Difficult puppy toilet training ... HELP!

[SqidgeBum]

We got a puppy on Sunday, an 8 week old cocker. 5 days into training and he is literally still at the exact same point he was at 5 days ago. We are watching him 100% of the time, we follow him everywhere all day every day, and the moment he pees we say 'ah ah' and take him outside. We are taking him out every hour, everytime he wakes up and 15 minutes after every meal. We are praising him and treating him when he pees or poos outside, and inside we have taken newspaper away to try and encourage him outside and not to just look for paper. He is still peeing and pooing everywhere and not once has he even gone in the direction of the back door to go out and pee. I am reluctant to use puppy pads as I feel that just encourages him to pee inside rather than outside. He seems like a smart pup. He has already learned 'come', 'stay' and 'sit'.

I am also 7 weeks pregnant also and the thought of having a non-house trained dog and a baby has me very freaked. I have trained puppies before in 2 or 3 days but he isnt progressing at all. Please help. I cant have a newborn and a puppy pooing everywhere! Anything that I havent tried that anyone can recommend?

Anything that I haven't tried that anyone can recommend?

Honestly? Time and patience. I have never, ever known a dog to be toilet trained in 2-3 days (2-3 weeks would still be impressive to me). They cannot physically hold their bladders for more than a few seconds until about 12 weeks old so have no chance at this age.

Mine (springer) was about 5 months old before I could rely on him to ask to go out and hold it until someone let him out. I don't think he was especially slow to learn - about on track with all the other puppies from class etc that were similar ages.

Most dogs are not fully house trained (will ask to go out every single time) before 5-6 months of age. I am surprised you had housetrained your previous puppies in 2-3 days. Just look on the puppy survival threads here to see that it definitely isn't the norm to be dry so quickly.

I think all you can do is to have patience and keep doing what you are doing right now and eventually he will get it.

Maybe its my hormones playing with me but I am genuinely afraid he will be one of those dogs that poo indoors for his life. I had my collie/springer trained in 3 days and my terrier/cavalier trained in 4. Not going to lie, 5 months is a long time to me. I didnt think he would be dry in 5 days but I hoped he would even go outside to pee when we are outside and have the back door open. He came IN to pee yesterday when we were in the garden.

Agree with everything above take pup out as often as possible and as weather gets better this will be easier. Praise like mad when does business outside but ignore when inside as they hate being ignored just say no and take straight out plus really important to clean up accidents with deodoriser thoroughly as they will reuse a spot if they can smell it. Congrats on pregnancy, be patient and good luck

My cocker spaniel needed to be taken out rather than making the choice himself for several weeks and I am sure it wasn't till 4 months old when it became the 'odd' accident and then probably more like 5 months before I felt he was definitely house trained.

Inside the house is all your puppy has known so far and probably feels much safer to pee and poo so I am not surprised he choose to go back in to toilet when he was given a choice.

You may find your puppy gets it a lot earlier than 5 months of age but I think expecting him to be trained in a week is too much for most puppies. Honestly skim through all the puppy survival threads on here to see the variations in house training and that it's the norm for it to take many weeks.

I think you have incredibly high expectations to think that he would be at any other stage at this point. If his breeder has paper trained the pups, then thats all he knows
I'd be taking him out every 30 minutes when he's awake, and not saying ah ah when he toilets inside (because all he learns is that he needs to hide when he toilets).
If there is lots of poo, then look at changing his food as it could be not agreeing with him

Thanks for the advice. I probably do need to calm down and just give him a lot more time that my other dogs. I will keep doing what I am doing, maybe a bit less 'ah ah', and hopefully one day he will stand at that door to go outside. Thanks everyone.

Also it’s probably easier for them to get it if you keep the doors closed and actually take them out at first so that they can actually differentiate between inside and outside IYSWIM , otherwise if the doors are just open the inside and outside seem the same to them it’s just all one big playground / toilet .

I trained the Springer in 3 days. The cocker took 5 MONTHS!! He was / is a very slow learner. At 10 (years!) he still barely knows what sit means! Luckily he’s cute.

My pup was peeing every 20 minutes or so at 8 weeks, and it took her quite a time to learn to go to the back door when she wanted to go out, at least 5 months. Puppies are like babies, and you wouldn't expect a tiny baby to have bladder control, so why would you a puppy? I think you are expecting far too much too early.

Just to add to my last, she was (more or less) housetrained at 5 months, but I still accompanied her outside and made encouraging noises.

I agree with everything Lucisky says! Our most recent puppy took a good five months, I think she just has a small bladder and could not hold on to it at all. They are definitely not all the same, so try to put your previous experience entirely out of your head.
I know it's stating the bleeding' obvious, but are you really looking for the signs when pup needs to go? Some of them don't give you the luxury of the sniffing and circling, they just get a slightly distracted, faraway expression, and then they go. You need to be really REALLY watching for the signs. And you need to be grabbing pup just as they are thinking of going down, not when they are already doing it!
As others have said you need to deliberately take pup outside when he's due to go, rather than just having the door open and wandering in & out. When outside don't interact with him too much let him, no games or training, let him wander & sniff and think about it. If not come back indoors and try again five minutes later.
Good luck.

Take puppy out every 30 minutes and after waking, playing and eating. Go out with treats and praise / give a treat every time.

Do NOT punish or tell off if they do something in the house.

And as previous posters have said, it will probably take months before they're fully clean.

Reading all your advice, unfortunately/fortunately I have been doing absolutely everything you advise. As I have been off work I have been basically staring at him for the last 5 days, watching him like a hawk, waiting for any indication he needs to pee and taking him outside 20/30 times a day just to be sure. I don't leave the back door open hoping he will just figure it out. We just happened to be outside gardening for an hour yesterday. We dont do anything bar say 'pee pee' when he is outside and I treat him when he goes. I guess he just isnt as smart as my previous dogs were. All I can do is keep going.

I am not sure it's about him 'not being as smart' but more that he just 'isn't ready yet'. Think of it as potty training a toddler, some will be trained earlier than others and is no reflection on the actual dog.

I have 10 month old pup who will mostly pee outside but NEVER EVER shits outside

Puppy is 8 weeks old. Taking him out every 30 mins is not working. Try taking him out every 15 mins and stay with him until he’s done his business.

Typically a puppy needs to go out straight after waking, straight after playtime, straight after feeding and every 30 mins in between. The longer you stay with him, treat and praise the quicker he’ll get it.

Toilet training takes time, patience and getting to know your pups toilet habits.