[riopup]

Rio has been with us for almost one month now, he's almost 13 weeks old. My husband and I have been SOOO diligent about letting him out and keeping the pee and poo outside, but still it seems he is not yet potty trained... more that we are trained to take him out before he pee's on the floor. I expected it to be some work, but I (maybe naively) thought I would be seeing improvement by now.

He sleeps in his crate in our room, first thing upon rising he goes out to pee. Comes in, eats and drinks, several minutes goes outside to poo. We let him have time to roam in the gated off kitchen after successful potty's outside. If he doesn't go potty outside, and I know it's got to be coming soon, he'll go in his crate for about 15 min and then we try again until success... then kitchen time (always when we are in the kitchen with him).

My problem is, even after how careful we have been there always ends up messes. I think he's having a hard time figuring out how to "tell" me?? Twice today he was playing really hard in the kitchen and with no warning, almost while playing started peeing!! The second time I yelled very loudly (lost my cool) and put him in his crate so I could clean it up... I'm worried that by freaking out it may do the opposite in helping the situation?? I've read so many things, not sure. Some days we will have no accident's and I'll be like, "yes he's getting there!" and others, (like today) he'll have three and I'll feel discouraged. I've read people talking about how they potty trained their puppies in one week and it boggles my mind, how so??

Anything else I can try?? The door to the backyard is in the room next to our kitchen, so unfortunately while IN the kitchen he can't go sit by it or anything like that.

 

[Poodlepal]

Your baby is still verrrrry young. You brought an infant into your home and there's just no way that young is gonna pick up much. They can get the idea but it comes in and out. Your pup is just gettin to the age where they can start putting two and two together. Keep up what your doing and you will see results.

 

[riopup]

Thanks, I guess that's what what I needed to hear!! Being a first time puppy owner, I had no idea what to compare it to.

I would like to hear what your ideas are on handling the "messes". I've read to scold, not to scold, to put nose in it (I would NEVER), to put dog in front of it with a firm "NO" and then let outside, not to let the dog see you clean it up... ect ect ect! I wish I could know more about how my puppys brain works to know how to handle it. I don't want to overly get upset and make him want to go hide and pee... but I don't want him to think it's ok? Do I just ignore it and clean it up and move on??

What worked for you?

 

[plumcrazy]

Our door to the backyard is downstairs (walkout basement) and I have a walkthrough baby gate which keeps the dogs upstairs with us until it's time to go outside (the cats get the basement, mostly - their litter boxes and food dishes are down there so we don't let the dogs roam there unattended)

It did not take long for Lucy to understand if she sat by the walkthrough baby gate and whined or barked, we'd open the gate and she'd be able to run downstairs to the "real" outside door. She was pottytrained exceptionally fast, but I credit my other dogs with helping in that task as we had a pretty good schedule worked out for them and we added a few more "outs" for Lucy...

Everything you are doing sounds like you are totally on the right track - as Poodlepal said, Rio is still just a baby and as he matures he will "get" it! Good luck and keep being as consistent as you possibly can - Consistency is very important!

Another thought just entered my mind, too. Does he have free access to all the water he can drink or do you schedule water intake too? As long as he's healthy and you make sure he gets enough water to drink every day, you can schedule his drinks for when you're able to let him out shortly after drinking. My dogs have fresh, clean water available all day, but not at night and they're fine with that... Before Lucy was trained, I'd keep track of when I hear her slurping and I'd take her out about 5-10 minutes afterwards... Maybe one more thing to try?

Good luck and keep your chin up!! You'll get there!

 

[Poodlepal]

DO NOT scold your puppy you are so right. You gotta catch em in the act and teach em right then. When you see them starting to squat Grab em up and run em outside and praise when they finish. They can't connect the dots between what they did while ago and why your yelling now. That's why you have to really be after them all the time and not let them sneak off. If you find a mess, just clean it up and promise yourself you watch better next time.

 

[Fluffyspoos]

Are you carrying your puppy outside or walking with him out? If you're carrying him out he may think that the only way to go outside is through your arms. You could try teaching him a way to let you know, like hanging a bell from the back door and, with him on the floor, bringing him paw up to ring it, then going outside with him (walking him out, not carrying) so he knows that ringing the bell with his paw means going out. Make the outside FUN after he does his business.

 

[Buck]

I agree with what everyone has said. Usually being consistant and having a routine will help with the learning process. Around 16 weeks they have more bladder control and everything will start to clink after that.

 

[jak]

DO NOT scold your puppy you are so right. You gotta catch em in the act and teach em right then. When you see them starting to squat Grab em up and run em outside and praise when they finish. They can't connect the dots between what they did while ago and why your yelling now. That's why you have to really be after them all the time and not let them sneak off. If you find a mess, just clean it up and promise yourself you watch better next time.

You have to be very careful when you catch them in the act, the more 'fuss' you make about it, the more likely you are just going to worsen the problem.
The puppy will not know that it has been told of for toileting inside, it will think it has been told off for plain toileting, and will just cause it to go in a place where you cannot see it, or worse, start to eat its faeces!

The way I do it, is if I catch the puppy doing it, then I calmly take it outside, making no noise or fuss. The best way is just to keep persevering, and taking the puppy out again and again, and trying to associate a word with it like "Wiss" etc.
When the puppy does something, praise it and make a fuss of it, and give it a treat and lots of pats.

Some dogs just take a long time to toilet train, a Dobermann being an example.
It took 2 months or so for him to get the message, whereas with our English Toy Terrier, it took only 3 days.

 

[riopup]

Fluffyspoo's, we actually do the paw/bell thing before leaving to go outside, but I'm wondering if there is a point to me doing it now as he can't access the bell when he's in the kitchen... it's about 5 steps from eht babygate, (can't move the gate the way it's set up I'm hoping it will teach him for the future when he has free roam of the house?? Do you think I should just drop that until he does have free roam?? I also do let him walk out himself... but lift him over the baby gate before putting his leash on. (the slits in the fence are a little big right now, he can slip right through them... also our neighbors go in and out of the fenced yard to get to their house and I'm worried about letting Rio out if they don't latch the gate...)

 

[Fluffyspoos]

Well it sounds to me like you're on the right track then. Puppies have to absorb a LOT during their first couple weeks, and I know patience is tough when you're scrubbing your carpet multiple times a day, but as long as you're being consistant I'm sure improvements will start surfacing.