Some dogs just need more time to learn, too. Our Russell terrier was not reliably housebroken until he was just over a year old. I thought we were never gonna get there. I’d taught housebreaking to seven or eight dogs over my life and all had been relatively quick. Except this guy.
I will say that once the Russell terrier was housebroken, he never had another accident in the house. He’s now 12 1/2 years old.
Colton will get it. At some point.
There are a few potty training apps out there that have you feed in data for a few days, then gradually they start building a suggested potty schedule for you (some will even alert you that your dog SHOULD have to go soon!). I don’t know how accurate they are but my kid is using one and it seems to be helping.
OP, before you got him - was he living in the breeder’s house? How did the breeder manage him? Did the pup have potty accidents there?
Or was he housed in a kennel environment? If so, it is possible he got the idea that he is supposed to potty “inside” because that is what the other kenneled dogs did. This can be especially true if the run has a concrete floor and/or a roof of some sort. IOW, he learned to equate the run with being “inside.”
It really boils down to a persons lifestyle. I have always been home so I take my puppies out often and at first I may get up with them once or twice at night but that is brief.
I block off the underpart of my bed and put a baby gate across at the foot of the bed ( along the wall) and the puppy has their toys and bed beside me. When we are gone they reside in the master bathroom until potty trained and then every dog we have ever had is able to be left in the house alone no issues.
We always have 2-3 dogs at one time.
Like crate training without the actual crate.
I would never have thought of this but it’s a great idea for an app. I can usually time it pretty well, but whenever we’ve had a puppy my kids and my ex-dh could not manage it if I was not home. I think they just would lose track of time (puppy bladders are tiny!) and missed it again and again. So frustrating!
Yes to this. One of our Catahoulas was a rescue case that, prior to us, had lived all of his nine months chained on a concrete slab. He eventually caught on that grass and dirt were good for potty breaks instead of concrete, wood or tile, but it did take a minute.
Are you using weewee pads in the mudroom ?
Big rewards for hitting the target and then take a used target outside with you
Verbal association helped alot too.
Go mess outside and no mess while cleaning up inside.
Polo crates at night, next to my bed.
He can see, smell and hear me and I don’t have a pesky 25 pounder on my chest kissing me at 4am.
Saturday sunshine for you & Colton ~ a day of fun & sun & napping & no 
!
You’re doing great @Cat_Tap ~ keep moving forward ~ ((hugs)) and dog treats from the Z gang ~
Well so far it has been hit and miss. I always reward with “good boy” outside. I am keeping a journal to try to get the timing.
To answer some questions yes he does have free access to water and I don’t want to take that away.
His life up to now has been in a kennel with his mother outside and crated inside along with several other dogs each in their own crate.at night.
After our poopy mess in the crate overnight our routine for now is that I sleep on the sofa in the familyroom/kitchen with the door to the mudroom where is crate is open. He sleeps right beside me on the rug.
He seems to be somewhat needy always wanting to be by my side but does play with his toys.
Eating has also been a bit of a challenge. He is not interested in his food so I have been hand feeding a bit to get him started. This seems to be working.
We spend some time together in his run which is 8 by 40 feet. Got the zoomies, jumping up and down. I do try to discourage that because apparently too much of that is not good for puppies.
The cats follow us when we are on our walks which is a bit of a problem because he wants to play with them. They then take off and of course he wants to follow.
It is amazing that the horses know this is a new dog. I always walked Bentley in the paddock beside the horses field so they were used to seeing us there. Now with the puppy they all ran up to the fence to check us out.
Quite an adventure I can’t seem to remember how I managed to raise 6 previous dogs.
It was raining again this morning. I have a 3 bay garage that once was a blacksmith shop. I left the car outside so we could spend time in there while it was pouring.
Right now he is lying by my feet. He had been playing with his toys.
I am planning on enrolling him in puppy school. I am trying to contact one that is not too far and has been recommended.
This is a very good podcast re: puppies and dog training.
