# HELP Potty Training and biting problems!



## mommyof5 (Apr 20, 2012)

I'm having the exact same issues with Macy and I wish I had some advice for you Macy is 10.5 weeks and her biting is starting to amp up. She actually growled and bit me this morning over a banana peel she found outside when I went to open her jaws and pry it away from her. She'd never done that before. We've also been out every hour and she'll pee again before the next 30 mins to hr is up. She does great in her crate though. I feel like I could've written this exact post. So sorry for you


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## dezymond (May 3, 2012)

The best wait to stop nipping is to redirect the behavior, mostly another toy. What worked for my dog was 2 warning, one we make a loud sound or yelp and pull our hand away. If that didn't work we would pull our hand away, and sit on the couch or a chair and ignore him, he'd get the message after a good minute or two of being ignored and come back wanting to play. The more consistent you are at whichever method you choose, the faster your puppy will "get it", hopefully. She bites/nips all the time because her baby teeth are coming in and puppies play with their mouths. Try a cold but not frozen towel or freeze up one of her favorite rubber toys and see how she does. Just like a real baby, the cold will soothe her gums. 

Potty training needs to be consistent as well. Give your pup anywhere from 5 to even 15 minutes outside without distractions until she eliminates. If she comes back in and eliminates on the floor, immediately say "no no no" to possibly scare the pup or at least surprise her and scoop her up as gently as possible and bring her to the potty area and let her finish. When cleaning up the mess bring the towels or whatever to her potty spot, let her inspect it and praise her. My pup pretty much got the potty area from day 1 and I never used the leash to bring him to the spot, he just seemed to know. Even 5 weeks later I still don't use the leash to bring him to the area. 

I've heard some people use a bell for the dog when they need to go potty. They place it by the door to the potty area, ring the bell and say their cue ("go potty" or something). I've heard it works very well and instead of a bark for the dog telling the owner to need to go potty, they ring the bell by pulling the rope or something. I haven't tried this as my dog just seems to go towards the door and sit in front of it when he needs to go. Luckily it's in an area I can see easily. 

13 weeks is still young and hopefully you started her potty training and biting "issue" earlier. Remember, she's still a baby and she'll have accidents here and there. Housetraining doesn't come overnight or even over a year, it takes time and a regular routine. Remember, dogs are creatures of habit, if you keep the potty times around the same time she'll learn to hold it until it is time to eliminate. However, she is young and needs to be taken out every at least 2 hours if she doesn't sit by the door to go potty or anything.


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## dezymond (May 3, 2012)

mommyof5 said:


> I'm having the exact same issues with Macy and I wish I had some advice for you Macy is 10.5 weeks and her biting is starting to amp up. She actually growled and bit me this morning over a banana peel she found outside when I went to open her jaws and pry it away from her. She'd never done that before. We've also been out every hour and she'll pee again before the next 30 mins to hr is up. She does great in her crate though. I feel like I could've written this exact post. So sorry for you


I remember 10.5 weeks like it was yesterday, just out of nowhere mine would start biting and really nipping. As for the banana incident, I suggest you start working on the "Drop it" command. I'm still finding myself prying things out of my pup's mouth, but not once has he ever tried to bite me. 

How long do you let her out to pee? Sometimes you'll have to watch her for up to 15 minutes before she'll fully empty. If you're like me I give my dog free access to water all day and he drinks ALOT. He'll hold it for awhile and just to test him I did "let" him pee in the house to see how long he could hold it, but he was whining quite a bit before he did decide to go.


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## Willow52 (Aug 14, 2009)

Lucy2012 said:


> *HELP!!* :wavey: My golden retriever puppy is coming up to 13 weeks and we have had her since she was 7weeks old. She does bit and nip all the time, does anyone know what I could do about this? She also is still not house trained. I would bring her out nearly every hour but I just brought her in from the toilet and she peed on the floor. The longest she hasnt peed in the house is a day. Please help I really want to keep her in the house.


I took Hank out every 15-20 min. when he was awake. Also after eating, sleeping or playtime. Be sure to praise and give a treat when they "go" in the proper area.


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## alliruiz (Feb 2, 2012)

There is some great advice above. I just wanted to add that both these issues will resolve with consistency. Hang in there. It really does get better.


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## JUKE55 (Jun 13, 2012)

these are great pointers! thanks. I am about to get a puppy and i know its going to be a lot of work.
love the advice!


