, clean up accidents in the house with an enzyme cleaner like Nature's Miracle or a pet-specific cleaner like Resolve. Never use ammonia since it breaks the urine into compounds that smell like old urine. Any smell of urine on the floor or carpet will encourage the dog to pee in that spot, so cleanup is crucial.

By the way, there's no need to make an accident anymore unpleasant than the loud noise already does. The positive training is what makes for swift, reliable housebreaking, not punishment during an accident. So don't be rough with the dog or continue to yell once he's stopped peeing and you've scooped him up to take him outside.

Every accident you miss will delay the housebreaking process, and please remember that if you don't catch him _while_ he's actually peeing or pooping, you've missed your opportunity to train. Dragging a dog back to a mess just confuses him about the whole concept of housebreaking and can actually delay the process.


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## yvettelovesgoldens (Mar 30, 2009)

Shadow took about 3 weeks to potty train. She only had one poop in the house, it took her longer to pee outside.
I like the shower curtain idea as well. Great tip
Yvette


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## Bender (Dec 30, 2008)

I think I've had about one pee per puppy. Storee though wasn't her fault, I made the mistake of asking her if she wanted to go pee, so she did right there on the floor. Note to self, ask if the dog needs to go OUT, not PEE. 

Generally if you use a crate and go outside often enough, watch puppy every second they're loose, and praise them for going outside, they don't have much of an issue, at least that's what I've found. If I see puppy starting to sniff I'm ready with a treat, call their name, give them the treat as I scoop them up and take them outside...

Lana


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## paula bedard (Feb 5, 2008)

Both of my boys were trained within the first week. They did have the occasional accident, especially when excited by arriving guests, but were very good at signaling their need to go. I used a jingle bell hanging from the doorknob. It's still on my door, I like hearing when anyone is coming or going.


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## beargroomer (Jan 2, 2008)

Gibby slept through the night from the very first night. Had 2 pee accidents (day 1 and day 2) because I was still learning his signals. After that, he never had an accident again. He learned pretty quickly to go to the door and stare up at the door knob. I watched him like a hawk in the early weeks and took him out every half hour or so, so he caught on quickly. But I can't take all the credit, he's just been an easy puppy in many ways.

Gaius took longer than Gibby to be fully potty trained, but a lot of it probably has to do with me not being as good at spotting signals then. He came home at 14 weeks and was mostly reliable in a couple of weeks, but did have one accident at around 5-6 months when he suddenly got up from a nap (he had a long play session, drank a lot of water beforehand) and suddenly peed standing up, without even squatting. I think he was more surprised than we were.


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## jwemt81 (Aug 20, 2008)

We got really lucky with Tucker since he was super easy to train. We brought him home on September 20th of last year and he hasn't had a single accident in the house or in his crate since October. Our GSD on the other hand was much more stubborn and she took several months to train when she was a pup.


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## Kelli (Apr 28, 2009)

Funny, I was patting myself on the back yesterday thinking about how easy Emma Rose was to train. It only took a few days and after that she had a couple of pee accidents and that was it. So for a month we have been pretty much pee free in the house. Last night after we got home from puppy kindergarten I took her outside to pee and figured she was good to go. 

While I was in the other room and DH was on puppy watch Emma managed to pee on the kitchen floor. I don't know why she did it unless she went to the door and nobody noticed that she needed out. So that is what I get for thinking we are scott free on potty issues. LOL

Seriously though, if you use a crate it should be pretty easy to train your puppy as long as you watch them constantly and look for the signs.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Congratulations on being a new puppy person 

Housebreaking can go very quickly as long as your pups physical limitations are remembered and the pup has very few opportunities for mistakes. In general a puppy should be taken out:

* Whenever they wake up
* Whenever they are released from their crate (you should crate train)
* After eating
* After playing
* Every hour or so since the last potty break if they are awake and young

As the pup matures the time between breaks can be extended - I think the general rule is about an hour for each month of age minus one. For example and 8 week old puppy should be taken out every hour, a 12 week old every 2 hours etc.

If you cannot watch the pup, crate her. It is kindest on all of you to prevent accidents. Learn her behaviours that indicate the need for relief, such as heading to a private area (behind a couch?), circling, sniffing etc.

With a young puppy, nothing comes ahead of outside time first thing in the morning - don't even fuss to leash the pup before heading outside and definitely don;t take care of yourself LOL

I usually pull water about 2 hours before I go to bed and the puppy is taken out last thing. I cannot remember a puppy having an accident beyond the first night being crated. I do get up early though.

When an accident occurs and you do not see it happen, just clean the mess with Nature's Miracle. Don't say a word or even act disgusted - the pup truly won't understand after the fact.

If you catch the pup in the act, just say something like Oops, you silly girl as you scoop her up and head outside. I use Oops you silly since that keeps my emotions calm as opposed to saying something like NO. And an old timer trick is to NEVER let the pup see you cleaning any messes that happen - some think this encourages the pup to eliminate in the house since mother always cleaned their messes - I don't know if this is true or an old wives tales but I do follow it since it certainly doesn't hurt. 

