House Training

[roseyposeysmum]

I wonder if you could offer some advice.

My sister has just gone and got herself a dalmation puppy who is 8 weeks old and while is adorable, she is having real problems house training him. She got him from some dodgy person and the dogs all lived out in the back yard. She has been told off for being so silly, she thought she was rescuing the dog and i know her heart is in the right place.

The main problem is that he is obvioulsy used to going whenever and wherever he likes, i have tried telling her to do it the normal way with a pup, with puppy mats and a cage but he hates the cage and howls for hours. When he is out on the garden he will go but then thinks nothing of going back into the house and going again.

She is doing the nice approach and i have told her not to smack him etc, does anybody have any tips.

I think it is getting to the point where he is starting to drive her a little bit crazy :(

The thing is it does take quite a few weeks maybe months to fully toilet train a puppy. I have a young puppy now and we just put loads of newspaper down by back door and put him on paper immediately after meals or snacks or take him straight out in garden. But really until you have got the dog immunised and on to two walks a day thats when he will naturally do his toilet outside. A male dog will want to wee outside on walks to secure his territory as soon as he can.

ThunderboltKid, have you been taking him out during the night too?

I second what crypes said, house training takes a long time, and requires quite a lot of effort.

At 8 weeks a puppy cannot hang on for long. I took mine out every 45 minutes, said a command word (I used 'toilet' for wees, 'clean dog' for poos) when they went, and gave lots of praise.

Additionally they went out when visitors arrived, after a play, after meals, after a drink. It sounds a lot, but the fewer accidents you have in the house the faster they learn.

I personally think it is wrong to leave a pup in a crate for so long he is forced to soil his bed. Last wee break was midnight, and first morning break before 6am.

If the dog has an accident, just clean it up and take them out. Don't reprimand. It is fine to say a sharp 'no' if you catch them sniffing or squatting, but take them straight out, give the command word, plus loads of praise when they go.

House training drives everyone crazy at the beginning, but using a command word makes it much easier. Within a few days I could get my pup up at midnight, out for a wee, and back in within about 2 minutes as he went on cue.

Thanks so much. That is brilliant advice.

My two were so easy and quick to train i forget that it can take some longer. He is such a little cutie. May use the on command with my two instead of freezing my backside off stood waiting for them :)

We picked up Murphy this morning. He is gorgeous. He just curled up in my lap for the 4 hour journey home, only to be transferred to my husband a few times because I unluckily have the norovirus so thought it would be wrong to be sick on the new puppy! He was a little scared when he came into our house but seems much happier now. He is fast asleep in his crate after playing with his new toys this afternoon. He was brought up in a whelping kennel so we have to potty train him from scratch.

When my DD took her puppy home to us (5 months) we were taking him out on about 7 short walks a day. He is 9 months old now so is down to about 5. As someone said above male dogs like to mark their territory so just taking them into the garden is not always enough. We rarely have accidents, I can totally trust him in the house because he just waits for his walks. He sits at the door and gives a quiet bark and waits till you take him out.