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## mayapaya (Sep 28, 2011)

As Willow52 says, I would increase the frequency of your times to go outside to about 15 minutes. Also, if she doesn't go, try putting her in her crate for about 15 minutes, and then trying again (since it seems she doesn't have issues going in her crate.) It's alot of work, and some housetrain quicker than others. We have gone about 3 weeks with no accidents with Payton, and so I would say she was fully trained (knock on wood) by 4 months.


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## Aspen's Mom (May 15, 2012)

I agree with others who have said you may have to take her out more often, and put her in her crate when she won't pee outside...then take her out again 15 minutes later. I know how frustrating it is to have accidents in the house. One day soon, the potty training will "click", and then she'll get it right pretty much all the time. 

We also dealt with major amount of biting with our pup. We tried to re-direct with toys, but she always seemed to prefer to chew on us. We bought an x-pen (dog playpen) to put her in when she was really wound up with the biting. Usually, in 10 minutes or so, the craziness had passed, and she would be ready to nap or be more calm with us. Please be patient, the biting will much improve with time. Ours is 4 months old now, and has gotten sweeter every day. She rarely bites us anymore, only when she is over-excited, or over-tired. 

I really think both of the issues you're dealing with will work themselves out as she matures. She's still very young. Sorry you're going through this...best of luck with her!


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## Lucy2012 (Jun 12, 2012)

Thank you for all the helpful advice everyone. We actually made great improvements yesterday which was great! Biting is still a bad issue but I guess I do just have to let her grow out of it.


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## mydisneykids (May 8, 2012)

Brylin is 15 weeks and I was pulling my hair out only a few weeks ago.
What finally worked was what I had read online.

She was in the crate. She knew and was good about going as soon as we took her out of the crate. It was the times in between.
So we started taking her out every 20 min. If she peed we would reward her, bring her in and play.
As soon as she didn't go when we took her out we would put her in the crate for a period of time. Usually 30 min. or so which also gave us time to do what we needed to do since we were always watching her when she wasn't in the crate.
After the 30 min. we took her out. 99% of the time she would go then. If not back in the crate for a little bit and then back outside again until she would go.
We slowly started to increase the time by 10 min. intervals.

It made for a crazy week or two. It seems all we did was take her in and out but it really worked for her and now only has the occasional accident when we are not paying attention or are too busy to see her cues.

Good luck!!!


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## willowscj (Oct 15, 2013)

Very useful advice. Rafa does like to play bite me but I usually offer him a toy or stick instead. I will try the whinning so see if he gets the idea he could hurt. I also try holding his bottom jaw open, he can't bite then & that works sometimes too. Note I'm not hurting him by doing that.


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## olliversmom (Mar 13, 2013)

Welcome.
It does get better. They grow very quickly and this will all be a blur in a short amount of time. 
The nipping and such takes time. Distract with other toys. Ignore and then put in *brief* time out of they are being relentless. If you search thru previous threads there are a lot of comments about puppy nipping. 
I know frozen kongs were my best friend those early weeks with Olliver. Helps with teething and keeps them occupied. As well, the big saying is: A tired puppy is a happy puppy, (and a happy household). Olliver is rambunctious in the early morning and end of day. I get my shoes on, go outside and walk/play/wear him out. Goes a long, long way. Good luck!

*Potty Training Tips:*
1. Bring out at least every half hour or less, the first couple weeks, especially before/after feeding and upon waking and/or when giving cues they need to go out: sniffing, etc.
2. Bring to same place.
3. Give Potty a Name: “Go Potty Ollie.” “Get Busy Ollie”
4. Praise like crazy when mission accomplished.
5. Never hit, verbally abuse or punish for accidents.
6. Be positive, patient and consistent.
7. Lots love and sense of humor go a long way.
8. Realize every pup matures physically and mentally at their own speed.


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## solinvictus (Oct 23, 2008)

I do not believe in startling or scaring a puppy in regards to potty training. It may work well with some but for others there can be fall out. 
The fall out is the pup doesn't understand that they shouldn't go inside the house they instead just don't trust you and become sneaky about it instead. So they sneak away and potty when you are not looking. 

Shorten the time span between potty outings. Instead of waiting for signs that the pup needs to go be proactive and take the pup out every 20 to 30 minutes on leash. Praise and reward with something really yummy immediately after the pup has eliminated right there. 
When taking the pup out take them out give them a little time to eliminate if they don't take them back in on leash and put them back in the crate for a few minutes. Repeat until the pup goes potty. After the pup eliminates and gets rewarded then go back in and play etc.

