How long does it take to housetrain a puppy

[mmgustilo]

I know that it's different for all puppies, but from each of you guys' experiences, how long did it take to housetrain your puppy and what method did you use?

[Jayme]

we crate train ours. He's only four months. We've had him for 2 of those months. He goes outside every 1/2 hour or there abouts just so he knows that's where he is supposed to go. He does still have accidents in the house, about one a day but we're slowly getting there.

[janis]

Kirby is 9 months old - no accidents except "Happy Pee" since about 5 months old

[lindasue]

Pegi is just a year old; we got her at 3 months on Nov. 1. At first we took her out every 2 hours (lots of fun in Mass. in the winter). We use the word "sniff" for doing her business outside (I know, it's weird but it was the word we used as kids for our dogs, and it works!). She had lots of accidents, fortunately we have mostly hardwood floors. Lots of clean ups. Do yourself a favor and remove any scatter rugs. We kept the bedroom and bathroom doors closed (she loved to pip on the bathroom mat). She gradually got better; by March (right after she was spayed) the accidents stopped. It's been about 5 months now. She goes out every 4-5 hours and has done great. Good luck!

[TazTalk]

Bandit

[jetersmom]

Well... I have two four year old males and one three year old female. They are reliable to 90 some percent but there is always room for an accident! It may overzealous play and all the sudden realizing they have to go right now..It could be my twenty year old son or twenty three year old daughter letting them out to potty but never really making sure they did and letting them back in only to have an accident....You get the picture. I should own stock in Natures Miracle. I really should!

[Idaho Cairns]

About two months to get reliable and about six months to be 100%. Bear in mind tho that we are with our dogs 24/7 and it is much easier when you can observe them all the time.

We actually "use" the older dog who teaches the puppy what is expected. However on the last pup we tried piddle pads over by the slider, which the dog used--then, as we observed her going toward the piddle pad we grabbed her and took her outside and used the command "potty" followed by lots and lots of praise. Eventually we could, on a regular basis, simply open the door and say "Potty" and the dog goes out and does her job.

I am of the opinion that dogs would much rather go outside where all the smells are than in the house--you just have to give them the opportunity.

[Kit'sOwner]

Ours is 16 months old and about 90% trained. She is only just now indicating that she needs to go. If we're upstairs in the kitchen, she will walk back and forth between where we're standing in the kitchen and the back door. If it's relentless pacing/circling around the back door, she really has to go. If it's just a casual lingering around the back door, she's bored and wants to go see what the neighbour is doing in his backyard. If we're downstairs watching TV and she suddenly bolts upstairs, I RUN because she usually has to go. Once or twice lately, when I've been downstairs and she is upstairs canoodling with our Bichon, I have heard a bark at the back door and sure enough, it's because she's needed to pee (if she goes straight into backyard, it's because she needs to pee/poo. if she goes onto the hot tub, it's because she wants to know what the neighbour is doing). I've had several dogs in my life, this one has been the hardest for us to train. We both work. We use a crate when we're not home. We treat vigorously when she makes outside even though she's 16 months old.

Be patient. Read all the posts here about all the tips/techniques which I found very helpful.

[Kit'sOwner]

I just wanted to add that our Cairn goes through periods of "being good" and periods of "being bad" with housebreaking. We're currently in a good period where she has not gone in the house for a long time. If she does go again in the house (damn, I hope I haven't jinxed it), we find that in the past it has been several times in a row over a period of days before she's back to "being good" again and going outside. It's weird. We've often wondered if it's an infection but by the time we think it's serious enough to take her to the Vet, she's gone back to "being good" again. Weird, huh?

[mmgustilo]

Whiskey is 3 months old now and I'd had him since he was 9 weeks old. I crate him at night and when I'm gone for less than 4 hours, but when I'm at work, I confine him in the kitchen with newspapers everywhere. Of course, me being gone for 9 hours, he's going to have accidents. Is confining him in the kitchen with freedom to do his business going to slow down house training? I was also thinking of hiring a dog walker midday so I can leave him in the crate and the dog walker takes him out after 4 hours, but I hate leaving him in such a small space, esp. for a puppy.

