# Potty training



## crazy daisy (Jul 3, 2011)

don't feel guilty about crate training --- that is the hardest part....our emotions


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## Molly's Mum (Apr 1, 2011)

When you take her outside every 20 or 30 minutes how long are you staying outside with her waiting for her to have a wee? Do you take her outside immediately after she wakes from a sleep? When she does have a wee outside are you making a huge fuss over her and treating her heaps with high value treats?


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## Mirinde (Jun 8, 2011)

Are you taking her inside right after she pees a little outside? I seem to remember Iorek would kind of tinkle, and then walk around, and tinkle a little bit more until we started associating the "Go potty!" command with it. Now if we feel he's giving us the run around and not emptying his bladder, we remind him to "Go potty!" and he does his stuff. 

You could try walking around with her more outside even after she pees a bit so that she starts to understand she needs to empty her bladder outside. You could also start putting a command to it, depending on how old she is. Sometimes I think they really just get way too distracted outside, especially if it's windy and there's lots of smells in the air =)


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## Bellapuppy (Jun 18, 2011)

We take her outside every 20-30 minutes and make sure she goes before we go back inside. We usually are out there for 5-10 minutes. She responds to the command "Go pee." We give her tons of treats and "Ohhhh, goood girllllll!" and she gets very excited and happy afterward. Today, I've put her in the crate when we are not playing actively with her and she hasn't had an accident all day long. I feel really bad about putting her in the crate, but I moved the crate right next to the couch in the living room where she can look at us and feel like she's still with us. Before, the crate was in the kitchen and she wasn't in the crate often. She actually doesn't fuss at all about being in the crate much, just kind of digs every now and then. I guess I'll just have to get used to the idea of crating her.


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## Rainheart (Nov 28, 2010)

Here is my advice for what you should do.

1. Stop using puppy pads. Stick to just going outside. It is probably confusing her.
2. If you think she drinks a lot of water, then limit the amount of water that she drinks throughout the day. Make sure she still gets enough, especially if it is very warm out, but don't let her drink excessively.
3. Keep her in one area of the house, preferably a place with hardwood or no carpets. If she does pee, it will be easy to clean up and she won't be running around the house to places you won't be able to watch her. Or you can get an x-pen.
4. Keep her crated if you aren't able to keep an eye on her.
5. Continue to take her out at least every 30 minutes, praise with love and treats when she goes outside. 
6. You can keep her occupied in her crate with a kong stuffed and frozen, so you don't feel so bad keeping her shut in there.


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## Bellapuppy (Jun 18, 2011)

1. Stop using puppy pads. Stick to just going outside. It is probably confusing her.
2. If you think she drinks a lot of water, then limit the amount of water that she drinks throughout the day. Make sure she still gets enough, especially if it is very warm out, but don't let her drink excessively.
3. Keep her in one area of the house, preferably a place with hardwood or no carpets. If she does pee, it will be easy to clean up and she won't be running around the house to places you won't be able to watch her. Or you can get an x-pen.
4. Keep her crated if you aren't able to keep an eye on her.
5. Continue to take her out at least every 30 minutes, praise with love and treats when she goes outside. 
6. You can keep her occupied in her crate with a kong stuffed and frozen, so you don't feel so bad keeping her shut in there.

Thanks for the replies! 
1. She has never actually gone on a puppy pad, only chewed them up when I've tried using them
2. We live in Arizona, it's always realllly hot, around 110-120 F in the summer months, so I'm afraid to limit her water too much
3. Our whole house is tile, so it's not too bad 
4. I did do this today with great results and I will keep doing it based on the response so far 
5. She gets lots of treats and good girls going crazy when she goes
6. Thanks! I tried peanut butter last night in the kong and she really liked it. 

I appreciate the responses. Thanks a bunch!


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## Rainheart (Nov 28, 2010)

No problem, and good luck. Some puppies are just easier to house train than others. Beamer was trained at 10 weeks old... I've been pretty fortunate with him, but I also was very diligent with taking him out.


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## Bellapuppy (Jun 18, 2011)

Rainheart said:


> No problem, and good luck. Some puppies are just easier to house train than others. Beamer was trained at 10 weeks old... I've been pretty fortunate with him, but I also was very diligent with taking him out.


Aw, super lucky. I have always been fortunate in the past when I was growing up. We always kept our dogs when they were pups in the kitchen. Now that I've got a family of my own, we tried to do the same things I learned when growing up with pups. I suppose I was relying too much on past experiences and thought it would be "just that easy." Thanks again!:


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## Mirinde (Jun 8, 2011)

I totally agree that it may be too hot to really limit water. However, I remember an episode of It's Me Or the Dog where the dog was having really bad house training problems and at certain times of the day, Victoria would put like five icecubes in the dogs water dish instead of water. Supposedly it was enough water, but because it was ingested slower it made a difference with the pottying. I have no idea if that would work in your situation though... maybe a more experienced dog owner than myself can say if that's a good idea for your girl =)


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## Molly's Mum (Apr 1, 2011)

Just another thought, probably not the problem but thought I'd mention it just in case. When she has a wee outside, wait for her to completely finish before you make a big fuss of her. I've read that if you fuss too soon the puppy will stop mid-way through their wee to enjoy the fussing over them and then they need to go again shortly afterwards because they didn't finish the first time around.

If the crate is working perhaps do that for a week and then let her in the house again without going straight into the crate to see how she copes. If she has a wee on the floor then back to the crate for another week. She will eventually get the idea and then you won't need to rely on the crate so heavily.

It sounds like you're doing all the right things though. Puppies learn in different ways, so long as you get a house trained dog at the end of it doesn't matter which way works, so long as it works


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## Bellapuppy (Jun 18, 2011)

Just an update. No accidents since I started crating her. She's been really great with it too. She just goes in after she comes inside and lays down when it's time for bed. I'm glad you guys persuaded me to crate her. She's really a good puppy overall and I'll be happy when she can be out more often with us.


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