# Potty-training tips



## Jamm (Mar 28, 2010)

I recommend always going outside the same way, not sure if you have been but stick to ONE exit. We used our front door and now Joey walks to our front door and we take him out, he pottys and we do LOTS of praising. I would suggest treating her like a 8week old pup. Outside after playing, eating, drinking, sleeping, and every half hour. That way you can avoid accidents and be doing training. Accidents happen, but make sure every time she goes OUTSIDE it is an amazing experience, bring kibble or treats everytime outside with you so when she goes you treat her. Gooodluck!


----------



## jmamom (Dec 3, 2009)

Clicker training worked for me. I only did it for housetraining, and Josie caught on immediately. Worth a try - good luck!


----------



## Sophie_Mom (Jan 21, 2009)

Sophie was ridiculously easy to train - I can probably count on one hand the number of accidents she ever had in the house...... Sawyer is not Sophie. We do all of the things that we did with Sophie. We take him out by the same door (when he is walking out the door, we say "go out"). We say "Go potty" when he is going to the bathroom. We praise him ridiculously and give him a treat when he goes outside. We make a big deal out of Sophie going potty outside too for him to witness (she probably thinks we've lost our minds!). We take him out after meals, after playing, and about every 30 minutes. He could be playing one second, and the next second, he is peeing. There doesn't seem to be any signs at all (no stopping, sniffing, circling or anything!). When we catch him going inside, we say a firm "NO!" and take him outside to finish his business. That being said, he has never pooped in the house, which is a good thing! 

He seems to know exactly what he should do when he goes outside. He pees and poops pretty much right away. He looks at me as he is going, because he knows to expect praise and a treat. When he finishes, he comes running over to me, all excited at the praise and anticipation of the treat. He just hasn't "gotten" that he shouldn't do it inside as well. There are far fewer accidents on my watch than my husband's. There have been precious few times that he has gone to the door or "asked" to go out. Basically, I am trained to take him out at regular intervals and he'll do the right thing. Friends have told me this is more normal than my experience with Sophie. 

He's gonna get it, right??


----------



## xSLZx (Jul 25, 2010)

You said you're taking her out every hour and a half. Try cutting it to every Hour and see if that works. Otherwise, i'd cut it to every 30 mins. Treats in hand. 
Zeppelin was pretty easy to train, i'm curious to see how our future puppy will be.


----------



## Duke's Momma (Mar 1, 2007)

Coley has me trained. When he wants to go outside, he pees in the house!

(couldn't help it-just kidding - almost)

His gut's been sick so he's had some baaaad accidents in the house (*sigh* those are hard to clean - especially on cream colored carpet) Duke peed in the house once. Cole's got that beat. lol

Actually, Coley's got it if we're paying attention. That's the key for us. He'll go to the door to go outside, but he'll also go to the door to just sit and look (very cute, btw-looks like Bolt looking out the train door). The ticket is if he's got to go potty, he'll go to the door and glance at me. He looses patience very quickly however, so I've really got to watch him. He may just be waiting until the last minute - "OH! I've got to pee - NOW"

We've had "no illness" related accidents for several weeks - very niiice. They'll get it. Consistence.


----------



## Mona (Jan 18, 2009)

Thanks for letting me know I'm not the only one going through this right now!


----------



## Sophie_Mom (Jan 21, 2009)

Misery loves company, right? But I really wish I weren't in this company!


----------



## younggtx (Jan 30, 2009)

We use the word "Go Potty" and we also got our pup (Bodhi) to do his business on the command, the main thing here is crate training and potty training go hand in hand. As soon we let Bodhi out of his crate, he goes direct to his Potty box. If he does not do his business, then we put him back his crate meaning NO TIME OUT, NO RECESS for him. Once he did his business with command "Go Potty" then we praise him "Good Boy", and with treats, plus he gets his play time. He understood really fast on reward, and he's been hitting his mark 100%.
For more information, PM me and I can send you WORD document the whole process, it's written with more details. All of our friends apply this method and it's worked, but crate training is the key, this prevent free roaming and no accident at early puppy stage. 

Here is my video link:
Bodhi -Potty #2 at Week 8:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/younggtx/4832935705/in/set-72157624456431367/

Bodhi - Potty #1:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/younggtx/4833811084/in/set-72157624456431367/

Bodhi - Potty #1 after his meal:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/younggtx/4839530985/in/set-72157624456431367/

By the way, we did Potty-training our Bodhi as early as 4 weeks, when we first visited him at our breeder place. This is how most breeders trained their puppies, how else all the puppies do their business in the middle of the night? It's not convenient to wipe the floor all the time and it's a serious sanitation issue. Puppies can't hold very long and within 2 hrs. The main focus here is watching each puppies start to put their nose down, then you bring them in their potty box. Once it's done, then the rest of other puppies follow the leader. DO NOT let them play in their litter box. 

Bodhi at 4 weeks young:









Potty-training start as early as they know how to walk, as you can see here. All little ones climb in and do their business then go back out. 









By the way, to do this correctly. You do require to have a Blond Retriever  Just Kidding... I just mess with you folks .