[mmgustilo]

we crate train ours. He's only four months. We've had him for 2 of those months. He goes outside every 1/2 hour or there abouts just so he knows that's where he is supposed to go. He does still have accidents in the house, about one a day but we're slowly getting there.

how much play time should you give the puppy? I feel like crating them to train them takes away their play time, which they need to exert their energy.

[Sue G]

If you can get a dog walker to come in halfway through the day and confine him to a crate, definitely do that. Wiskey is probably too young to hold his pee for 8+ hours, and I'd be afraid that putting papers down for him to use will give him the idea that it's OK to pee in the house. He should be OK in the crate for 4 hours at a time. I'll bet he sleeps most of the day when you're away.

I got Ozzy at 11 months old, and was told he was housebroken, but that they put a puppy pad down "in case he couldn't hold it". In my world he wasn't close to being trained. He instead decided that the bath mat, kitchen rug and diningroom carpet were puppy pads. He's 2 months shy of 2 now, and he's 99% reliable. We've found that he can actually hold his pee for something like 18 hours if he has to. Poo is harder for him to hold (believe it or not), and he tends to have a couple of poo accidents when I'm travelling and my son is in charge. I honestly can't say if that's Ozzy's fault or my son's fault though. I'm very regimented when it comes to our potty routine, and I'm guessing my son is not. As long as the routine is normal and I'm home, he routinely holds it for up to 11 hours. Even then sometimes he'll fiddle around and bug hunt for awhile before going pee.

[Tami]

I was just wondering about the same thing. Fearghus is 4 months old and we got him when he was 9 weeks old. If we take him outside and tell him "go potty" then he'll pretty much pee and if it's time then he'll poo. But he doesn't really tell us when he needs to go. I just have to watch him and guess when he needs to be taken outside.

I'm with him most of the day. He's kept in an ex-pen unless I can keep watch on him in the family room with wood flooring. Once we made the ex-pen smaller he doesn't have as many accidents in it. I try to keep him on some type of schedule. But it would be nice if he'd do something to let us know.

The other day in the RV (road trip) I was holding him instead of keeping him in his crate. I couldn't figure out why he was so wriggly until finally he peed on me. Ugh! I guess that's why he wriggled. LOL

[Jayme]

we crate train ours. He's only four months. We've had him for 2 of those months. He goes outside every 1/2 hour or there abouts just so he knows that's where he is supposed to go. He does still have accidents in the house, about one a day but we're slowly getting there.

how much play time should you give the puppy? I feel like crating them to train them takes away their play time, which they need to exert their energy.

Ours only goes into the crate when we're out of the house, over night or when we are eating. Other wise he's free to have run of the living room as long as one of us is in it. He plays plenty, runs around and tires himself out.

[beccadiane374]

But he doesn't really tell us when he needs to go. I just have to watch him and guess when he needs to be taken outside.

I'm with him most of the day. He's kept in an ex-pen unless I can keep watch on him in the family room with wood flooring. Once we made the ex-pen smaller he doesn't have as many accidents in it. I try to keep him on some type of schedule. But it would be nice if he'd do something to let us know.

The other day in the RV (road trip) I was holding him instead of keeping him in his crate. I couldn't figure out why he was so wriggly until finally he peed on me. Ugh! I guess that's why he wriggled. LOL

I know this suggestion might not work for everyone, but it was worked fantastically for Tanner & I.

When I brought him home, at 3 months, I immediately started working with the bell system. I've just got a few bells tied onto a shoe string & have the shoe string looped over the door knob. Everytime I would let him out, I'd either ring the bell or tap his nose or paw against the bell, so he slowly got the idea that hearing the bell meant he got to go outside. It took abt. 2-3 months to get him trained, but the first time he rang the bell himself, I did a very happy dance!

He did regress for about 2 weeks when he was neutered, at abt. 7.5 months old, but he's basically 99% trained & has been since 6 months old. The bells just work fabulously for us, he always rings them when he needs to go out. I know for some dogs, it becomes somewhat of a butler service, they ring the bell just to go outside, whether they need to potty or not, but I'm in tune with him enough to know when he needs to go & when he just wants outside. That did take time, however, and it takes paying attention to how much water intake he's had, etc.

