House training: at what age

[magpie2]

At what age did you get your puppy and at what age was he/she reliably housetrained?

[Pandemoniaa]

8 weeks and no, he wasn't housetrained other than having spent time in his breeder's garden with his mother and siblings. So he had a clue but I still had to do the job properly. As I expected, tbh with a pup that young.

[Floralnomad]

We got our pup from Battersea when he was about 15 weeks and he was reliably trained in about 3 weeks but that was with me not leaving him during the day at all . He was clean over night after the first week .

[tabulahrasa]

7.5 weeks and about 18 weeks.

[Pandemoniaa]

To answer the second part of your question, he was reliable by 16 weeks.

[hippermiddleton]

Our puppy arrived at 9 weeks, and was reliably house trained by the time he was... about 22 weeks. He's a basset hound. It takes a loooong time.

He was dry overnight within days, though, and perfectly happy in his crate pretty much straight away.

[magpie2]

Oh, hipper, you're scaring me! My mini schnauzer was dry overnight after a week and perfectly happy in his crate too!
Am I going to be cleaning puddles for 10 more weeks?!

[hippermiddleton]

No, you won't! Schnauzers are pretty quick on the uptake - it won't take that long, if you keep a really close eye on him. Hounds in general tend to be a bit differently intelligent slower to housetrain; in the case of scenthounds it doesn't help if there's the tiniest trace of urine left on carpets/floorboard because they pick up everything.

I only admit how long it took hippup to get reliably watertight because it makes everyone else feel better about their superior training skillz.

[hippermiddleton]

Oh, sorry, just read my post again - I meant that it takes basset hounds a loooong time. Not all puppies! I know spaniels/labs who've been virtually ringing the door bell to be let out within a week. But in general, it's probably better to assume it'll take ages, and be really consistent and patient, then the puppy can only surprise you in a good way.

[youfhearted]

dh is askgin whether we should put puppy's nose in her wee .. i said no,

[hippermiddleton]

No! Please don't put the poor puppy's nose in her wee - if it happened more than 10 seconds ago, she'll have no idea why you're hurting her like that, and if you do it immediately, she'll just assume she's made a mistake weeing where you can see it, and then go and wee somewhere you can't. And then when it's discovered and everyone goes nuts, she'll be baffled again.

Ignore all mistakes inside, watch her like a hawk for signs she's about to go (circling/sniffing/starting to squat), rush her outside asap and make a huge happy fuss when she wees, even if she's only got a dribble left, and most of it's in a trail along your carpet.

[hippermiddleton]

Sorry, lots of No!s there. Clearly, am In The Training Zone...

[youfhearted]

thanks hippermiddleton, thats sort of what i told him . grr. but he said he has trained dogs before,
i hope he doesnt do this

[magpie2]

Youfhearted, your dh sounds just like mine! Be strong and don't let him do it to the puppy! I take puppy out vv often, it seems to work, just wanted to know how long before I can relax .

Thanks hipper, if my pup now stops piddling in the house before 22 weeks, I will feel very superior .

Any superior owners out there with miracle bell-ringing pups?

[Pandemoniaa]

I'm inclined to think that anyone with a miracle bell-ringing pup has, in fact, witnessed a miracle!

I'd never say I was much of a dog trainer but I do seem to be able to house train pups. The method is a simple one. Learn the obvious signs that a pup is about to wee or poo. Also take them out (and stay out with them) very, very, often indeed because pups have tiny little bladders. Most of which are connected to excitement levels too! Give huge amounts of praise. If possible get them to link performing with a command. It can save a lot of time spent in gardens on dark, cold, wet nights. Although I did have to change the impossibly twee "spend pennies" instruction one of my dogs came trained too.

I also avoid using newspaper. It can encourage unfortunate associations long after a pup is theoretically trained.

Never rub noses in accidents. It's confusing, unkind and counter-productive. Anyone who recommends it as a method of training needs to be retrained themself!

[hippermiddleton]

This will make me sound a bit, um, deranged, but one thing that helped was to time how long the puppy was going between pees over the course of a day or two, so I got a sense of when I should be on the alert for imminent puddle warning, and could usher him outside before any accidents happened. That was on top of the usual before meals/after meals/after sleeping/after playing, etc. At first, I took him out on the hour, and as he got older he could go longer, but after that any 'mistake' was mine, not his, because I hadn't given him the chance to get it right by going outside.

It's funny how quickly they get into a rhythm. Now my puppy is a strapping 4 year old, he still goes out for a pee before breakfast, eats his breakfast, and immediately wants to go out again for a more leisurely loo break. If he was human, he would probably take the newspaper out with him and really settle into it.

[magpie2]

If he was human, he would probably take the newspaper out with him . I did read about the bell method here, so there might just be bell ringing pups out there!
What's your command, Pandemoniaa?

[needastrongone]

Agree that the more you take them out initially, the quicker it will be.

Our puppy was 8 weeks when we got him (Springer), he was going through the night almost immediately, certainly within a week (crate training helps here) and reliable in the house during the day within about 2/3 weeks, it wasn't long at all.

However, we were all around (four of us, kids are pre-teens) as it was the Christmas break and we all pounced on him a lot, poor sod. Lots of treats and praise for outdoor wees and poos etc.

I think the frequency at the stage can pay dividends long term.

[SpicyPear]

I have a bell ringing pup! Well, buzzer to be more precise. We got him at 9 weeks and by about 14 weeks I realised he knewto go out but hadn't worked out how to tell me. He peed a lot and quite erratically so getting a routine was hard. He got the idea of the buzzer in two sessions and was almost totally reliable within another week.

[fanoftheinvisibleman]

I'm no superior owner but mine was pretty good!

We got him at 8 and a bit weeks and he was reliably crying to go out with no further accidents by 12 weeks.

[Pandemoniaa]

My command is "go wee" - it covers all forms of evacuation.

It is also more more effective than DP's version - "Don't shit on the snowdrops!"

[magpie2]

dont shit on the snowdrops
Wow spicypear, tell us about your buzzer!

[SpicyPear]

I got http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B004DJ51HQ?tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21 these and put the blue one by the back door. When he needs to go he pushes it with his paw and it goes "boing boing" loud enough that I can hear it around the house. I basically taught him to push it on command ("touch") then gave him the command, he pushed buzzer and I opened the door. It's a great party trick for visitors! My older girl is nervous of the buzzer but he will ring it for her if she goes to the door.

[SpicyPear]

www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B004DJ51HQ?tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21

[youfhearted]

can anyone tell me apart from the buzzer, is there any waythey can tell you, or do they just learn to hold it longer

[Floralnomad]

Mine will occasionally stand at the door and bark but usually he just waits till he goes for a walk