I also take this opportunity to teach a cue word for elimination; I use 'Want to go out' and 'Hurry up' 

My dogs generally are well on their way to being house trained within a few days although each one seems to have an accident somewhere between 5 and 6 months; They are reprimanded for this accident and it never seems to happen again - or if it does they are off to the vets to find a physical cause.

You are in for some interesting and fun times; and this forum is full of very knowledgeable and giving people so post your questions, your concerns and of course your joy !!


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## Selli-Belle (Jan 28, 2009)

Ian Dunbar has a protocol for house training a dog in "After You Get Your Puppy." You can download the book for free at his website here

Basically it is a combo of crate training and a rigid schedule for pottying. Take a look, I think it could prevent ANY accidents.


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

Sunrise said:


> If you catch the pup in the act, just say something like Oops, you silly girl as you scoop her up and head outside. I use Oops you silly since that keeps my emotions calm as opposed to saying something like NO. And an old timer trick is to NEVER let the pup see you cleaning any messes that happen - some think this encourages the pup to eliminate in the house since mother always cleaned their messes - I don't know if this is true or an old wives tales but I do follow it since it certainly doesn't hurt.


I like that you mentioned this. I used to think you had to make an accident an unpleasant experience for a dog to "get" it, but housebreaking is really about nurturing the natural urge not to mess a living space. Interrupting a dog during an accident is unpleasant enough, so yelling at the pup or smacking it on the butt is unnecessary and probably actually counterproductive.

I do use a louder noise than "oops," just to ensure the pee stops and there's some left for going outside, but I like that you're pushing people away from "no" so they don't mix angry voices into the training.


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## Debles (Sep 6, 2007)

Sunrise said:


> Congratulations on being a new puppy person
> 
> Housebreaking can go very quickly as long as your pups physical limitations are remembered and the pup has very few opportunities for mistakes. In general a puppy should be taken out:
> 
> ...


I agree with your method. Our goldens have all been trained with 2 weeks for sure but it was US who had to be on the ball with crating when needed and taking outside very often! They learn so quickly when given the training!


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## Brady's mom (Dec 20, 2007)

Not even a week for us. But we were super, super diligent about taking him out, and he was crated whenever we had to turn our back on him. He's not a super star in other areas but this is one trait that I was very thankful for, believe me!


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

Puppies get in habits sooooooooo quickly. That is why it pays to just never allow accidents in the first place, even though sometimes you don't feel like lifeguarding the situation so constantly. If there are no "accidents" in the house, going in the house just ceases to be considered by the pup- it's pretty cool. It works in reverse too though, where the puppy "unhousebreaks" him/herself by virtue of a few mishaps clustered together. Sometimes, a puppy is a watched pot that never boils. You KNOW the pup has to go, but meanwhile he is chasing leaves, sniffing, eating dirt. . . Those are the deep breath moments. It's helpful to tell yourself that the puppy is empty, full or half-full, though nothing is foolproof. The puppy will pee after naps, playing, drinking etc- and will give you signals once you get to know him/her

My golden Raleigh was my winner, with zero accidents as a puppy. Acadia, for some reason, I can't quite remember- probably from working a bazillion hours and trying not to cheat the dogs out of any quality walks- crazy days. Finn had Giardia along with TK's Gus, and it was difficult. He got the concept fast, but was so sick.Tally had zero poop accidents ever (so far) in his life, and just a few pee miscalculations on my part- easiest guy to reason with using only positive praise.Tango was much harder for some reason- she was 15 weeks before I could really trust her. She didnt have too many actual accidents bc I watched her like a hawk. I did reprimand her a few times after 12 weeks. Maybe the fact that the snow was over her head made being out less inviting to both of us, and I was a little less dogged about waiting her out.


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

Ljilly28 said:


> Finn had Giardia along with TK's Gus, and it was difficult. He got the concept fast, but was so sick.


To the pups' credit, I believe they stopped _peeing_ in the house right away. It was pooping they had a hard time with, but they still got it right away once we cleared up the infection.


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## Doodle (Apr 6, 2009)

You've been given some great advice here. A couple of things we also did are, first, when you first bring your pup home, many believe they should not have the run of the house until they are getting the hang of the potty training. When we were able to watch him like a hawk, we kept Brady in the kitchen with us (easiest floor to clean ) for the first few days. When we saw he was catching on, we'd move into the living room for a little while. We'd bring him out to pee right before going into the living room, so we figured he'd be all set for a hour, but lo and behold, he'd pee in the living room 15-20 minutes later, and hubby and I were scratching our heads. When we told our trainer about it, he said that when you bring a pup into a new room, they get very excited about it and don't have a good control of their bladder (not that it's really great at that point anyway). But they start to relax and become more comfortable there around the 15 minute time. So he suggested bringing Brady out to pee, then go into the living room, then take him out to pee again in 15 minutes, THEN he'd be okay to stay in the living room for the next hour before having to go out again. We tried this and it worked. So we used this same procedure as we gradually gave Brady more freedom around the house. I've also read that when they're confined to one or two rooms at first, they learn that this is their "den" area and don't want to mess it. When they are introduced to a new room, they don't see it as part of their "den" right away, so they may have accidents at first. Eventually they see the whole house as their "den."


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