How do I toilet train my puppy

Beasty50 · 2023-10-14T09:43:06+00:00

Who is 7 months and never been crated

Lougle · 14/10/2023 10:46

Decide where you want her to pee/poo and take her out every 15 minutes, when she's eaten, when she's played, when she's had a drink, when she's had a sleep. She'll soon get the idea and you will start to notice when she's circling or sniffing.

CaroleSinger · 14/10/2023 10:51

You need to watch the body language. You will see when they are about to pee and you need to be quick. Get them straight outside. A good tip is when they start to pee say something like 'do wee wees', then when they are older they associate the word with the action. When I take mine out I say do wee wees and he stops and starts to pee. I'm not going to lie to you it's hard but you're at a stage now where they should be getting clean indoors. You need to get the dog outside frequently. 8f you are still having lots of accidents indoors then you aren't taking them out frequently enough.

Jazz7 · 14/10/2023 15:37

Lots of praise when they do go outside.

Nanny0gg · 14/10/2023 15:44

CaroleSinger · 14/10/2023 10:51

You need to watch the body language. You will see when they are about to pee and you need to be quick. Get them straight outside. A good tip is when they start to pee say something like 'do wee wees', then when they are older they associate the word with the action. When I take mine out I say do wee wees and he stops and starts to pee. I'm not going to lie to you it's hard but you're at a stage now where they should be getting clean indoors. You need to get the dog outside frequently. 8f you are still having lots of accidents indoors then you aren't taking them out frequently enough.

At 7 months shouldn't they BE clean? Not getting clean.

OP, have you just got this puppy?

LakieLady · 14/10/2023 15:56

I've housetrained all 3 dogs, 2 who were very young puppies and one who was a few months old when he came to me.

I did more or less the same as @CaroleSinger above, with a treat as a reward as well as loads of fuss and praise. I watched them like a hawk for the slightest sign of them needing to go and whisked them outside the minute they did, always took them out as soon as they woke up (must have spent a few hours in the garden, in the middle of the night, in my dressing gown, waiting for a puppy to pee while said puppy was more interested in sniffing all the interesting night-time smells), after eating and after playing. They slept in a crate in the bedroom for the first few weeks so that I would hear when they woke up.

All 3 of them were more or less housetrained in 3 days, although they would still have accidents if they were left in the house for too long.

margotrose · 14/10/2023 15:57

At 7 months shouldn't they BE clean? Not getting clean.

Ideally yes, but it depends on the breed and their upbringing - accidents until one year of age are quite common.

Ours was reliable by around 5-6 months but we still had one or two accidents up until the year mark. I know owners of small breeds who still have accidents well into adulthood.

WiddlinDiddlin · 14/10/2023 16:10

Crating (whilst useful for some things) is not necessary for toilet training.

Close supervision and tight management, is.

Out frequently, reinforce for going in the right place. So just as she finishes going, treat, fuss, praise (all of these not just one, it needs to be SO GOOD to go in front of you, on that surface, in that location. Just emptying her bladder or bowel is reinforcing in and of itself so doing it in front of you, where you want has to be MORE reinforcing!)...

Avoid any chance of her going anywhere else by being with her all the time - after a week or so, you should have a good idea of her schedule and she should have a good idea of why its good to wait for you, but, just because she physically has the capacity to wait, she also has a long history of doing it on the wrong surfaces/wrong location, so you really need to be careful here. You're undoing one habit, and building another, you have to be 100% consistent in both elements.

Ensure nothing else is causing her to toilet in the wrong places, being left alone when that causes her distress, being left longer than she can hold it for, are both pretty common causes for 'toilet training' problems and they are of course not toilet training problems but stress/anxiety/management problems.

WiddlinDiddlin · 14/10/2023 16:13

Oh and it takes around 9 months for a puppy to be completely reliably toilet trained and even up to 12 is still considered normal.

We're asking for multiple skills, plus full bowel and bladder control and awareness and some unnatural aspects such as 'don't leave your scent in the house' and 'only toilet on this surface out here'. So it can take a long time for all teh elements to drop into place.

Most people think its far faster than that because they get into a good routine where they take their puppy out at the right time, respond quickly when the puppy goes near the door and think 'hurrah, no accidents for a week or three, we've cracked it, puppy is housetrained'. YOu see the wheels fall off that very fast when the routine is altered and it turns out it was 90% management, not fully learned behaviour!

HappiestSleeping · 14/10/2023 16:18

WiddlinDiddlin · 14/10/2023 16:10

Crating (whilst useful for some things) is not necessary for toilet training.

Close supervision and tight management, is.

Out frequently, reinforce for going in the right place. So just as she finishes going, treat, fuss, praise (all of these not just one, it needs to be SO GOOD to go in front of you, on that surface, in that location. Just emptying her bladder or bowel is reinforcing in and of itself so doing it in front of you, where you want has to be MORE reinforcing!)...

Avoid any chance of her going anywhere else by being with her all the time - after a week or so, you should have a good idea of her schedule and she should have a good idea of why its good to wait for you, but, just because she physically has the capacity to wait, she also has a long history of doing it on the wrong surfaces/wrong location, so you really need to be careful here. You're undoing one habit, and building another, you have to be 100% consistent in both elements.

Ensure nothing else is causing her to toilet in the wrong places, being left alone when that causes her distress, being left longer than she can hold it for, are both pretty common causes for 'toilet training' problems and they are of course not toilet training problems but stress/anxiety/management problems.

This 👆

And make sure you clear up any accident sites with enzyme cleaner to remove any smell.

This might be better moved to the doghouse forum?

ActDottie · 14/10/2023 16:23

Jazz7 · 14/10/2023 15:37

Lots of praise when they do go outside.

This it’s the only way. And have to take them outside a lot so they do decide to go there.

VickyEadieofThigh · 14/10/2023 16:27

I can't emphasise enough the 'taking the puppy outside a LOT' part.

TheTecknician · 14/10/2023 18:11

I'm amazed nobody has requested a picture of said pooch yet.