# was toilet training in 7 days too optimistic?



## jshshw (Feb 20, 2018)

we have a gorgeous 9 week old boy here and it's been his first week in the house, he's at about 80% I'd say with his toilet training, he knows to go outside on the grass, and he will go to the back door, sit and look at me as to say "let me out please!" which is great. 

but occasionally he will be behind the couch or in the corner and "sneak" one out eg. he doesn't go to the back door or alert me at all that he needs to go out. I know sometimes it comes on so quickly for them as puppies that they're not expecting it and it sort of just happens, so it's not entirely his fault, I know I should be watching him 24/7 when he is not confined which is fine, I know my mistakes.

for the record he is GREAT overnight! we have a playpen + crate that he has already designated as his area and he does not toilet in there overnight at all until he is let out on the grass in the morning!

I just wanted to hear experience from other owners of puppies here.
I had an 'aim' to have him housebroken in the first week, is that too optimistic? This is my first puppy and you can only read and research so much beforehand but the rest you have to sort of pick up as you go along, so I wanted to know if these results in the first week are pretty positive?

here's some puppy spam for your troubles


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

I think 7 months is more realistic.

Pups can come home house trained - meaning they know they are supposed to potty outside. 

But that does not prevent accidents from happening and getting the pup used to going potty inside - making the new owners have to start over from scratch.


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## Figtoria (Apr 19, 2016)

Yeah, that's a bit soon for reliability, but it sounds like he's on the right track. I think my first golden was 100% reliable by about 14 weeks, but he had almost no accidents after he was 11 weeks old. But that was summer. I'm finding my wet, cold spring-time puppy to be a little slower.

It's all about training yourself to keep your eye on him at all times, or in a crate when you can't.

And training yourself to read his body language so you know when he needs to go out.


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## jdavisryan (Jan 28, 2018)

First things first- he's adorable and I'd like to hold him please. Secondly, 7 days is totally unrealistic for house training. It sounds like you're off to a good start but I think it will be several months before he has the physical maturity to get outside every time he needs to go. Our dogs were pretty reliable around 4 months of age and had the occasional accident when we weren't attentive to the signals they were giving us. Be patient with him and you'll get there sooner than not.


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## jshshw (Feb 20, 2018)

thanks a bunch guys! I really appreciate the feedback! Like I said before, he's my first puppy, so I wasn't so educated on house-training "standards" if you will. 

I'm very happy with his progress so far, especially already acknowledging his pen + crate as his personal area and not going to the toilet in there, not to mention holding it overnight. It's just good to know that these little accidents are a whole part of it. I was stressed at the beginning because he was doing very well, and then he would go inside, and I was worried thinking he was going 'backwards' in his training, but I do appreciate you guys letting me know that it's completely normal  thank you again 

and yes he is completely adorable but he is a big boy and will grow to be quite HUGE!


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## Catgondek (Jul 3, 2017)

We are at 5 1/2months and still a work in progress. Crate 100% no problem. But sometimes she just ups and walks into the next room to squat, as if she never heard of grass. And rain, oh my gosh, a rainy day can set us back weeks!

So yeah, 7 days was a bit optimistic. I am hoping for 7 months


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## jshshw (Feb 20, 2018)

Catgondek said:


> We are at 5 1/2months and still a work in progress. Crate 100% no problem. But sometimes she just ups and walks into the next room to squat, as if she never heard of grass. And rain, oh my gosh, a rainy day can set us back weeks!
> 
> So yeah, 7 days was a bit optimistic. I am hoping for 7 months


it is raining here at the moment and this morning Barney went to the back door but before I could get there to open it he squatted, honestly I wasn't that upset because he would get soaked and filthy outside! LOL


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## Vika the Golden ! (Jun 18, 2017)

My dog was fully potty trained at 5 and a half months old ! 


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## Piper_the_goldenpuppy (Aug 26, 2016)

Agree...I would say by 7 months or so. Typically, dogs who are " fully house trained" very early really means that they know how to go outside and are learning to hold their bladders, can hold their bladders longer than when very young, but really it is the owners who have become trained in how to "potty train a puppy." Meaning, they have learned their dog's cues that they need to go outside, probably are supervising their dogs closely, and have learned how frequently their dog will need to go outside. 

With that being said, some dogs get there a little faster than others. Piper never had an accident in her crate (except when she was sick), and was 90%-95% house trained by 14-16 weeks, but I also had a good sense of how frequently she would need to go out by that point as well. So by that age, I wasn't exclusively "waiting" for her to tell me she needed to go outside. She did have the occasional accident, and those got less common as she got older. 

It sounds like you guys are off to a great start!


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## Izziebeth (Mar 26, 2018)

We’ve had our puppy almost two weeks. Her accidents tend to follow something like this: “Hm, I wonder if Zoey needs to go out. Let me just _______ real quick first.” #trainingme


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## Atis (Jul 8, 2014)

It's been a few years since we had to do toilet training but by my recollection it didn't take more than a couple of months, if we are willing to dismiss the occasional "accident" that was honestly _our fault_. As mentioned earlier the key is to recognize the puppies subtle signals and learn his/her habits. We went so far as to keep a scrap paper on the counter that we could glance at as a reminder of when was that last potty break. Those "accidents" could often be forgiven after checking this paper for the time of the last break. It would also help to tailor the frequency of potty opportunities better. Sounds like you're making good headway.


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## Maggie'sVoice (Apr 4, 2018)

My last Golden "housebroke in about a week. What I mean by housebreak, i mean that she would paw the blinds on my french doors and let me know but you had to be FAST or there would be an accident. In that sense I guess you could see that, but housebreaking in the sense they can hold it? No. You can expect a puppy early on to hold it about an hour'ish per month of age So an 8 week old puppy a max of 2 hours and so make sure they are out every 1.5 hours. 

Sleeping in a crate all night for 7 hours doesn't translate as they are sleeping 90% of that time.


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## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

Very cute boy. 
All dogs are different. I have had the job done in two months up to ten months. Don't let him sneak one out behind the couch, limit his area of freedom.


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## Our3dogs (Apr 3, 2008)

Oh he is very cute! Keep at the potty training, they do get it eventually. Just make sure you are taking him out every 30 min or so. This way you do not give him the opportunity to go in the house. If he is going behind the sofa, etc. it just means you waited too long to take him out. In his little puppy brain, he was most likely busy playing, etc and didn't realize he needed to go, until he did. No time to get to the door. When they are busy playing, etc., it is a good idea to step in and have a potty break, just in case. Good luck.


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## Cait (May 3, 2018)

Lol, the rain comment is cracking me up! Has anyone considered one of those real or fake grass potty squares that you put on the patio and the dog uses to go potty on? It might be helpful for rainy days if your patio is covered but I don't know if it will confuse them to go on this specific square (like a litter box) or actually be helpful because they're supposed to smell like real grass/whatever it is that attracts dogs to go pee on and promote pottying outside.


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