He is crate trained as well & is in the crate when we are not home (although, at 2, we've started slowly leaving him out of the crate when we're gone for short periods). At the start, he was also in the crate at night, but he sleeps with me now. And even then, if he has to go out during the night, he just whines at me & I get up & take him out.

I would suggest trying the bells & seeing if that works. I even take them with me if we're going to someone else's house & he'll ring them at other people's houses as well.

[DawnandTuk-tuk]

tuk came to us at 12 wks and was pretty much good by 5 months. I crate trained and had the advantage of being a stay at home mom at the time. He only had accidents with other people. I was going to school at night and would come home to a frustrated spouse...but he didn't let tuk out when tuk gave the signal. Lol, tuk just sat by the back door so you had to pay attention!

[Xonk]

When you're house training them it feels like an eternity! We made out really well using an x-pen, then crating method. I relied on a book, HouseBreak your Dog in 7 Days, but 7 days wasn't carved in stone. Eddie caught on very quickly - the housebreaking would have been much faster if everyone in the house was trained to watch him! Ed likes to stand facing the door, standing there quietly waiting. I love the idea of ringing the bells to alert someone Unfortunately we have a deaf boxer who views anything new as a playtoy/tug! Eddie acts as her little assistance dog'. She couldn't have been paired up with a better buddy!

Good luck with training! Before you know it you'll have a sweet little housebroken pup!

[sdm]

Howdy, first time poster.

We picked up our Cairn, Deandra, last weekend shortly after she hit 8 weeks. Currently we are crate training her and I am taking her out about every hour from about 7:30am till 11:30pm since I work from home. Despite this, she seems to have no desire to poop outside. I could have her out for 10 minutes or 20 minutes but as soon as we come back inside, she'll go w/n the next few minutes. She gives no noticeable indicators either, e.g., sniffing, circling. Overall I've observed in the morning she'll go w/n the first 2 hours of being up (7:30am-9:30am) either before or after her first meal at 9am. In the evenings it tends to be between 10-11:30pm (bedtime). Last night I was out with her from 10:30-11 and before I even had a chance to take her back to her crate, she went.

Has anyone else experienced similar behavior? If so, how did you remedy it?

Thanks.

[bradl]

I got better at "reading" them and faster at calling out an interrupt noise and scooping them outside.

During this phase, when I say I don't take my eyes off my dog, I mean that literally ... I do not look away unless she's in the crate (and sometimes not even then). This takes an immense amount of concentration and a Cairn-like level of persistence. But it's one way to be successful at providing the dog the opportunity to have successes, which can then be built on.

Yes, it is indeed dizzy-making.

(Welcome to Cairn Talk )

[Tami]

We've been pretty lucky with Fearghus (who's now almost 5 months old) since he'll go outside. The only times that he poops inside his ex-pen is if we don't check on him in the middle of the night and he absolutely has to go. Fortunately that's not too often.

I'm starting to be a little bit better of figuring out when he has to go. A big clue is when he sits by the sliding glass door and then looks back at me. If he just goes over there and lays down then it just means that he wants to play outside. Of course this isn't perfect all the time, but we're getting there.

When he does make a mistake in the ex-pen I break out the Nature's Miracle and clean it up. It helps that we have a huge scrap of linoleum under the ex-pen so that I'm not upset at the wood laminate being damaged. :-)

I still think that I want to try out the bells by the door method that was recommended here.

[wallEsmama]

WallE is a little bugger. Hes trained and can hold it, but he still insists on peeing where he sleeps. Even in his crate overnight, if I put a blanket in there or a towel, he'll pee on it. We limit access now to anything he can pee on when we go out. Baby Gates are everywhere. The vet ruled out a UTI and we're basically resorting to just not letting him be alone in a room where he can pee on something. He also loves the bathroom mat and weve had to throw out all area rugs He no longer pees on my bed, but of course now that I've said that, I'm sure to find an accident again. My brothers now had to get a new bed because of wallE's odd persistance to pee on the old one. Its rather frustrating, but we're working on it. I also want to try the bells idea. Maybe it will help?

[sdm]

Howdy, first time poster.

