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Puppy training - accidents after being taken out?

21 replies

Mamabear12 · 10/06/2018 16:09

Its early days in our puppy training. She is 9 weeks today and we have had her a week. The vet said we can let her in our garden, as long as no other dogs or animals go there. We have a designated spot for her to go and put a little pen area around so she goes there and cleaned it, just to be extra sure its safe for her (tiles). Anyway, she has been good and does go there a lot, mostly wee and at least one poo a day. The other poo she tends to go randomly and we miss that so its an accident. She does not always go 20-30 mins after meals. Sometimes its hours! I thought it was supposed to be always after meals!? As for the wee wees, if its just me watching her I know to take her etc, but my husband on the other hand does not always know when to put her in the spot. Anyway, most of the time she goes wee for me there. But on occasion, she goes and then for instance just now I took her there and she just hung around 5 mins and didn't go. Then I took her in and then one minute after she went in the house! When do they stop doing the accidents? Is it when we can take her on proper walks? With all this beautiful weather I so wish we could take her for walks now! So frustrating we can not for 3 more weeks. We do carry her outside at least once a day to see the dog park and other people, but obviously, does not touch the ground.

How long until they stop doing accidents in the house? I had a puppy when I was 10, but was able to take her out straight away so she barely had accidents.

OP posts:
adaline · 10/06/2018 16:32

How often are you taking her to the toilet? She needs to be taken about every 30 minutes at that age, as well as after food, drink, play and a nap. And if she shows any signs of needing to go (circling, sniffing, scratching) you need to take her then too.

Don't tell her off if she goes indoors, just say "no" or "ah-ah" and take her outdoors. When she goes in the right spot, say whatever phrase you want her to associate with going (we say "toilet") and praise/treat every single time.

Lots of consistency and patience! Ours is fourteen weeks and still has accidents - you need to expect it for a long time yet!

BiteyShark · 10/06/2018 16:35

It isn't uncommon for puppies to have accidents after coming in even if they have just peeped outside. All puppies are different and will take however long it takes. Have a look at the puppy survival threads on here to see how variable it is. Honestly taking them for a walk won't necessarily make any difference as you can't walk puppies for long any way at first.

It sounds like you are doing the right thing by taking her out frequently, after every meal, every drink, play, sleep and frequently in between. They won't necessarily go on each occasion but it's more about minimising the accidents inside and being able to praise when they go outside to cement outside is good.

Sometimes you need to spend quite sometime outside if you think they definitely need to pee. If they don't go then come back in and carry them for a few minutes then back outside.

Mamabear12 · 10/06/2018 16:51

Okay, thanks for the tips. I take her out frequently, but perhaps I need to give her more time. She just acts like she wants to go out of the pen area for her pee. I am trying to get her to go there, as we have young kids (4 and 6) who play in the garden so I don't want her using the entire space (we live in London and garden is not that big). However, our house is literally next to a huge park and dog park. So once she can go outside, she will have plenty of wonderful walks outside. We spend loads of time in the park with the kids. Now we take her out frequently, but do not always get her to pee, and then one min later she pees in the house. Other times she seems to get it and goes when I use my command. We have a trainer coming tomorrow, so I am hoping to get a lot of good trips for training her.

OP posts:
adaline · 10/06/2018 16:55

No matter how often you take them, puppies will have accidents indoors - it's part of them learning bladder control and learning when they need to go.

Just keep being consistent and she'll get it eventually!

BiteyShark · 10/06/2018 17:12

So once she can go outside, she will have plenty of wonderful walks outside At first you really don't want to do long walks to minimise joint issues later in life. The guide is 5 minute per month of age until fully grown. I did a bit more than that but just letting him wander off lead ambling along with me so if he was tired he could just stop.

My puppy was having the odd accidents for a few months and it's not uncommon either. You will always get the odd person saying their puppy was house trained in 2 weeks but honestly have a read of the puppy threads on here and you will see that sometimes it's a few months rather than a few weeks to have no accidents.

