# Am I doing anything wrong?



## LorTunderrin (Jan 28, 2011)

Hi, I have a brand new handsome young male pup who I am desperately trying to housebreak.

I have him in a crate at night which is working great, he whines for a short while before he falls asleep at night, than he is passed out!

However, throughout the day, I find he has to urinate alot. I take him out (I live on the 4th floor of an apartment) down to area where I have him go, every 30 minutes. He will usually go, and I reward him with praise and a treat. When he goes inside, I ignore it and clean it up. My concern is, he may be going potty too much? How much is too much? Sometimes after I bring him up from going potty, ten minutes later he will try and sneak a potty in the corner. When I catch him I usually say NO in a stern voice to get his attention and try to get outside as fast as I can. 

Am I doing anything wrong? I have had him for almost 2 weeks now and he still has on average one accident a day inside.  He will run to the door for maybe a second, and if I dont get a leesh on him and outside he will just let go on the floor.


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## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

How old is he? I don't think you are doing anything wrong, other than maybe expecting too much too soon. 

If he is older than 14 weeks and urinating that frequently you should have him checked for a urinary tract infection. But if he is younger than that his bladder just isn't big enough to hold it very long, and he is not old enough to wait, when he feels the need he will go.

But it sounds like you are doing everything right, and one accident a day for a baby puppy is actually pretty good. He will get the hang of it as he gets older. (Make sure you are using urine odor removal cleaner like Nature's Miracle to clean any accidents).


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## LorTunderrin (Jan 28, 2011)

He is 12 weeks old. I think a problem is that he drinks an awful lot, but I don't feel comfortable removing his water from him. 

When he goes should I be saying anything other than "Good boy for peeing" , is there a better command or should I stick with whats working. I will note that when I bring him outside he knows he is free to go because he just lets go with little hesitation, as opposed to upstairs in my apt where he will pace for 2-3 seconds and then go.


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## Karen519 (Aug 21, 2006)

*Hi!!*

Hi!!!

I googled it for you-looks like there is lots of info:

How often should a 12 week old pup have to go to bathroom - Google Search

Where did you get your pup from a Breeder? Do you know what his living arrangements were and how often he went out-that might shed some light on the subject.


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## LorTunderrin (Jan 28, 2011)

The pups were kept in an area with eachother, and other than that, that is all I know. The breeder wasn't the best to deal with if you know what I mean.


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## Bender (Dec 30, 2008)

Totally normal for a puppy, they go go go!

Hang in there, he'll get better with time. Your job is to get him out quickly when he does do the pacing thing for a few seconds - that's your cue to get outside fast!


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## LorTunderrin (Jan 28, 2011)

Around what age do they begin to hold it until they are let out? I may try the bell ringing training so he can signal when he has to go, but my folks had a pup who abuses that and will ring it whenever he is near it even if he doesnt have to go.

I will not lie, it is hard trying to get everyday things done while remembering to let him out every half hour. 

On another hand he is already learning to sit and lie down on command so I must be doing something right!


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## Bender (Dec 30, 2008)

As they get older, they can hold it longer. Just takes some time, and they'll get there. 

If you go to the dollar store, you can get a timer that you can set for whatever time, pop it in your pocket then you will get beeped when the time is up - works quite well for potty training kids, so should work well for dogs too!

They do learn fast, good and bad. Been there, done that!


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## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

You shouldn't limit his water, he needs to have access to it until evening, then you could take it up and hour or two before bedtime to help him get through the night.

I always say, "go potty" when I take puppies to the door, then repeat "go potty" when they are in the right area. Then praise and treat after he goes, "good potty, good potty".

I think my foster puppies were starting to go longer in between potty trips around 5 months old, and usually started whining at the door about the same time. Just be patient, he is still really little right now.


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## LorTunderrin (Jan 28, 2011)

Awesome, thanks for the replies guys.


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## Sally's Mom (Sep 20, 2010)

I always tell clients that I really don't enjoy my dogs until about one year! The easiest dog I had to house train came from her breeder at 10 weeks. The breeder had a dog door, so my girl learned to toilet outside.

I find the toughest period between 2 and 3 months. Every time the puppy gets up from sleeping, every time the puppy plays, etc, it has to pee. There have been periods in our puppies lives where they could go out every 20 minutes to pee. If one of my pups starts to do that run around and tank up on water thing, I pull the water up. I find that my puppies usually start to have a clue somewhere between 3 and 4 months. If it seems like you are going out all the time, you can also confine the puppy briefly to encourage it to hold the urine a little longer. Usually my dogs by 4 months (plus/minus)
are a lot less work. I never feed my pups past 5 PM(literally so they are pooped out by bedtime) and I usually pick up the water by 7 PM (obviously depending on the weather).
Outside I tell mine to "go pee" and "go poop" which then comes in handy at dog shows!


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