We picked up our Cairn, Deandra, last weekend shortly after she hit 8 weeks. Currently we are crate training her and I am taking her out about every hour from about 7:30am till 11:30pm since I work from home. Despite this, she seems to have no desire to poop outside. I could have her out for 10 minutes or 20 minutes but as soon as we come back inside, she'll go w/n the next few minutes. She gives no noticeable indicators either, e.g., sniffing, circling. Overall I've observed in the morning she'll go w/n the first 2 hours of being up (7:30am-9:30am) either before or after her first meal at 9am. In the evenings it tends to be between 10-11:30pm (bedtime). Last night I was out with her from 10:30-11 and before I even had a chance to take her back to her crate, she went.

Has anyone else experienced similar behavior? If so, how did you remedy it?

Thanks.

So here we are almost 3 months later and her desire to poop outside really has not improved all that much. She seems much more content to just poop in her crate and eat it so some days she may only poop outside once, other days it could be 3-4 times if I get lucky. I have tried a number of coprophagia remedies from both my vet and the pet store but nothing makes a difference.

The only plus side is that when she does have accidents of both kinds in the house they are right near the back door. That's really the only indicator she gives that she needs to go out is that she has an accident back there. Unfortunately, there are no actual signs, e.g., sniffing, circling, whining, etc. There is no waiting time either, as soon as she rounds the corner from the kitchen to the laundry room it's out before I can even get back there. And even if I did catch her in time or just got lucky and took her out on my own, 20 minutes later she'll just decide to pee right on the carpet in the living room, or maybe she won't. After 3 months of crate training and a strict eating schedule and taking her out and normal intervals I've really seen no progress whatsoever. At 5 months old am I expecting too much for her to at least try and let me know, hey I need to go out? It's a shame because I would really like her to be able to spend more time out of the crate each day.

[Idaho Cairns]

A couple of questions and a comment sdm. Is your yard contained, does it have a fence? Does your dog have ready access to the yard? I think your dog is a bit late at four or five months to still be going in the house but that really isn't unusual, dogs can be confused and remain confused for different lengths of time--each seems to be unique on this most basic lesson so your dog's age isn't the problem--yet. I wouldn't be too concerned about the consumption of the stool, my experience is that most dogs go thru this as puppies and I often wonder if the practice isn't just innate to dogs for a certain part of their young lives--like they "need" to do it for some strange nutritional reason. It seems to go away but until it does, it can be really off putting for the humans around them--"No thanks, I'll take none of those puppy kisses today!"

The reason I ask about the yard is that, if it is contained, you might want to carry the "accidents" out into the yard and leave them there. I really believe dogs prefer to go outside because that is where all the smells associated with going potty remain and they prefer those kinds of spots. If you remove the stool from the house, clean the area carefully, and then put the stool in the yard, where you prefer your dog to go that your pup will catch on faster. It does sound like your dog is trying to get as close to the outside as it can before going and that is a good sign--we have always found that the last place in the house where we have had accidents, is around outside doorways. Sometimes owners get too quick in cleaning up those outside areas--you might want to leave it "au natural" for a bit to see if the dog catches on.

Try as much as you can stand to "salt" the yard with stool--that might motivate your pup to want to use that area enough to ask to go out. Also, if it is convenient and available, you might want to bring another dog into the yard to leave some other different stool scents for your pup--further reinforcing that the yard is the spot for potty purposes.

Don't get frustrated, we all go thru this as owners--some dogs are easy and some aren't. Over the long haul, this is merely a minor matter--floors clean, throw rugs can be thrown in the trash, Cairn love is an addiction that lasts forever!

[sdm]

The yard is contained, it's a row-home so it's concrete fenced in. There is a dog door which she was using for awhile, but often it seemed she'd just go out there to eat poop or leaves. I normally do not pick up after her out back after every single movement (although it seems like I should if I'm that concerned with the poop eating), so it is "salted" with both her own poop and the poop of our older Jack Russel. She tends to leave his poop alone, usually. I suppose I can try leaving the dog door open for her during the evening when she spends the bulk of her time outside of the crate and see if that makes a difference. Although there have been occasions where the door has been open and she's still chosen to just go on the laundry room floor inches away from being outside. Also, it's not so much that the poop eating grosses me out, it just makes it very hard for me to tell if she's gone or not, especially while crated. Thanks for the advice.