Wolfiefan · 10/06/2018 17:17

I think you will struggle to keep the pup confined to a tiny area. Agree with PP. yes the pup can go out once fully vaccinated but not for long. Can't walk far.
It took us weeks to crack toilet training. They don't know to go outside to start with.
And you need to go outside frequently. After a nap, food, play and every half hour or so too.

adaline · 10/06/2018 17:20

And yes, you can't walk puppies very far at all. 5 minutes per month of their age, maximum twice a day. It really doesn't get you very far - puppies have little legs and want to stop and sniff everything. So don't be tempted to walk her for ages as soon as she's vaccinated - it can lead to hip dysplasia and early-onset arthritis. Same with stairs and jumping out of cars - should be avoided until they're about a year old.

SpanielsAreNuts · 10/06/2018 17:47

If you think she should need a wee but she hasn't done one outside, carry her in the house until she gets wriggly. Then go straight outside to her spot and hopefully she will go.

Vallahalagonebutnotforgotten · 10/06/2018 19:20

How big is the area you are encouraging her to pee in?

Dogs like to walk around a bit - it does help with the weeing so if she is just placed in a small area and not able to move about a lot it will be harder for her to wee. You could make it larger to start with then as she gets the idea make the area smaller.

Some dogs do not like weeing,pooing on tiles so this could be putting her off a bit.

HonkyWonkWoman · 10/06/2018 19:28

Most dogs prefer to go on grass. We bought some rolls of lawn to put on our flagged area just outside the kitchen and she went to that area even though it wasn't fenced in.
Also you can change the lawn after a while.

Daisydoesnt · 10/06/2018 19:30

How big is the area you are encouraging her to pee in?

Dogs like to walk around a bit - it does help with the weeing so if she is just placed in a small area and not able to move about a lot it will be harder for her to wee. You could make it larger to start with then as she gets the idea make the area smaller.

Some dogs do not like weeing,pooing on tiles so this could be putting her off a bit.

^^ This. With bells on. Sometimes they need a bit of an amble about, before they can perform, and LOTS of dogs don't like peeing on hard surfaces like tiles. Neither would we; it would splash up your legs!! I think just for the immediate future and whilst you are trying to house train you need to accept that your puppy needs more garden area.

Not only that, walks with a very young puppy are not what you might think they will be. That takes time - quite a long time - to build up to. To start with you'll be doing well just to get puppy to walk on the lead for five minutes!
For that reason too I'd suggest focusing on getting the garden area right for your puppy. Good luck!

HonkyWonkWoman · 10/06/2018 19:30

Btw I don't mean that we lawned the whole flagged area just about 2m x 2m.

Mamabear12 · 10/06/2018 19:50

Thanks for the advice and yes - I get they can't walk far. As I said, we live right next to the dog park ;) Happy for the walks to be 10 mins at a time until she can walk further. And yes, will let her have a run around in the park when its quiet so she can get used to it and let her meet dogs that I know.

And her area is 4 feet by 4 feet so she has enough space to sniff around. She does go there many times, but sometimes not. Its more temporary spot for her until we can actually take her out to the park. Then it would also be used for example the first pee in morning or if she needs one in the night.

Do you think we should put fake grass matt in her area to pee? Does it start to smell or is it okay?

OP posts:
BiteyShark · 10/06/2018 19:52

You can always wash the grass mat if it starts to smell or just hose off with water on a regular basis. I can't remember the last time my dog peeded on a hard surface. He always seeks out the grass verges when we are walking on the road.

Wolfiefan · 10/06/2018 20:17

TBH dogs need to play, pee and sniff more than just once or twice a day. I think restricting your pup to a tiny square or the house for most of the day will lead to frustration.

Daisydoesnt · 10/06/2018 20:50

I’m sorry but four feet by four feet is a tiny area. That’s about the sizeb of a downstairs loo! You are setting up your pup to have problems with house training because they won’t want to go in an area that small.
I think you need to rethink this.
Your puppy is going to be needing to go out for a pee possibly a dozen times a day for the next six weeks or so. You can’t walk a tiny puppy for ten minutes ten or twelve times a day because they have to pee over in the park. You need outside space at home. Sorry if that’s isn’t what you want to hear.

adaline · 10/06/2018 20:59

Hang on, what about when she needs the toilet in the day?

