Housebreaking A New Puppy

[jkmunchkin]

I am getting a new puppy next week, who will be 9 weeks old when we get him.

Both my husband and I are gone from about 7:30 / 8:00 am until about 6:30 pm. Does anyone have housebreaking tips when there isn't someone around all day?

We are planning on crating him.

I am going to take off from work M-W the first week we get him, and my husband is gonna take off TH - F. And then I was planning on having a dog walker come twice a day for the next couple weeks.

I'm really nervous about housebreaking, because one of my dogs I had growing up was never housebroken; so any tips would be great!

Thanks

[gdobson]

An obedience school told me to try this with a lab I used to have and it worked great. When we got a new puppy (Welsch Terrier) a few years back, we started him this way, and it worked great-

Get a bell and tie it to the door know of whichever door you want him to use to go out. Make sure it is on a string low enough that he can reach it himself. Then take him out frequently yourself, but before you open the door, ring the bell yourself, then take him out and put him in the grass. The 2 dogs I did this with, began ringing the bell themselves to go out in less than 2 weeks. We also crated the puppy.

Also, when we got "Chester" a bunch of breeders recommended the book "How To Be Your Dog's Best Friend." It has great insight into how to respond and understand your dog. It is definitely worth even skimming through.

Have fun! I love dogs.

[blueeyedmanda]

How exciting a new puppy! You will have to show us pictures when you bring him home.

[Darn210]

The bell thing worked for us, too. However, the dog is the one who initiated it. We had a Christmas decoration with jingle bells that hung off of the door handle. She would go over and nudge the decoration when she wanted out. When Christmas was over, we left that particular decoration up for a while until I got around to replacing it with some jingle bells from the craft store - rigged up with some pipe cleaners.

I found that it is best to take them out as frequently as you can. When we brought our dog home from the pound, she was 10 months old but not housetrained at all. I took her out every two hours. I think it finally hit home when I caught her in mid-squat (they are sneaky little buggers ). I think it helped that we had another dog and she could smell (outside) where our other dog would go - kind of help her get the idea of it. So you may want to walk him where other dogs would have gone. Believe me when I say those boy dogs in your neighborhood have hit most of the mailboxes, street signs, etc.

It will be very frustrating in the beginning. Take deep calming breaths . Puppies don't have much of a bladder so you may need to take him out in the middle of the night. We have always let our dogs sleep in our room (on their dog pillows) but when they were pups, we had them in the crate in our room so we could hear them start to get restless and take them out.

Also, from the beginning, while he does his business, tell him "good boy, go potty" or whatever bathroom term you want to use. Even after he's house trained, continue to tell him that - well, except when he's marking, I guess, I've only done this with girl dogs. But anyway, they begin to associate the words and the action - makes it easier when your traveling and you need them to go before they get in the car. My old girl was so good at it, that I would tell her to go potty and if she didn't have to go she would give a quick squat and a slight glare like she was telling me "I told you I don't have to go!"

Good luck and hide your shoes!!

[Cheri A]

We also have a bell hanging on the sliding door to the back yard. It works great!!

I'm sure the puppy will learn pretty quickly, esp. with being in a crate. That is also how we trained both of the dogs we have had.

Congrats!

[Guhlia]

I don't have anything to add. The bell idea is awesome. I just wanted to say congratulations on the new puppy. How exciting!

[2kids4me]

There are several things you can do. First - understand this pup will be leaving his/her mom and littermates behind. To go from that to what is essentially - isolation (crated most of the day)....can be harmful to the dogs emotional development. This is how we see destructive chewers and dogs with separation anxiety develop..... if it is done incorrectly but if its done right - crate trained dogs are great

There is a lot you can do. First is understanding - this is a baby, a baby with immature kidneys and poor bladder control. Within about 15 mins after feeding or the pup drinking - go outside and walk him or interact in the yard. Wait until he pees and/or poops and reward with praise.

He will need his meals divided up over the day - after each meal -a walk. This sounds like a lot but he is little.

In the beginning of crating - put him in and leave him for few minutes while you go to another part of the house. Come back and let him out, as soon as heis quiet. Do not fuss or make a big deal.

Lengthen the time you leave him in and reward quiet behavior. Ignore barking and whining - if you talk to him and say "its okay", "stop it" or whatever - well, he is a dog and he sees that as feedback for his noise " hey I make noise - she talks to me" ......or better is: " I stay quiet, someone comes and sees me."

Never use the crate as punishment - it should be seen as a "den" ...a safe place. In dog packs - dogs ignore a dog who has misbehaved and then welcomed back to the pack in a few minutes or as soon as the bad behavior stops. They dont shove them in a den somewhere, and walk away You have to think like a dog, not a human. They dont understand time outs.

Back to crating - gradually lengthen the time he is in there, leave the house, come back. Make sure he has a safe toy with him (some pups will shred a stuffy!)

So when it comes down to the day he is alone in the crate for a few hours - he will be used to it. The dog walker should come twice a day until the dog is at least 3 months old and this dog needs to be let out at least once day while you are gone. Many dogs are 6 months old before having good enough bladder control to go for hours and hours. The biggest issue will be morning - if you are running late and feed/water him just before you crate him - he will pee/poop in the crate for sure.

In this case, the dog walker should come within an hour, to avoid that scenario.

Do not leave food in the crate or large amount of water - makes for a mess! The crate should be big enough for him to get up and turn around - at his ADULT expected size/weight. No sense buying one that is too small and needs replacing later.

The extra time you spend that first week will pay off later.

Hope this helps.

Good Luck with the new baby

exercise every day, walk different places, the more the pup is exposed to- traffic, stairs, kids, wheelchairs etc...the more stable he becomes. Take him for short car rides and come back. Many owners complain that the dog "knows it is going to the vet" or the dog gets nervous in the car. Yup, if the only time he goes in the car is when he goes to the vet - he has made the connection: car=vet.

All animals will get nervous if they are exposed to something only once a year. We welcome new puppy owners in for visit in the waiting room when they are out and about - then the pup comes in and goes out with no needles or stress. Makes for more relaxed visits when the dog is older and goes to the vet

** I should clarify - we usually have owner holding the dog off the floor if it is unvaccinated and young. Pups usually have first vaccines by 8 weeks old. We encourage the visits AFTER the second set of vaccines at 12 weeks. This is when long term memory is being developed - so we want good visits to outnumber the vaccine associated ones!

Sandy part time AHT

full time mom

[Joni63]

Hi and congrats on the new pup!

I think with my pups it usually took about 4 to 6 weeks to house train. Every time a mistake happens you need to clean up the area really well so they cannot even smell where they went. There are some good enzyme eating formulas out for this purpose.

Hopefully with the dog walker letting it out a couple times will help, but usually the real young pups like yours will have to go about once an hour. Expect some accidents in the crate at first because they can't possibly hold it for too long.

Glad your getting a chance to take off work to enjoy it's first week there.

Good luck!

[jkmunchkin]

WOW, thank you all so much!! This is very helpful. It both gave me some great tips on stuff I wouldn't have thought of and also reaffirmed a lot of the things I was planning on doing.

I promise to post pictures when we get him