Toilet Training An 8Week Old Puppy

[Willowlane]

So were taking her out roughly every hour, this includes after being fed. But im just not sure how to get her to associate going outside with needing to go to the toilet because at the moment she still happily poops and pee's on the floor, never heading towards the back door or showing any sign of wanting to go out or thinking about it.

I dont expect her to be toilet trained yet but Im just looking for some help as to if were doing the right thing or if we should be trying something else.

We tried pee pads but she never used them. We have only had 4 accidents and one was my fault for not talking her out soon enough after feeding her, the other one was my fiancee's for not taking her out soon enough in the morning after she had slept on his lap all morning (he's new to dogs).

Another thing...how often does a puppy normally poo in 24hrs...I know a completely stupid question but I want to know so I have a vague idea if I should still be expecting her to go tonight/tomorrow night etc.

Thanks :)

UPDATE: Unfortunately she hates her playpen and cries non stop when she is in it even with toys, bed & snuggle puppy etc. She is much happier just roaming around the living room. I have been persevering with the pen for the last 6days, should I continue to pen her or leave it now? It would be so much easier if I could pen her for when I go out!

Edited May 20, 2015 by Willowlane

[Kavik]

Basically,

She may want to toilet after eating, drinking, sleeping, playing, so those are good times to take them out.

Praise, pats, treats when she does go to the toilet outside. You can eventually put this on cue if you like. I just use "toilet" but you can use any word you like

Signs that she may need to go to the toilet are sniffing, circling.

You may need to wait a while outside before she goes, if she hasn't been in a while, I would wait outside with her until she goes.

How often they poo and when can depend on their feeding schedule.

Edited May 20, 2015 by Kavik

[suziwong66]

My feeding schedule is twice daily and both my dogs poop about 4 times in a 24 hour period; they are both raw fed.

As for toilet training, I take pups out on a lead and my cue is 'do wees' and it doesn't take them long to associate evacuating with the cue if you repeat it when they are actually doing their business. I like to teach toileting on command since my dogs are out in public a lot. I always toilet after them eating as it's almost a given that they'll evacuate and during the daytime, i take them out hourly.

As i have two dogs and the pup (8 months old now) will always play with my big boy when i take them out to evacuate, i still take her out on a lead so i can have some control over the environment. I want them to evacuate not play.

[persephone]

you need to WATCH her like a hawk - no time out of your reach ..and , if you need to in teh early stages- carry her out ... say "toilet"... or "hurry" ..pick a word ... and say ONLY that, until she goes - then lots of praise- a little game , or a treat ..

repeat, repeat .

Definitely use a leash as soon as you have gotten her used to it ...

[Willowlane]

I just took her out and kept repeating go wee's then she did a poo lol but all the same thing I guess? Then she got lots of cuddles and scratches and some treats!

Have I got the right idea?

[persephone]

:)

remember to use some word/s you are happy to use at a show/in a park / somewhere amongst non-dog owners ;)

[Willowlane]

Good point!

[Tassie]

Sounds like good progress. Second the "watch like a hawk" advice. I actually used a light long line tied round my waist with one pup when she was loose in the house .. to prevent escapes as well :D . For me, one of the keys is to take the puppy out, and wait with them, so that you can see that they have performed, and party accordingly. So not just letting the puppy out.

They usually need to go after sleeping, after eating, after playing .. and at random times. Very little ones .. every couple of hours if they are awake.

Crate and pen are your friends too.

[Willowlane]

Yes Im always with her when she is outside and I am expecting her to 'go', even if I then leave her outside I always wait until she has finished so I can reward her.

Unfortunately she hates her pen and cries non stop when she is in it even with toys, bed & snuggle puppy etc. She is much happier just roaming around the living room. I have been persevering with the pen for the last 6days, should I continue to pen her or leave it now? It would be so much easier if I could pen her!

[persephone]

ha! She has trained you that noise means freedom ! OOPS .

persevere with pen . let her out when she is quiet . feed her in pen ..play with her ONLY in pen ..everything GOOD happens in pen ( except for toilet rewards ) yes- she will probably get noisier now , because hey, it WORKED last time ;)

[Taliecat]

ha! She has trained you that noise means freedom ! OOPS .

persevere with pen . let her out when she is quiet . feed her in pen ..play with her ONLY in pen ..everything GOOD happens in pen ( except for toilet rewards ) yes- she will probably get noisier now , because hey, it WORKED last time ;)

This is so true.

I was trained by Dozer with his pitiful moaning and trilling..

Now I just feel like an evil mumma and wait him out.

[ness]

A good article on Steve's website if you haven't already seen it -

http://www.k9protraining.com.au/house-training-your-dog/

[Christina]

Takes a while for most pups to get toilet trained usually no matter which way you go about it. The most important part is that your dog understands what you want it to do, it can't obey if it doesn't understand. Big fuss on the toilet word command & it will sink in eventually. I use one word for everything. Piddles. Choose one word & stick to it.