My puppy is 14 weeks so we can take him for walks - he still pees in the garden every hour or so - he only has a small bladder! Are you really going to restrict her to a tiny area of the garden for the next six months or so until she grows and can hold on for longer?

Lucisky · 10/06/2018 22:58

I would forget your little pee area for the time being. It is more important for the dog to learn to go outside, so ANY pee or poo outside is a triumph, trying to make it go in a tiny area is just setting up for a fail.
My dog was at least 5 months old before she was reliably housetrained. She still pees at least once every hour, and in order for my lawn not to be badly urine burnt I just water the area where she has peed with a watering can full of water. (I don't catch them all, I have a few brown spots). Can you not do something like this?
Also, she has never peed on hard surfaces like the terrace, dogs generally prefer grass. Your puppy simply won't understand the double demand of 'I want you to pee and poo outside but just in this one spot'. Pristine gardens and dogs don't generally mix either.

Cath2907 · 11/06/2018 14:05

I agree with others. A 4 month old puppy is supposed to have 20 minutes walk per day MAXIMUM (5 minutes per month of age) not lots of 10 minute walks. A dog will prefer to go on a soft surface. Mine has never weed on laminate / tile / hard floors. He would only ever go on grass (and carpet, rugs and the back door mat in his house training time). Now he is 6 months old he tends to do MOST of his weeing on his walks but he still goes in the garden a few times per day. He can only go if he wanders around a bit (which can be a pain last thing at night waiting for him to wander) and still has never wee'd on the decking - only the grass.

I think you'll need to let your dog use the whole of your garden. To be honest the local cats, birds, squirrels, moles, voles, mice, rats, ants etc.. use your garden as a toilet! Just make sure you always pick up as soon as the dog has done a poop and it won't be any less clean out there! If you are really feeling particular you could use a watering can to wash the patch of grass after the dog has wee;d.

My dog pee'd about ever 30 mins at 9 weeks old and this progressed to about every hour then eventually to about every 2 hrs by 4 months old and then soon after he started asking to go out when he needed to go (but I still shoved him in the garden every hour for AGES after he didn't need to go so often as I was paranoid about him peeing on my carpet). He was fully house trained by 4.5 months. I didn't trust him until 5.5.months!

Mamabear12 · 11/06/2018 16:18

Wolfiefan, where did I say I restrict her to only a small area all day long?? I have a 4 by 4 foot area for her to do her business in, which most of the time she does. It is about once a day, usually in the afternoon, that she will have an accident when I take her and she does not go and then bring her in and she goes. I suspect she needs a little more time. During the day, after she has peed and pooped, she is allowed to roam the garden, or play in the whole of downstairs (which is our living room and kitchen) and basically where I am at all day long. Also, she does the school run with me or the au pair, being held, as I am waiting until her last vaccine kicks in to let her on the ground.

And Daisy doesn't, the dog park is literally one minute walk away for a human, which probably means 5 mins for the puppy with 3 trees along the way, so I am hoping it works out just fine, and if not I am fine to keep doing most of her pees in the garden, as we have been doing.

Adeline, I get the dog would prefer all of the garden to go wee or poo, but we also have to think of our kids the play in the garden. At the moment the puppy is doing well with her training. She is only 9 weeks old and does several weeds in her spot, usually the morning poo. She does have a couple accidents in the day, but we have only had her a week.

And, our entire Garden is of tiles, not lawn. We bought the house and that was the way it was when we bought it. So at the moment, this is what she has to learn to do. She does usually go in her spot and btw when she does have an accident, its on tile or wood floor usually, as all of down stairs has no rugs. We had one carpeted rug that we removed, after she weed on it, as did not want it becoming a habit.

If its a problem for her to walk to the park, when she can walk outside, I can carry her, as its literally next to our house and one minute or less for a human, as I have never timed it. In fact, if I had a door to my garden, it would open up to the grassy dog park!!!!

OP posts:
Mamabear12 · 11/06/2018 16:20

And btw, if I could build a door leading through to the grassy dog park I would, but highly unlikely as none of the houses have this so I am assuming its not allowed.

OP posts:
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