Advice on house training please.

[Kayteee]

Hi all,
We have a 12 week old German Shepherd pup who
has been having a lot of 'accidents' in the house over the last few days. I did expect this and was quite prepared for this to happen. What I need to find out though, is what is the best way to train her to 'ask to go out' when she needs to go? I am being firm when she does it in the house and saying no (she does seem to realise that she shouldn't do it there) and I always praise her when she does it in the garden.

She can't go 'public' for another 3 weeks as we've just got her vaccinated (the breeders had not done this) so it's the back garden only for the time being.

We've only had her 4 days, so I know it's early days yet.

Any advice much appreciated, thanks.

My dh housetrained our new pup v. quickly. He took pup out on the lead to walk about and do his bits and showered him with praise and treats when he did the right thing. Ignore mistakes in the house and arm yourself with something like Simple Solution from Pets at Home, which will kill the smell and remains of any wee and poo. Biological soap powder is supposed to work as well. Remember to clean the walls and any furniture, as any remainder is likely to be an invitation for a repeat performance!

You will need to take your pup out quite often to start with, and she will learn to make noises which means she needs to go out.

Our pup was 6 months old when we took him on, and his previous owners got him at about 12 weeks. It's quite late to take on a puppy. I have no idea why our pup was homed relatively late.

I second advice to ignore the accidents. Telling her off is simply directing attention towards the issue. What you need to do is actively take her out every hour or so and praising her and/or rewarding for toileting outside. To succeed quickly you need to maximise the chances of her toileting in the right place, by putting in the time to take her out regularly, and you need to be there with her when she goes so you can reward her.

When she toilets indoors just put her in another room or outside and clean it up quietly, agree with the products suggested by silentcatastrophe.

Personally I don't like training them on paper or puppy pads because it adds an extra step the the whole process - first you teach them you want them to go indoors, then you have to teach them to go outdoors after that! I also would be careful not to leave the door open all the time for her because that blurs the line between inside and outside for them and seems to confuse them a bit.

Good luck

Ok not boasting here but I have a 18 week old puppy who has not had one accident in the house since we got him. Now this is not down to him having a massive bladder but the fact that he is taken out every half hour to start with to let him wee. Then every hour after a few days.

I do not ever really expect my dogs to ask for a wee - it is for me to tell them when to wee.

Now he is 18 weeks, he goes out to wee first thing has a game and then breakfast and then has a wee and then has a sleep.

Immediately afer that he is out to wee again. He now happily wees on command and so no problem in the house.

So I would make sure that you take out your puppy regularly give a command when they wee and praise like mad. Do this regularly for a few days/weeks and you will have no problem at all. Then be consistent when the puppy does wee and always praise and always use the command. It is a bit of a drag having to go out with them each time but easier than mopping up accidents indoors.

If the puppy does go indoors (then I would blame the owner for not being vigilant enough!) Ignore it and do not tell the puppy off at all and do not say no.

I would not use paper or puppy pads as they just confuse the puppy. Are you crating the puppy over night as this makes house training much easier?

Just to confirm that when it appears that she is reacting to your no and does seem to think she should not go indoors in fact all that is happening is that she realises that you are cross has no idea why so is showing anxious behaviour. A puppy that is anxious is more likely to wee.

Good luck it will not take you long at all - this time next week with care you will have a pretty much house trained puppy

Thank you all for that advice, I will do my best to be consistent and follow what you've said