There is no reason to keep your dog in a pen or crate unless the room is not puppy proof or you are busy & can't watch it however pen, safe room or some precaution to keep your pup safe is advisable while you are out. If you haven't got a safe room to leave puppy in then you will have to pop in the playpen & it probably won't cry if you are not there. Otherwise you have to ignore the carrying on & it is difficult. I have 2 tiny poodle babies in a 10 foot long pen full of toys & the fire on at present in the lounge & they were not happy initially. I find if they can't see me they play or sleep.

I don't leave them in there all day though.

[sunny1shine]

this may sound over the top but it really helped me and my partner to keep track of things when watching pups in shifts

We kept a book by the back door and wrote in it every pee or poop and when the pup was fed. With a symbol for if the poop or pee was inside or outside.

The best pattern we identified was pup goes toilet inside more on my watch as I'm the unreliable parent taking them outside.

Have done this for 2 pups now and it really helped. I plan to put it on a spread sheet one day to see if there is any correlation or if it really is just pups go toilet whenever with no rhyme or reason.

Made it easier to see when the pup was taking longer between toilet breaks and when they stopped pooping 10 minutes after eating.

(and we had to take pup outside as we cant have a dog door as the cat would get outside through it)

[JRG]

Springers are the BEST people trainers - be resolute and, as Perse says do not let her out until she is quiet

[WeimMe]

It can take a while for them to get the idea, but almost always it does sink in eventually.

I used to take Hugo out on the lead and stand in one particular spot in the yard, say "toilet" and ignore him until he'd performed. The good thing about this is that eventually you will have a dog who will toilet on command - at night, you can just take them out on leash to their spot and you don't even have to say anything, they just know what's expected and will go straight away. This has turned out to be handy for me because Hugo is a barker and can't be left outside at all at night or he barks at the possums (and the neighbours complain).

The downside is that it takes a while for the dog to pick this up. You will spend a lot of time standing in the designated spot saying "toilet" while your dog is a pup! It's boring and often wet/cold/itchy. :laugh:

Anyway, my point is not to stress too much. Your puppy will learn eventually, just be consistent and keep at it.

[charlottearmstrong]

Buy a clicker from a pet shop and every 30 mins go outside with your pup and come up with a word for going to the toilet; e.g 'toliet' 'wee' 'pottie' etc... When you see her go to the toliet, click the clicker and say the 'word' and keep repeating this until she gets it. Remember to praise her afterwards and say good toliet, good pottie or whatever and give her a pat. It took our pup 7 days to toilet train and this is an average.

Puppies go to the toilet a lot, they have small bladders remember and cannot hold for long periods. I would take your pup out every 30 mins literally. When in the house i would put her in a pen/fenced area with a bed and newspaper but make sure you let her out regularly. As soon as you let her out, take her outside straight away and do as above. Eventually she'll learn to associate the clicker and sound of your word/voice with going to the loo.You will have accidents along the way in the house, but as soon as you see her attempt to go, pick her up and again go outside. You have to be persistent and encouraging. Good luck :)

Edited May 23, 2015 by charlottearmstrong

[Willowlane]

Thankyou so much everyone, I am combining a few techniques I think to tackle the toilet issue. Firstly from one of Steve's K9Pro articles he says (if I have this right - I may have gotten it wrong so dont take this a gospel)... you take the dog out from its crate and give it 10minutes to go to the toilet if it goes then you wait 2 hrs till next bringing it out to go again (this is the timing) within the two hours is sleep time in the crate, play time and training time.

If the dog doesn't go to the toilet in the allotted 10minutes you put the dog back in the crate and bring it out in another 40minutes and try again and continue this until the dog goes, you then have your starting point and then can start the 2hourly timing.

You also toilet your dog after feeding through the day as normal.

With this I am also using a trigger word 'toilet' which I am repeating to her when ever she is on the grass and its time for her to 'go'. When she is actually going I say 'good girl willow, toilet, good girl, toilet, good girl willow, toilet etc then I call her over when she is done and she receives big pats and lots of praise.

I dont have her on a lead at the moment as the one time I had her on a lead she fought me on it constantly and became very anxious and I need her to associate the lead as very positive thing (for her showing) so Im going to wait till she is more established on the lead. I will get help from Steve with regard to this.

She also resolved her crying in the pen herself, she just needed more time it seems to settle into her new home. She still cries occasionally but only for a little then she just puts herself to sleep :)

[Tassie]

Nice update. Seems like it's all starting to come together :)

[Sheridan]

I have a 10 week old puppy who sees the outdoors as a giant playpen. She's too distracted by all the things to do a wee. Look, leaves! Look, sticks! How long do I, in the middle of an icy night, give her to do a wee? I've been out there for half an hour or more without success and as soon as I get her inside, she does a wee. I've had her three days.