Hmmm…who’s training who ??
I always wonder about the rewarding and praising a dog to " go" in the house on a pee pad when the actual goal is getting them to go outside???
A lot of people agree; it really depends on logistics and how much time you have. You could teach to go on the pee pad, and then gradually move it to the assigned potty place. Or you can just take the puppy there, even if they have a mistake in the house. I think both will work, it’s just one step or two.
When we got our puppy, we signed up for the monthly AKC Pupdates (free, and I think they’ll sign up unregistered dogs, too). A couple things about housebreaking mentioned in the Pupdates were 1) it’s hard to re-train a puppy that’s already been trained to pads, and 2) if the puppy continues to eliminate in the crate (assuming a healthy pup, of course), try removing any cushioning, bed, towel, blanket – keep the pup in a plain crate to discourage using it as a potty.
Our young dog is the first time we’ve gotten a puppy that was pad trained (pads seemed practically wall-to-wall everywhere at the breeder’s). Have to say, it did take more housebreaking effort than any other puppy I’ve ever had – not that she was having accidents, as we tried our best to never give her the opportunity to have one, which was exhausting for us. My husband estimated to the puppy kindergarten trainer that we took her out 20 times a day, and I don’t think he was wrong.
IMO, the pads confuse them. She had never previously had to control herself for even a brief time, or ask to go out, so we had to take her out frequently to reinforce desired behavior. We did everything we could - carried treats on potty breaks, used command words, made a huge positive fuss while feeding treats for elimination, etc. We needed her to understand the need to communicate with us when she felt the urge.
Once, during a terrible thunderstorm with scads of lightning when she was quite young, she actually did ask to go out, but the conditions were too dangerous and I put a pad in her playpen. She went there, but I think it set her back. It wasn’t that I didn’t understand that she wanted to go out, but she might have thought I didn’t.
A friend successfully used the take a pad outside routine to help train his dachshund puppy. Didn’t work for us – there are too many distractingly exciting things outdoors here (horses! deer! birds! smells! sounds! plants! bugs!).
I don’t know if you’re home a lot, but Google the “Umbilical Method.” I use this on adult foster dogs who are difficult to housetrain. Works like a charm, but it definitely takes a lot of commitment from the human.
I did this for a week or two with every foster I’ve ever taken on. It’s effective, but exhausting.
Yes, agreed! I had this old beagle who was clearly an outside dog his whole life. Had zero concept of house training. The umbilical thing was what worked. We were amazed.
How is Colton ? Enjoying the property and being your best new friend ?
Some “Happy” stuff !
Thank you for all the potty training information. I wouldn’t consider pads as I am sure he would tear them up. He got hold of the paper towels as I was cleaning up and tore them to shreds. We seem to catch some of his pee breaks but was peeing every hour yesterday. Fortunately he decided the mudroom was the place to go which has spared the other rooms.
He saw the vet on Tuesday and seems heart, teeth etc. are all good. He was also well behaved at the vets and during the ride in the car. He received Lyme booster which may have contributed the frequent peeing. Fecals did indicate he needed to be on antibiotics for two weeks. Can’t remember exactly what for but had something to do with ingesting Possum scat.
It is a good thing I have lots of time. He is a very busy boy. Got him a rawhide stick which keeps him busy for hours and saves the chair legs. He also loves his new ball which he throws and catches himself. We have periods of chewing and zoomies then he naps beside me.
I have spent some time with him in the run. The cats walk along outside just to tease him. I now leave him in there alone for short periods while I do my barn chores. I take him with me to the barn for the last night feeding at which time he can roam free. Doesn’t bother the cats at this time but is not sure what to make of the horses.
We are enrolled in puppy school starting May 2. He appears to be quite alert and smart, reacting to sounds.
He is quite different from Bentley who was very independent right from the start. Colton likes to be near me most of the time.
Don’t want to bore you to death but appreciate all the input.
He sounds like a good buddy, and exactly what you needed now. <3
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