----------



## GoldenHurley (Jul 31, 2010)

younggtx said:


> For more information, PM me and I can send you WORD document the whole process, it's written with more details. All of our friends apply this method and it's worked, but crate training is the key, this prevent free roaming and no accident at early puppy stage.
> 
> ... By the way, to do this correctly. You do require to have a Blond Retriever  Just Kidding... I just mess with you folks .


younggtx - can you please send me a copy of your word potty training doc? I tried to PM you & wrote out all the details only to find out when I went to "send" that as a new member I must have 15 posts to PM :doh: - and of course lost all my typed text !!!  

... anyway we have had our 5mo old blonde Golden female Hurley for 1 wk now - doing the crate training & potty training routines and she is doing great once outside - no #2 accidents in the house so far (knock on wood). BUT #1 is another story - and has got worse over the week - 2 near misses + 1 full "accident" today. She just squats & goes w/o any visual cues at all yet - playing 1 min - going #1 the next sec. I usually catch her in the act & immediately outside, but too late of course!

... first thing out of her crate in the am is great - outside and #1 & #2 no problem. 1/2 hr of play/training then she eats/drinks & we go outside again. #2 is quick but #1 takes forever - if it happens! In fact, she usually #2's a second time! and never #1's !!?? 

... #1 's have become very problematic & need some help w/ getting her to visual cue her need.

... any & all help greatly appreciated - being very patient but have to watch her like a hawk & know importance of crate & potty training in these early stages.

Thanks all!


----------



## RedDogs (Jan 30, 2010)

For those having trouble, keep a chart. List every single time you take your dog out and every single time your dog eliminates. Post back after 3 days with your schedule and we'll see what patterns we can find...


----------



## younggtx (Jan 30, 2009)

GoldenHurley said:


> younggtx - can you please send me a copy of your word potty training doc? I tried to PM you & wrote out all the details only to find out when I went to "send" that as a new member I must have 15 posts to PM :doh: - and of course lost all my typed text !!!
> 
> ... any & all help greatly appreciated - being very patient but have to watch her like a hawk & know importance of crate & potty training in these early stages.
> 
> Thanks all!


Hi GH,
I just PM you my email, just reply to that email then I will send you my WORD document. It's very easy, it can be done.
All dogs are naturally will do their business out in the backyard or outside, once you let them out. They don't prefer to soil where they live or sleep.
The REAL and true test of potty training is *WHERE* you want your pets to go that's the key. Otherwise your pets will soil all over your backyard. Once you can train WHERE your pup go and on the command, now that's really potty-train. It takes time and real patient but it's worth it and pay off dividend. Don't give up, once you give up, the puppy is confuse and don't register. I'm a firm believer, it's not the puppy fault, it's just part of being good pets parenting. Looking forward to help you out.

Take a look at this clip:
Notice Bodhi knows exactly WHERE he needs to go on our backyard because we designate this area for him. We use recycle rubber mulch where it doesn't smell nor harmful, it's biodegradable too. He looks for that material when he needs to do his business. We just hose down and that's it. Naturally he would go in the grass if we don't train him and would soil our slope and fruit plants. 

Also one of the most important thing (It's a MUST) that you need to keep track of his daily routine, in no time you will figure him out like science. We have Bodhi under EXCEL spreadsheet and know exactly when he needs to do. Puppy (Week8 - Week10) has only within 1-2 hrs interval due to their small bladder, slowly they will be able to hold longer. Week8 - Week10 is very critical, trained them ASAP! (We trained Bodhi at Week4) and also with all the commands. Figure out what his strength (what he likes, such foods, treats, favorite toys, etc...) and weakness and peak period. Effective training only work during his peak period, and puppy has very short attention, and he will lose interest and won't listen to you. It's like a little kid, you just need to treat him with TLC and it will work out at the end. It's more of who has more patient than who. It's a testing ground for both of you.

Outdoor Potty #1:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/younggtx/4845866744/in/set-72157624456431367/

Outdoor Potty #2:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/younggtx/4845240435/in/set-72157624456431367/

So we have both system, outdoor and indoor. Indoor system comes in really handy when weather comes into play.


----------



## Rochester (Apr 6, 2010)

The first few days we had Sadie home, at 8 weeks, she barked like crazy when we put her in the crate. She hated it. It is one of those plastic crates. So we trapped her into our kitchen/family room, thinking she couldn't do much damage there. She didn't, but she peed on the kitchen floor several times.

After 3-4 days, we borrowed a wire crate from friends. I'd used wire shelves zip-strapped together in a zig-zag to make a six-foot barrier to keep her in the kitchen/family room, and she didn't mind that, so I thought maybe a wire crate would work better. It works great. I think it is because it is not so confining— but who knows?

The good news is that she hasn't peed or pooped in the house since. She's alomost 5 months old now. We always took her outside immediately after letting her out of the crate, and she did what she was supposed to do. In between times (because she is out of the crate most of the time), she would stand by the door when she had to go. If she was standing by the door, we would take her out, even though there was no other indication she had to go. Somewhere along the line, she started to bark when she wanted to go out, which makes things easier. I have to say that this was the easiest potty-training we've ever been through. Now... if we can find a way of decreasing the extraneous barking. ;-)


----------

