# Housebreaking 4.5 month old Golden Retriever



## Simona Arian (May 13, 2015)

Hi there!

I picked up my Golden girl four days ago at the age of 4-and-a-half-months. I am so impressed with her leash manners as well as her temperament. She is so docile and sweet and quiet, I've never met a puppy like her. Whenever I take her out and kids want to pet her, she sits very nicely and is completely gentle. 

I just wanted some opinions on her housebreaking so far.

The first day I brought her home, she had 7 accidents that day. The second day, she had about 5. Yesterday she had about 3, and today she has had 2 so far and I am confident she will not have any more (they tend to happen in the morning). The 2 accidents that happened today, I was able to catch her in the act so I picked her up, gave her a firm "no" and took her outside where she finished. When she pees outside I make sure to praise her a lot and give her some cheerios (which she loves as treats).

I have been crate training her. She spends 8 hours a night in her crate (with a quick potty run after 5 hours) and she spends another hour or two in there throughout the day (sometimes with me in the room, sometimes alone) because I want to get her used to it in there. She cries quite a bit in her crate, and I just wanted to make sure I'm not leaving her in there too long. I don't respond to her cries because I don't want to reinforce her behaviour but I can't help but feel like a terrible owner every time she howls. How long did this stage last for you guys?

Also, do you think her housebreaking progress is good? She is my first dog so I'm not sure what kind of progress to expect nor how long I should expect this stage to last. I love her to bits but I can't wait for her to be housebroken so that I don't have to put the poor thing in her crate and hear her cry. I am excited to be able to have her be able to lounge around the house as she pleases.

If you could share your experiences / tell me how long your pups took to get used to their crate / how long it took them to be housebroken, I would really appreciate it.

Thank you! If you want to check out more pictures of Mayla, I post them all on here: Mayla the Golden Retriever | golden-mayla


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## AlanK (Jun 28, 2008)

Welcome from down south Georgia :wavey:
Mayla is quite a good looking gal 

She is a baby still. It sounds like you are doing things to teach her to understand that going potty is to be done outside. 

Hopefully some of our experts will chime in.

Glad you joined our group!


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## Cpc1972 (Feb 23, 2015)

She is cute. I love her collar.

The good news is she is 4.5 months. It won't take her long to learn to control her bladder. Just keep taking her out often and telling her to pee on command. I think the amount of accidents you had on the first day was just learning her cues and you being a new puppy owner. At that age they usually have good control so once she learns to go outside it shouldn't be to hard.


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## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

How often are you taking her outside during the day when she is awake and playing? At 4.5 months you should be able to go at least 30 minutes in between potty trips, but if she is having accidents more often then take her our more frequently. When you take her to potty give her a command like "go potty", encourage her to go, then praise and give treats when she does. You could also start teach her to ring a bell to ask to go out. I have old Christmas bells on a ribbon hanging on the doorknob and my dogs have learned to ring them when they want out.

It will take her a coiuple of weeks to get the routine, just be patient, she will figure it out and you will start to learn her patterns and signals.


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## Our3dogs (Apr 3, 2008)

It sounds like she is improving as the days go on. I, personally, would be taking her out about every 30 minutes or so just so she can get in the routine of your household. Then start spreading the time out and watching for her signals of sniffing around, circling, etc. and then quickly take her outside. This way she can spend more time out of the crate with you. Hanging the bells on the door to help her signal you is a good thing as well. Good luck and enjoy your new girl!


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## rabernet (Feb 24, 2015)

She is so pretty and I love her collar as well! We brought Noah home at 6 weeks old and he is 16 weeks old today. I'd say by 10 weeks he was reliably ringing his potty bells (we use sleigh bells hung on the door), and now he just lets us know when he needs to go by ringing the bells. 

Would I say he's 100% housebroken? No - but I honestly don't remember the last time he's pottied inside. Why don't I think he's 100% housebroken? Because I don't think he would "hold it" if he were not able to go out when he rings the bells. 

My BF will sometimes say "Noah - you just came back in!", but I know that he's only done one or the other numbers, and I will always answer his ringing bells, even if I think he just wants to go outside to play, because I can always get him to focus on "better hurry" and at least do something, even when he initially heads to the grass to roll and play with one of his toys. 

It just takes consistency on your part, and a LOT of potty breaks. The bells really help. We never even really taught Noah the bells, he seemed to pick it up on his own - he learned that when he rang them, we got up and he went outside. 

He does still sleep in a crate at night and when we have to leave the apartment. He only had one accident in his crate since six weeks old, and that was in his first week, when he was having a temper tantrum when my BF was home alone with him and shaving and ignoring the cries (he pooped). Since that one time, he's never had another crate accident. 

We took Noah out immediately after exiting his crate, no matter how short of time he was in it, after every meal, and after every play session. We didn't let him out of sight, and when he would start sniffing the carpet, we headed out immediately. 

She's older than he was when we got him, I'm pretty confident she'll catch on soon. Just limit the freedom you give her and make sure you have eyes on her at all times when she's out of the crate, so she can't sneak off to potty out of sight.


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