Toilet training puppy

[RunningLatte]

Very curious to know at what age people's puppies were clean indoors and whether you went with the using newspaper, or taking outdoors approach - or both.
We have a new addition of a lovely 9 week old puppy and I'm interested to know when the majority of you found 'accidents' become unusual,and finally,unlikely ( and whether any of you never managed full house training...)

Clean after one day at 11 weeks. See Ian Dunbar 'errorless toilet training' (google). We've had two accidents in the house - both because I wasn't quick enough at letting him out. No paper, just out.

Thats pretty fast results belindarose!

He's a genius dog, obviously! But the technique is foolproof I think.

I'm really struggling with the idea of crate training to be honest,but I'm trying to keep open minded.I do have an small room with a solid easily cleaned floor gated off,and I'm trying to get pup used to that for periods of time. But the puppy is out about the house for most of the time and we are getting a lot of accidents on carpets despite taking him out every hour.Its like we go out and spend a reasonable amount of time in the garden,but when we come back in he heaves a sigh of relief and poos or wees on the floor - as if to say 'thank goodness you let me back in as I was dying for the loo'

Maybe I'm expecting too much too soon and a few more successes will enable me to reinforce rewards for toiletting in the correct place.

I think I may have to put him in his 'confined' space more and provide a litter tray with turf and see if this helps matters,but he does cry in there ( I know,I know - he has to get used to it).And I think I may have to prevent his access to the living room where his accidents are happening - I'm concerned a habit is forming....

You're all going to come on here now and tell me to crate train - well,I'm listening to all voices of experience!

I have friends who have used puppy pads, newspaper, crates, etc some successfully, some not so.

I despaired of DDog for the first day or so as she was similar to how you describe your pup (for wees only though) and following the horror stories the rescue told me at our 1-2-1 I was getting worried but 7 weeks in & I would say accidents don't really happen anymore and were pretty rare past the first 2-3 weeks. She even wakes us in the morning when she wants to go out this is not counting weeing on the sofa/her bed when the hoover is out, or something has upset her

Well. I won't tell you to crate train . Do it if you and your puppy are comfortable, but it is fine IMO, if you don't. We didn't crate train. My dog absolutely refuses to be within a crate.

When she was a pup, I gated part of my bedroom that had tiles. I took her out every couple of hours, to the same spot. I think she had a couple of pee accidents on the floor, but that is it. (Now that I think about it, she may have already been trained as she never peed inside the car either, just did it before we left and after we got out of the car)

I think if you catch your dog peeing inside, just take him/her outside and use some code word that means pee or poop ( for us it was 'hurry up') They should get the message eventually. Even now our dog will squat and pee if I say 'hurry up'. I say it now absent-mindedly if I want her to move along, but she connects it with peeing in her mind

What did you do to achieve that cazinge?

My little pup is managing to go through the night without an accident,but its the days that are a problem.He's a clever little boy and eager to learn proud mum,but he's only been with us a few days so I'm hopeful things will improve steadily.
I'm not expecting miracles and the accidents aren't the end of the world,but its good to know how other people cracked toilet training,and how long it took.

Oh, also clean up the area where they pee really well with vinegar, so there is no smell left. Otherwise they will smell their old pee and think that is their relieving spot.

Flatbread thats really good to hear.I thought I'd get slated across the board for saying I'm not sure crating is for us! Its good to hear of success stories without,and how they were achieved.As I say,I am open to the idea of crating if someone convinced me it was best for him - I just so want to get this right!

Did your pup scream at first in the 'confined' area?

The part about the catching them peeing indoors is interesting.I'm been picking him up ,saying no and putting him on newspaper (as its closer than going outdoors).But I'm not sure if I'm just giving him confusing signals by doing that.

I expect that since he does such tiny wees he's finished by the time I get to him,I would be best taking him outdoors and disposing of the newspaper?

Running, it was not really that confined, it was one and a half by two meters. There is a natural angle in the room that I could gate this area for her. No, my girl didn't cry, but she determinedly explored every part of the gate till she figured out how to escape to my part of the room and she would swagger triumphantly to me and then promptly sleep under my bed.

It didn't seem to matter that the dog had stopped peeing by the time we reached outside. I think she just made the connection, especially as I always used the same term/code for peeing. I did praise her each time afterwards, but no treats. Using the newspaper inside might be confusing the boy and he might think that you want him to go inside...hence, his relieved peeing once you step in

Whatever method you use, even the 'rubbing nose in it' (which is cruel, please don't do that) will work eventually. However, the more quickly you can toilet train and the less accidents you have, the less stressful it will be for both you and the puppy.

It is entirely up to you whether you crate train, but I tend to think of it like this. To us, it is a cage, to a dog it is a lovely, cosy, safe den/bed. Crate training is about much more than just shoving the dog in and shutting the door, it is about making the crate a safe and really lovely place to be for the dog. Also, you say your puppy is crying when confined to a room, my puppies have never cried when they have been in their crates. If you get the crate training right, you won't have any crying.

I don't use Ian Dunbar's 'errorless toilet training' method, but I do use a crate for all my puppies. I don't keep the crate up once the dog reaches around a year old as I simply don't have room, but my dogs would prefer a crate tbh. When I had my last puppy, whenever the crate door was left open I would find two adult Golden Retrievers and the not overly small puppy crammed in there, falling out of the door in fact. They all wanted to be in there and it was only a 3ft crate, so too small for them all by far! I currently have a friend's puppy here and I keep finding one of my adult Goldens cosied up in the crate, she loves it. They probably spend 50/50 time in their normal beds or laying on the floor, but if there's a crate there, they'll be found in it. I have one crate up for one of my dogs still as he is very nervous and it helps him feel secure and he spends all day sleeping in it with the door open.

