Housebreaking

[Kasey]

I got my beautiful boy (Kasey) about 2 weeks ago. We are having a bit of a problem housebreaking him. He will go potty outside, but he can also just come back in the house and go again. Any suggestions?

[Brody]

Brody is not quite 7 months old. Thankfully he was a breeze with potty training. But we took him out faithfully and were lucky enough to have someone at home with him all the time. After he ate, he went out. After the woke up, he went out. After he was done playing, he went out. Now we don't take him out as often and when he has to go he will run over to the stairs.

[jimnconnie]

I got my beautiful boy (Kasey) about 2 weeks ago. We are having a bit of a problem housebreaking him. He will go potty outside, but he can also just come back in the house and go again. Any suggestions?

Welcome to the forum, and CAIRNGRATULATIONS!! on your new puppy. There are tons of posts concerning housetraining if you will use the "search" box at the bottom-left of the page. It's a much discussed topic here, so you should find lots of good information. I would strongly recommend crate training for Kasey, it is a big help in training, and provides your dog a home to call his own. Please let us see some photos of your new furbaby.

Jim

[Shazza]

Crate

Treats

Praise

Consistency

As Jim said there are a lot of posts on here about potty training.

[mjones]

I'll add one more to Shazza's list, Patience. It takes time, but he'll get it. Cairn's are very smart. I've always felt that the fastest way to potty train is to be sure to catch them in the act. If you catch him peeing (or pooping) in the house, scoop him up, tell him no and take him outside immediately. You may get peed on a little (yuk, but I have) but it sends a pretty clear message. The hard part is to always keep him in your sight.

[Greg P]

Please remember he is just a baby. A young puppy is not responsible for its successes and failures in housebreaking. You are.

Keep him out of situations where he can fail.

[Idaho Cairns]

Nine week old pups have to pee a lot--in a couple of weeks he will be able to hold it all much better. I believe most dogs prefer to go outside because that is where all the "potty" smells are--the odors in the house are generally deodorized somewhat. I have noticed with our Cairns that at about 12 weeks, they simply develop the preference for all the spots in their yards where they have left other scents--then it simply becomes a matter of learning which signal is a potty signal and which signal means "I just want to go outside because it's fun!".

Don't expect consistency from a dog as young as your dog is--he will straighten if all out as he gets a little older.

[BetsyNoodle]

The Humane Society of the United States' website has a very helpful article on housetraining. Just insert the word housetraining in the search bar. I followed their recommendations very closely and have successfully housetrained my almost two year old rescue Cairn.