In the beginning of potty training what we are setting up is the habit of going potty outside. This is the first step. We want them to learn this really good and solid before we start experimenting with letting them tell us by the signs they make that they have to go. 
To many new owners want to rush the process. They want to do two steps in the potty training at once. This can be very confusing for a young pup. Giving to much freedom gives the pup to many opportunities to make mistakes and then the lines of what you really want to train get blurry and the pup doesn't truly understand.

1st step - teach the pup that elimination is always outside
lots of repetition builds this good habit
2nd step - add time between potty breaks use good judgement and add time in very small increments. Go from 20 minutes between potty breaks to 30 minutes between potty breaks not 20 to 1 hour. Lots of repetiton.
3rd step which shouldn't really happen until the pup has been home for at least 2 months (some pups even a little longer) then start looking for signs of when the pup needs to go and take the pup out then.

Pups need to go out about every 20 minutes plus after they eat, play, sleep, drink, before and after crating, etc in the beginning. They are active at this time and everything goes through faster than when they are in bed (crate) for the night.


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## solinvictus (Oct 23, 2008)

Puppies explore their worlds with their mouth. This is normal behavior. Just because it is normal doesn't mean we want to encourage it. 

If the pup starts nipping at your hands, stand up turn your back cross your arms and ignore the pup. Usually, since the pup has had attention for this before they will esculate in the beginning. You have to be strong and totally ignore them at that moment. As soon as the pup stops (just for a second or two) you can ask for a behavior you have already taught them like sit. And as soon as they do reward them for it.
If the pup continues to jump and bite at you instead of just turning away say something like too bad and walk out of the room putting a gate or a door between you. Give it a few seconds and then come back in again ask for a easy known behavior and reward for it.

You can also redirect by offering a toy to replace your body part. It takes some time for them to really understand that biting gets them no interaction which is what they truly want from you. Doing it a few times a day for a day or two really isn't long enoough for them to understand. This usually takes a couple weeks with a few times they may really regress after you thought they understood it.

Also, it is a good thing to work on actual bite inhibition training. Take a small amount of the pups daily kibble. Have it behind your back in your hands ask for a sit and reward for it. Say the pups name and produce a piece of kibble holding it between your index finger and thumb offer it to their mouth. If they take it really hard (biting) say ouch and do not give them the food. Try again. As soon as they start taking it a little softer say yes and give the food. Slowly working toward them taking it very gently. This will take some time. use about 20 pieces of kibble before each feeding to train this.

There are also great impulse control games to also help the pup learn how to offer good behaviors to get rewards. Do a search on the forum for a game called It's Yer Choice.


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## Sadia Anam (Apr 2, 2017)

Potty dog is one of my favorite pet as well as my best friend. I trained very well my dogs. I get info regarding potty dogs training from here.
https://www.itsdiscovery.com/how-to-potty-train-a-dog/


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## Redmeadow (Mar 30, 2017)

I had these problems to. The nipping I used to give a loud sharp 'ahh ahh' noise that let's a puppy know its hurts its similar to litter mates they will let out a little squeal to let each other know their playing to hard. 

The toileting was hard for us, our Goldie was outdoor bred outdoors so had no experience indoors so we took her out every 30mins stayed with her, when she went gave her loads of praise and a treat. After food and sleep we took her put. It took about 2 weeks for her to start going out alone she would wine for come back in.


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## smp (Apr 27, 2016)

Lucy2012 said:


> Thank you for all the helpful advice everyone. We actually made great improvements yesterday which was great! Biting is still a bad issue but I guess I do just have to let her grow out of it.


check out any youtube video from "kikopup" - especially "no mugging." Great little games to play with your pup to teach bite inhibition. You don't have to use a clicker if that seems daunting - just replace a clicker with a marker word ("yes!" or "good!") for any correct behavior.


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## Anne Y. (Jan 6, 2017)

As far as the biting/nipping, I would give a very sharp yelp and then even whine a little and turn my back. That so concerned my puppy he would immediately try to inspect where he had bitten, then lick my hand and face. He stopped biting us completely by around 8.5-9 weeks old, it really only took a week or so. At 12.5 weeks old now he doesn't nip at us, although we get an occasional oopsie if we're rough housing with a toy. Redirecting with a toy is great advice, just sharing what worked lightning fast for us if that option doesn't immediately take. 

Still working on potty training outside so no advice there, other than being consistent.


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