The key to quick toilet training is supervision. If you can avoid accidents inside then it will help your dog learn much more quickly where you want it to go to toilet. So, take the puppy out every hour or more if you need to and wait out there with him until he does go to toilet, then praise like mad and give a treat if you like. Watch him like a hawk when indoors and if you notice he looks like he needs the toilet, even if you are in doubt, take him out again. At times when you can't supervise him you can pop him in the crate if you use one and he shouldn't toilet in his bed, he will do his best to hang on, whereas if he is in a room on his own he will just go and the more times he has been indoors versus the number of times he has been outdoors will make things harder for him.

If you teach him to go on newspaper you will confuse him as he will need to learn two things and often if you paper train, once you remove the paper the puppy will still toilet in the same spot, because it was the place they were associating with being 'allowed' to wee in, not the paper.

I hope this helps. Sorry I've gone on a bit...

(BTW, you can download Ian Dunbar's books online for free I think. He is a very good and well respected dog trainer/behaviourist)

Just to add, using the supervision/crate method, I haven't had any accidents in the house at all, over several puppies.

Reckon you're right there Flatbread!

His room he goes in must be about 2m x 3m, and he can see most of the activities going on,so he's not truly 'confined' as such.

I think I definately will take up on your advice and get rid of the newspaper and take him directly outside even if he's finished peeing ,if I catch him at it.I now need to teach the rest of the family the code words.

midori thank you for that! Thats a lovely image of the two dogs and puppy in there,almost falling out!

When I first heard of the crate method,I was horrified as I imagined it was a case of cramming them in there and carrying on doing your own thing - if that was the case I can't imagine how a pup would learn a thing,save having its spirit broken by being so demoralised.

But the way you describe it and from others thing I've read,I am more open to it now.

This certainly gives me food for thought - in the meantime I imagine it would do no harm to try to teach puppy to love his little room as just in the same way I would have to teach him to love a crate - as inevitably there are times where he can't have 100% attention or he needs a rest. I can't really understand why he cries in his little room as I'm doing all the nice things like feeding him in there.

We will crack it though,by hook or by crook! And don't worry,there'll be no rubbing noses in it in my house - can't believe people would still do that!

We didn't crate our pup but went for the watching for signs/taking outside very frequently.

He was 9 weeks old when we got him, so he was pretty much trained anyway.

Well, if you're still considering the crate, then do read Ian Dunbar for a start. I'm certainly not an expert, only this one pup, so I found the step by step detailed approach very helpful. I may be lucky in that I got a dog who likes a crate. Or it may be that he had it straight away, as soon as he was rescued.

And he likes to escape from marauding toddlers.

Not very successful this morning - took pup outside immediately I/he got up and no results.As soon as he came back in to living room he made signs he was going to do a poo.Whipped him straight back out but part of his efforts fell (sorry TMI) out on the floor on the way.
Again,no results outside,but same again when he came in.Took him back outside (plus the last bit of poo) and put them both out there to show him where he should have gone.

He obviously thinks he should be doing his business on the carpet and not outdoors.

I'm so frustrated I could scream as this whole process took 40 mins,before I'd even had a cuppa.

I need to exclude him from that room ,yes,until he learns a new habit to replace that?

But thats not easy,as he'll cry if he's excluded.

Help,oh wise ones!

How about staying outside with him until he's done it? Praise and only then let him in the living room.

Well, the good news is that he is learning to hold it in till he is at his 'toilet' place. The bad news is the place is not where you want it to be

Pups are creatures of habit and he will learn to do it outside. if you can use this opportunity to teach him do his business on command, it will be easier in the long-run for you. freshstartpetcoaching.com/dog-behavior/does-your-puppy-potty-on-command-mine-does/

Btw, I agree with Midori about a crate being a safe haven. We have nine pups and seven of them sleep together in the crate. Only two refuse to, and sleep just outside. A few of them go inside on their own during the day to play with their toys or take a nap.

For my big dog, the spot under my bed is her 'den'. I usually find her treasures there, including torn paper, a remnant of a bone, my hairband, some toys. I do miss my clean sanctuary!

My retriever pup was pretty good by ten weeks and now at fifteen weeks only has the odd accident when he gets ovexcited. We used the crate/supervision/going out every half hour or so and then clicker train/reward for appropriate emptying.

He likes his crate for a rest during the day (with door open) and we frequently find a cache of his favourite toys with the addition of a few purloined socks in there.

... I stood for ages outside waiting for the boy to eliminate, btw, then gave loads of praise. Similarly, I supervised closely and as soon as I saw behaviour which made me realise that he wanted to 'go' I'd whisk him outside.

Just checked in and thanks all you lovely people for the advice!

He did a wee outside this pm (yay!) so I told him 'be quick' (our command words) and gave him a big fuss and training treat.

I am also gradually increasing his time in his 'confined' space and making it a happy place by feeding him there,so its somewhere he can go when we go out,but he doesn't always associate with him being left alone.

Flatbread thanks for the positive slant on what he's doing - you're right,he is showing the ability to hold on till he gets to the "right" place

congratulations! He seems like a bright wee lad.

oops, didn't mean the pun